A Day Early...What Could Possibly Happen?

A note from D...

K is holding B at this very moment. Can you believe it? Almaz came to the hotel while we were eating lunch. K told her that on our walk this morning we found Hannah's Hope. We wanted to go in so bad. She said, "Why didn't you knock? Let's go and see your daughter." K was stunned!!

Get this....K walks in and the children are listening to a story and Almaz calls out B's name and she comes walking straight to her momma. She is giving kisses. In fact, she is staying the night with us tonight. K just walked in with her...God is good.

Sis.. she gives you and her brother's pictures big kisses.....oh man...this is a blast.....

Something Beautiful Out of Something Broken

A good friend of mine gave me this necklace a while ago when I was going through a really difficult time. It's a piece of broken china that's been made into this special piece of jewelry. When I wear it I think about the symbolism behind it...something beautiful out of something broken. I'm so thankful to God that He has taken my brokeness and created something beautiful for Himself. I'm taking it with us as we fly to Ethiopia tomorrow. We are overjoyed to be able to travel to get our sweet little African princess, but there is also a touch of sadness in the whole process...sadness for her in the loss of her birth family...sadness for her birthmom in giving up her daughter. Thank you for praying for "B" and please pray that we will be able to meet with her birth family while we are in Addis Ababa.

On a happy note, we were able to pack LOTS of formula for the babies at Hannah's Hope!!! We have enough for over 800 bottles:) May God multiply it even more!

We shared Ephesians 2:10 with our kids this week...we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do. It's stunning to us that God is allowing us to be a part of His plan for little "B"! It was just a year ago that we began seeking God's wisdom concerning adoption for our family, and NOW here we are! God is so kind and we give Him all of our praise!

Balls, Bubbles and Jump Ropes!

D came home from work today with LOTS of basketballs, soccer balls, jump ropes & bubbles for the kids at Hannah's Hope in Ethiopia! We are also taking as much baby formula as we can, but D wanted to make sure that we took fun stuff, too :) Thank you to all of you who have bought gifts for the orphanage or given money to buy these things! Thank you most of all for praying for us as we prepare to leave on Friday!!! We're excited to think that our little darling girl will soon be here at home with us!

I'm thankful for the peace that God has given me. I praying that these few days before we travel will be happy, peaceful and reassuring to the kids before we fly 8,000 miles away to Africa! I'm praising God for His tremendous love and faithfulness!

Hopeful Anticipation

Soon after we mailed in our adoption application to All God's Children on May 1, 2008 we began to pray about the name for our little princess. One morning after I'd been in God's Word I felt Him whisper that her name would be Hope. I shared that with the family and that's when Sis designed and posted this sign for her bedroom door:) At that time, we didn't even know anything about Hope. Since then, we've learned about her and have decided to let her keep the African name that her birthmom has given her, but her middle name will be Hope! I've been thinking alot about that sign this week as we prepare to travel to Ethiopia on Friday...the fact that Sis was confident that one day "soon" she would be getting her little sister. It makes me smile to think of her childlike faith and confidence in a great and awesome God who was performing the miracle of adoption in our family. God is so faithful! It reminds me of His incredible promise: "Those who hope in me will not be disappointed!" Isaiah 49:23(b)

"...hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:24(b)-25

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