Merry Christmas!

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,

God with us.  Matt 1:23

 

GOD with us.

God WITH us.

God with US.

 

It can't get any better than that!

Blessings to you & yours this amazing season!

Much to be thankful for

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving...2 families in 4 days, including 2 extended family gathering and 2 home churches and lots of great time with grandparents and cousins!  And Ellyana got to celebrate her birthday with both sets of grandparents!  Here she is thrilled to be getting the princess dolls she had been wanting!

 We got to meet my sister's family as we crossed paths with them on the road.  It was so fun to see them again & we had to say it couldn't have been a better place to meet.  Monical's (one place we do not have around here)...delicious pizza, awesome salad, and free refills at the fountain machine right next to our table.  They even had a caffeine-free diet coke...we thought it was pretty close to a dream come true!

 Ellyana got to celebrate her birthday with her cousin and a beautiful princess cake!

 And out of our extended family gatherings on Thursday and this one on Saturday...getting to see lots of family, the kids having so much fun at both places...this is the only picture I have....snack time at the last event.  Guess it shows we were having too much fun to stop and take pictures ;)

 And it is fun that Thanksgiving rolls into Christmas.  It is a good way to start the season.  The kids are big helpers by now...which is another thing I am thankful for.

 BJ & Zach both won their age-divisions for the Family Free-throw contest.  It helps that their dad's score counts toward theirs. 

 And BJ's class worked hard on their Sweet Shop. 4th grade was such a cute age to do this...they were so enthused.  They each made treats to sell to the other kids in the school.  The best part was that all the money was used to buy gifts for needy families.  Love getting to see the kids so excited to do something for others...they raised over $1000.

 It was cute to see Zach's class come into buy treats.  And here is Ellyana in BJ's teacher's hat...enjoying a treat.

We have much to be thankful for and as we look ahead to a lowly manger, a Star in the East, wisemen, angels...we think of JESUS...so thankful HE is the REASON for the SEASON!

Free to be 3 (again)

However you look at it...we are #3 again.  Yes...September, October and November numbers on the wait list are #3.

After last month's few days of feeling down about our unmoving wait-list numbers...God reminded me of a few things...

#1  I want to purpose in my heart to "Wait Well".  We try to do everything in our lives "well" and waiting can be one of those things.

#2 I have said it many, many times...but I was hugely reminded in it that God has the timing coming together...perfectly...for Him to match us with just the right baby girl for our family.

#3  Expectations come back to bite...everytime...yes, just letting go of the hoping that we would have our referral by Christmas...was actually so freeing.

#4  Those ladies who ask me everyday if we heard anything...the one asks because her daughter in another state...asks her everyday if we have heard anything...the daughter was recently diagnosed with MS and it is a JOY for her to think about us adopting...I was so convicted how is my conversation with that mom? Am I showing the light and hope of Jesus even in the "waiting"?

And here are a few things that showed up to re-ground me in the "waiting" last month...
"Never in our wait is God inactive. We have to trust that if ever He calls us to wait on Him , something is up . Something is happening in the Heavenlies. Things on earth are coming into the will of things in Heaven." "If we are waiting on the "event" we will lose our strength, but if we wait upon the Lord with expectancy and anticipation, our strength will be renewed" taken from Beth Moore's study on Esther

And we had a sermon in church about Mary and Martha thinking Jesus was late because while they waited...Lazarus died...and yet, Jesus had tarried so that His glory would be revealed.  Amazing song was referenced with Mary and Martha's feeling toward the wait...

But You're four days late And all hope is gone

Lord we don't understand why you've waited so long

But His way is God's way Not yours or mine

When He's four days late

He's still on time

So for right now...we are OK with the wait.  I'm sure we will have to work through it all again at some point coming up.  But for this month...there is peace in waiting (because He is working :)