Life Unexpected

I realized today that it has been almost a month since I last blogged.  While I wish I had awesome news or even some kind of glimmer of hope on our adoption, we find ourselves where we have been the past 15 months..still waiting.  In fact, several weeks ago we began the daunting task of re-doing our home study, our Dossier, and all the fun paperwork that goes along with that, because unfortunately, it has expired in our lengthy wait.  I am not going to lie, it has been a frustrating part of this journey.  In many ways, it feels as though we are walking in place, not getting anywhere.  On the flip side, we keep reminding ourselves that God has the ultimate plan, and we are believing in our hearts that this journey will have an end/new beginning in the months to come, when we finally get the call that we have been matched. This past month has somewhat been a whirlwind.  We started it with graduation celebrations and a big out of school bash with the youth group.  The following day,

Eleven years ago today, I married my very best friend.  I still remember meeting Nate for the first time when we  found ourselves on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College for preseason (soccer and volleyball) the fall of 1997.  We could have never dreamed that day all that we would experience in the years to come.  Our life story has been unexpected in every way, a story that only could be written by God himself. The past three days I have captured pictures in my memory of why I love my husband, Nate so much.  It started Thursday night as I walked in from worship team practice to Nate, sandwiched between the two little Ugandan girls we were hosting from the African Children's Choir, Faith and Dorcus, on the couch, reading bedtime stories.  That moment was priceless as I was reminded just how gifted Nate is with children. I captured another picture as Nate gathered us together in the living room, circling up to pray (a family tradition that was started by my grandmother)

This past Sunday, as we were celebrating as a church all that God had done over the past year, my heart felt overwhelmingly blessed.  I am not sure how to describe it, other than to say, I stood in my seat feeling incredibly grateful for the past year of my life.  We were singing the song, "You Have Been So Good," during worship, and again, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude at all that God has done in our lives over this past year.  Several years ago, when I was in an extremely broken place, I remember writing in my journal how angry those words made me feel.  I didn't feel like God was good, because he hadn't given me the one thing I kept asking for, a family.  This past Sunday, as I found myself not only singing, but belting out those words, "I came here broken...you made me whole.  You have been so good...you have been so good...you have been so good to me."  I couldn't help but think about the total transformation God has done in my heart dur