Faith and Endurance

James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

Hebrews 11:1-3
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see. God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be see.

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!!

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.


If you have a chance get the new Michael W. Smith cd "A New Hallelujah" it has really lifted my spirit and brought peace to my soul in this "wait".

IT'S A GIRL

**** Same referral post,just a different title. I had it titled the date of when she arrived at AGCI, but fear of releasing too much info I decided to change it.***
Today has been a CRAZY DAY!!!! My phone rang at 6:20 am, I jumped out of bed to find that it was my mother calling to see why I hadn't picked her for work. (My mom and I work together and this week I have been driving.) The bad thing is that I was still sleeping, so I am running around like a nut trying to pack my things and get out of the door in 2 minutes. Luckily, we have a shower at work that I could get reading there with no problem. After I was done showering I put my watch on upside down and then grabbed a cup of coffee. I told my mom "this is going to be the day I get my referral because of how crazy it has been." We plan perfect days for big things to happen and God has different plans. God's plans are so good!!! We are so unworthy of His mighty works but He still continues to BLESS US DAILY!!!! This was far from the perfect day until 6:14 pm eastern standard time. Now about THE CALL!!!! On Friday nights I babysit kids at church for our Celebrate Recovery group. My mom and I had just arrived and we were standing in the lobby talking to a some people. After a couple minutes of catching up Joel (one of the men that wrote a reference letter for our home study) asked me what our new numbers were. So I told him we were unofficially number 1 for a girl and 3 for a boy. I said it could be any second that we get the call. I then proceeded to tell them about how I have all my home calls sent to my cell phone so I don't miss the call. We were laughing about how Matt kept joking that I had to call him before telling my mom about our referral. The words were literally just out of my mouth when my cell phone rang. I checked the caller ID which said AGCI #. I was like "Oh my gosh its them" and ran down the hall. I really don't remember much about the call because I kept thinking to myself I have to call Matt. Now the information you want to hear. ( I just pulled a Christy. For those have already received your referral call, you know what I mean.) We have a little baby girl!!!! She will be 3 months old at the end of this month. We got about 6-8 photos of her. She is so precious!!! I really can't believe that this is all happening. It seems so surreal. Katelyn is so EXCITED. She was waiting at the front door for me to get home so we could see the pictures of her baby sister! Here are some pictures of Katelyn and I looking at our newest family member for the first time. She has already asked when we are going to pick her up. It's going to be a long 3-5 months. Oh yeah I almost forgot that today I received my ERGO Carrier that I purchased on ebay. So in one day I got my carrier and my baby. Now I just need to travel to be able to use the carrier!!! I know, patience.

A Night to Remember!

Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman (if you click on the pic it will enlarge)

Tonight was a night I have been waiting months for. When looking forward to this concert I thought we would surely have our referral. That unfortunately has not panned out! As I was sitting at dinner tonight with my parents I said to them "Its funny how God gives you the strength to keep holding on and waiting." I then proceeded to say about how I couldn't wait to read Karen Kingsbury's new book "Sunset" (which came out the end of September), have Fort Ligonier Day's (which is a big fall festival in my town this past weekend) and go to see MWS and SCC on the United Tour. Somewhere in there I figured we would get our referral which would make for the best couple of weeks. God has other plans though. So anyways, as I was sitting or maybe standing (can't really remember) I had a revelation. Watching Steven Curtis Chapman sing "Yours" knowing what his last few months have been like and he is still on stage giving EVERYTHING BACK TO THE LORD I realized I can wait longer for God to reveal to us who our next child will be. God has put this passion in our hearts and just because its not within my time, doesn't mean I am going to get frustrated and not trust God for HIS PERFECT TIME. I am going to use THIS MOMENT of waiting to invest more one on one time with Katelyn, while I don't have to divide my time between two kids and to learn to be a better mother and wife to my family. I am not going to waste THIS MOMENT wallowing in self pity because I'm tired of waiting. I thank God everyday that He has chosen us to go on this adoption journey and if that journey is longer than anticipated than I am going to enjoy the sights. Thank you for reading my ramblings. The concert was AWESOME!!!! It truly renewed my soul and gave me strength to continue my ride.

October Numbers

I am really running out of creativity for posting new numbers. So instead of showing you a picture I am just going to tell you. (I am really praying that these are the last official numbers that I get.) #4 boy and #5 girl

During my prayer time last night I found this verse, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come, there is life and joy." Proverbs 13:12. This verse really spoke to my heart because to be truthful when I got my numbers email I was a little saddened. I am just so ready to see a picture of my child. Is it a boy or girl, when were they born, how old are they, how much do they weigh? Typical questions of an adoptive parent in waiting. But then it hit me again that God already knows all the things and is holding my baby in His hands. If I am number 4 and 5 for the next 12 weeks so be it because God knows it all and when we get THE CALL there will be joy and life and I will know that beyond a shadow of a doubt I trusted God with my whole heart and knew that His timing is perfect.

On a happy note though with our numbers there were 2 possibly 3 girl referrals yesterday. Yeah for all those families that got to see pictures of their babies. This puts unofficially at number 3 or 2 for a girl.

Another exciting tidbit of news to add is that next week at this time I will be getting ready to go see Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith on the United Tour. I am so excited. I have seen Michael W. Smith perform before but never Steven Curtis Chapman. To see them both on the same stage is just AWESOME!!!