Baby Steps toward God's perfect plan

We finally mailed off our giant packet of paperwork for our home-study today! YEAH!! I've been feeling a bit discouraged because this whole adoption process is taking so much longer than I wanted. I see other families just breeze through the process and wonder why the heck it is taking us so long?? This morning in my inbox on the very day we mailed off our packet to get the home-study under way this is my positive daily devotion (see below). God is so timely in His messages to us, I really needed this reminder today. Enjoy! And now we are one step closer towards our goal to bring home a sweet baby boy from Ethiopia...in 2010 (I pray!).

“Put things in order.” 2 Corinthians 13:11

A plan becomes a reality only after the first action step is taken. If you doubt your own ability to carry out a task, you might hesitate or you might never begin it at all.

Each time you begin a project, picture yourself mentally taking one step at a time to complete it with God going ahead of you, making your way successful.

Say this prayer aloud: "I put things in God's order. All is in Divine order as I take my first step. I am continually guided by God."
You are empowered, then, to take another step, this time with a greater feeling of security and self-confidence.

As you continue taking steps, with each progressive move, you are gaining momentum and your confidence builds to new heights. Knowing that God is in charge, you take each step as a leap of faith, in which you meet the challenge and accomplish whatever needs to be done by you.

In Luke 1:78-79, our Bible states: "By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those to sit in darkness,… to guide our feet into the way of peace."

When you ask God for guidance, you are not looking for an easy answer or for a way out of having to make your own decisions. You are a soul, living this life to learn to make decisions, and you are asking God to guide the decisions you do make, so that they bring about what is best for you and everyone concerned.

Cheer!

Cheer competition season is in full swing and we are having a blast watching Bryn in her element. She's still loving it...and talks about how she never wants to quit. So we'll see. The older she gets though the more crazy stunts and wild tumbling she'll be doing...and already I get so nervous for her. Yikes. God give me strength....and a bigger bank account. LOL.

The Shadow

By Garret R.

I dance along the wall,

wishing to be set free,

as a shadow should be,

but I can't you see,

bound to a human being.

I want a chance to dance on more than just the wall,

feel the rain on my skin,

build a snowman in the snow,

snuggle up by a warm fire,

taste the warm, steaming cup of hot cocoa.

I want to smell the flowers,

while taking a stroll through a meadow.

But it will only be a dream,

so far away from me,

but that doesn't mean I still can't believe.

How did this happen....she's 11!

Seriously don't blink...because if you do you will one day wake up and your beautiful baby girl will be a beautiful "pre-teen" 11 year old! I'm going to stop blinking. It feels like just yesterday we brought her home on a snowy Christmas Eve bundled up in a large red stocking. To say "they grow so fast" just doesn't do this justice. Kaelyn is such a delight and brightens the world around her. She loves singing and playing her flute. She wants to be an actress or a professional soccer player. She is always surprising us with her giving nature and kind, gentle spirit. She thinks of the little things, where others might not. She likes to keep the peace between her siblings. She is quick to make sacrifices so others will be happy. She is a good friend and a good listener. She is always willing to try new things...new food, scary rides, she's always ready to give it a go. She is a joy and we are so very thankful to God for allowing us to be her parents!

I ♥ faces photo challenge: "pets only"

I've never entered a photo contest before, but my awesome sister encouraged me to submit this picture! This is our kitty Titan we had no clue he was a mouser until the little gifts from him started appearing at our door. Here I caught him in the act!

To see other great entries at I Heart Faces go here!

Moving forward!

Guess what came in the mail today?? We got our background check approval letters! Yeah! So now we are ready to move forward with the homestudy. Awesome! So Monday morning i'll be making that phone call to get it scheduled! Yipee! So very exciting!

Want some coffee???

We have started a great fundraiser...everyone drinks coffee right? We have found a fabulous program that helps families raise funds for their adoption! Head over to Just Love Coffee if you are interested in purchasing some great coffee! I'd love to get some feedback from those that order some coffee, let me know what "flavor" you ordered and how you liked it! Feel free to share this link and spread the word!

We are waiting for our fingerprints to come back from the state and then we will move forward with the 2 home-study visits. Yeah!! After we have our home-study approval things could move quickly if we get our remaining funds raised. Thank you again for your prayers and support we are so blessed to have great family and friends who love and support us!