Birthdays, Pigtails, and the Bigger Picture

It's been a week of mixed emotions.  Last Sunday was my 33rd birthday.  Yes, the secret is out...I am 33 years old and I still wear pig tails (although my sister, Kristen, sent me a birthday card this week that said "Pigtails are just about as much fun as hair can have.  They're like a party on your head.  It's your birthday.  Wear the pigtails!").  I had an amazing birthday.  It pre-started with a visit from my sister and brother-in-law and my two nieces for a day of hiking last Saturday.  It carried on into Sunday celebrating with some friends, and eventually ended with my parents making the trek up here to celebrate as well.  Nate handmade me the most amazing gift, a long board paddle (you'll have to look that one up), that I had no idea I was getting.  Even my volleyball girls surprised me the day after with flowers at our game.  It was a great birthday.

But, if I am going to be honest, I envisioned 33 a little different.  I remember my last birthday thinking, "this will be the last birthday I have without kids.  Next year at this time, we will have our little family.  Well, life unexpected is the title of our blog, and life unexpected is what we live!  I had the chance to go out to lunch with my Dad last week, who described my blog as "painful to read" at times.  He went on to say that he too has cried out to God exclaiming, "Are you going to come through on this one?"  I am so thankful that I have people along this journey, much like my Dad, who are willing to enter into the pain with us, carrying some of the burden that we carry every day, lifting us up in prayer.  It has meant the world.

The past 5 years of our journey, I have pictured coming into practice one day and "celebrating" with the girls I coach that we are finally going to have a family.  Last year at this time, I was sure that it was going to happen during the season...we would get our call...and we would celebrate.  This season, as we started out, I believed the very same thing, until we got the call that once again our wait time had been extended and we would most likely not be matched until 2013 (although I am strongly praying for a Christmas miracle yet again!).  That's what made Wednesday really difficult.  It was the day that my friend who I coach with, got to share her exciting news with the team that she was pregnant.

Those are moments that I find challenging...teaching me to draw on not my own strength, but the strength of the one who knows me, calls me by name, and has the ultimate plan.  This past week I read Psalm 27:13 that says, "I am still confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  WAIT FOR THE LORD; BE STRONG and take heart and WAIT FOR THE LORD."  I believe strength is found in the waiting and that we can be confident that there is a bigger picture that has not yet been revealed, one that will stop us in our tracks it is that amazing!

Nate and I spent yesterday in Silver Spring, MD, where we learned it has the second highest Ethiopian population next to Ethiopia itself.  We had gone searching for an Ethiopian grocery store and wound up finding a whole Ethiopian community.  We fell in love with a little coffee shop that we had breakfast in and then later went back to for lunch.  As we were sitting sipping coffee, there was a little boy about 5 years old sitting at a table with his father.  I looked over as his dad was feeding him the Ethiopian cuisine.  The little boy looked at Nate and I and waved.  I couldn't help but imagine the day when we would find ourselves sitting in a little coffee shop in Ethiopia with our forever family.  It was almost as though we got to catch a glimpse of the picture that hasn't yet been revealed.  We believe that day is coming soon...we are expectant we will see the goodness of the Lord...and so we wait.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 14, 2012 at 7:58 PM

    Andrea...I am forever in awe of ur faith and commitment to God. When I hear about ur adventures with the youth, or Nate, and read ur blogs my heart is touched and I yearn for the type of ferverent and all encompassing love that u have for Him. While my faith is strong I see urs as a reflection of what I hope to achieve. I can't imagine the void that u still have to teach and fill a childs heart with the love and passion u have for Jesus. I don't know God's will but I pray that he will bless u and Nate with the gift of parenthood. I pray He will soon entrust u His good and faithful servants with one of His own to love and guide until His return. Yours truly, Tiffany (Hannah's mom).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrea and NateOctober 15, 2012 at 6:44 PM

    Tiffany...thank you so much for you kind words! That means more than you know. We love having Hannah in youth group. Thanks again for your encouragement:)

    ReplyDelete

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