The Most Unexpected Reunion

The past few weeks Jeremy and I have been delighted, no... ecstatic, to tell and re-tell this story to our friends and family. Some close friends have been with us almost each time we've shared it, and they are sweet enough to make us feel like they are not just enduring it, but actually enjoy hearing it one more time.

Recently, so many parts of our world collided in the most extraordinary, unexpected, amazing way and I've procrastinated in writing it down because I don't think I can do it justice.

The excitement we feel is the same excitement you may feel when you've opened a long-awaited gift. 

The encouragement we feel is kind of like that feeling you may have when your kids give you hugs, or your boss recognizes your hard work, or your parents tell you how proud they are of you.

So here's what happened...

On a normal Tuesday work day, Jeremy and I both got totally random messages from a stranger who says,

Hi there! Sorry for the totally random message from a stranger. I am at Pinecove in Tyler with a new friend named John. John was an orphan in an orphanage in Rwanda as a child, he said that he had a couple from Texas named Jeremy and Vanessa with a son named Wesley who came to spend time with him when he was an Orphan and he wanted to try and find them.

I am curious - is that you and your husband? Sorry if not!

This stranger was not the only curious one now! What did John look like? What orphanage was he from? What camp was going on at Pine Cove?

I asked him if he could send a pic of John and when he did, he mentioned John was blind and he had lived at the Noel Orphanage.

AWE of God drifted over me and settled inside softly.

John at Pine Cove

Jeremy and I knew exactly who John was. We had spent 2 days at Noel Orphanage on our first trip to Rwanda in 2010. I started this blog a month before that trip and posted about each day--this post includes Jeremy's thoughts about visiting Noel and a letter from another John at Noel.

Our time at Noel was so brief, but made a huge impact on us. We walked around the grounds of Noel with John and many others, but John spoke more English so it was easier to talk. He sang and taught Jeremy some songs in Kenyarwanda and they sung some American worship songs too. He had a beautiful voice. And he hardly left our side the entire time we were there.

John is on Jeremy's right shoulder

First trip in 2010

John and I in 2011 on our second trip

Fast forward to August 2022, John was at Rally Week at Pine Cove. Rally Week is an extra week of camp for ministries across Texas to bring their kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go. John met a guy named Wesley at camp (not our Wesley, although our Wesley had been there the week before!) and he asked him, "Are you the Wesley with Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas?" He was not, but Kenneth (stranger who sent us the random message) listened to John explain why he asked. Kenneth began googling "Jeremy, Vanessa, Wesley, orphan, Rwanda" and he quickly found us and got in touch. He wanted to make sure it was us before telling John.

Meanwhile, Kenneth told the whole story to his co-worker, Autumn, and Autumn was like, "I know them!" 

WHAAAAAT???

Autumn is one of Katerin's BEST FRIENDS from college--they affectionately call their circle of 6 friends "The Gaggle." This photo was taken of Katerin and Autumn the weekend after Autumn met John at Pine Cove (One friend in the gaggle got married). 

Back at camp, Kenneth saw that John had left his water bottle at the lunch table so he took it to him. He had the confirmation he needed to tell John the news.

He told John he found his water bottle but that's not all....

he had found Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas!

We got to Facetime with John at the end of the week and we soon made plans to meet in person. John shared how he would ask people he met at times if they knew us. He'd come to the States in 2014 and even to Texas and he would sometimes get frustrated and ask God, "Why can't I find them...I have come all the way from Rwanda to Texas!"

Now he lives an hour away!

Wesley stopped by to see John on his way back to school

Meeting John face to face again!

We can't get over all of the things! Our trips to Rwanda making it clear we would adopt older kids. Rwanda adoptions closing and God leading us to our kids in Colombia. Our daughter from Colombia going to UMHB where she met Autumn. Autumn working with a non-profit that goes to Pine Cove the same week John is there. John remembering our names and asking about us.

John has quite a story! God is so sweet to allow this reunion to take place on this side of Heaven. And how He brought it about just amazes us!

Laura, Mari and Lily

"My sisters are very important to me." 

Laura is 13, the oldest among the three.  As I watch their video and look at Laura's face when she talks about her sisters, I recognize her face.  The worry, the concern, the sadness if they were separated.  

My daughter, Katerin, will tell you the first time she prayed was when she begged God to keep her and her siblings together. She prayed,

God, if you are real, keep us together...

At the same time, God was preparing us and we were asking, "Lord, where are our kids?"

