Where We Are Now...

So this is the follow up to my last post. Sorry it took a few weeks to get it out here.  Life gets crazy when school let's out, you know?

So after we contacted our social worker and told her we could not move forward with the sweet boy we loved so much, we were confused.  We started asking ourselves if Colombia was still the best country for us to adopt through.  What were our other options within our adoption agency? They work in a total of 14 (I think) other countries, as well as a private, domestic program.  If we were to ever make a change into where we adopt from, we will not lose any money we have already invested by staying with Lifeline.  It would just be a matter of updating some paperwork and transferring some information over (I make it sound easy, it's probably not).

So we began our "country" research over from square one - looking at each program and crossing them off of our list one by one.  This research had two purposes: one was to (hopefully) assure us that Colombia is where we needed to say and the other purpose was to create a "backup plan" of sorts if we ever do have to leave the Colombia program.

We were actually able to mark all but 2 programs off of the list of countries Lifeline works with: one international country and their domestic program.  At one point over the last 2 months, we have seriously considered both. But we really don't feel led, at this point, to change countries.  We were told, however, by our in-country representative that we needed to be prepared for a 1 to 2 year wait before receiving a referral.  Okay - we can do that....maybe not with great enthusiasm, but we can do it.  He also told us we should be seeing some major improvements and upswing in referrals over the next few months, so we are praying HARD that these things will happen.

So we are back to waiting and praying.  This week, we are praying specifically that we would receive a grant from the JSC Foundation.  They are a wonderful ministry that awards generous grants to adoptive families.  Would you please, please, PLEASE join us in prayer that we would be a recipient of one of their grants? It would be a huge help.

We've recently decided to travel to Colombia as a family (can't remember if I told you that).  This is adding about $7,000 to our travel costs because of plane tickets for each kiddo, extra food, and having to rent an apartment while we are there instead of staying in a hotel.  This wasn't an easy decision, but having our family split for 6 - 8 weeks on two separate continents really didn't seem like a fun thing to do.  Our original plan had been for Jacob and I both to travel for the first 2 weeks, then I would return home and Jacob would stay in Colombia with our new son.  But I know my kids and I know how much they would miss their daddy....and I don't know how I could leave the son I'd been longing for and praying hard for after just a few days.

I'm planning on doing a post soon about the many grants that are available to adoptive families.  There are so many ministries out there who want to partner with these families - in the same way that so many of you have partnered with us through our fundraisers and donations.  It truly is incredible to see so many people come together for one family, one child.  Whenever this adoption journey gets to heavy for me to bear, I remember that we are not doing this alone.  I look back at my list of people who have offered us encouragement and prayer, donations, participated in fundraisers....and i think, "Wow...they are with us."  It is an incredible encouragement.

It makes that possible 2 year wait a little easier knowing that each of you are waiting with us.

So,, immediate prayer needs:
1) That we would see the improvements and upswing in referrals from Colombia soon
2) That we would receive this much-needed grant
3) That God would continue to direct our path on this treacherous journey

Thank you, friends, for hanging in there with us...

10 Weeks Later...

Okay, so I realize it's been 10 weeks since my last post and I'm really, really sorry about that.  Tons of things have happened in the past 10 weeks...we'll see how far I can make it in this post.

Let's just rip the band aid off, okay? The adoption fell through.  Again.  Here's a brief recap: Remember the sweet kiddo we moved adopt last October? Then we were told we were given his information by mistake and we couldn't adopt him? Well, he's the one we went after again in March.

The day our social worker called us to tell us about the Show Hope grant we'd received, she also called to tell us little "V" was available for adoption again.  The first family had backed out.  She didn't know why, but they did.  In October, we had told our sw that if anything - ANYTHING - happened and he became available again that she didn't have to call us...just get our information in ASAP.  She passed that message along to our in-country representative and he did just that.  When ICBF contacted him and asked him if we were still interested, he said yes and immediately (within a minute of hanging up the phone) sent our information and paperwork in.  He verified that they received it and that they were processing us as a match and family for this sweet boy.  Then he emailed our social worker, who got it as she was dialing our number to tell us about the grant.

Pretty cool, huh?

I dropped to my knees in tears when she told me.  I couldn't believe it.  I could, actually, because WHAT AN AWESOME AND COOL GOD WE SERVE! The story He was putting together...so insanely incredibly and one that only He could do.

