• God’s Timing

    God’s Timing

    Yesterday, as I leisurely watched my kiddos splash & play in the local swimming hole- my phone rang. It was our agency. My heart stopped and I held my breath. It had been exactly a week since they had confirmed receipt of our dossier. A friend, who is several steps ahead of us with her…

  • When You’re Funding An Adoption…

    When You’re Funding An Adoption…

    I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: International adoption is crazy expensive. We have a few friends who have quietly, privately funded their adoption solely from their personal savings. More often, however, adoption becomes a true community effort, with family and friends rallying and supporting adoptive families: participating in fundraisers, providing grant reference letters,…

  • Tempus Fugit

    Tempus Fugit

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    I captured this moment in time today on my phone while on a quick My-Kids-Are-Used-To-Three-Recesses-A-Day stroll through our neighborhood. For the past year or more our beloved wagon has been relegated to backyard toy storage, but this afternoon our exuberant second born decided it was time to dust it off and take it for a…

  • A Grand Gesture

    A Grand Gesture

    God waited until the Egyptians were in hot pursuit, nipping at their heels, before slashing the sea in half, revealing an escape route for the Hebrew slaves. God didn’t protect Daniel from the lion’s den, but allowed him to be cast to the ravenous, captive predators and instead supernaturally bound their mouths preventing them from…

  • Learning From My Kids

    Learning From My Kids

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    One of the coolest things about being a parent is the opportunity to learn from our children. God has used motherhood to teach and refine me a million times over. Like this kid. She’s turning six this week. Already, she teaches me. One of the things I admire most about her is her unbridled zeal…

  • Bittersweet

    Bittersweet

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    From outward appearances, it would seem that New Sister [whom we are working hard to bring home from China] is our third daughter. But she’s not… she’s actually our fourth. Our third daughter is already in Heaven. Alexa Rose was born still, on this day in 2008, after a routine obstetrics visit and ultrasound determined…

  • Wrestling

    Wrestling

    Wrestling is one of the oldest forms of recorded combat. A primal sport, pitting opponents against each other without the support of teammates. The sport is grueling, requiring both physical and mental endurance and entire body strength. Husband is an accomplished wrestler, having trained and competed year-round since the tender age of five, and achieving…

  • Nesting

    Nesting

    I have several friends currently expecting- both the “old fashioned” way and the adoption way. And let me tell you: Nesting is a very real phenomenon. When we were expecting our first baby, I manically scoured our house… the scrubbing of the tile led to the detailing of the baseboards, which led to running the…

  • Baraka

    Baraka

    This was the Dyula [joo-lah] word I heard more often than any other during the month I spent in Burkina-Faso, West Africa in 2011. On the women’s service trip that I participated in, serving widows and teaching them a trade by which to provide for themselves and thereby avoid falling into prostitution, my biggest take…