Life Unexpected

This past Monday, while setting up Advent Prayer Space for the church, one of my teens said to me, "I think you like to work."  This statement came after she had arrived early to the church to help set up, only to find that I had already set everything up.  I laughed and proceeded to tell her that I kind of went into panic mode earlier that day, afraid we might not get everything set up in time, and decided to do most of it myself.  She graciously put out the pens and cookies, and the other small jobs I had left for her, and we waited for people to arrive.  I keep thinking about that statement.  "I think you like to work."  The truth is, while I love my job, there are a lot of days that I struggle with whether or not I have done a good enough job.  And so I work.  There are days that I buy the lie that the more work I do, the more valuable I am.  The longer hours I put in, the more effective I will be.  The more activity in my life...

Yesterday I tweeted these words, "God rarely calls us to comfort and convenience, but rather a life of faith and trust (Debbie Eaton-She Reads Truth)."  Those words could not have been more spot on for where Nate and I are in our life right now, because, get ready for it...WE HAVE STARTED THE ADOPTION PROCESS AGAIN!!!! Even as I type those words, it still feels a little surreal to me.  What's not surreal is the fact that we sent our first big check today with our application fee, and we have officially started the process to adopt a child from INDIA.  We don't have any details, we haven't been matched, and we are just in the beginning stages of what will most likely be a 12-18 month process.  We will be assigned a family service coordinator in the next few weeks and will then begin the daunting process of preparing another Dossier (which will include another home study). Over the past year, we have been praying that God would open the door for us to adopt ag...