He answered both of our prayers....in each other.

And in doing so, He drew Katerin into relationship with Him and grew our trust in Him.

You know these girls need a family, but what you may not realize is that your family needs them.

You can know more about them here and contact All God's Children International to learn more.

Jonas and Dylan

Just a little update on these boys--they are spending their first Christmas home with their forever family this year!!  YAY! Thank you, Lord, for their adoption! (December 2018)


Something about these boys remind me of my Saimon and Omar...they have the same age difference between them, they entered the orphanage at the same ages my boys did. But Jonas and Dylan are still there.
I remember days before heading to Colombia to get our kids praying with Carla and Mindy because I was shaking scared. It has been 5 years now and I look at my family and echo David's prayer to God, 

Who am I and what is my family that you have brought us this far?

There are no guarantees in adoption. We risk. We make mistakes. We fail. We pray. We ask God again and again for His strength to be made perfect in our weakness. We beg God to draw us all to Himself.
 
I know the thought of adding teenagers to your family is scary and then layer on from another country, culture, language...it might seem impossible. 

But what might you forfeit if you don't stop and consider? 

I have been abundantly, exceedingly blessed knowing that all of my kids have come to faith in Christ. On the hard days, when relationship is difficult and attitudes abound, I step back and consider eternity. 
My life, our lives, have been forever changed. When I consider their (&my) salvation and that God is just getting started with them (&me)--what impact they already have and will have for generations to come...

the risk is worth it.

  

Watch this short video to learn more about Jonas and Dylan...or message me if you want help starting the process.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/agcintl/videos/?ref=page_internal

When do you get the kids??

We are getting closer to travel!  This week we received immigration approvals so they say we travel within 3-4 weeks from now.  That puts us at the first or second week in August--it will be here before we know it!

I have been pondering God's blessings over the last year.  In Acts 3:26 its says

God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you

by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.

Did you get that?  Read it again. 

We are blessed by our salvation.

We are blessed by what He did to cover our sin.

We are blessed by new life in Christ.

By how He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.

If He did NOTHING else for us, we are BLESSED.

But He has done so much more for us. 

We are exceedingly blessed.

 

We are abundantly blessed.

I'm not boasting--when I say WE I mean you too.  Think about it.

What other blessings do you have beyond your salvation? 

(Ok, I have narrowed my conversation with those who are followers of Jesus, so if you don't follow Him, I think it is interesting you are even parking yourself at my blog for any amount of time.  Interesting.)

Carry on.

So I have been pondering His blessings in our adoption over the last year.  And I want to be very careful about how I say what I say because I do NOT believe if you follow Jesus you will be blessed with health, wealth, and happiness.  I also don't believe that if you follow Jesus everything will be fine. 

(well, I take that back a little because when Jesus comes back, everything will be fine, but I'm talking about here and now before He comes back.) 

Sometimes things are not fine.

When we started out almost a year ago, we had no idea how we were going to pay for this adoption.  We also did not know if we would even make it this far....there are so many approvals you have to get along the way.  We just knew we had to start walking in this direction in order to follow Jesus.

Approvals required along the way....
Finding an agency that is accepted by Colombia and that would accept our unique situation---I knew going into it I needed to work with people that would come behind us and support us as well as lead us in the process.

Homestudy--approval received at the end of October.  REALLY? These people find out everything and they STILL approved us.

Next is the Dossier which included a Psychological Evaluation for both Jeremy and myself.  If the homestudy people missed anything it sure comes out in the psych eval!

Approved. 

AMAZING.

And yes it did confirm that we are in fact, crazy.

After our Dossier is approved, we get the next one....the Referrals.
EASY PEASY. ....how quickly can we say YES to these kids??

Immigration--approved.  YAY.

That brings us to the present.  You would think that after all that, it's smooth sailing from here.  There are more hoops even when we get to Colombia---bonding week and court.

That means....keep praying.

 
So last August, we decided to move forward.  God is big enough (sovereign) to shut any door along the way if these are not our kids.

(oh my, the wheels are turning in my brain---

another post about God's heart for the fatherless

and our response as followers of Jesus....um, that may be a long one.)

So back to how He has provided for this adoption in very tangible ways...Honestly we didn't have all the money in the bank to say, "Sure, let us adopt these 4 kids and get them home. No problem."

But God....

...and His heart for the fatherless.

