from the Mr.

heard by my sweet Mr. tonight while at dinner: 

"is that a college kid driving THAT car?? 

no way. really?! 

do you know how many adoptions that car could pay for?!?!"

let me just tell you how this melts my heart like you wouldn't believe. i have seen my husband's heart completely change in the past year and a half. God has done a magnificent work! he would have never said that a year ago. how sweet it is to be married to him! (it was always sweet, but especially now:)

ladies--if your hubs is not on the same page...keep praying because God will lead you both in the same direction. once i started praying, i never imagined God would work so fast. 

you see, adoption was never on his radar. never. he was not anti....he had just never thought about it before...God has been working overtime on his heart and soul.

my Mr. has a heart for orphans and is head over heals for our sweet babyu. 

can you say precious?! 

canNOT wait to see what God does in the future. it is going to be big. 

*can't stop smiling*

it's HIS party.

funny how we pray that God would show up. 

funny that we pray that He would come and make His presence known. 

if we only realized that this is HIS party...He is the host...

don't all hosts think of details? ? and the small things?? 

well maybe not all hosts, but good ones do:) 

and He is the best.

my heart is sad...

last week we got the latest update on our sweet boy. it was our first update from the baby home since we got the referral which was back in July....thankfully, we have had a few different friends go over and spend some time with him so we have had a few other updates as well but this one really wrecked me. because of what others had said before, we knew that he was alone often times throughout the day and that the other boys often picked on him (all normal things for little boys living together in one baby home but still...) and take away his toys, books, etc....but to hear it directly from the home was difficult. i am thankful they were/are honest about how life is and how our sweet boy is doing. we wouldn't want it any other way and now we know how to pray more specifically...

the normal updates were wonderful::
*he can now walk without tripping (oh how i wish i had seen his first steps!)
*he eats well and enjoys all kinds of food (he will fit in perfectly!)
*he responds to aunties when they call him (an answer to prayer as we thought he may have endured some hearing loss!!)
*he knows how to use potty (YES!)  
*has gained weight and height (amen!! he is still itty but growing is wonderful!)

this was the hard part to read::

"he likes to play alone sometimes" 

and this....

"he likes aunties attention" 

and this...

"he is always bullied by the older boys who take away his play items" 

these words break this momma's heart. 

i am tearing up as i write this because i want to be with him so badly. 

i so badly want to protect him. and love him. and hold him..

with all of my being i want to be there. 

not here. 

but God has said to *stay* 

and so i will stay (for now;)

and pray like crazy!

::Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go::   joshua 1:9

"So do NOT fear, 

      For I am with YOU;
           Do not be dismayed,
                 for I am YOUR God.
I WILL strengthen you and help you;
      I will uphold YOU  
    with MY RIGHTEOUS right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Do YOU believe this? 

Do you actually comprehend that the GOD of the universe is WITH YOU?? 

The Creator and ALMIGHTY ONE will strengthen YOU and help YOU. 

HE will uphold us!

I think if I fully understood this...
I would NEVER, ever get up off of my knees...

In case you didn't know...

‎::32 million people live in Ug@nda.::

::50% of the population is under 15. That means 16 million are under 15. WOW. 16 MILLION!?::

::Only 30% of the children attend school::

::1/3 people don't have access to clean water::

::8 doctors for every 100,000 people. 100,000 people?! I can't get over this one::

::in 2006, at least 36% of Ugandans were living on less than a $1 a day::

::U.ganda is roughly the same size as Oregon::

::There are at least 2.5 MILLION orphans::

why Uga.nda???

WHY NOT?!!!

a year ago today...

we decided to apply with Lifeline. this is a little snippet from the email i wrote our sw 365 days ago:

"I hope you had a great weekend! We are heart broken over what has been happening in Ugand* with all of the rioting and disagreements. We pray God's peace would reign in K*mpala and all of Ug*nda. 

