Waiting for One More

Some have asked, "How can you love him so deeply, if you have never seen his face?" "How can you love him so deeply, if you don't even know his name?" It is hard to put into words. It is similar, I guess, to the love I felt for our girls as they were growing in my womb. Long before they got a name. Long before that first sonogram. Long before I heard a heartbeat. Love.  It is similar, I guess, to the love I feel for our baby in heaven, a baby we never got to hold.  A baby who visits me in our dreams, a child I will have to wait till heaven to meet.  Love.  It is similar, I guess, but still hard to fathom. Hard to understand. We love him.  He is our son.  We might not know his name. I might not know what he looks like.  I might not know the sound of his voice. But God does.  He knows the child chosen for our family.  His voice.  His smile.  His heart.  And ...

After waiting for a month, we finally got our fire inspection by the fire marshal! We passed!  (This is the face of happy parents who are one step closer to bringing our son home from Haiti.)  We are so blessed. I was a bit annoyed he didn't check the water heater... (I scrubbed all around there).  Or our extension cords (we organized and labeled everything!) Or even opened a window for emergency exits! But hey- we passed!! And as long as the paper says that clearly, we are ready to go! Next step- home inspection! Thank you for your prayers this morning!! God is good! 

I am so thankful that Eden has a heart for Haiti.  Her school will be welcoming a Haitian preist next week and they wanted a little information about Haiti and Eden shared! I love her heart for God's people around the world. I love the way her compassion has made it so she loves her brother's country deeply. We are so blessed. #waitingforonemore #bishopfamilyadopts #bethegood

Either everything is a miracle, or nothing is.  -Einstein This week, in worship, I am preaching on expecting miracles.  A miracle is a surprising and welcome event hat is not explicable by scientific or nature's laws.  A miracle is God's presence in ours midst.  A miracle is the grand movement of God's people working together for Kingdom purpose.  This week, I got to watch a miracle.  Check out this blog:  http://momastery.com/blog/ It is long. But so worth it.  And be sure to read past the UPDATE. God's people coming together to bring about Kingdom work.  A miracle.  For Mommas and their babies in Haiti.  For Syrian Mommas and their babies. We have experienced so many miracles in our journey so far.  Miracles of generosity.  Miracles of prayer.  Miracles in moments when we needed it most.  Miracles that humbled us and inspire us and call us to live as...

This week hasn't been great.  After the sudden death of a college student we have loved since he was just a toddler,  and people we love in the hospital,  and not such helpful news from the doctor about my elbow injury,  and the pile of crappy-ness growing... It hasn't been a great week.  In fact, it has sucked.  One of those weeks you wish you could start over.  One of those weeks you wish didn't happen.  But there have been some light spots.  Moments of joy with our girls.  Glimpses of heaven in the kindness of Christian community.  And amazing progress in our adoption.  (Mailing off the paperwork part of our home study!) (Carrying the special book with us - it keeps us sane!)  (Fingerprinting smiles!) And the gift of each one of you! Thank you for helping to bring our son home - through your prayers and your gifts! We are so blessed by our BIG GOD FAMIL...

Part of the difficulty of navigating this process is all the different places we have to go to get paperwork done!  (At the office to get fingerprinting done.) If it was all in one place, it would be easy. But the variety of places is part of the challenge, never quite sure if we are in the right place. (Our book! Without this we would be lost!!) Thankful for all of the people who help to make this happen! There are so many hands who are helping to bring our son home! We are thankful!! #bethegood #bishopfamilyadopts #waitingforonemore

While the poverty is overwhelming,  and the plight of orphans heartbreaking,  Chris and I have a deep love of Haiti and the Haitian people.  Haiti is a beautiful country.  From the shores, to the mountains, to the brightly colored cities. Beautiful. Haiti has beautiful people. Genuine. Passionate. Industrious. Determined for a better way.  Beautiful.  Which is why it is vital for us to teach our girls about the beauty of Haiti.  We have talked about the poverty. We have talked about the number of orphans.  We have talked about the urgent need.  But we want them to also love Haiti, the way we do.  We want them to love the country of their brother's birth.  So we have these books in our living room book basket.  Here are some great titles: Mommy, Tell Me About Haiti by Jeanine Agnat, Educa Vision, and Alexandra Barbot (in Creole too) Tap - Tap by Karen Lynn William...