And then there were six?

This guy has been asking to do this for awhile…

Photo by Lulu Photography (LuluPhotog.com)

This girl told us a few months ago that she was praying very specifically…

This guy gets to play a new role and he is thrilled…

This girl is stepping onto a path toward her dream come true…

Photo by Avodah Images.com

And this guy is the one who has listened closely to the Lord’s calling and taken a giant leap of faith, leading our family down a very new path…

Big changes are headed our way. The path will be bumpy and rough and beautiful and scary and each step is taken with a gigantic measure of faith. It’s a path full of unknowns and we’re excited to see what the bend in the road will produce.

Have you guessed it yet?

Through God’s grace and His Provision alone, our little family of five will become a family of six.

 

We are in the process of adopting a little girl from Russia.

 

Pray with us, please?

This journey will not be easy and a child in our arms at the end of the road is not guaranteed. The adoption situation in Russia is tenuous at best and there is every possibility that the door could close so we take each step with great faith and prayer for protection for us and our children.

We are elbow deep in paper work and some days I feel so excited and filled with anticipation. Other days I feel discouraged and worried and afraid. I’m told this is normal.

Your prayers are most appreicated and coveted. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of money to raise, a lot of faith to develop and cling to.

I’m so glad to have you all by our side.

Happy Thursday, friends.

Scenes from a Homecoming

We had the unique privilege last night to watch lives being forever changed when my cousin and her husband arrived home from Ethiopia with the two little boys they adopted.  It was a party as a throng of people cheered, welcoming the boys into the family.

A picture of grace.

 

Cousins excited and waiting to meet the boys.

 

All the cousins who were able to make it to the airport. We've got quite a crew when everyone is together.

Me with three of my cousins. Have I ever mentioned I have the greatest family on the planet? And that's my joker kid's fingers making bunny ears...

 

The excited welcoming committee

They're here and they are shocked and a bit overwhelmed by the response.

The new mom getting a hug from her mom. *tears*

Total bewilderment

A thrilled grandmother.

Beauty

Two little boys whose lives will never be the same.

 

A family united.

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Galatians 4:4-5

Lifechanger

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On Saturday night, our family got to witness the beauty of adoption firsthand.  My dearest and oldest friend, Lindsey and her family welcomed a new addition in a most special way.  Lindsey’s sister, Laura, and her husband, Luke, brought home their daughter from Ethiopia.

Meet Zemma.

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Isn’t she yummy?

All I can think about when I see her little face is how her life has changed.  In an instant she went from orphan to daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin and niece.  She went from no hope for a future to limitless possibilities.  She has been grafted out of loneliness and into a family.  A family that will love her unconditionally for all time.  A family that will pour into her.  A family that will teach her what it means not just to be someone’s child, but what it means to be God’s child.

Her life will never be the same.

What a beautiful picture it was and how honored we were to witness Zemma’s homecoming.  To see the delight on her family’s faces as they finally met the little one for whom they had been praying.  And as Laura and Luke walked up to the crowd of excited faces, I couldn’t help thinking of what it would be like the day that I would cross the threshhold into my own heavenly home.  I too have been grafted into a forever family.  I too was once lonely, lost and alone.  I too will be greeted by those who are delighted to have me come home.  I too have been redeemed.  Out of the ashes came forth beauty.   

Adoption.

It’s a marvelous thing.

Welcome Zemma.  May you forever and always cling to your Daddy.

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The Miracle of Adoption

I love the process of adoption.  I have several friends who have either already adopted children or who are in the process of adopting and I am always amazed and awed at how beautiful it is to watch a child go from a future of uncertainty into a future of love and protection.  The process of adoption is truly a miracle.

Last night, I got a call that one of my dearest friends was headed to the hospital to pick up an 11 day old baby boy who needed a home.  She and her husband had been patiently waiting for several months for a call that there was a child that needed them and last night, God brought that yearning to fruition in a miraculous way.

They were not expecting an infant.  They were planning on an older child.  But God had a different plan.  At 4:30, they got a call from their adotion case worker and by 9:00 they were home with a precious 6 pound baby boy.

Isn’t God miraculous?

This morning, as I was reflecting on last night’s events I read this in Galations – “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  Because you are sons, God has sent foth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father'” Galations 4:4-6

Whenever I look at a child who has been adopted into a loving family, I am reminded once again of our adoption as heirs to the throne – we are the adopted children of God.

What would this tiny baby’s life have been like if Amy and Andrew had decided not to give him a home?  If no one had given him a home?  How desolate would life have been for this child to have no one to love him?  No one to open their arms and give him the full rights of a son? 

But, indeed, there was a home for him.  A home ordained from the beginning of time by the Creator Himself.  And with that home come all the rights of a full fledged son.  This child will always know love.  He will always know acceptance and grace, mercy and community.  And he will be raised to know who his true Father is by two parents are fully committed to teaching their children of God’s grace.

Isn’t that beautiful?  Do you understand the picture that paints for us – followers of the God above all creation?  We too have been adopted unto Him.  We are His children and with that come all the privileges that are bestowed upon a child from his Father.  We don’t deserve it.  We could have been left alone, desolate, without the knowledge of unconditional love and acceptance.

But we were not left alone.  Just like this child was not left parentless in a hospital.  Just like the Chinese boy that our friends adopted was not left in an orphanage.  Just like Andrew and Amy’s first son was not left in a foster home.  No, we were not left alone.  We were brought into the fold; called out for a purpose and given the title Child of God.

Yes, adoption is a beautiful thing.  I find myself moved every time I look at these adopted children and I see their faces light up as they look at their parents.  They’re young now, so they don’t understand the miracle that’s taken place in their lives.  But someday…someday they’ll know.

I sometimes forget the miracle that’s taken place in my own life.  It is a miracle to be a child of God.  It is a miracle to be grafted from darkness into the light of a family.  It is a miracle.

Rejoice with me today in the miracle of adoption, will you?