God Danced the Day You Were Born!!!

Yes, I know this picture is mean!  HA!  On the other side of this bear is a picture of our beautiful girl....but I can't show her to you yet!  But, I wanted to show you this bear.  Matt and I found this bear in a Hallmark store somewhere in Texas (can't remember where) before we were married.  I just loved it so much and knew I had to have it!!!  Of course, I got the pink one because I was absolutely certain I would have girls!  No boys.  Well, most of you know how that turned out!  Yes, all of my boys have played with this bear that I have kept in my trunk for 11 years when I've opened it for something, they have seen it and wanted to play with it, so I let them.  But every time one of my boys played with it, I thought "That was supposed to be for my girl!"  Please don't misunderstand me, I ADORE all my boys and wouldn't trade any of them! (most of the time! ha!)  

I just love the saying on it!!  "God danced the day you were born!"  I just think of our big heavenly Father rejoicing every time one of His precious creations, that he hand molded, comes to life!  Our baby girl is no different.  Just because she wasn't born in what we considered "normal" circumstances (actually, we have no idea what her story is right now) she was still NO accident to the Creator.  She was perfectly planned by Him.  And He danced the day she was born just like He danced the days my sons were born.  I wish I had some clue what I was doing on her birthday, but I don't.  I know I was thinking to call my best friend, Laura, the next day because that is her birthday!  Other than that, I'm sure it was just another regular day.  But, God was dancing!  He knew he had created this little girl just for our family.  I'm so thankful for that.  I never knew how much you could fall head over heals in love with someone you had never touched or talked to or kissed or loved on until now.  It's called grace....one of her middle names.  

Many times over the years I would see this bear and think I just needed to go ahead and get rid of it...it was just taking up space in my trunk.  Well, guess what!?!?  I get to take this bear to my DAUGHTER in just 5 short days and tell her about how happy I am that she was born!!  

Mommy is coming baby girl!  I love you!!!!

3 weeks from today!

So, in exactly three weeks from today we will be taking a little flight (HA!  26 hours of travel – from Amarillo to Houston, Houston to Frankfurt, Germany, and Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) to meet the most beautiful baby girl I’ve ever seen!  Of course, I’ve only seen one picture of her, but I can definitely tell based off that one picture, she is perfection!  Trust me, after we meet her December 4^th, there will be TONS of pictures taken of her!  I can’t wait to get to show her to all of you!

All of the wondering about her and what she is like will come to an end, and I’m SO excited about that!  To finally meet the little girl I have known would be mine for so long.  I know to her we will just be funny looking strangers, but for us seeing her will be a LONG dream finally coming true.  We realize she may not like us at first and that she may be scared of us, but we hope to convince her that we are hers….we belong to her.  She finally has a family of her own.  She is rescuing us from our burden.  Oh my word, I’m so excited! Thank you Jesus for making this prayer of ours come true! 

I can’t say I feel very prepared for the trip.  Matt and I have never left the good ol’ USA, so this is quite a leap!  Matt is super pumped about the LONG travel…me, not so much.  Truth be told, I have bad flying anxiety.  Please pray for me about this.  There is just something unsettling about being roughly 35,000 feet in the air in a big tube with wings for 20 hours. I know thousands of people do it every day and it will be ok, but the thought of it just makes me so nervous.  I’ve been doing a lot of praying about this and working on giving my fears over to Him.

My thoughts lately, have been seriously scattered. I don’t feel like I am able to focus of things very well.  At night, the house chores have been somewhat neglected because I’m too busy reading the blogs of people who have recently either made their first trip to Ethiopia or have already brought their babies home.  I just want to try and get all the info I can, but I have a feeling none of that is going to prepare me for what we will see and experience while we are there.  I’ve read a lot about all the children that beg in the streets….I don’t think my heart is ready to see that.  I’m not ready to go to the orphanage and see all those babies just waiting on someone to take that leap of faith and adopt them….I KNOW my heart isn’t ready to see that.  Quite frankly, I’m afraid of being a crying, weak mess the entire time I’m there.  I’ve really got to find my game face.  I don’t have one of those at all.  I need waterproof mascara…any suggestions of a good brand?

Things to pray for….

1.    - Safe travels with smooth skies and on-time flights

2.     -Meeting our baby girl

3.     -Our court date on Dec. 7^th…that all will go well and we will officially be hers…and she will be ours!

4.     -Leaving our sweet baby on Dec. 8^th….pray that she will somehow feel we are coming back for her.

5.     -That our embassy date (second trip) will be sometime in mid January and we will be able to go back for her as quickly as possible

6.     -That we will have enough funds to make all this happen.

7.     -That our hearts will be ready to love on and show Jesus to as many of His little creations as we can.

8.     -That others may feel drawn toward loving orphans, adoption, and caring for them.