Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
just one of many examples
there is so much i want to tell you - my bloggy friends.
there are so many ways God is providing for us right about now my heart is overwhelming with gratitude. just a few moments ago i got a text from curtis, saying: "we just got a $300 anonymous donation on {our site}."
micah's taking his morning nap so i don't have a ton of time to write but i wanted to tell you one story of how God's provided for us - in the big AND little things:
Last week a friend at church emailed out to everyone saying that her friend has a crib that she doesn't need and was wondering if she knew anyone who would want it. As soon as i saw the email i responded - "Yes! we do, we do!" Curtis was at work at the time and also responded to the email.
Then i typed a follow-up email wondering if her friend wouldn't mind sending us a pic of the crib first.
From the start i've really wanted another white crib. It sounds shallow and trite, but i'm just being honest here. I was willing to accept whatever, to take the time to paint one, but deep down, i was hoping for a white crib. We have been doing some garage saleing, but nothing seemed right - too ugly, too expensive, too rickety to safely hold our next precious baby.
The next day my friend sent me two photos of the crib - and to my surprise it was a beautiful, white, almost new (ie. safe) crib. my mouth dropped.
"when can we pick it up?"
after the memorial day parade on monday we drove 45 minutes south to this friend of a friend's house to pick up the crib. we offered money, they just laughed and refused. they were a couple in their mid 60's who were planning to foster, but had to make the decision not to due to some health issues.
"Isn't God so good?" she said as we were thanking them.
yup. yup He is.
Posted by jess at Wednesday, May 30, 2012 1 comments
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Happy 30th Birthday!
Posted by jess at Thursday, May 24, 2012 1 comments
Labels: 30th Birthday, birthday, Jesus
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
...and, we're DONE!
our social worker left our house this morning at 10:30am.
as she was walking back to her car she said, "have a nice summer, i'll see you soon."
she'll be back, the next time we'll see her she'll be knocking on our door for our first week post-placement visit. she told me at our last visit that those visits are her favorite. i can't wait.
when she left we both exhaled. not because we were nervous but because we were done.
what began, gosh, over two years ago has come to a pinnacle. all the paperwork and appointments and tasks are done. our checklist is completely checked off, scratched out - it's surreal to say the least. the stack of paperwork sitting on my desk has nothing left to be done with it.
and now we wait.
wait and enjoy our last weeks...maybe months spent as a family of three and prepare to add one more sweet little chickadee to our happy little nest.
Posted by jess at Tuesday, May 15, 2012 1 comments
Sunday, May 13, 2012
to my fellow mothers on mother's day: some words of encouragement
cuddling my sick boy on vacation |
In this often costly job of motherhood, that doesn't pay with dollars and cents, but smiles and giggles and bear hugs i can often forget that what i'm attempting to cultivate in Micah - creativity, thankfulness, generosity, patience, obedience, a love for Jesus, etc. - has eternal value. Between holding a sickie boy in the bathroom on vacation as a cold shower steamed up the room in an effort to clear up his wheezing chest, to watching him wave bye-bye and blow a kiss to me as he says "muah" as i place him in his crib for the night - motherhood is nothing to scoff at. below is some encouragement to my lady friends who, like me, often find themselves scoffing at themselves throughout the day, wondering if the often monotonous motherly tasks that we do day in and out have any lasting value at all. i hope you see, they absolutely do, and the reward is great. happy mother's day mother friends, may you be encouraged and honored today!
Posted by jess at Sunday, May 13, 2012 0 comments
Friday, May 11, 2012
what i wore...lately
I want to try to take more outfit pics because i like looking at them on a few of my favorite blogs. the problem is, i can never get a good picture on my own. maybe i'll teach micah to work my camera one of these days ;)
Posted by jess at Friday, May 11, 2012 1 comments
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
i'm not a crier, but...
this brought me to tears.
it's 8 minutes long and worth your time.
http://www.desiringgod.org/
Posted by jess at Wednesday, May 09, 2012 0 comments
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
guys, seriously!
This is a big-lipped smooch from me to you! |
this has seriously been one of the (if not THE) most awesome surprise ever in the history of husband-awesomeness. It started innocent enough. I didn't feel good, my tonsils were caked with white puss pockets, so after church a couple sundays ago, i took a nap after church. when i woke up two hours later Curtis said, "I have a surprise for you, check facebook." and so i did and i was stunned and excited and admittedly kind of nervous that no one would respond. I didn't want to feel like people would only donate if they liked me, but that's what was going through my head. But, within minutes donations started coming in. It was crazy. I was (and still am) humbled by the generosity of my family and friends, and really, also from some friends i haven't seen in years, coworkers who i don't work alongside anymore. i'm still in that pinch-me phase - guys, we've raised $1,750 from {that site} alone so far! seriously, we are so thankful and so blessed. When this baby joins our family they'll get to grow up knowing that so many from around the country (and world) supported them, prayed for them and loved them before they were even born. Now if that's not a wonderful picture of the beauty of adoption, i don't know what is.
We are nearing the finish line guys! Not just monetarily (we've got a ways to go on that front) but adoption process-wise. The fire chief is coming in about an hour to do our fire inspection, then i'm heading to the post office as soon as he leaves to mail out our profile kit and then, if all goes as planned, a week from today our social worker comes back to our house to finish up our home study - then you know what?! we're done. We'll be on the wait list and then there's nothing we can do but sit back, relax - oh, and finish up the baby's room. right now it's just a bare room with primed walls. After we're officially in wait mode, we'll be hitting up garage sales for some second hand nursery furniture and getting our home (and our hearts) ready for this new bundle of baby!
and you know what?! it totally wouldn't be possible without you. we've felt carried along by your prayers and support. in the midst of the crazy, we've felt peace and in the midst of all of our worries about money and becoming a family of four, we've felt excitement and hope.
so, guys, seriously, thank you!
Posted by jess at Tuesday, May 08, 2012 1 comments