Even Numbers Are Great!

So.... I mentioned in a post a while back that there was something new on the horizon for our family and that I couldn't wait to share what it was. Well, I did wait but not because I wanted to but because I haven't had the time to. Anyway...

Last summer we had the privilege of keeping a little boy with us for two months. When he left, we didn't want to see him go but that was out of our hands. We entrusted him to the Lord and labeled ourselves his "prayer parents". Not a day went by that we didn't think of him and long to have him back with our family.

Ten months went by without a word from him. In December, Casey, the kids, and I talked about checking in and seeing how we could be involved in his life. We all wanted to pursue him. That was the same time when things weren't looking so good with my heart so we verbally agreed to get to the "other side" of the heart issue before we took that step.

Well, wouldn't you know that on our way home from the hospital, we received an unsolicited call concerning "Z" (I will call him that on here until we get legal stuff cleared up:). We were literally on the "other side" and here was the opportunity to have him back in our lives. God is so good! Of course, things got bad after my surgery and we were just trying to stay afloat for several weeks so a little time passed before we could see our little "Z" again.

The really amazing part to this is that for all those months that our little man was gone, I would have periodic dreams that he was brought back to us and handed to me and that's exactly what happened! Have I mentioned how good God is?

After receiving good advice from another mom who has adopted children, we have decided not to go into the details of his story and specifically how it intertwines with us. That is his story and one day he can share it. We pray that when he does, he will give God all the glory!

In the mean time, we are going through the legal process to make 2 and a half year-old "Z" a permanent part of our family. He lives with us full time and totally sees us as his family. Please, please pray for us and little "Z" as we are on this journey. We went from one less traveled road to another so we need prayers.

So here we are... going from seven to eight.... I've always said Even Numbers Are Great:)

Soaring to College

 
We took our oldest child to college today. She's the same daughter that I used to read "Green Bear" to and sing "This is the Day" to every morning. Her daddy is reminded of the times he used to crawl into the crib with her much to her extreme delight. That's her. Our Baby Girl. And today we drove off and watched her walk away, smiling sweetly over her shoulder back at us.

We've seen that smile so many times. It used to be toothless, then had a few teeth sprinkled in, then full, then missing teeth and then full again. Seems trivial to mention that but those were all stages that we saw her through. Stages that The Lord gave us with her.
And now He's brought us to this new stage. She's ready. First born. So responsible, smart and full of faith. We pray that with the foundations we've laid that she'll soar.

And what a privilege it is for us to watch her take off. A few weeks ago we learned of the passing of a mom of seven whom we'd been praying for. Her kids won't have her there in person when they are at this place and we came so close to being in the same position. How grateful I am to have been there today to experience her excitement, help her set up her dorm, pray with her and then see that sweet smile get farther away. Yup, she'll soar and I'm so blessed to be here to cheer her on!