Easter and this "God thing"

Wow.  Easter.  Easter means HOPE!  Jesus is alive!  Oh what joy!  That single phrase has completely changed my life.  It has given me hope and joy and it led me to adoption.  I so often struggle with the thought of how people walk through adoption without faith.  A dear friend who is adopting her own little girl said, "I am not sure people adopt otherwise.  Seems like a God thing to me."  The closer we get to our kids, the more truth I see in this "God thing."

Throughout the day today, I could not help but think that this may very well be the last Easter we spend as a family of two.  I mean that has always been the goal, but the reality is overwhelming in some moments.  For so long, adoption has been a vision, a dream, a passion but now it is becoming a reality.  

How incredible that in a year, we will get to share this incredible day with our children (hopefully...nothing about an adoption timeline is certain except uncertainty).  Jesus is no longer dead but he rose.  He lives.  And because He lives, I also get to live.  Not only that, but I get to share that with my children!

As a children's ministry director, I got to share this wonderful news with hundreds of children.  I was also a big supporter of the idea that parents are the best and most important teachers of everything, but most importantly of the Bible.  Now the idea of being given that responsibility is exciting and overwhelming.  How amazing that God has entrusted me with such a responsibility.  

What a beautiful "God thing" this adoption journey is...parenting...sharing God's love.  Today, being Easter makes me even more aware of that.  Hope changes everything.  Hope is changing everything.

Photo credit: Matthew Davidson Photography

www.matthewdavidsonphotography.com 

All (possibly) Four

Lately I have gotten to have a lot of opportunities to have conversations about adoption, our adoption, our future family.  That has lead to a lot of looks like this

This look is usually preceded by me saying "Four."

It has led me to believe that I have failed to mention some important information.  

We are eligible to bring home up to four children.  We have known for quite some time that we want to bring home a sibling group.  They are more difficult to place in families.  It is a big step for a family to add a child to their home and lives through adoption.  Adding multiples is more than some families are prepared for.  Placing a sibling group gets more difficult as the number of children increases.  Probably because of looks like that.

We live in America where the average family has 2 kids and a dog...sometimes I forget that I don't fall into that category.  I have always wanted a large family.  I know God is putting them together piece by piece.  The first few, we expect from Colombia.  Then we will continue to allow God to write our story.  (We have tried to make plans before, but God just changed them all for us.)   

Our family will change in big ways, when our kids come home but more than anything we want to provide a stable and loving home where they can continue to be a family.  After all they've been through and all they've had to experience in their short lives, we believe that at the very least they deserve that...all (possibly) four of them.