I am not saying that He only cares for the fatherless,

but if WE don't care for them like He does,

we miss out on some of the "exceedingly" part of being blessed.

Exceedingly blessed means we have the privilege to know and love and care for these kids and introduce them to their Heavenly Father.

Exceedingly blessed means dear friends join us in bringing these kids home by their generous financial gifts.

Exceedingly blessed means clients who we have worked with share generously with us out of their abundance to help us grow our family.

Exceedingly blessed means complete strangers who we have never met, spoken to, or even know their names give to our family in a way that we can ONLY give GOD THE CREDIT.  How else is this possible but only for God's glory?

Exceedingly blessed means the God of the universe who made heaven and earth and knows the number of stars in the sky and the very number of hairs on my head, allows and even asks us to join Him in His work.

We are exceedingly blessed.

God is Wiser

Christine is our interpreter in Rwanda. 

We absolutely have grown to love her and her sweet family dearly! 

One afternoon we got to visit Acres of Hope and as we were driving the bumpy road and passing a pumpkin vine, Christine shared this story....

A man was picking pumpkins and pondering how such a large fruit could grow on such a small vine.  Later he walked down the street and looked up and saw small clusters of fruit growing on a large tree.  He wondered why would such a large tree produce such a small fruit and why such a small vine on the ground would produce such a large pumpkin.  As he tired that day, he sat under the fruit tree and a cluster of fruit fell on his head as the wind blew.  And he thought, "God is wiser."

Why go?

This is the question I have gotten in the past and have asked myself.  Why go all the way to Rwanda for just 10 days when it cost so much money?  Wouldn't it be better just to send that money to help cover school fees, medical care, and food for the orphans?

God answered that question again and again as we just spent the last couple weeks loving the orphan in Rwanda.

He first answered it through Mike. 

(on the right)

Mike started Ten Talents International in Rwanda which is a program that helps children stay in their families through sponsorship and provides a home for boys who used to live on the streets.

Mike shared that as the only person in his family who became a Christian at a young age, he grew up not knowing what a christian looked like.  It wasn't until he was a young adult and found a church that he saw how a christian lived.

For the boys at the Home of Innocence, some of them lost their families during the genocide and so they have never had a family.   They do not know what a mom and dad is supposed to look like.  What living in a family is like. 

They don't even know what to hope for.

So Mike shared that when we come, these boys SEE a family.  They see a husband and wife, a mom and dad and it gives them a picture of what to hope for as they grow up and someday start their own families.

Why go?

We spent one afternoon sitting in the living room at the Home of Innocence sharing stories of our lives with one another.  We listened to the stories of about 20 boys and young men.  They listened to our story.  When asked of them, "What is your favorite part about having teams come visit?"

They responded without hesitation,

"Knowing you."

Why go?

This question was answered in a little girl named Shema and her single mother.  Shema is the sponsor child of Jeff and Marissa Anderson through Compassion International.  Jeff and our team was able to meet Shema and her mother one afternoon.  Jeff brought them pictures and gifts for both of them from his family.  She showed him her school, their small home, and the goat the Anderson's had bought for them last year.

Shema's mother is HIV positive.  She has no husband and no other family.  Their home was very small, dark, and empty. 

She told Jeff,

"Thank you for coming.  Seeing your love and care for us gives me HOPE."

Money given to this family for school fees, food, and a goat provided much needed help, but it was Jeff's visit that gave them hope and light to their darkness.



Why go?

Michael Jr answered this question for us one evening over dinner.  Michael (we call him Michael Jr at times) lost his family in the genocide and he now lives with Mike and Lisa McColm as their son.  As a young boy he lived in a home much like the Home of Innocence.  He remembers teams coming to visit from America.  We asked him what he thought about the teams and this is what he shared...

"I couldn't believe they would come so far and bring us gifts.  They could have easily stayed where they were, but they didn't.  I felt like I did not deserve it.  When I would ask them about their jobs and they would tell me they worked for some big bank or something, I could not believe it.  Because no one living in Rwanda who had a similar job would ever talk to me.

When they left, it was like the worst feeling.  You knew you would probably never see them again and the feeling that you had when they were here.  I cried.  But knowing that they came to give glory to God also made me want to be closer to God."

(Michael Jr in the middle)



Why go?

Jesus said when you do it for the least of these, you do it for me.  His heart beats for the fatherless.  We go to feed Him, clothe Him, but most importantly,

to know Him more. 

