Thank you for...

“Thank you for the way you are going to grow our family.”

This is a new phrase running through our thoughts and prayers.  We don’t know when and we don’t how but we are trusting and believing in faith that it will happen.  Maybe not in the time frame we wanted or in the manner that we wanted.  However, we believe God is still calling us to adoption and He is still calling us to continue our ministry in South Africa.   As we have always tried to do, our goal is to be faithful to what God is calling us to. Sometimes that has been easy and straightforward.  Lately it has been a bit more difficult, filled with hard questions and tears.  However, this season will also pass.  The cold and bleakness of winter will give way to spring and new life and beauty in time.  

Sunday, we will begin our journey home.  Later than we thought, with one less little one than we thought, but still going home. In a lot of ways, we are looking forward to being home, in others we are not sure what to expect and if I am honest I am a bit scared.  Our Christmas tree is still up, the crib is up, there are baby clothes to be packed away and there is normal life and ministry to return to.  We have friends there who could deal with those things if we asked but sweeping it under the rug/delaying dealing with reality won’t help us bring closure to this chapter of our story.  We are returning home; we look the same and we sound the same (ok Peter sounds and looks older…) however, we are not the same.  In some ways returning to normal life will be balm to our souls in others ways it will be salt to the wound.  The balm will be returning to the familiar, the known, the expected; the salt will be the loss of what he had hoped for, planned, and dreamed.  The plans we had begun making (again) for our family of four are paused again.  Life goes on, time doesn’t stop, and new hopes and dreams will emerge.   There will be ways that grief will hit us anew and ways that returning home will bring healing and closure.

Will you pray with us as we return home?  

We also are realizing that while our pain is real and deep.  We are not alone in our struggles.  God is with us and continues to walk with us.  He created us for relationship with Him and others.  We walk the journey with God and with others. Each and every one of us have things that are or have weighed heavy on our hearts and minds.  How can we be praying for you?   One of the ways that we get through hard times is realizing that we do not walk the journey alone.  We all have questions and hurts and hard things we have to reconcile with our faith and beliefs.  How can we join you in prayer?  How can we journey together?  Leave a comment, send a private message, send an email or text.  We will have time to kill on our flight from Atlanta to Jo’berg. J

Until next time; If you are raising a curious, smart, clever 3.5-year-old, be prepared for some fun/try hard to keep a straight face conversations at bedtime.  Recently Peter really really wanted his own jet pack so he could be a part of the Paw Patrol.