happy anniversary to my love, my best friend

Nine years!  When did that happen?  Aren't we still 19 & 20 year old newlyweds....wait, that's only in my mind, where there's a time warp ;).  

How wonderful it is to marry your best friend and journey through life together!!

209 years of marriage: an incredible feat

In a culture where marriage vows are discarded with surprising ease, we're thankful for those couples who have kept their commitments to one another, even when the storms of life surrounded them.  They are beautiful examples of what marriage should be like.  God has surrounded Jeremy and me with some of these couples, and we are so thankful He did!!

Lives of ease and comfort have not kept them together.  Actually, these couples have not had lives of ease or comfort; they have battled more than their share of storms--financial hardships, serious illnesses, job loss, economic downturns, the challenges that come with raising children, grief and loss of family members.  What keeps them together is the love and commitment they share with each other, and a rock solid faith in their Creator.

So, as we get ready to celebrate 9 years of marriage on Wednesday, we say THANK YOU to the One who created marriage and to those who live it out so well for us all!!

(My Uncle Dale and Aunt Linda eloped, so I don't have  an actual wedding picture. They were married  for 46 years until death parted them in 2007.  I know Aunt Linda is waiting in heaven for my Uncle Dale.)

good news for one family

The first family from our adoption agency is traveling next week to pick up their baby!  (Their court date was at the beginning of summer.)  We are excited for a bit of good news and are looking forward to more and more families moving through the process as the courts and government implement the new law--of course, we're really looking forward to it being our turn to travel :).

Join with us in praying for them as they travel and for their baby's arrival home.  There will be a lot of adjustment for this sweet baby who is in a totally new environment with new faces, sounds, smells, and routines.

This adoption road is not easy, but it's oh, so worth it!

Keep praying, friends! 

"There's this baby in South Korea.."

Tomorrow will be one year.  One year ago, I fell in love with a little boy with fuzzy black hair and almond shaped eyes.  That day, one year ago, is a day that I still remember like yesterday; it came out of the blue, taking us by complete surprise.

Jeremy was on the road, and I was in summer house-cleaning mode.  There was a $3500 check waiting to be mailed to an adoption agency in Mass., which would have started the process for us to adopt a baby from Russia; mailing the check was on my to-do list for that day.  Our house phone rang.  It was Stephanie from our adoption agency in Murfreesboro.  Her first words to me, "Have you mailed that check?  There's this baby in South Korea."  My reply, "We want him!!"  A few minutes later, I was looking at his picture in our email as my heart promptly melted into a puddle of goo.  The love that I felt for him in that moment was immediate and intense; it was the love of a mother toward her child; it's a love that's grown in my heart ever since with a surprising strength.  I knew this was the child of my heart whom I had dreamed about for so long.  This was the baby God was going to bless our family with.  Jeremy text me later that day and said, "Did you think when you woke up this morning that we would be seeing a picture of our baby?"  What a beautiful day it was...

Sam, my sweet boy, we loved you when there was just the thought of you and will love you forever.  Come home soon!

friends, family, & fun

not the update that we were hoping for

Sam turned 19 months old this week, so we received new pictures and his latest "stats."  He's looking more like a little man every day!

We also received an update on the paperwork process, and I wish that I could tell you things are moving swiftly.  Unfortunately, things aren't moving as quickly as we would like (or need) them to.  Those in charge of this new process seem unconcerned about the children and families caught up in this web of red tape. Jeremy and I are trying desperately to not get discouraged, but there are days when it seems like there's no end in sight to the waiting.  However, we know that none of this has taken God by surprise; He has a plan--which we may not understand completely, but it's a plan that we can trust because He is good.

10 years--when did that happen?

To those not in attendance, we missed you!

The QHS class of 2003 has changed from teenagers with the world before us to grown-ups(!) with spouses, kids, and "real jobs."  We're now nurses, teachers, oil field workers, engineers, lab techs, and dental hygienists--makes us sound pretty professional :).  Last night, the laughter was abundant and the stories of crazy times past were not in short supply.  How wonderful it was to catch up with these dear friends!  Until next time, friends...