Chosen Marathon

We (Jeremy, his mom, two good friends and me) participated in the Chosen Marathon (1/2 marathon for us!) today--a marathon that is specifically for orphans around the world to find forever families.  Running with 1500 people who all were running for someone impacted by adoption was.....

absolutely....

incredible. 

I wanted to ask everyone I ran with to tell me their story. 

Who were they running for?

I saw pictures pinned to runner's backs and posters from cheering spectators with their kids' photos and it was

just.so.inspiring! 

I don't really know if you can get much closer to God's heart than when you take care of the fatherless.

Today I felt like we were running with the heart of God.

¿Me acompañas?

Will you join me? 

We heard this question a million times when the kids were here.  The youngest asked it every time he wanted to do something, try something new, or even go into another room.  Looking at his eager face, his curious green eyes, and sweet voice---these became my favorite words.

¿Me acompañas?

I heard those words before from our God.  When we first got the email just before a weekend away together. 

I can tell you what I am learning about saying yes.  Recently, Jeremy and I participated in some triathlons and we had the whole weekend to ourselves.  (sigh)  The day we headed out, I got an email from a friend who shares our love for the orphan.  Orphan Hope International was looking for families to host about 17 orphans from Colombia.  They would be coming to the States for 3 weeks this summer in hopes to connect with forever families. 

These kids are close to aging out.

As I was on the bike (my 2nd least favorite part of the tri, the swim being my least favorite), I was thinking

shoulders down, butt back, cadence high....

AND about all the opportunities around us to love kids who do not have moms and dads.

We had recently talked about "when do we say no?"

And we are finding that for us, at this time, as we see opportunity around us (right here, right now), as we wait on the Lord, as we plan our next Rwanda mission trip, as we start a new chapter with homeschooling, as we seek His face, to know His heart more, and desire to follow Him...

we can't say no.

We will say YES. 

YES to whatever. 

And let Him say "No."

This is not the final part to "Saying YES"

It is still being written.

¿Me acompañas?

Between April and July we had minor paperwork & training to complete, and I remember putting on our application we would host up to 3 kids.  We soon received a call from one of the directors because there was a special situation with a sibling group of 4 kids between the ages of 5-12.  Evidently, we were the only host family that said we would take more than one or two kids.  Jeremy got the call and said he would check with me first, but he already knew it would take half a second for me to say yes.

Really, what's one more?



¿Me acompañas?

My thoughts the day we found out their names.....
June 5
Today we found out names and actual ages of the kids coming from Colombia with the vacation host program.  It means so much to know their names.  They are not just orphans from Colombia anymore.  We had a very informative and wonderful meeting with a representative from Colombia.  I am so thankful to have had that meeting and I gained new understanding....understanding of the perspective of the kids and the workers who long for every child to have a forever family.
Now I can pray for them by name.

and when I saw pictures of them the first time...
June 15
Today we received an email with pictures of the kids.  I was so excited to see their pictures.  Before I opened the email I wondered if I would be looking at the faces of OUR children.  Jeremy had thought about the same thing.  I noticed the language in the email said, "Pictures of your kids!"  Your kids.  That popped out at me and sunk in.  Were these my kids?
As I looked at each picture, I began to have mixed emotions.  I have this faint feeling of sadness and I don't quite know how to explain it.  I studied their faces.  I looked deep into their eyes.  I began to ask, "what's your story?"  Each one looked different, had unique features.  Each one beautiful.  I don't know why, I don't understand why I do this, but I looked for characteristics in each one that were similar to my family.  Why do we do this??
I can't wait to meet them!  Can't wait!

¿Me acompañas?

And I saved the best for last.  The night Jeremy and I talked about these kids and the "A" word in one conversation....
June 9
Lately we have been staying up too late and getting up early.  So tonight Jeremy comes to bed late and just before he gets in bed he says he wants to tell me what he thinks about the kids coming over from Colombia.  We know their names, but we have not seen pictures, and do not know any history yet.

He really kinda surprised me.  First of all, that he initiated the conversation was amazing in itself.  And more so because of what he shared.  I hear him begin with, "I think we may adopt these kids."  I got that feeling that I had back in 2006 when he said he really wanted to pursue adoption and wanted me to check out a couple agencies.  FEAR.  It's weird because all this time I am dreaming, praying, hoping, and wondering where our next kids are, and when he says something that means we move forward, I am like,

"REALLY?  Are you sure???"