We went into fast mode and began updating our home study, physicals, signing papers and rapidly applying for grants (I filled out 12 applications in about 3 days and harassed asked friends to write us letters of recommendations).  Jacob was preparing to leave for 3 weeks of training (and here's my shout out to single mommies...YOU. ARE. AWESOME. 3 WEEKS...and I was done. I tip my hat, high five, virtual fist bump, giant hug you and all the things that say how amazing you are!).  Since he was getting ready to leave, we wanted to do everything we could so that his 3 weeks away didn't delay anything.

It looked like our travel time was going to be mid to late July.  Yep, if you know my family you know there's a pretty big event happening in July called "My Little Sister is Getting Married".  I prayed hard that I wouldn't miss it, knowing we would both be heartbroken - but also knowing that when the country calls and says "be here on this day and this time to meet your son"....you can't really negotiate.

About mid-way through his training, we got up some updated medical information on sweet "V".  The info was confusing because it was dated months prior to receiving his referral again in March and it contained information we had never seen.  It also contained medical conditions and diagnosis' that we had never heard of and were considered severe.

This is where we thought, "Okay, Lord, are you stretching us in a really, really big way?"

So we began research.  I took it straight to WebMD and the Mayo Clinic website.  Just kidding.  I took it to some friends who a) speak Spanish and b) are in the medical field and c) one who lives in Colombia and d) one who's adopted from Colombia.  How cool is it that God has placed such knowledgeable friends in our lives?

At first glance, these diagnosis didn't make sense and we chose to believe that they were wrong.  Nothing really added up and everything could be explained away by the hardships early in his life.  That was that, research was done...let's move on.  Only our hearts were unsettled and we felt very uneducated and uninformed in what was really going on.  Not by what our friends told us, but by what we chose to hear and believe.

But then God placed someone new in our life.  Someone who has lived with and parented the medical conditions that sweet "V" has.  She so graciously talked to me and gave me the reality of parenting children with this diagnosis.  She has a beautiful adult child that has changed her and her family's life in incredible ways and she wouldn't have it any other way.  But she was real about what life was like.  And what life would be like trying to meet his needs...while simultaneously trying to meet the needs of AB, Lynns, and Creek.  It wasn't fear that began to settle into my heart...but understanding and realization.  If this diagnosis was accurate...we to make a choice within the scope of our whole family.

We could move forward and either a) he could thrive, while our other children were neglected because of the care he would require his entire life or b) we could continue focusing on our other children and "do our best" to meet his needs. Or we could not move forward....trusting that the Lord has another family for him.  One that can meet his every single need, every single day of his precious life.  A family where he could thrive and grow and be fully nurtured into the precious kiddo that he is.

A few weeks after receiving his updated medical info (all in Spanish), we got the translations back.  As we read through the translations, the basis and symptoms of his diagnosis' made a lot more sense.  It painted a much clearer picture of his medical conditions.  Maybe it was all there in the beginning and we were just allowing ourselves to see it.

So we stepped back.  Took a lot of deep breaths.  And prayed and prayed and prayed.  And it became clear to us that we were not the best family for sweet "V".  We trusted that the Lord will continue to hold him and that He has great plans for "V"...but we are not a part of his physical life.  I will always love this little boy.  Always.  He will always have a place in our home.  His picture will always be tucked away.

So how does a mommy walk away from a little boy she wants so badly?  To be honest, I still don't know.  I think I've crawled a few feet.  And now, I just sitting here waiting for the strength to get up and keep going.  I keep looking behind saying, "God, are you sure?"  And He always answers, "Yes."  So, yeah, God was stretching us when we first found out about all of this...only I thought He might be stretching us to consider medical conditions that were originally way out of our parameters. But no...He was stretching us to the hardest (and honestly, the most confusing) act of obedience I've ever had to do in my life.

How do we feel? Heartbroken.  Although we had healed from losing him the first time, our hearts were a little shaken...okay, maybe a lot shaken.  But we still dove head first into continuing our love for him and doing all we could do to get him home and into our arms.  But it is not our arms that will comfort and rock him and sing him to sleep.  It's not our arms that will carry him or give him high fives or teach him to swim.  It's not our arms that will get him ready for church each week and teach him about the love that Jesus has for him. Those arms belong to someone else.

How are we coping? I keep telling myself over and over again, "He is the same God."  God is the same God today that He was yesterday and He will be the same tomorrow. He cannot and does not change (James 1:17).  The same God who was writing this really incredible story of bringing sweet "V" back to, is the same God who is still writing an incredible story for sweet "V" and for the little boy He will allow us to bring into our family.  He is the same God.

