Eliza brought me this gift. She told me “It’s broken, but Daddy will fix it!”
I am just in awe.
Nine months ago this beautiful child was an orphan.
Now she is a precious daughter, who made me a mother again, and who thinks her Daddy can fix anything.
Praise be to Jesus!
Happy Mother’s Day!!!
I love capturing life through photos. I have always loved photos!
Now they are the way I count blessings!!
Little helpers making school more fun. Blessed!
The first watermelon of the season! Eliza calls it “water bottle”. We ate it at David and Kayla’s! Blessed!!
A new find one day when I was out and about and starving. A chia pudding pod. It was so yummy! And it blessed me to have a new treat!! Blessed!!
Riding along to get feed with the boys. They are a blast. Blessed!
The joy of filling these kiddos bellies with good, nourishing food. Especially the hard working boys. Blessed!
Rainy nights. Praise Jesus for the rain! Blessed!
A little miss who can smell chocolate from across the farm. Sharing sweets is the best! Blessed!
Spending the afternoon at the library and then at the park with Kayla. Such sweet times of life! Blessed!!
Doctors to care for Eliza. What an amazing team we have. So blessed!
For how much fun these kiddos are. I have the best job in the world!! Blessed!
For summer date night treats. Blessed!
The world colored green. I just had to pull over and get a photo as I headed down the ridge, even though the skies were gray and cloudy. Gorgeous green! Blessed!
Lane’s heart. He is so amazing with his little sister. So blessed!
Getting to spend two hours a week here for the last 16 months. Eliza says “Mom, go work your muscles?” Healing has been an awesome journey! Blessed, blessed, blessed!
Bath time. Eliza’s favorite time of the day! Blessed!
Learning. Eliza has learned SO much in nine months. Could not be more blessed!
What joy for my heart to look at all these blessings!!!
Thank you, Lord, for this amazing thing called life!!
I took Grant for his driving test this afternoon, and he passed!
Congratulations, Grant!!
We will use any reason to celebrate! So we had root beer floats to celebrate our new driver!
Root beer has gluten in it – go figure! We had a gluten-free root beer we have bought before, and it wasn’t bad. We found a new gluten-free brand at the Co-op this afternoon. It was even brown like regular root beer! And super yummy.
This toothless wonder must have asked 25 times during dinner if it was time for root beer floats yet! Lane finished his float before I even sat down!
As I was taking these photos, Eliza was hollering “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom…..!!!!” Guess I wasn’t getting to her turn quite fast enough!
We are so happy to have a new driver!
Maybe I should say I am the one that is so happy to have a new driver!!!!
In my time with the Lord early yesterday morning, I was reading in Judges.
Judges 6, actually. The story of Gideon.
“The angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” Judges 6:12
Gideon was told that the Lord was with him!
Not only does Gideon question the Lord about why bad things are happening to him, but then he questions if it is really the Lord speaking to him.
“And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.” Judges 6:17
So the Lord does show Gideon a sign!
He made fire come up out of a rock.
But Gideon questions the Lord again, and asks the Lord to put dew on the fleece that is on the floor, but not on the floor.
Gideon woke up early the next day, and it was so.
Then Gideon questions the Lord AGAIN, and asks the Lord to put dew on the ground and not on the fleece.
And God did so that night.
Why I am sharing this?
Because it has a lot to do with my heart.
When you walk through an adoption process, all of the man-made rules mess with your heart and make it hard to really know that God is here.
I BELIEVE that God is with me.
But, especially lately, I “feel” like He is not.
These words are not easy for me to reveal.
Because I do not want to be like Gideon.
I want to spend each and every moment of my days here on this earth never doubting God and truly believing the truths that are in His word.
I am so thankful for the story of Gideon.
It gave me the opportunity to come before the Lord, spill out my heart, ask for forgiveness, and be encouraged.
Knowing maybe I can’t “feel” that God is here, but He is.
He is with me.
With us.
With Tate.
So, you know what happened next?
God showed me He is here.
Through the Christ-like generosity of someone we barely know, He showed me He is here.
My precious Savior, I am undeserving.
And even though I cannot see how the Lord is going to finish the story of Tate’s homecoming, I will wait on Him with a childlike faith.
Truly, truly believing that the Lord is here with me, with us, with Tate, every step of the way.
We will be there soon, our sweet little boy!
We will be there soon to bring you home.