I am quiet as he reveals his thoughts.  He asks if I am asleep.

Uh, NO.

I just don't want to interrupt.  I want to hear what HE thinks.  What he REALLY thinks. 

So he goes on to say that he believes we COULD adopt these kids AND other kids too.

(what? other kids too?  that's like enough kids for our own soccer team!)

Fear begins to turn into awe and then excitement.

He continues...."What's really important?  Am I going to say no to adoption because I'm worried about how we will pay for college, weddings, quinceaneras??  Will we change how we spend money and what we "store up?" 

(yes)

"The bottom line is that our treasure is in Heaven.  What's more important?  Storing up treasures on earth or having the PRIVILEGE of being the parents of these 4 kids?"

(and you thought just I was crazy)

=)

¿Me acompañas?

That's the question we heard again the week after they left.  God asking us, "Will you join me?  Will you really trust Me?"  That week after they were gone, as we were silent and seeking Him, we heard Him asking that question and asking us to lay down our dreams, our plans, our future.

As I look into His face and listen to His sweet voice through His Word, I think what a privilege to be asked to join Him.  How merciful and gracious He is to us! 

¿Me acompañas? 

These have become my favorite words.

Where are we?

Still here!  I'm coming up for air.  We are still swimming in paperwork but I can see the transition area ahead (If you are not familiar with the triathlon, you have a transition area that you go to after the swim.  And then again after the bike.  It's where you get your bike and your running shoes.)

 (my first tri in 2008)

(Emily's first tri)

This adoption process feels kind of like a tri.  I have never done an Ironman (and really don't plan to at this point in my life) but I have done an Olympic and QuarterIron.  And I can say about both that it takes training, endurance, strength, perseverance, flexibility, and determination.  These same qualities I need as we navigate through the process of bringing 4 more kids home.

It's really kind of funny to see the look on people's faces when they find out we are adopting 4 kids....and that we already have three.  Mouths usually drop, eyes grow larger, and we either get, "Wow, you are crazy." or "I'll be praying for you" or "Wow, God is good."  That's my favorite.

God is good.

So why four more kids?  Why these kids?

You have to look back over my blog to see how God has moved.  Like when He showed me this verse last November

I Thessalonians 3:11

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you...

And last January I wrote about how I missed the son we do not know yet...

Everyday I think about him.  I don't know who he is yet and I don't know if he will come with siblings.  But I missed him on Christmas day when we were opening presents.  I missed him at church the other day when we got there a little late and had to sit on the second row.  (can you guess what kind of church I attend?) =)  We were all sitting there, all 5 of us, and I looked at the empty chair next to Wesley...missing him.

In March I shared about BIG DREAMS and how I finally came to my homeschool decision.  One of the reasons I wanted to start homeschooling this year was because I knew adoption was on the horizon....adoption of an older kid, maybe a sibling group, maybe from another country, and I wanted to have a year of homeschool under my belt before trying it new with everybody....whoever that everybody might be.

God was working on us and showing us many opportunities right here, right now to enlarge our family.  And we just started saying YES (yes there are 4 posts to that story!)

And we let Him say "No"

And He did say "no" or at least "not now" to a couple of opportunities.

Fast forward to July when we met 3 out of the 4.  How the girls shared a room with Emily and Wesley shared a room with the boy.

How quickly we bonded. 

How easily we loved.

Jeremy and I did not talk much about it the first week they were gone.  We knew we would make a decision soon but we needed to let everything sink in.  The day I put them on the plane to go back to Colombia, I came home and went to bed at 6:30 pm. 

It was hard to say good-bye. 

I really hate good-byes.

After a week of praying and listening, we knew.  Jeremy said he quit praying, "Lord, is this the right thing to do?" because he knew it was the RIGHT thing to do.  He started praying,

"Lord, give me the courage to do what you want me to do."

Like when we read stories in the Old Testament of God speaking to the Israelites and telling them to do something and they don't do it and we think, "You idiot!  Isn't it obvious?  Hello--God TOLD you."

Anyone reading our story, how it started as God opened our hearts to adoption the first time 5 years ago, how he gently started nudging again 3 years ago, how He showed us we could love an older child just as much as an infant.  So we pray and ask Him to show us where our children are and He.brings.them.to.our home! 

How could we say, "Oh, no these are not them.  Show us where our children are..."

Hmmm this post is getting long.  I have more to share but I need to get to bed.  Thanks for checking in and I will come again soon.