What about the kids?  We gave limited information to the kiddos about "V". We simply showed them his picture and said that we needed to pray for him because he needed a family.  AB immediately raised her hands and said, "Oh, he should pick us to be his family! I would be a great big sister for him."  They would bring him up and we would answer questions for them.  We wanted to proceed with caution with them in case something like this happened.

Can I tell you anything else? Well, I don't think there's really anything else to tell.  As always, you are welcome to ask us questions if I haven't answered them here. But please do respectfully.  And I will not answer questions related to "V"'s condition or history.  Not only am I bound by a privacy agreement, but just simple respect for him.  Those are intimate details of his life that he doesn't even understand...who am I to tell the world wide web about them before he can process it?

I actually wrote a lot more than I had planned on writing and a lot more than realized I was ready for.  More has happened and I'll write more about it in a few days...just where God has taken us and how He has assured us in these past few weeks.  We do have some updates straight out of Colombia after an incredible webinar we attended a couple of weeks ago.  All of that will come in a few days, so be sure and check back.

In the mean time...we covet your prayers, as always.  We are hurting.  God pieced our broken hearts together before and I am comforted in knowing that He will do it again and in knowing that we are not alone in this.  Thank you, friends.  Thank you so much.  We could not bear to go through this journey without you.

The Ninth Day of the Month

I was going to write a post about a great idea my friend, Rebecca, gave me - to help me get through this wait.  Basically, we were officially added to the adoption waiting list on December 9 so each month on the 9th day of the month - I'm going to write my son a letter in this sweet journal she got me and just allow myself to feel the emotion of missing him and wanting him home as much as I need to...it's basically a day that I'm dedicating to him.

And I was going to tell you all about yesterday...how we sang His Eye Is On The Sparrow in church and I could only think about how His eye is also on my son and that I know He's watching him.

And I was going to tell you a little update we received a couple of weeks ago saying that our new "wait time" from the time we were approved (Dec 9) was now approximately 1 - 2 years instead of 6ish months.

And I had even thought I might share about the sisterhood of the non-traveling pants just for a good laugh.

But then we got a phone call.

From our social worker.

And there was news.  Big news to share.  Bigger than the 9th day of the month and the sisterhood of the non-traveling pants (although I may throw that one in here later this week - stay tuned).

Beth - our social worker - called to tell us we received a $7,000 grant from Show Hope.  Seven thousand dollars!! Oh my goodness.  Y'all, we were so blown away.  This is such an answered prayer - especially since the latest info we had seen on these grants were that there on average $4k-$6k.  So incredible!  We still have a couple of more grants to apply for and really pray we get and we will be fully funded!

But, y'all, that wasn't even the really big news.  Nope, there's news bigger than $7,000.

I can't share all the details just yet, but please pray for our adoption and the little boy who just may be ours.  I absolutely cannot wait to share it all with you, hopefully in another few weeks - but please, please, please pray for us and for this sweet little boy during this time.  He's just perfect :)

We've shared the details with some close friends and of course, our parents - and we're just asking you to pray.  And be ready to celebrate with us soon! Oh, y'all - God is so incredible!!!

We Can Rebuild

When Jacob and I first moved to New Orleans 8 years ago (wow...didn't realize it had been that long), the key phrase we heard on a daily basis was "We will rebuild" or "We're rebuilding" or something along those lines.  We moved here almost a year to the day of Hurricane Katrina.  A time when this beautiful city was broken and still in the very early stages of piecing back the life that so many people loved here, after it had been ripped apart by fierce winds and flooding waters.  It was a blessing to move here during that time, to be part of something so beautiful as serving the people of New Orleans not only in a physical sense of helping them rebuild, but also just to be able to sit with them and let them pour their hearts out.  Over the years, I've heard that phrase (and those like it) less and less and the city has come back to life in so many ways.  I never imagined the next time I would hear the words "We will rebuild", that it would be in reference to the son that I have not yet met.

I attended an incredible conference in Birmingham, Alabama last weekend called Empowered to Connect.  It's a partnership between Show Hope, Dr. Karyn Purvis, and adoptive parents Michael and Amy Monroe.  The conference is meant to give hope, resources, encouragement, connection, and so many other things to adoptive families who have chosen and committed to loving and parenting children from hard places....children plagued by institutionalization, child abuse, neglect, prenatal and childhood trauma, and other things that effect adopted children.

I was amazed at the amount of information we were given and had to stuff somewhere into our brains in a 48 hour time frame.  My eyes were crossed and my mind was numb when it was over.

