a treasure

Friends, I want to tell you about one of the greatest treasures that I have on this earth.

Her name is Meredith,

and she is one of the most incredible persons that you would ever want to meet.

Really.

Not only that, 

she just happens to be

my very best girl friend in all the world.

I'm telling you,

I am so blessed.

Meredith and I have known each other for 19 years.

19 years.

That's longer than either of us have known our husbands.

We met in CA.

We worked together.

We prayed together.

We've laughed together.

And we've cried together.

I was there right after she got her first tatoo (?!)

And after my boyfriend totally jilted me,

she went with me to get a tatoo

(okay, I chickened out on that one, but she was there, none-the-less).

In the year 2000, Meredith came to visit me in CO.

Our little guys had such a fun time together

(could they be any cuter?!)

Then, a couple of years later, she and her husband moved to CO (joy! joy! joy!).

She had another little boy,

and well, you know, we had a few more kiddos.

And our sons are the best of best friends.

And now, Meredith and her husband, Mike, are adopting a little girl from India!!!

I'm telling you, I couldn't be any more excited!!!

I so wish that I could tell you more of the story,

but suffice it to say that I'm totally in love with their little girl and can't wait to get my arms around her.

They are over-the-top excited,

and I know that they'd be grateful for any encouragement that you could offer them on this journey.

So, if you could jump on over to their blog

I'd be so very grateful.

I can hardly wait to tell you more of the story!

You're gonna love it!

His favor

I don't have to prove that I am worthy of love.  I am beloved of God.  His favor rests on me.

Henri Nouwen

Jesus' response (in the desert) teaches us that the only way we can position ourselves to see our promises fulfilled is by refusing to define ourselves according to anything but what God has said about us.

Bill Johnson

Do you know, dear ones, that the favor of God rests upon you, just as it rests upon His Precious Son, Jesus?

Do you know that there is nothing that you can do to earn His favor?

You already have that.

You already have the favor of God!

He loves you, just as you are.

He delights in you.

Rest in Him today.  Rest, in faith, upon His great love.

He is for you.  He is never against you.

He can be trusted.

And He loves you...

yes, you

with a love unimagineable. 

David Crowder - Glory of it all

filling in the blanks...

Our agency has been so incredible.
We are adopting the little girl of our hearts, because they were willing to go out on a limb to make it happen.
And they haven't collected
one
single
penny
for all of the work that they've done so far.

The agency suggested that we wait for approval from India before we started any of our paperwork.
Because
you know,
paperwork
costs
money.

But, we just can't wait.
And honestly, who cares about the money when you're talking about the precious life of a child.

Sooo...
the paperwork has begun...
phone calls
emails
filling
in
blanks...
many
many
many
blanks

I'm a little worn
a little tired.
But honestly,
I'm loving every minute of it!
(okay, okay, most every minute of it)

Little
steps
closer
to our beautiful girl :)

keeping me in line...

Ugh.
Our little Rosie-dog has a fungus on her stomach.
Not nice.

Adam and I were examining Rosemary's stomach when I told Adam that we might need to take Rosie to a groomer to get her stomach shaved.

"Mom, it seems like we're spending a lot of money.  Doesn't it cost a lot of money to go to the groomer?  How are we going to adopt R- if we keep spending money?"

hmmm....
good thing someone's keeping me in line.

I guess that I'll be getting the clippers out.
But don't blame me if this is the outcome...


(disclaimer: this is NOT our dog :) )

Good thing Rosie's so willing to sacrifice her beautiful looks for the sake of another precious kiddo. :)

Paperwork in Ind*a !!

Our agency confirmed that our paperwork is in Ind*a!



The appropriate government agency will review the paperwork and decide if our family can proceed with the adoption of our little treasure.  Please pray for favor and a quick response from the Ind*an government.  Our God is completely able!!

proud of you...

Lily is my question girl.  Last night, she asked the question, "What accomplishment are you the most proud of?" 

Right away, Yana responded, "Learning English," and I was reminded that my daughter has still had more years of hearing/speaking Russian than she has of speaking English.

Remarkable.

It's truly remarkable.

And sometimes I forget how much our children have to go through to become a part of our families.

Yana, I am proud of you, too, sweetheart.

You have learned so very much.

You are amazing.