Loving October

This has got to be one of the best months of the year. I love when the weather changes, and you wake up actually cold in the mornings. I love wrapping my hands around my hot cup of coffee each morning and making hot chocolate for the kids. I love football and watching my kids' soccer games and eating apples.

On one lame note: my kids still do not have pumpkins. I know! Lame.

Here is a glimpse of our week so far:

Caleb lost his first tooth! On Monday, October 19, we were at a birthday party, rock climbing at an indoor climbing wall. Caleb accidentally hit his mouth against his rope, and POP! Out came the tooth. He was so excited, so thrilled that it didn't hurt, and then he saw the blood. That didn't go so well, but a quick call to Daddy at work made him feel much better.

Ezra is sick today. I kinda like it. He just lays there with me, and puts his head on my shoulder.
Marie LOVES to take care of her little brother!
And one just for fun!

Voice of Truth

This weekend was a time of rest for me, and I thank God for it. Joel took the two oldest blessings on a retreat with our church, and I headed west with the younger two to visit a dear friend and her two beautiful blessings. We got there and it was cold, wet, and windy.

She fed us lunch, and we sat in front of her roaring fireplace and talked, laughed, poured out our hearts about all that God is doing in our lives. Most of it unexpected and hard, but we both see God's hand at work, drawing us closer to Himself. And while her set of circumstances is different than mine, they are still circumstances that she would not have chosen for herself. And somehow, over our hot chocolate, in sharing our broken dreams with each other, we found rest and healing, even though nothing really changed.

Friends are a gift. Thank You, God, that we do not walk alone. Thank You that through others, we can hear Your voice of truth.

Umbrella of God

It has been two full weeks since my last post, indicating that things have w-a-y slowed down in terms of our adoption process. Our dossier, our beloved load of paperwork, is where it needs to be for now, and we wait. It is a restful place to be. There is nothing I can do now to hurry the process along, nothing depends on me. I feel like I am under the umbrella of God's protection.

As far as other things go, Joel and I are in a place we didn't expect to be. Has God ever done that to you? We had so many things planned out, so many ideas. And God just says, no! We have been confused, saddened, disappointed, asking where do we go from here. We are asking God "What now?", and sense He is saying, "Rest. Wait. Pray. Be."

Here we are God, under Your umbrella of protection again. It is a safe place to be.

As only God can do, He has encouraged me through other blogs, books, believers. One of my greatest fears is that God would leave this situation unredeemed, unrestored, in its current state. That would seem like such a waste. But that is not Who God is. He is THE Redeemer. I found these lyrics on another blog I love and read (teamalexander.blogspot.com). They are sung by the group Selah, and I thought if they meet me where I am, maybe they will meet you, too.

UNREDEEMED
The cruelest world
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every lie that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed

Places where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle
The Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed