birthday baba

Happy 35th Birthday to my sweet husband.

You have been my rock and source of so much joy.

I cannot imagine a better baba for our daughter.

full house, full heart

I always love it when my college girls can find an excuse to get together. With us being so spread out, it only happens due to the holidays or a big life event. We used to all come together when one of us got married. Now, it's babies!

Kris flew in from Colorado to be showered with gifts for their little one. Crazy thing is, no one knows if it's a boy or a girl. I don't know how she and Justin are doing it, but they've decided to wait to find out.

 So, we had a little fun with our own guesses.

I'm sticking with pink, as it seems to be the trend with us girls so far. Time will tell who's right.

Now that the weekend is over and our house is empty (every bedroom and even our couch was occupied at some point), I'm a little sad. I always get this way when everyone goes back to their different cities and states after some quality time together. But my heart is so full. It's rewarding to see how the Lord has worked in each of our lives and continues to prove Himself faithful. He's up to big things and it's fun to watch.

For more photos of our fun weekend, visit Erin's version of our celebrating!

promised land

I want to start this post by saying the Lord has not "promised" Andy and me a successful adoption. He has not even promised us children. However, we strongly feel led down this path and are moving forward in great expectation. We believe this is what He has for us.

Several days ago I was reading in Deuteronomy, which I've really been enjoying, and was struck by a verse. If you've spent any time in the Bible, you'll notice that the same passage can hit you differently at different times in your life (part of the miracle of God's word). This one really got my attention and I'm convinced the Lord was speaking to me. It jumped off the page.

10 The land you are entering to take up ownership isn't like Egypt, the land you left, where you had to plant your own seed and water it yourselves as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. 12 It's a land that God, your God, personally tends - he's the gardener - he alone keeps his eye on it all year long.
Deuteronomy 11:10-12 (The Message)

Before last March, our attempt to build a family felt like Egypt. It was hard. It was fruitless. And just plain emotionally exhausting. Adoption has always, always, always been our hearts. But we had a different plan as to how and when we would get there. When God finally got our attention last March and told us it was time to begin searching for our Chinese daughter, things began to just make sense. I feel as though we, like the Israelites in this passage, are finally about to head into our promised land. It's not like the land we left. Sure, it will be a land of mountains and valleys, but it's a land where God is the gardener - NOT us. And that is a land I much prefer to the one we try to make for ourselves. His ways are always better.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

this time last week...

Andy and I were recovering from a weekend with friends.

We had been up to our eyeballs (okay, maybe our toes) in snow,

 too much great food,

and lots and lots of cuteness. 

This was our second "Supper Club Beech Mountain" experience and our group has grown a little since last time. We might just need a larger house if we ever do this again as the kids are about to outnumber the adults! There were 8 of us "grown ups" and 7 "littles". And of course, as always these days, we were wishing our little one was there to join in on the fun. One of these days!

adoption is sweet

See this girl on the left? Her name's Diana and her heart is one of the biggest I know.

So big, she decided to bake over 350 cupcakes for Valentine's. All in the name of adoption.

The proceeds went to our church's new adoption fund. And the cupcakes? They were mm mm good!

Thanks Diana for showing us one of the many ways anyone can support adoption!

still here

I have neglected posting much these last several weeks due to, well, life - the hard, the good and the just plain everyday stuff.

Hard stuff: Andy lost a good friend and fellow-entrepreneur, Tom Coble, in a private plane crash on Jan 20th. Tom was a long-time client as well so Andy spent the next week helping the family with press releases, speeches, some funeral planning, etc. It was such an honor for him to help and, as you can imagine, quite jolting to suddenly lose someone so tragically. It has been a good reminder to us on a couple of levels. One, to remember who is control of our every breath. We are not promised tomorrow nor are our loved ones. I've personally found myself wanting to cling a little tighter and be a little kinder to Andy.  Second, to make the days we do have count. Tom was one of the most generous people I've ever met. He made a lot of money. But boy did he ever give a lot. It's interesting too, how after someone passes away, you start to really learn about who they were. My favorite story was of how Tom's wife, Debby had been praying for a certain South American country for years. So, one year for her birthday he put up the money to place a radio tower in that country so that the people there could get the Bible Broadcast Network! Tom had close ties to adoption too. His daughter and son-in-law run a ministry in Panama, helping to free orphans there. Matt and Misty have adopted two precious children in the process, making Tom their pawpaw.

Good stuff: Andy and I were able to get away last Tuesday to the mountains for some much needed planning, R&R and time with friends. We got to our cabin Tuesday night and awoke to fresh snow Wednesday morning. Being that our winter has felt like spring (which I love), it was nice to finally see some snow. After all, that's what you hope for while in the mountains in the winter! It all melted by Friday, perfect timing for our friends to get there safely, then started snowing again late Friday night! God was so good to us in the timing of it all. We got around 3 inches on Saturday and were able to get in some good sledding.

Plain everyday stuff: Taxes. Taxes. Taxes. This consumed much of my time in January and early February. Getting everything ready for our accountant (personal and businesses combined), is always so time-consuming. I was more prepared this year and got it done earlier than usual. But still. It just took time.

All this to say, I haven't had much time for any adoption updates. But there really hasn't been anything to update. This is a new month and we're hoping for some news in a week or two. Please continue to pray for us as we wait. It definitely is getting harder each and every month. But we're hopeful and continuing to trust in His will for our lives. And our daughter's. Perhaps this will be the month we see her little face.

wildolivetees.com

I love these t's and this ministry!