Grateful Hearts.

Our God has shown us such kindness and goodness.

We are so grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

A Season of Reflection

Today ended the time of fasting for our family. We gave up a combination of things. We began with sweets, gluten, and processed foods, and ended with giving up all cooked foods. It was one of the more difficult fasting periods that I've ever experienced. I was hungry. Oh, so hungry.

But I learned so much.

I learned that what I may see as impossible, God sees as an opportunity to refine my faith. I learned that I don't really need what I think I need to survive. I learned that I take so many things for granted. I learned that only God will sustain me, and that if He asks me to do something, my response is born out of my trust in Him. I learned that I have put so many things (emotional, spiritual, physical) on my plate, and with such a full plate, I have become emotionally, spiritually, and physically fat. I'm tired of being fat.

I feel as if God has completely cleared that plate, a sort of leveling, or rebooting, if you will. He is teaching me the practice of seeking Him, and allowing Him to lead me.

Trust. Obedience. Intentionality.

A season focused on denying oneself, yet indulging in the message of

grace, redemption, healing and love.

That's the message of the cross.

That's why He came.

That's why He died.

So today, we feast.

And tomorrow, we do not forget how He has carried us through,

and we become even more intentional about how we live.

Passover. Sweet Passover.

The Wall Comes Down

As you all well know, in July of 2010, our family was here....

and here.

We wanted to take home a few of these precious ones...

but we made a decision...

to take home two precious ones...legitimately!

We had been asked by the orphanage to not blog or facebook

about our new adventure....until now.

Their names or the country cannot be named...

but they are wonderful...

and they'll soon be ours.

And we'll have our very own to hold...soon and very soon.