You see, up until a few weeks ago, I was naive.  I thought that since we had chosen to adopt a younger child, that we wouldn't really have to deal with a lot of attachment issues - and I pray that we don't, that our son will immediately know and love me and receive my love as his mother.  But the reality is, there is a chance that he will not...even being adopted at such a young age.  As I made this realization a few weeks ago, I decided I was NOT going to freak out.  Do you know how hard it is for me to NOT FREAK OUT!  For the love...

But I chose to trust in Jesus and remember that He is the one who is before us in every step of this process...not just the paperwork and now the dreadful wait that we are in, but He will be there when we meet our son, when he is finally placed in my arms to be my son forever, and when we get on that plane to come home, and as we all start to adjust to being a family of 6 (whoa....) and as we begin to help him heal from whatever wounds are left gaping open from his past.

One of the first things Dr. Purvis said was, "You can rebuild their little minds and their little hearts and you can lead them to attachment."  When she said that, my mind couldn't help but go back to New Orleans and the disaster that plagued this city and the mess it was still in when we moved here.  And I couldn't help but think of how, over the years, the people of New Orleans came together and rebuilt this city and now it is beautiful and full of life again. We were here for a mission trip only a few months after the disaster, so to see it from the beginning of the disaster to now...amazing. God was in that.  God will be in our rebuilding process as we teach our son how to attach to our family in healthy ways.

Will it take a while? It very well could.  It could seem like it's better and then hit us like a storm in 10 years.  But you know what - after going to Empowered to Connect, I feel equipped to handle whatever storms his past wounds throw at him and our family and I will fight with him and for him through every single one of them.  Here are just a few statements from the conference that really stood out to me and I jotted down in our handbook:

"These children need to know and see their birthright."

"Don't lose sight of how precious these children are, look through the "poop" they are covered in." (the "poop" being their past wounds)

"My child CAN recover what they should have had or been given in the first 3 years of their life." (y'all, there are actual changes to the brain of children who have been in an institution, abused, neglected, or experienced prenatal or childhood trauma)

Perhaps my favorite....

"The journey isn't about making him mine, but COMPLETELY BECOMING HIS."

This conference touched on sensory processing disorder, strategies for change, attachment, adoption stories with happy endings and a happy ending in waiting from adoptive parents, and understanding the impact of a child's history.  I just want to encourage you - if you are an adoptive or foster parent and you're like, "What the crap is going on with us right now - why can't we come together?" or you're thinking about adoption and you're like "How in the world would we handle the hard days" (because there will be hard days) or if you're in process....please find one of these conferences and attend.  Or look through Dr. Purvis' website at her resources and do the training at home.

And, now, sweet friends, please continue to pray for us as we wait.  There's nothing new right now.  We still crave the encouraging words and prayers you offer to us at just the right time.  We hope that we will be matched or receive a referral soon - but, as always, we remember that we are on God's timeline, He is writing our story.  And please pray in advance as we prepare to rebuild the tiny little heart and mind that will be broken with wounds we cannot understand or fathom.  Pray that attachment would come quickly, but if it doesn't that we would remember the skills we have been given to help our son.  Pray that we would keep in the front of our minds that God doesn't call us to something, without equipping us to complete it.

Harsh Realities

I'm sitting here, looking at my girls watch our wedding video - or our "married movie" as they like to call it.  It's a sweet sight, really.  They've watched it before and I'm sure they will watch it many times again in the future.  We like to sit down and look at wedding pictures and videos as a family on our anniversary each year as a way to celebrate our "family's birthday".

But in the last few weeks, Anna Beth has faced a harsh reality in this world.

Like always, she made friends fast when she started kindergarten - my little social butterfly.  One friend just really attached to her and her teacher has even told me that AB helps this little friend throughout the day and is "good for him/her".  She comes home talking about this friend almost every day.

When I helped chaperon their first field trip (ps...bus rides are worse as an adult), I met this friends mom.  And I learned the story of all that their family is going through.  In 3 simple words...

An ugly divorce.  And AB's little friend is caught right in the middle.

You've probably seen  or heard of a similar situation before...mom hates dad so she talks horrible about dad; or dad despises mom and tells everyone he knows about how awful she is in every way.  And they forget the little people in their homes have ears, too.  And they forget that those little people love mom and/or dad - even though mom and dad don't love each other.

And so Anna Beth has stayed up to date on a lot of things going on in her sweet friend's home life.  And the harsh reality that two people broke the promise to love each other forever and to always be a family.

