Ready......

This is how we left our precious daughter in November. As we were driving away from the orphanage she was on the second story window waving goodbye and signing I love you to us. She still had the little sticker on her head that I had placed there and you could see her tears. I cried like I had never cried and I held tight to David's hand. By far the hardest thing I have ever done. My shirt was soaked from not only my tears but Tizita and Geremew's tears as well. Day after tomorrow I hope that when we drive down that little dirt road that she is still there waiting in that window! I am sure that many times over the past seven months that she has looked out that window just hoping and praying that we would drive up. Day after tomorrow we will be there driving down that little dirt road and I know that she and Geremew must be so excited!

God has shaped our lives in more ways than I could count these past 7 months. These have been long, hard months of not understanding God's timing but trusting His heart. This waiting from half way across the world is nearing an end and for that I am so thankful. As our family prepares to leave I would love for you to join me in praying for some specific things:

Pray for our time from Friday until Monday with Tizita and Geremew. They will not be able to stay with us (until Monday after court) and so each evening we will have to say goodbye and for us and all 6 kids this will be HARD!

Pray that the court will pass our case very quickly Monday morning! So many questions as to how this will work because no family has ever been in court under the law that we know of. We are the very first case that we have heard of who are required to be present in court and so we pray this is a good thing.

Pray for our meeting with Tizita and Geremew's birth family. I cry every time I think about it and so please pray for peace, comfort and God's love to be very evident while we spend time with them. A sacrifice that I could never begin to imagine having to make~

Pray for Megan to see, feel and experience all that God wants her to see, feel and experience. I know that at 14 years old this trip will literally change the rest of her life and not just because she will have two more siblings. Pray that God will confirm Himself to her this entire trip. Pray for peace for her while we fly~ She HATES flying!

Pray for Kaylee to love the way that God loves while we are away. Kaylee has the biggest servant heart of literally anyone I know. Her heart is going to break into a million pieces when she sees some of the sights she will see the next six weeks. Pray for God to guard her heart and join me in praying that she is not overwhelmed by the need but that she will do what she can to help those in need. This trip will have Kaylee in her element.....helping and serving others.

Pray for Jacob to be able to process and grieve all that he will see. His heart is very tender and just a few weeks ago when a fallen soldier returned home to our community Jacob cried as he stood to honor this hero. His heart is much like his dad's and he feels things very deeply. Pray that we will have wisdom on when and how to help Jacob process the next six weeks.

Pray for Lindsay physically and emotionally to be able to handle the next few days. She has never flown before and so her first flight will be half way around the world~ Not an easy first flight. David and I feel that she will have the hardest time adjusting to having siblings and although she is super excited today when her new sister or brother need us she could have a hard time. Megan is well aware of how Lindsay may feel and so she is going to be loving on Lindsay more than normal during the next six weeks.

Pray for David and I to rest~ Physically, emotionally, and Spiritually the next few days and weeks. We trust God with all of this and we know that He has called us to what is ahead. There will be days of great joy, deep sadness, uncertainty, laughter, tears, and none of this will be in our "normal" environment. Pray for great peace in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for us. Pray that our strength would come only from the Lord. Pray for us to have wisdom in every situation ahead the next six weeks. Most of all pray that God would go before us and come around behind us as we seek to follow Him ever so closely on this new journey of parenting 6 while loving each other well.

For Tizita and Geremew please pray from the moment we walk into the orphanage that they will feel like they belong with us. Pray that they will feel our love and comfort as only a families love and comfort can be felt. Pray that as they experience for the first time so many new things that the fear would be overcome with joy. Pray most of all for God to be working in their little hearts from these first few days that we are with them.

Thanks for being on the journey with us.............we have never felt alone and for that we are so very thankful. The time has come for us to go and bring home the two fatherless that God has blessed our family with. We look forward to introducing our precious children to you soon. I long for the day when I get to tell them of all who loved, prayed for and longed for them long before they were with us! In a few short hours we are off to the next stage of this journey.......

Tizita and Geremew,

I can't believe that the time has come. You would laugh at daddy and I~ we can't even eat we are so excited. We have been going to bed at 1:30 in the morning and we are both up by 6:00 because we just can't sleep. Love does crazy things and we are both so in love with you and can't wait to be with you day after tomorrow. After today only 1 more X for you and none for us! Last night Lindsay brought me my journal from when I came to visit you and we had so much fun reading it together and being reminded how much fun that week in November was. We have so many of those fun weeks ahead and this time Lindsay, Jacob, Megan and Kaylee get to join us. I hope that on Monday the judge says that you are ours and that you get to come with us to the Guest house and experience so many new and exciting things. I am so excited and I just can't wait to drive down that bumpy dirt road and hold you in my arms. Hold on precious Tizita and Geremew we are literally on our way! I love you both more that you will ever be able to understand~ Mommy