30!

GREAT NEWS!
In 30 days I have the joy of reuniting with one of my best friends in the world, Cliffy!!!! And to sweeten the deal we get to spend two days together in my favorite city in the world, Seattle!!!! I seriously was screaming and crying and dancing and jumping when I found out. I haven't seen my Cliffers in years. She lives on the east coast but thank God one of her west coast friends had a baby and she had multiple excuses to pop on over.

These pictures are quite old school. They are so old school that people didn't have digital cameras back then so all we have is hard copies. Luckily Cliffy sent me these pictures, not the best pictures, but just enough to show you one of the women who restored my belief in true female friendships. She is amazing and generous, gifted, godly, funny and we can laugh SO hard together. I can tell her anything and we have been through so much together.

First picture is us at Lake Chelan with our other roomie, Nicole. Second, Cliffy and I at a college football game (Go Buffs!), Third, Cliffy and I in Las Vegas for her 21st birthday and finally a sunny picture of us at Gas Works park in Seattle. Ahhhh the memories! Can't wait to make more memories in our favorite city in just 30 days!!!!

Overdue Update: A Virtual Altar

I have been trying to write this post for over a week but have just been too darn tired. So tired I'm questioning the stability of my thyroid and starting to consider actually swallowing instead of simply staring at my vitamins.

So my little updates: I recently purchased hot pink candlesticks. My Crown College graduation is in 14.5 weeks. WEEKS, people. My car was stolen and recovered last week. And I admit that I paid $1.29 on iTunes for the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the USA" on Friday morning in an impulsive grasp for my fleeting youthful energy (stop making that face).

Enough about me. Let's talk about Jesus.

You may be thinking, "What a strange and overly spiritual comment". It is my blog. Besides, blogging is the absolute epitome of all things self. It's just that the updates I want to share, while related deeply to me, are actually really about Jesus.

I've been too tired to feel like I can do these updates/ Jesus justice, which why I have been repeatedly putting it off. I just need to get on with it and over myself. May He receive every ounce of credit, praise and honor he is due, regardless of my writing.

I have written previously for prayer regarding the existence and retrieval of a form we needed as "evidence" of Josh’s citizenship since he was born in Canada to US citizen parents. We mailed in the forms and check in mid-December and were told to wait 4-8 weeks from the time the check was cashed.

In the meantime, though, we started questioning if this form even existed and we didn’t want to wait 5-6 more weeks to find out. We sought out other options just in case. The other options included obtaining a Certificate of Citizenship, which is the adult version of the form we sent away for. This form takes 8 weeks or more, costs about $500 and would require us to gather all kinds of documents like Josh's parents' marriage and birth certificates. Hassle! And we cried at the idea of being set back at least two months, if not more. On top of that, it looked like we would also need to obtain three certified copies of Josh’s Canadian birth certificate. These cost over $100 each. Yikes.

I spent hours online trying to figure it out, trying to call people to clarify, etc. All weekend long (my birthday weekend, no less) we prayed about this, that God would expedite, find these forms, clarify, and change the situation and/ or that we would be calm and patient. Monday I emailed our Adoption Program Director and told her what we had, what we didn't have and what we hoped to have but didn't know. I was willing to do anything at this point, but I didn't know which road to take.

Miraculously, she emailed me back saying to simply get the passport notarized three times as a true copy of the original and to get the original birth certificate notarized three times as true copies and we would be good to go. What?!?! We read it again. No extra time, no extra money, no treasure hunting for documents, no confusion, nothing. Isn’t that extraordinary news?!!??! Praise God.

Additionally, this whole process has been about trusting in God’s provision in new ways. One Friday evening a couple weeks back another crazy, cool opportunity was handed to us. I came home from work and had a Facebook message waiting from someone who knows we are adopting saying that she saw a local clothing boutique was hiring and although she knows I’m overly busy, she felt like she should pass on the information.

I didn't know how that might work out with my already full-time job and school but I looked up the boutique online and saw they had just posted an opening for Saturdays only. Suddenly, I remembered that my dear old friend Chels had sent me a link about the boutique a year ago because her good friend was running the shop. I emailed Chels and just asked for her friend’s name and briefly told her I was hoping to earn some extra income to put towards the BFF (Baby Fatty Fund). She immediately emailed me saying she would give her friend a heads up I was coming in. Two minutes later Chels sends me a text to let me know she just got off the phone with her friend and that she would love to talk with me about the job. I went in on Tuesday and it was settled! An additional wonderful job practically landed in my lap through no effort or striving of my own. (Thanks so much for your help,Chels). I am so grateful.

Amazing. Praise the Lord!!!!!

Isn't Jesus so merciful and kind and good? I wanted to write this to share the good news with you and thank those of you who have prayed and cheered us on (please continue to do so!). And I wanted to write this so that I would always have a solid, concrete place to read about times when God has expedited this process and come through for us. I'm guessing there will be days and weeks down the road when it's hard and long and tough and I do not want to forget God's faithfulness! Consider this a virtual altar, like they would make in the Old Testament to remember what the Lord had done for the people he loved.

