my husband

i know it is often said with both adoption and pregnancy that the mom is ready before the baby comes and the dad is finally ready when he sees the baby. well that isn't true for brian...

i remember the moment i fell in love with brian. he was playing with a group of kids. it spoke directly to my heart and has been impressed there ever since. even still to this day to say brian is amazing with kids is an understatement. and these kids that he so deeply loves aren't even part of our immediate family. it is such a God thing. we are so blessed to have so many friends around us with little ones. brian can't get enough of them. one family has a 17 month old little boy and every sunday brian says "i need some joses time!" i wish i had pictures to share with you of how awesome my husband is. God has designed him to be an incredible father. he is so gentle and kind yet you know he is control, which makes a child feel so safe. he isn't grossed out by weird smells, crying, screaming, spit up, or anything else that comes with a child. he isn't even tired out by their crazy energy.

no, my amazing husband won't finally be ready to be a daddy when we get a baby. he is a ready now! here is to believing, Lord!

Award - One Lovely Blog Award

Thanks to Amber at Waiting On A Miracle for this award.

Rules: Accept the award; post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his/her blog link. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

1) Building the Blocks

2) Bringing Our Princess Home

3) Purpose Driven Family

4) Ethiopia's Calling

5) Our Ethiopian Olive

6) His Hands - His Feet

7) The Teabo Tribe

8) The Stich that Makes the Sweater Perfect

9) A Place Called Simplicity

10) No Greater Gift

11) The Making of M.O.M.

12) Our Family's Journey 2 Ethiopia

13) Mason Family Tales

14) Embracing My Cup

15) Three Simple Girls

The Blind Side

have you ever heard of the movie "The Blind Side"? I haven't until today. I'm ready to buy my ticket now. Check out the trailer and make sure you have a box a tissues with you. Oh, and don't watch the trailer at work...http://bit.ly/19rFho

an encouraging word

today has been a hard day. i'll admit it. today i have just been tired of waiting and tired of not understanding why something that i know that God has called us to is taking longer than i thought it would. i know there is no time limit with adoption but i really thought that we would have our little baby by now. so everyday when he still isn't here is hard. i'm finding it hard to stay motivated and focused at work. but thankfully i have amazing friends who are walking this road with us and have walked this road before. i wanted to share a link that someone sent me with a blog post. as you read it you will see my heart...http://blog.showhope.org/?p=315

domestic adoption

people ask me so often why we choose domestic adoption. quite honestly, domestic adoption chose us. we actually started with international adoption but once we decided that we really wanted as close to a newborn as possible, domestic adoption became the perfect choice. we have always knows we will adopt from all over so not going the international route didn't mean we would never adopt internationally, God just has us going a different way right now.

i also have people tell me all the time that we should be so lucky we chose domestic adoption because it is so much easier and safer. WHAT? how can you even compare the 2? it's like comparing pineapples to mangos. the only thing about them that is the same is that they are both fruits. there is no easier or safer from one to the other. i've walked and still walking with friend who have internationally adopted and i know that isn't easy or safe. but i've also walked with friend and i'm currently walking the domestic adoption road myself and i can tell you from experience that IT AIN'T EASY or SAFE! there is nothing easy about waiting and waiting and waiting and knowing your child is out there somewhere and trusting God to bring the right birthmother along to pick you. there is nothing easy about living life and then one day getting a phone call and your entire world changes in just a few hours. i'm not saying that i would want it any different and i'm so blessed to be walking this journey but it isn't easy. and i know that even once the baby comes it doesn't get easier.

with domestic adoption there is always the possibility of a relationship with the birthfamily. now, brian and i are praying that we can have a relationship with our child's brithfamily. we know people who have amazing relationships with their birthparents and ones who have not so good relationships. it can be messy. it can be wonderful. it can be time consuming. it can be inconvenient. it can be a tender. it can be tough. it can be so many things. i have no doubt that God will give our family the strength to walk down any of those paths but it might not always be safe or easy.

i don't think brian or i would ever do easy if it was starring us in the face. for some reason it always seems that what seems most likely and easy for others God has different plans for us. but i'm so grateful. i'm grateful and blessed to know that i serve a God who isn't in to making things easy but in to giving you His strength to walk through them. and that's why we chose domestic adoption this time.

retia dukes

well you might wonder why it's been so long since the last post. on monday afternoon a sweet and dear friend of ours went to be with the Lord. back in april a husband and wife that means so much to brian and i was hit by a car while crossing the road. mr. jimmy broke several bones and ms. retia had severe head trauma and spent the next 3 weeks in a coma. she finally came out of coma and started to slowly recover. well this past weekend things got worse and she was put back in the ICU and on monday afternoon she went home to the Lord.

this was a woman who was the most incredible picture of a godly woman, wife, mother, grandmother and friend. i have known her since i was little and brian got to work along side her for years and had a very special relationship with her. their family has always meant the world to us and although we are so sad she is gone we are so blessed to know she is in heaven and that she leaves behind an amazing legacy.

so on tuesday we traveled down to new orleans to be with friends and family to celebrate the life of ms. retia. it was beautiful. she was beautiful. her life was beautiful. the whole time i kept thinking what a blessing and honor it is to be a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. i can't imagine anything greater.

after hugging so many necks and seeing people we have been out of touch with for too long we made the long trek back to nashville. although we hated the circumstances that brought us all together we couldn't image celebrating with a more amazing group of people. all i can say is that when you are in the Lord's army you win! the victory is and always will be his. whether in life or death he's got it!

thank you, Lord, for ms. reita and the life that she lived. thanking you for the blessing of knowing her and being touched by her life. may we remember the example she was to us and strive to have the servant's heart that she had.