My husband and I have been prayerfully considering applying with Lifeline since our first conversation and have decided to turn in our application!! We have been working on it for the past few days and will be sending it out on Tuesday. We are so excited!"

it must have been right after the riots but that didn't turn us away. we really felt (and still feel) like God led us to this beautiful country and we are oh. so. thankful for His guidance. the past year has been filled with UPS and downs and many, MANY different twists and turns. 


we were expecting the process to take 8-10 months...if that were the case...we would probably have been home for about 2 months now..
....BUT...
....we would not have been matched with our precious 15 month (almost 16 month) old boy....we would not have been able to contact the nurse/caretaker/friend/mama;) who cared for our boy in the hospital for two weeks and then visited him on a regular basis after he left the hospital....we would not be looking at traveling with our sweet friends over at heirs of Christ....we would not be looking at spending Christmas in our baby boy's birth country (pray with us would you!?!?!).....


.....it just wouldn't have been the sweet love story that our Lord has been painting.

we are in awe.  daily.  at His abundant grace. 

His magnificent blessings. 

and His perfect plan.

*************

thank you Lord for loving us so much that you allow us to be part of YOUR story. somehow you use us...for your abounding glory. you are TOO good!

bitter sweet

this week has been filled with so many highs, it is hard to describe. i actually don't know if there are words to describe how blessed we feel. since last friday, we have been flooded with info on our sweet babyu. God has been working throughout our whole process but in the last week, we have been amazed by the story He has been painting.

seriously. unbelievable. 

i will share more later but know that we have been blessed by all of the encouraging emails, texts, comments and calls from you...thank you for rejoicing with us as we learn more and more about our boy!

********************

on a different note..tonight has been hard (odd, huh?). such a mix of emotions. earlier, i was going through the clothes o-boy has out grown, setting some aside to send to babyu and getting ready for when we return home from Africa. i am not sure what set it off but what started out as a fun filled task turned into a sad, sad event. maybe it is because i was remembering all the good times we had with o when he was itty, knowing that we won't get that time with babyu. or maybe it was that there are so many clothes that babyu will not fit into. because he is 15 months (+ or - ;). there is a lot of life we have missed out on. and while we are so thrilled with all the info we are gathering....completely and utterly in awe of what God is revealing about our amazing love story, we are sad that we have missed so much of babyu's life. 

we don't have a travel date yet. we are praying that we are on a plane before christmas but with international adoption, you just. never. know. we do trust in God's timing. Please. if our homestudy hadn't been lost for a month, we wouldn't be matched with sweet babyu. if ... if.... if.....then we wouldn't have sweet pics of our precious african babe... God is in control and He is the author of the journey we are on.

we trust this with our whole beings.

we find refuge in this knowledge.

but sometimes, i get selfish and i think i know what is best for us. God loves babyu so much more than we do. so much more than we could ever fathom...we love him soooo much that it is hard to imagine.

trying to rest in the love and peace of our Lord because when we do, it makes all of this a little easier to handle.

THE woman..

i just found the woman I have been searching for for the past couple of weeks!!!!!!! 

THE WOMAN who brought our sweet babyu to the baby home. 

THE WOMAN who cared for him for two weeks while he was in the hospital. 

THE ANGEL. 

wow. 

I am shocked, amazed, thankful. 

oh. my. goodness. so thankful I am up so late on this night. 

:::i CANNOT believe it!!!:::

remind me of this..

to all my sweet friends (adoptive friends too) and loved ones who are waiting..it seems like everyone is waiting on something...longing to travel to meet their sweet one, hoping for their womb to be filled with a precious being, awaiting news from specialists, praying for labor pains (literally;) or maybe just waiting for something big to happen..something different....i read these words tonight and thought of you....and you and you...all of you ...

**remember this: God may not do what you want, but He will do what is right ... and best. He's the Father of forward motion. trust Him. He will get you home. and the trials of the trip will be lost in the joys of the feast.**  {max lucado}

oh and can someone please remind me of these truths when i am in country. and as we are waiting to travel. and when i am home. and. ... and .... and ... for the rest of my life.............thanks:)

wordless wednesday

{this is may or may not be babyu's hand;)}