That's more like it

This doesn't replace the horror of yesterday's posted video, but I DO think this will renew a sense of HOPE at our future and inspire you to embrace the beauty of diversity (and the arts in schools)!

Not okay. Can we change this?

Like my husband said tonight, "...There is no way this should be true today. Wow, how sad. Our family will get to walk this road in a unique way..."

My black book

Yesterday I had the privilege of going on a birthday date with my good friend, Paula. You may remember our fancy birthday day last year. Anyway she took me to Wild Pear in downtown Salem. The minute you walk in you just forget you are in Salem all together. It's modern, buzzing with people, crowded, loud, trendy in a good way, not to mention the food they serve and architecture of the renovated historical building are worth the wait (but good thing we finagled a reservation!).

Paula has many noteworthy qualities and one of them is she is a creative gift-giver. I envy this because I am not. Monday I told her that I need to really make up some ground to be even with her and that she is forbidden from getting me anything until I've made it up to her. Either way he gave me this awesome book for my birthday. I could barely put it down last night. It's not a "Wear this, do not wear that" book, but more like a tool box or workbook building on your style and giving you new things to think about to edit your own wardrobe and make good purchases, etc. Her writing style is very conversational as if she is in the room assisting you personally.

The book is filled with all of these inspiring quotes from style icons like Sophia Loren, "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief she is beautiful" and Christian Dior, "It's not money that makes you well-dressed, it's understanding". And with chapter titles like this, "Be Your Own Muse", "The Basics, "Inspirations", "Insider Tips and Tricks", I highly recommend it.

Next on my fashion reading list are this and this. Maybe I'll get one for Paula for her birthday. Ah, finally a good gift idea!

Short and Sweet

The good news is that my dear husband reads my blog. The bad news is that if he were not my husband, he would not read my blog. For the most part, my blog breaks the "rules". I usually write long reflections with zero pictures. In the blog world, that is a no-no. But because my husband loves me, he reads my blog. Phew. So this post is for him. Short and Sweet.

Look up. Ah, a picture. New Year's Eve 2009. I have a theory we always take good New Year's Eve pictures. It's probably because we're on the verge of something new and exciting. Speaking of which, I turn 26 in three days. What the. And Josh turns 28 in eight days. What the. Even my own siblings couldn't believe the two of us were so "old" and such "real adults" (they are all younger which is why these late twenty realities strike them as crazy).

It's amazing to think that possibly around the time I turn 27 and he turns 29 we might be booking our flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pick up our baby.What the! Can't wait to hold our little Fatty.

If you are the praying type, we'd love prayer regarding the existence of and expedited arrival of a certain, specific form needed as evidence of Josh's citizenship since he was born in Canada. We've sent the paperwork off to D.C., but don't know if they have found what we are looking for or when it will be sent back to us.

Taaaa-daaaa! Done.

Streams in the Wasteland

Back in August, Josh and I engaged in six weeks of prayer about whether or not this was the time to begin the adoption journey. We felt adoption was for us at some point but wanted to see what God had to say to us about beginning our family this way. We were nervous we might be trying to trump his will for us to wait on a biological child and certainly didn't want to move forward to cover over an old wound or out of distrust and fear. The infertility journey and the promise of a biological baby were ringing in our ears and yet our hearts were sensing a shift which prompted us to ask, "Was now the time? What do you have for us in this season? Reveal the next steps to us."

It was the middle of September, with just two weeks left in our time of concentrated prayer and fasting. One morning I absentmindedly flipped to one of my favorite books in the Bible, Isaiah, and started scanning the pages. Often when I read the Bible I do so out loud. It seems more powerful and personal that way. I concentrate more and skip less words, I catch more details and find my mind is alert and engaged. Anything flippant, skeptical or distracting goes away completely and humility, reverence, faith and awe rise in it's place.

Obviously, adoption was on my heart and mind so much that I could barely think about anything else. Yet Josh and I were being guarded with each other on the subject until our six weeks were up. We felt the need to do this as individuals first before discussing and praying as a couple. I was already sensing strongly this is what God had for us but I was convicted to respect Josh's need to process and receive personal confirmation from the Holy Spirit. Since Josh and I weren't dialoguing about it much I spent much of my time with the Lord pouring my heart out and seeking his voice, his path, his peace.

As my eyes were scanning the thin pages of the Bible, suddenly several verses become bold in front of my eyes. I read them quickly and then, a wave of the Holy Spirit's presence washed over me with a deep peace and joy. I didn't want to miss what was happening so I slowed down and read the verses out loud. Once. Then twice. Then underlined them, then grabbed my journal to write them down....

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth... Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland... For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams".

Isaiah 43:5,6, 18, 19 44:3,4