Accentuate the positive

As we were tucking the boys into bed a little while ago, Ethan prayed as he does most nights.  The focus of his prayers lately has been on our upcoming trip to Ethiopia and Sena's well-being.  It melts this mama's heart to hear him make his requests to God.  Tonight, he prayed for the specific dates that we are hoping to travel to Ethiopia.  Then he said, "But if it is two weeks later, we'll still take it because it is good to wait so that babies can be adopted."  Then he prayed for the people who are gathering our paperwork and the people at the embassy.  I couldn't have covered the bases any better than he did.  The waiting has been difficult for not just John and I, but also for the boys.  It seems that we have had starts and stops all along this journey and by now that is just getting old for all of us. 

Rather than dwelling on that, I am trying to focus on the positives right now (trying being the operative word).  Here are some I can think of right now:


1.  Yesterday I had a minor (or possibly major) meltdown while I was on the phone with Joy from YWAM.  Joy is the sweetest lady and she spent almost an hour offering encouragement and taking time to pray with me.  She understands that this process is difficult and emotional and there was no judgment - just love.  Becky has also taken her turn offering support and encouragement many times along the way.  These two are an amazing team and I am glad to have them in my corner!

2.  We have an awesome group of YWAM families who have been traveling together on this journey and I am so thankful for the friendships that have been formed - some I have met in person, but several I haven't.  Nonetheless, they have been a wonderful source of support as we have experienced the ups and downs of this process together.

3. Today I talked with Kathy at Susan Parr Travel.  We have now changed plane tickets twice and have another set on hold.  She has been so flexible and so kind.  She is extremely understanding of this unpredictable process and has been amazingly helpful.  If you will be making a trip overseas - especially if you are adopting - I highly recommend talking to Kathy at Susan Parr.

4.  We are celebrating Ethan's birthday this weekend.  We had a party with a few of his friends tonight and we will have a family party tomorrow.  We are looking forward to spending time with everyone and celebrating 10 years of Ethan.  I can't believe he has hit double digits!  As I was stocking up at the grocery store yesterday, the cashier wondered what was going on.  I told her and she said, "You don't even want to know how fast the next ten will go..."  It does seem like time flies by (except when you are waiting on an embassy date.  Then it just draaaaaaaaggggggggggggssssssssssss.)

Just for fun, here are a few pictures of my boys in the early years:

Sweet sleeper.  So precious when he was asleep, but he was a handful when he was awake during his 2's and 3's.  Shortly after this picture was taken, we took his binky to The Disney Store and traded it for a Rolie Polie Olie doll (and had to do some quick legwork with the salesgirl on that one).  I still feel slightly bad about that, but he handled it quite well.  I'm not sure what we will do with Miss Sena and her thumb.  We certainly can't trade that in for a doll...

What are they doing?

The one time I went to Walmart for the black Friday sale produced this little Jeep for a fantastic price.  I will never visit Walmart at 5am on black Friday ever again.  There may have been people running through the aisles.  I may or may not have been one of them.

Helping Daddy with Isaac

I love these dudes!