Life Unexpected

Last night was the first time I had been home at night in awhile. For those of you who don't know, I coach volleyball at a local high school (have been for the past 5 years), and it is a huge part of my life. On top of that, I find myself in a busy season of life with youth ministry. I woke up this morning and was journaling and began to think about some of the things in my life that I am overwhelmed with. I know I wrote a little bit about it last night, but the reality is, my life is going to drastically change when we get our call, and some days that scares me. It's a weird dynamic...we have waited a long time (6+ years) to have a family. Trust me, I am ready! On the flip side Nate and I have been married for 10 years, I am getting ready to turn 32 next week, and we have lived life by ourselves with the exception of Big Al living with us, a little 5 lb dog! I was sitting praying for God to just bring peace and order to the chaos of my life and thanking him for his pres

Today I was sitting in my office looking for some ideas for a mission trip theme, when I stumbled across a Google image of a white woman who looked to be about my age with two African children. I immediately began to cry (partly because it's been a ridiculous couple of weeks and I am tired, and partly because the thought of bringing home our children from Ethiopia overwhelms my heart). We are just about to finish our 8th month on the wait list, which is crazy. That means that we could get a call any day (even though they say it's going to be at least a year, I like to think that maybe God will surprise us in some way). It's unbelievable to think we have already waited 8 months. I keep thinking how crazy it is going to be when we get that call. That thought is overwhelming... Last weekend we had the opportunity to set up a booth for our adoption at my parents' Fall Fest they had at church. We sold about 175 cake pops, a bunch of Ethiopian bracelets, book marks, and

So I had a total meltdown in church this morning. I have felt like I have been doing pretty well in this whole waiting process, but to be honest, there are some days where the wait just gets to the deepest part of my heart. We were singing the song "Hungry" in worship right before I was to get up to do the Pastoral Prayer. Here are the lyrics to that song: Hungry, I come to you For I know You satisfy I am empty, but I know Your love does not run dry So I wait for you So I wait for You I’m falling on my knees Offering all of me Jesus, You’re all this heart is living for Broken, I run to You For Your arms are open wide I am weary, but I know Your touch restores my life So I wait for you So I wait for You I’m falling on my knees Offering all of me Jesus, You’re all this heart is living for I just felt completely broken this morning. You know when the life is sucked out of you, you start that "hyper ventilating" crying, where you can't control yourself? That wa

This past weekend my family was involved in a wedding out in Ohio. It was the wedding of one of my cousins, and she had asked my sister to sing, and my Dad and I to "officiate" the ceremony. This was the first time my Dad and I actually got to do a wedding together, so I was pretty excited. My excitement quickly turned to nervousness when my Dad told me that I was going to do my part in Spanish. While I have been studying Spanish on my own (dying to speak it fluently), the reality is I DON"T SPEAK FLUENTLY! Well, it actually went awesome. I read everything out of a little notebook my Dad had created for me, and it ended up being a lot of fun...my first debut with my Dad and my first debut doing it in Spanish! Although speaking Spanish was one of the highlights, the bigger highlight was spending time with my 4 year old niece Emma, and my cousin's 6 year old daughter Maddie. My sisters had "conveniently" chose to fly to Ohio, and left my Dad and I to f