Looking Back, Part II

Last January is when my husband and I began to seriously pray about adopting a child into our family. Initially God laid it on my heart. D is a good man and he began to pray honestly before God about it. It wasn't what he had thought about for our family. It would mean giving up some of our dreams about the future. It would be a financial stretch, to say the least, and since he is the provider in our family that burden would fall on his shoulders. One of the many things that I love about my husband is that he greatly desires to walk in obedience before God. At one point he made a list of all the pros and cons of adopting...he read me all the blessings that could happen because of it. Then, he read all of the hard things about adopting. After each of those obstacles, he had written "So what?" At that point my heart melted because I knew that God had laid the adoption on his heart also, and he was going to obey:) I'm so very thankful for this man!

Looking Back, Part I

What a fabulous gift that God has given us in allowing us to travel in January to bring home our little princess! As I knelt down by her toddler bed last night, I was simply overwhelmed at how God has brought this adoption about in our lives. I thought I'd share a bit of the beginning of our journey with you. It was last January that God began to fan into flame in my heart the desire to adopt a child. I had thought about it when my kids were very young, but had not acted upon it. In January, my husband was preaching on the book of James at our church. I began to read James to our kids at home. After I finished reading James 1:27, my daughter looked right at me and said, "See! I told you we SHOULD adopt!" (She's been praying for a sister for years!). During my own quiet time with God's Word, He showed me II Corinthians 5:14-15..."For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." I kept thinking and thinking about that verse. I asked myself, "Am I just living for myself?"..."Could we as a family love and care for a child who has no family?" The next step was to talk with my best friend,my husband,about it. We were on a date at Outback. He looked across the table and gently asked me, "What are you thinking about?" I smiled as I replied, "I'm thinking about what it would be like for our family to adopt a child." Without blinking an eye he said, "That is so not what I thought you were going to say!" Needless to say that was the first of many significant conversations concerning adoption!

Last night as I remembered that II Cor. scripture, I was looking at a picture of "B". My heart was so grateful that God helped us to obey Him last January! He has special plans for our little girl!

Thank you to all of you who are praying for "B" and for our journey to go to her! We are very, very thankful!

WooHoo...We're Going to Africa!!!

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!!!!" Psalm 126:3

We got THE call today:) The kids and I were sitting in the family room reading from Luke 1:57-80 and having a good discussion about John the Baptist and how he was preparing the way for Jesus when the phone rang. The answering machine picked up and we heard, "This is Christy from All God's Children...". Suddenly, we were all running for the phone!!! Almaz called AGCI to let us know our tentative travel dates...we need to be in Ethiopia by Jan. 11! We are SOOO happy! We're thankful to God for allowing us to adopt little "B" into our family! I can't believe that I will be seeing her sweet face in a little more than 3 weeks:) Thank you to all of you who are praying for us. And for those of you who have children at Hannah's Hope I would be happy to let you know how your children are. I really appreciated all of those who did that for us, and now I can do it for you! Just let me know!

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare!"
Psalm 40:5

Pretty Shoes for our Pretty Princess

Sis and I had so much fun yesterday picking out these little shoes for the princess! How stunning to think that precious "B" could actually be wearing these shoes in a month! That's what we're praying for:) The excitement continues to build in the house...everyone is ready for the darling to come and be home with us! Hopefully we will hear good news next week!

The Court Date Comes to a Close

Thank you to all of you who prayed for our little girl and our court appointment in Ethiopia today. I have a sense of peace. I know that God is in control of all things! But...I'm so excited about possibly traveling next month to get B!!! All God's Children said that we should be able to hear something about our court date next week. In the meantime, we're having a great time checking out all of the other Ethiopian adoption blogs out there! I was thrilled to find a family that has a mom and dad ALMOST as old as us! Plus, their children are 14, 11 and 8...very similar to us. I don't know why that made me feel really good to find their blog...it just did! Thanks again for praying for us!

Preparing for the Princess!

We've set up the bed for the little princess! Everyone is very excited. Our youngest son recently said, "I can't wait until B. gets here. I'm going to read her 'Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom' so she can learn her letters.":) This was quite a statement coming from him because reading is not one of his favorite things to do!! Sis and I spent time today on the computer looking at hair-care products for the princess...plus, admiring all of the cool, little beads and snaps for her hair!

I must admit that the night we put up the toddler bed and I was alone in the room, I had a moment of uncertainty. A moment when I thought, "Am I the right mom for this precious child?"..."Am I too old to be doing this?"..."Is it right to take her away from Ethiopia and transplant her half-way around the world?" In that moment I had to fall to my knees and pray to my Father who knows all things. He has called us to this journey and He will enable me to do what He has called me to do! There is tremendous peace in that for me.

We have a tentative court date in Ethiopia this Thursday, December 11th. This will be the time that the Ethiopian government will look over all of our documents and decide if we can adopt B! Please pray with us that things will go smoothly and that we will receive our call shortly for our travel dates. We are praying that we will be traveling next month to Ethiopia to meet her and bring her home! Thank you, thank you for praying!!!

Light for the Journey

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2

When I think of darkness I remember the time this summer that we went hiking at a state park. There was a cave that you could explore on the trail. The path through the cave appeared to be a short distance, so we decided that the five of us could navigate our way through, even though we had no flashlight. We began the journey, with Don leading the way and myself at the end of the line of 3 adventuresome kids. We went into the cave with high spirits, but it didn't take us long to realize that it was a bit hard to make our way through in the pitch darkness. The cave was dark, had many twists and turns and was very narrow and confining in places. At this point, it wasn't as much fun as we thought it would be:) Then, we remembered that I had my camera so I passed it up to Don who proceeded to "light" up the way by using the camera's flash. With the "light" we were able to see where we were going and began to laugh again! Getting out of the cave was no longer difficult and we eventually emerged into the warm sunshine.

I've been reading passages from Isaiah as we prepare to celebrate Christmas - celebrating the fact that God actually became one of us!!! May you find joy and peace in Him this month as you reflect on this scripture:

"...Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" John 8:12