How's your dash?

Today I went to the funeral of a person we have done business with for several years.  Although we did not know this person up close and personal, we are friends with the family and enjoy working with them.  I am still pondering some things that was shared in the eulogy. 


One story the pastor shared was about a man and his son walking through a cemetery and talking about the names of family members that had passed on.  The boy asked his dad what the numbers meant, and he explained the first date was their birth and the second was the date of their death.  The boy continued his questioning with, "what does the dash mean?"  The father replied, "That's the most important part."

It got me thinking....

How is my dash?

When I am gone, what will people say about me? 
About my life?

God keeps bringing to my attention His words in Matthew.  When He does that--when He keeps showing me the same truth in different places through different people, songs, and sermons, I know I need to stop and listen.


"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6: 19-21). 

treasures in heaven

A blog friend of mine, calls each of her children "treasures".  I think about the orphans coming to spend 3 weeks with us in July.  Each one a treasure....


I pondered more during the eulogy as I listened to what his children and grandchildren said about him, I couldn't help but to wonder what my kids would say about me and my husband when we pass.  What would they remember?  What will they cherish when I'm gone?


In the same moment my mind (heart) went back to the kids we will have in our home in July who do not have a mom and dad.  They have no inheritance.  No family to make memories with.  No dad to teach them Eskimo kisses.  No mom to hold them when they hurt.  No parents to celebrate their successes, their birthdays, or just them.


As I left the funeral, I prayed that I would let loose of any earthly treasure.  That my treasure would be in heaven.  That my "dash" would glorify God--that I would fully love, fully trust, fully hope in Him.  And that I would feed Him, clothe Him, give Him water, and serve Him faithfully everyday, as I look into His face in "the least of these."

How's your dash?

BIG Dreams

OK--before I can tell you what God has been up to lately in our household, I have to fill you in....

I have some really big dreams.

And I am so glad I have a husband that listens to me, loves me even with my crazy ideas, and dreams with me.

These are a few of the things I dream about....

(gosh, where do I start????)

First some easy ones (which you know has been on my heart if you read some recent posts)

Restored marriage of new, dear friends

Opening our home to more children

through adoption,

foster care,

or just someone who needs a home for a while.

(like I am ready to buy bunk beds for each of the kids' rooms just to be ready.

Yeah, crazy, I know.)

Being able to homeschool

(this one is more complicated....I would like to homeschool and be really great at it, enjoy every minute of it, still be able to manage my job, not drop out of everything else in life, AND have time for myself.

is that possible?)

Taking new people on trips to Rwanda at least once a year to visit the orphans.

Having a guest room

Paying off Company debt--FAST.

(my husband is a builder and we used to think the worst thing that could happen is that we would have to sell a house for cost.....then we sold two spec homes for less than cost. 

OUCH!)

Seeing my loved one turn around, walk in TRUTH, and be used MIGHTILY by God to bring others into freedom.

OK--so those are a few of my really big dreams.  And I found out this last week that some of these things are connected to one another....
in a way.

I'm really excited to share what God is doing and feel so privileged that He let's us know. 

Psalm 32:8 says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." 

Stay tuned....
=)

Oh Brother

We are missing a brother. 

If you have ever longed for a child and couldn't or didn't have one at the time you had hoped, you will be familiar with that feeling of

missing someone.

It's a dull ache. 

Sometimes it's a big heartache.

Everyday I think about him.  I don't know who he is yet and I don't know if he will come with siblings.  But I missed him on Christmas day when we were opening presents.  I missed him at church the other day when we got there a little late and had to sit on the second row.  (can you guess what kind of church I attend?) =)  We were all sitting there, all 5 of us, and I looked at the empty chair next to Wesley...missing him.

I pray for him. 

I pray for him to be safe, to be well taken care of. 

I pray for him as he waits for a forever family,
as he waits for us. 

I pray that he puts his hope and trust in God.

I pray that God makes a way for us to be together. 

I pray for the days that we will first meet,

learn how to be a family,

learn how to love and trust one another. 

I'm learning some lessons here lately about building trust. 

Assurance. 

Setting boundaries.

(funny the thoughts our little dog has brought up since she showed up last week)

I really miss him! 

I see his face in my mind and the other night I dreamt about the day we meet and call him son. 

My prayer:

I Thessalonians 3:11

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you...

Would you pray with us and also pray for more families to open their hearts and homes to the orphan?