Please hear me - this is not a post about divorce itself. I'm not here to judge or make determinations about anyone's family and/or marriage. It's a post about the uncertainty that is now in my child's heart because she has discovered that divorce is real...because we've told her over and over and over again that we will always be a family and that we promised each other to always love each other the day we got married..

She looks at my wedding rings and asks, "Is this the one daddy gave you when he said 'Will you marry me?' and then he gave you this one when he promised to love you forever?"

Yes, sweet girl, that's exactly what these rings symbolize.

But that truth for her 5 year old little mind is shaken.  Not only is she realizing that sometimes people break promises in general, but the foundational promise that she trusts - that we are a family, forever - can be broken in some families.

She came home every single day from school last week with questions.

"Mommy, do you really promise to always love daddy?"

"Yes, sweet girl, I promise you and I promised daddy and I promised God."

"Daddy, do you promise I'll never have to have another mommy because you'll always live here with mommy?"

"Yes, I promise."

Every day, y'all.  Every single day.

My only guess is that something happened over Christmas break that is instilled in this friends heart and mind and they're still talking about it.  Still processing it.  Still grieving over it.  Still brokenhearted... That's a whole lot of "junk" for her 5 year old friend.

So in an effort to still her heart, we dug out the "married" movie.  Our wedding album will hopefully be back from Tennessee this weekend and we will sit down and look at the pictures over and over and over again.  I will get out the photo album of all the planning and showers and candid shots from that beautiful day.  If i had my dress here, I'd put it on for them and then give them a chance to wrap up in it.

Will it be easy to stay together forever? Nope - sure won't.  Marriage is hard.  Some days are harder than others.  Some days flow perfectly as if they're written by the best romance author in the universe.  But we've promised to be in it for the long haul.  We've promised to give it our best day in and day out.  We've promised to never quit.  We stood in front of friends and family to make these promises before God and we want them to ALWAYS  hold us accountable.

I see what this harsh reality is doing to my daughter.  I cannot fathom how her friend feels.

If you would, please pray for Anna Beth - that her trust in us and the promises we've made will be restored and strengthened; for her friend - that his parents, who fiercely love him, would contain their anger with each other and protect him; and for Jacob and I - that we would set an example for our kids and visibly display our promises to each other and our kids every day.

Merry Christmas to Us!!

I had an entirely different post swirling around in my head for today - but then we got a little early Christmas present, so, you know - obviously I have to share!! And now I can't even remember what the first one was going to be about!! Ha

I got a call from our social worker this morning and our dossier has been

APPROVED!!!!

Write it down on the timeline and celebrate because Colombia says "Yes, we believe you would be good parents to a child from our country.  We'll just let you hop on the 'ole waiting list for a bit!"

Y'all, this is a huge step.  We sent a large stack of official documents and evaluations and more personal information that I can't remember to Colombia on October 1...about 10 weeks ago.

The "timeline" given is about 2-3 months for dossier approval once you've submitted it.  However, in the past several months a LOT of changes have been taking place with Colombia adoptions and their process.  The biggest one - international families can only adopt children from their waiting child list...no biggie for us because that's the route we were already on.  

Colombia then began asking follow up questions to dossier's that were submitted. "Tell me more about what doctor your child will see..."; "How have you specifically prepared for...."; etc, etc.  They just added a little extra in their screening process.  However, this little extra step can push back approval by 6 - 8 weeks.  Their questions have to be translated to us, we have to answer, our answers have to be translated and submitted, someone has to get back around to looking at our answers.  Slow-moving, I tell you.  So, instead of a 2-3 month wait for approval, some families were waiting close to 6 months...I know some that have waited longer than that.  

So....2 weeks ago Beth told me that they did have a follow up question for us - "How did we know we were prepared/could handle the medical special needs we had listed in our dossier?"  She had already written a reply for this question and had our in-country attorney review it before receiving the official request for more information.  Well, because our in-country dude is stellar...he just sent it on.  ICBF read it, said "Oh, okay.  Yes, they are ready/know what they're getting into/whatever the actual words were....they're APPROVED!"

Fast forward to this morning - which we did not know the above conversations between in-country dude and ICBF had taken place already - Beth calls me.  She didn't share the above conversation with us because she wanted to know for SURE. We're just chatting a minute and talking about Christmas plans (y'all, this girl cares about us as people...as a real family, with hearts and issues and love and all of that - couldn't recommend a better adoption agency than Lifeline if you're considering it because while she is a one of a kind social worker....they're all awesome up there!) and then she says, "Well, do you want a Christmas present today?"

