Friday, March 12, 2010

5 Things I Love Friday

1. I am loving that my car radio is broken. Seriously. The conversations I have had with the kids and God in the midst of the enforced silences are priceless...who knew?!

2. I love that in no more than 17 days I will get to meet this little guy who is squirming and moving and budding with life inside of me.

3. I love that my husband is so good at so many things and that he willingly and generously gives of his time and energy to bless people with his talents!

4. I love how God provides for even the most "trivial" of things - He knows our needs, our wants, and HE LOVES to bless us. Wow!

5. I love friends who call just to say "Hi, I'm thinking about you!" No agenda, nothing but loving the way God loves! Thanks, Mims - you bless me!

And, because blog posts are better with pictures, here's a few from an adventure along the Nation Ford Greenway last weekend!







Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Your Hope a Fire...

Oh man...I feel ruined this morning. The good, deep, messing up your insides kind of ruined. I was lurking on a blog a found a couple years ago and saw this song/video by Sara Groves. Wow - what an amazing song, what inspired lyrics.

Oh God, let me be changed by Your heart for the hurting. I especially love the line "Your courage asks me what I am made of and what I know of love." What a challenge.

I want to LIVE LOVE.

Not just the superficial "I feel for them" love. But the deep, sacrificing, no more counting the costs kind of love. The love that propels me out of my "comfort" and keeps me there.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Five Things I Love Friday

1. Kylie Nicole (around 2 years in this picture). She is light and joy and excitement - love who she is, excited for who she is becoming, humbled to be a part of the process!
2. Caleb Aaron (around 7 months here) - He is hope and peace and determination. So much in this little guy! God is going to great things in and through him - my little prophet!


3. Macey Jourdan (almost 2 here) - She is energy and drive and purity all rolled up in one dynamic package. The places she will go, the lives she will touched are unfathomable, I am blessed to be along for the ride!



4. Micah Samuel (4 months in this picture). He is freedom and discovery and overcoming! Such an amazing little man, so much talent, so much potential - thrilled for the journey!


5. Jason Samuel - He is encouragement, patience, protection, provider, integrity, determination, stability. I still can't believe that God allowed us to be together - I love him for who he is, who he is made to be and who he is becoming - wouldn't want to do this life with anyone else!

Hurry up and...wait!




Get ready, get ready, make sure everything is prepared! Now....wait! Oh yeah, and wait some more! Seems to be the theme of our lives lately. It can drive a girl crazy, or it can drive a girl to Daddy's arms to wait with Him. I think I prefer the later.

Not only are we anxiously awaiting and preparing (nesting like crazy) for our new little man to arrive, hopefully w/in the next couple weeks, but we are also finally done with the bulk of our paperwork for our adoption. We sent the Dossier in and were expecting to hear that we would receive a referral in a couple months since we are pursuing a child that is more difficult to place. Notice two key words there :WE and EXPECTING. Ha! If there is ANYTHING we should have learned in the last couple months it's that when it comes to children and adoption, nothing is determined by "we" but by "HIM" and "Expectations" should not even be a part of our vocabulary.

After talking with the amazing ladies at AAI, we found that they require us to wait for 6 months after a new addition to the family (Thompson 5.0). That would put us receive a referral around October 1st. Ethiopian courts meet sometime in October and then add another couple months to get everything else squared away and we will be traveling sometime in Early 2011. Not quite the "couple months" we were expecting!

I'll admit that when I first had this conversation with AAI I was disappointed, upset, frustrated. I mean don't they know how much WE want this, how much this did not fit in to our EXPECTATIONS? Hmmm...probably not the best attitude! Took me a couple days to realize that this is not about ME, and MY, and I! This is about what God has ordained, about what He has for us, and for our daughter(s)! I definitely see the wisdom in taking time to let the family get used to having a new baby before adding someone(s) else. I also realize, thanks to my mom, that maybe, just maybe, our little girl(s) may not even be born yet...!?

I'm pretty sure I've come to a place of peace with this. Hey, if God wants her home earlier, He can absolutely speak to the people in charge - I know they listen! So, for now, we wait, we plan, we hope, we pray for our little girl(s). But most of all, we TRUST and we surrender!

On a side note, check out this link to my friend's blog. They have received a match to an amazing little girl, Olivia, and are working like crazy to raise money to bring her home. Monica (the amazing mommy) makes adorable necklaces and is auctioning her anniversary ring on ebay to help raise more funds. Please support this amazing family! How blessed Olivia is to have them love her!

Alright...I have to go get my cookies out of the oven. Seriously, who wakes up at 6:30 with an insatiable NEED to bake oatmeal cookies?!?!? Oh yeah - me!!!

Wednesday, March 03, 2010