After the Clouds...

Isn't God funny? And faithful? Just as I posted about feeling cloudy God showed me a new perspective. I've learned that is such a part of His nature, in His goodness He never condemns us for seeing only our problems, but scoops us up into His lap and everything changes. Proverbs 16:15 In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. With every turn there is hope and redemption. The clouds are clouds of peace, and after the clouds are the spring rain. His rains always fall in season. He does not miss a thing. And He has not missed our daughter, or the timing of our adoption. We are still in that cloudy place, but I have renewed hope. I have wonderful friends who encourage me love my daughter(s). I so look forward to knowing more details in this journey. We are praying specifically right now to have a very clear direction of what step to take next in our journey. Some events and details we have become aware of have possibly changed our course and left us thankfully open to whatever God has in store. We hope to know more this week and I promise to update you all when we know more details. Right this minute I'm lonely for my youngest daughter. I want to snuggle with her, and tell her every single day, every time I leave the room that I love her. That we chose her, that she is our hearts desire. So many thoughts cross my mind about adoption and people's reactions are so all over the board. Sometimes I just want to shout out loud "She is our FIRST choice!". She, whoever she is, whatever color her skin is, whatever condition her heart is in, whatever condition she lives in,She is ours, she is who she is and what we are longing for. Sweet baby pearl, we are coming for you. Everyday we talk about you, your sister Bitty tells me that when I close the door at night she prays for you before drifting off to sleep. You've already changed our worlds and expanded our hearts. We are so honored to be chosen as your family, and we will walk in faith until we hold you in our arms. You are forever loved.

Announcing...The Beloved Collection

I am so excited to be announcing our newest adventure in adoption. FUNDRAISING! In the past weeks as I've felt called to do something to work towards bringing our baby girl home I've prayed and tried to think of creative ideas to fundraise. So many of the suggestions I found just didn't feel like me...So I decided to take something I love and have fun creating something beautiful, all while helping bring our baby home. Who doesn't love jewelry, right?! As for the name...My greatest purpose and joy in life is in my identity of a daughter of the King. I really think His heart is simple for us, for us to Be Loved, he in fact calls us His Beloved. The Collection will have some fun, handmade pieces with re-purposed vintage beads.

There will also be some more handmade,but glamourous options...

Also included will be a limited collection of one-of-a-kind vintage jewels!

Stay tuned for more jewels coming!

Where we are...and How we got there

Everything about my mama heart wants to be moving. Wants to be actively walking, no running towards my youngest baby girl. But I am learning that adoption involves so much waiting. We are experiencing encouragement and peace in our waiting at the moment, but Im learning that there are many emotions that are a part of peace. I know that God has us in His cloud of peace, but frankly at the moment it does feel cloudy. We officially started our home study Monday and hit a bit of a bump in the road. What we thought this journey would look like might be very different. But we know that God is good, all of the time, and His plans are always better. So that is where we sit today, in a cloud of peace. Not knowing the next step, not clearly seeing a path set before us, but trusting He will show us when it is time to know. I feel like every ounce of control I thought I had over this situation was stripped from me and I'm once again re-posturing myself in a hands-open place of surrender. Adoption is so beautiful, but so very different than a biological pregnancy, where I could touch my tummy knowing my baby was safe, being nurtured, warm, and happy. I am believing that God will hold our baby girl until we can, but Im still working through the flesh in me just so needing to know she is safe. Bitty suggested that when I want to feel our baby I should touch my heart instead of my tummy. What a sweet, smart girl I have.

I debated even blogging today, but this journey for me is about being transparent and full of joy, so sharing the waiting, the unknown and expectation for His goodness is all a part of it. For those of you praying, we would love for you to believe with us for God to reveal His plan for our family in a very clear and tangible way and to move in ways only He can. So that is where we are...Living in the unknown for now, but focusing our eyes on what is unseen. How about how we got here. So many people ask me how we decided to adopt. My answer feels cliche but honestly I think we always knew somehow that we would adopt. Its been in our hearts for a long time, and recently we had the joy of walking through an adoption with dear friends. We were able to stand with them in the moment their son was placed in their arms and we were never the same. We have had a deep revelation of what it means as believers to be adopted into God's family and the spirit of sonship is life altering. It has been for us and we are believing that bringing our baby girl home will impart the joys of being a daughter of the King to all who meet her. Oh I just got so excited thinking about meeting our baby. I will share more about our journey to this point in a later post, but in the nature of keeping it real who wants to see some out-takes of our adoption announcement photo shoot? I could use a laugh :)

We choose Joy!

Well hello there. It has been awhile. Be patient with me as I ease back into the blogging world. Since I last blogged my life has become even sweeter. There were times I wanted to jump back into blogging over the years, but catching up is too much. So instead of catching up, lets jump right into the present :) We are in a season of our lives where we are embracing the fullness, the abundance of joy and peace that Jesus gave His life for. We are stepping out in faith to embark on this adoption journey, trusting that as we pursue the Father's heart He will provide. There is so very much unknown at this point, and many people seem to focus on the unknown as they ask us about the start of this journey to our new baby girl. I want to address many of those questions, and I never want to downplay the way they ache in me...Where is she? Who is her birth mother? When will she be in my physical arms? All of the unknown is so overwhelming. So hear me that I will try my best to answer questions as they arise. But we've settled into our little family doing things a little differently over the past few years. And I'd be lying if I did not say we are approaching adoption and this journey differently. We can choose to be overwhelmed with the unknown, that is real and can hit us in the face if we let it. Or we can chose to believe Jesus, that his word is true, that he has come so we may experience life and life to the full. This adoption, this journey will be full....Full of Joy, Full of deeper revelations of how much Father God loves us to call us his own! We are making that choice now, We choose Joy! He has chosen me as his own daughter, and He has given me my beautiful daughters, chosen for us before the beginning of time. Amazing Grace indeed. Several blog posts to come. Thanks for believing with us!