Home For 18 Months!

Wow, I cannot believe I missed posting on Saturday!!! November 22nd was a special day for our family because it marked 18 months since Savannah came home to us from Guatemala!! Wow, I can hardly believe that she's been home with us for 18 months! In many ways, it feels like she's been with us since day 1, but then I realize that we missed out on her first year of life. I do believe that God had a special plan for her days in Guatemala and I love that she was able to spend almost an entire year in her birth country. We are still in touch with her amazing foster family and we will always treasure them...they took such good care of our girl until we were able to bring her home...their love for her is genuine and pure and will live on forever! We have been so blessed to know this family!

Wow, it's really hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week and the Christmas season is fast approaching! I do love this time of year though...even with all of the craziness, it just brings about such special memories and serves as a reminder of what we were put on earth to do...to bring glory to our maker!

Yesterday, we had the most amazing church service...a man from Sud@n was speaking about suffering for the sake of Jesus and about the persecution of Christians around the world. No matter how much of a bubble we think we live in, there is very real suffering going on in the world just for the name of Jesus. Most of us cannot even comprehend that type of oppressed life...we just don't get it. All I could think of yesterday during the service was, wow, this is just wrong...why do I struggle in the most simple decisions like which church should I attend, should I go to this one, or to that one? I should just be thankful that I have the right to go to church, to any church, without risking my life and being persecuted for my choice to follow Jesus.

I think we all need to be more aware of what's going on in this world and not just sit back in our comfortable bubbles and ignore the suffering and persecution that is taking place every day. It's too easy to just go on like nothing is wrong, to continue living life in our happy little world, without really taking any responsibility to make a difference, to step out in faith and trust God to lead the way. Maybe He is asking you to do something that you don't feel comfortable with or equipped to do...but the truth is that if He has called you to go, then He will provide you with what you need.

Okay...I'm way off topic now from my original title for this post...but I do think it's all relevant to our decision to adopt. We took a leap of faith and jumped in to our adoption without knowing all that it would entail, but God truly blessed us for that decision...He gave us the most beautiful little girl to raise and to love. Despite all of the trials and difficulty we faced along the way, we would do it all again for the reward of being Savannah's mommy & daddy!

This morning I am just thankful for the many ways God has blessed our family this past year and for the freedom we have to choose Him daily. Happy Thanksgiving!!

On a side note...I am praising God this morning for Gracie's successful heart surgery! Gracie is an orphan living in China and she just had heart surgery late last night (our time). This morning I found out that everything went really well! This little girl has absolutely captured my heart...she is adorable and
I would bring her home in a heart beat if it were allowed! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for her life, for her hope and her future!!