The plan is..

It's Christmas Eve day.  Last night we celebrated with my husband's side of family.  It was wonderful to have most of the family there this year.    The above picture is of a muslin blanket I was given as a gift last night by my niece, Chelsea.   It meant so much to receive this as one of Gus's first gifts and what a beautiful verse for reminding us of God's plan and timing during our greatest wait.  

I kept thinking about how the next Christmas and how much I anticipate it as we will be holding our newest family member in our arms.  

Then I think about how Mary and Joseph must have felt awaiting the birth of Jesus.  

Talk about an arrival and perfectly timed planning by God, wow!

Some people may have been anticipating this "magical" arrival, where they had imagined how they thought it might go, others were just in total awe, shock,wonder.  But  God knew , and He made a way for the birth to happen at just the right time and His plan unfolded in the most extraordinary way.

What a gift.  What a celebration.   What awesome wonder.

Was I hoping for our referral phone call by Christmas?  YES. 

Did it happen?  NO.

Is there a reason?  ALWAYS.

Another incredible thing happened last night.  We received three beautiful Christmas cards and each had a check written out by our family and had beautiful words and wishes for our little Gus.  

OVERJOYED.

 It's hard to say just "thank you" in these moments, but we are truly, sincerely thankful.  Just to know that our family is equally in anticipation for Gus, just fills us up with joy.

Hope you have a blessed Merry Christmas.

It means so much that you are continuing to follow our journey.

To have and to hold

Sometimes I don't know what to write about during these times of great waiting.

The reality is that we are WAITING, waiting to get our phone call, waiting to be matched, waiting to see our little boy, waiting to say ("Here he is"), to say the words "He is Ours", waiting to show our family and friends the newest member of our family, waiting to see him in  person and to hold his precious, tiny hand in ours and tell him how much it was worth all the waiting.  

Sometimes, I just want to cry out and scream the words, "I CANNOT WAIT".  I cannot wait to see you, I cannot wait to hold you, I cannot wait to bring you home.......

The answer to our wait is out of our control.  This has been a great lesson of patience and faith. 

I do believe that God's plan is unfolding and above all else,  He is in control and that allows my heart to rest when I truly acknowledge His presence in our adoption journey.  

I am reminded that I will see how truly great our God is when we look back on this time of waiting and celebrate how GREAT IS OUR GOD to work out every single detail at just the right time , according to His purpose and plan for our little boy and for us. 

In Ecceleiastes 3, the Bible says that there is a time for everything.  God makes all things beautiful in HIS TIME.    Why do I keep wasting hours in my day with worrying?     UGH.  I don't know!   

The Bible also says that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.    I guess I'm still a work in progress and I'll continue to look forward to God's work in me.  

So, as for now, we continue our wait.  What typically happens is, our agency who has special partnerships with specific orphanages in China, will release files of waiting children at any given time and when our social worker finds a child who they feel would be a good fit for our family, they will call us and send us his file.  

This phone call could come ANY TIME.  

We then have 24 hours to review his file and make a soft decision to accept his file and then 2 weeks after to get our doctor's involved, and then we make final decision on that specific child.  

For our child in China.....we are waiting for you , to have and to hold, forever .    We love you.

-mom & dad , Big brother and Big sister.  

To our family and friends:   Keep praying and following along.

Today was the day that about 35 files were being released to adoption agencies with hundreds of waiting families, including us.

We are waiting for OUR phone call, hoping that perhaps today could be the day.

I stare at my phone, longing to see our global headquarters phone number light up.....it's not today.

We know that at any given time our phone call will come.  I am trying not to worry, but it's in my nature for sure.  (those who know me, agree ).  LOL

I admit, I wanted to get our phone call today.

So, I came across this Bible promise and I knew it was meant for me today.

I'm so thankful that I have a relationship with my heavenly Father who truly loves me, cares for me, and has plans for our future in His ways and His timing and for His purpose and glory.

Now....I just need my brain to adjust and my heart to rest in that promise.