Hurry up and wait . . .

Our current adoption journey status fits nicely with today's title...Hurry up and wait...a phrase that I am reminded of as I think about my nephew, Josh, who began basic training at Fort Knox a few weeks ago. Unless the Army has changed its entire culture in 20 years, he is thinking this quote quite often. Our family experienced some of the same as we wrapped up the initial phases of our paper pregnancy. As reported previously, 7 months worth of copy this, complete that, read this, write that, authenticate those ended in March and now we wait. Still waiting. And more waiting to come.

By the way, Josh, we are soooo proud of you and pray for you often...hang in there buddy.

Now that the wait has begun, it has been interesting to sit down, take a couple of deep breaths and reflect on what the last year has meant for us. What an amazing opportunity and experience this particular walk with Christ has been. God could very easily take care of our/His little girl all by Himself, but thankfully He chose to include little bitty us in His plans. We get the opportunity live out James 1:27...WOW, what a blessing and a privilege, the depth and breadth of which we have only just begun to experience and imagine.

While we have known from the beginning how wonderful and crazy this journey would be, what we may have underestimated is the size of the fire He has stoked in our hearts through this process. There is so much more that we could and should be doing...He is stirring something more in our hearts and we are trying our best to sit still and listen. What it is, when it is, how it is to be...we have no idea...but something is there. Please continue your prayers, as right now that's all we know to do.

Marice and I had the awesome opportunity yesterday to sit with our Pastor and another waiting family from Church and have a conversation about our respective adoption journeys. Somehow, they are going to edit out the words muffled by choking back tears and the occasional sarcasm and wit (brought on by our Pastor of course...not me) and whittle nearly two hours of amazing testimony down to a 4 minute video to be shared at Church on Orphan Sunday (11/8). Should be exciting...I simply pray that we (I) didn't get in the way of what God wants to say !

With that, we'll sign off for now. We love you all and thank you for your prayers...they are felt.

Divin' In...in more ways than one

Blog updates have taken somewhat of a backseat for the past month or so...what with Spring Break, two very exciting concert experiences and the beginning of 7-year old Summer baseball. We had a great Spring Break week of wild fun and some relaxation in Gulf Shores...a bit unseasonably chilly, but a cool day at the beach is better than a...well, you know. Trevor and his very courageous, dedicated father braved the low 70's-some-odd degree Gulf waters and went wading chest deep to "swim" in the waves. Yeah, that was a whole bunch of fun. :) "So sink or swim we're divin' in." Brandon had a big time on his first trip to the beach, where he played in what he called the "snow" (sand) all day and the pool all night. And, oh yeah, he got out of the habit of enjoying sleeping in his own bed. On a brighter note, though, his and Marcie's seashell hunting was a big hit and his vase full of shells stands in our living room as a proud reminder of this accomplishment. Thanks for a great week Nana and Papa!

A few weeks later we had the awesome privilege of seeing Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith (the United Tour) at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. What an amazing night of entertainment and worship with these guys...and Mary Beth sat down right across the aisle from us! And since we enjoyed that night so much...and because sometimes our great God has a wonderful sense of humor...we saw the same concert two nights later in Paducah. Nashville was special, being their current hometown and all, but Paducah showed some serious love for their "original hometown boy". Now THAT was an amazing night of worship...celebration...tears...awesome. We were blessed to have Trevor and Karla share this one with us...and Steven even acknowledged Trevor and his homemade sign. But the most fun/special time at the Paducah show was the opportunity to volunteer with the wonderful folks from Show Hope, Steven & Mary Beth's orphan care/adoption foundation. Trevor went early and stayed waaaaay past his bedtime to help us (sorry Mrs. Carner). As you can see by the picture, he was pretty worn out. The week was far more special than any words we could come up with to describe it. We will simply say thanks to the One and the other ones who provided the opportunity for us. With all that has transpired in our lives the past year or so, we can definitely say this week that we have never felt more secure and faithful in our decision to follow God's will and begin the process of uniting with our own little Cinderella. Closer every day baby girl...we love you and we will see you soon. God Bless!

We have a LID ! ! !

No, we didn't get a new hat....we received our Log-in-Date with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA)! In all His infinite wisdom, God decided our annual two weeks of celebration between two most special occasions - Brandon's birthday and Trevor's birthday (with a couple of very special dates in between) - needed to be extended. So now, every year until we are united with our daughter, we will celebrate March 20, 2009 as our place in line for that most special occasion. What a week! It started Sunday, which was appropriately titled "Adoption Sunday" at FBC Paducah, with a kick-off event to empower our congregation's heart for adoption. Amazing message of the Gospel and Adoption that morning...and a chance to have lunch with the guest speaker/pastor and our own pastoral staff that afternoon. Had a chance to see Lucy, the executive director of our adoption agency at the church luncheon, as well as meet Emily face-to-face for the first time (she is the agency's China coordinator). Hugs and smiles all around! And now a LID...wow! God is so good and He is in control! Thank you for your prayers.