Honestly, I thought "How sweet, they probably send their families a little something for Christmas."

But I said, "Yes!!"

She said, "Your dossier's APPROVED!"

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSING FLOW!!!

And then I cried.  And I think she cried a little, too.  And my kids were running around pouring water into their cups of goldfish while wearing their jammies and/or a princess dress with high heels. But, whatever, I tell ya!!

So - Colombia says we're fit parents.  Thank you, hard-working-on-behalf-of-fatherless-children-in-Colombia officials.  Thank you so very much for this tremendous Christmas present :)

The really cool God-thing....ICBF shuts down about this time each year for a month surrounding the holidays.  Since we hadn't heard anything from them - we were very much expecting approval to at least be in mid-late January!! God can do anything and I love that about Him - among many other things :)

We were homestudy approved on my birthday, dossier approved for Christmas...I'm just gonna go ahead and put "My kid" on my Mother's Day wish list....

What happens now...

we keep waiting.

For how long...

dunno know.

What are we waiting for....

an official match with our kid.

Can I give you a guesstimate...

3-6 months from now, but we're not holding tight to that.

Then what....

we wait some more.

How long...

3/4 more months-ish.

And....

we GO GET HIM!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!

What Love Is This....

This weekend, my family had the honor of sharing our testimony for Advent during our church's worship service.  When Maggie, our children's ministry director, first asked me if we would - I may have teared up a little...or a lot.  Being able to share about our adoption journey and glorify God and all that He has done just about makes my heart explode with joy.  Our family stood together in front of the church and this is what we said...

In January of this year our family started the journey of adoption.  It’s a journey that will lead us to a little boy in Colombia, South America….you might’ve heard of it J

It has been a long year full of home study interviews and paperwork.  Our family has been so blessed by all of the encouragement we have received from our family, church, and friends.  Watching God provide close to $15,000 to our family in less than 6 months was nothing short of miraculous. We continually stand in awe of all that He has done not only for us, but in us this past year.

We are now in the agonizing part of this journey where all we can do is wait – we wait for approval from Colombia and then we wait to find out just exactly who our son is.

About 2 months ago, we thought the wait was over.  Our social worker presented us with the file and picture of a precious 2 ½ year old little boy.  Almost immediately – we said ‘Yes! We want to be his mommy and daddy.”  We believed we had found our son and it was so sweet to look into his eyes.  We promised him love and a family – two things he had not had in his short little life.

A few days later, we found out that we would not be able to adopt this sweet boy.  There had been miscommunication between the Colombian government and our adoption agency.  Our family rejoices for this sweet boy – he couldn’t be ours because he was already being adopted by another family.

But our hearts were broken…crushed under a weight of grief that we could not explain.  We had been told to guard our hearts and not fall in love too quickly, but you can’t commit to being child’s mommy and daddy without loving them with the full force that comes from a parent’s heart.

But even in the midst of that experience and knowing that it could happen again, we have felt peace.

-    A peace that surpasses all understanding.

-    A peace that tells us to stay with God, to remember who He is, 

to trust in His plan, to know what He is for

-         A peace that comforts our broken hearts

-        A peace that we ask God to surround our son with at this very moment

It is the peace that came to this earth on the night Jesus was born.

Luke 2:11-14

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and good will toward men.”

Even though Jacob and I were both terrified to be up there, speaking into a microphone, it was very special for us and our children...who wanted to know why they didn't get a turn to talk in the microphone =)

But then the most special part happened....

After the service, a beautiful young woman came up to me and called me by name.  She said she wanted to briefly tell me her story.  She said her mother brought her home from Honduras 31 years ago.  She said she was not the first, second, or third child her mother had tried to bring home.  She said her mother's heart was broken and her journey was tough - but she knew that God had ordained her mother to be her mommy.  She encouraged me in that God knows who our son is and that He has the big and perfect plan, no matter how painful it is.  She said her song for her mother is "What Love Is This"...which is one of my all time favorites.  

What love is this, that you gave your life for me
And made a way for me to know you
And I confess you're always enough for me you're all I need

This song is written about the love Christ has for us in that He laid down his life to make a way for us to be in a relationship with Him.  She said, "You know...my mom did that.  She laid her heart down for me over and over again so that I could be hers.  Hang in there, you will get to the son God has chosen for you."

I couldn't thank her enough for her encouragement and for sharing her beautiful story with me.