looking forward

we had a great time celebrating the birth of our Savior together.

all my chicks were in the nest. that alone is reason to rejoice.

it was just a fun day. food, fellowship, games, naps, movies, more food.

little bit was in her element as the baby of the family. soaking up the affection of her family.

the strides she has made since last year are gianormous.

opening stockings

hugs!

new ribbon hairstyles

showing us how the new "kitchen" works.

even though we had a great time, my mind kept wandering to the ones who are not home yet.

time to share a secret.

i've been guarding my own heart a little, not really willing to share. i think it is time.

we have requested 2 kiddos from peru.

two non-related children.

simultaneously.

it may not happen. or it may.

from here on out they are little man and little lady.

by the time we pick them up (Lord willing) they will be 8 and 11, respectively.

it's been a wild ride, this journey. we have begged family and friends to pray for us...to pray for wisdom, strength, peace. to pray that God would work out all of the details on another continent. that God, Himself will be glorified in the process.

right now we are working on a few additional things the sna has asked us to do if we want them to consider our request. that they are even willing to go this far is huge. there are no laws in peru stating that they will not do this, but they just don't do it very often.

i realize i am opening myself up to all kinds of criticism by sharing this, but also know there are those of you that will double your prayer efforts for us. those of you that will join in our excitement. those of you that will help our family with this crazy endeavor. those of you who will partner with us in life.

tomorrow morning i am meeting a friend at our local coffee hang-out spot norm's coffee bar, . she and i are planning to hit the report we have to write. it's a little unnerving to know that so much is riding on this report. i am confident that with her help, i will not sound like the overly-emotional, village idiot that i sometimes believe i am.

then our psychologist will get to write another report too. i am sure he will be thrilled {insert sarcasm here}. i did warn him when we saw him a week and a half ago. i even gave him the translated parts of the kid's files, our letters of request and shared our hearts with him. so i don't think he will be very surprised when i email him tomorrow. we may be surprised by bill we receive.

it figures that i have sent the documents to be apostilled already and now will need to do this again. the murphy's law of adoption. if something must have a special seal of some kind, you will need to do this more that once, not all documents will be in the overnight envelope.

oh, well, completely worth it!

the truth is this: God can do this. we are putting our faith and trust in Him, to help us do this crazy thing. i know it will be hard...not just the adoption, but life afterwards. the life after the airport party. the battle in our home to knit these children to our hearts, to our family, to our life.

but even though it will be tough. it will be good. it will be beautiful.

why? because this wasn't something dreamed up by us, not some agenda of ours, not some idea to see how many times we can head to peru , to see how big our family can become. but rather something dreamed up by a God much bigger than our dreams and our agenda and our ideas. you see we could have said no and just finished raising our biological kids. we could have ignored that whispered voice. we could be saving for our retirement or a new car or a luxury vacation. but somewhere along the way, God has grabbed our hearts for the orphan and we will never be the same again. absolutely destroyed for the sake of the fatherless. hopelessly broken for the child without a family. completely useless to do anything other that obey the call on our lives. we could decide to just go to peru and work full time in an orphanage or move to an african nation and live our lives out on foreign soil sharing the gospel. instead we are bringing three lost children into our home, the ultimate mission trip. a lifelong mission trip. while some days i wonder what i am getting myself into....i also glory in the joy the thought of them coming home brings.

next christmas will certainly look different. 

but won't it be beautiful?