Tears of Joy

Today I dropped the kids off with a good friend and headed to Zombieland a.k.a. Atlanta. I hit up Starbucks first as all good road trips should begin and I braved the traffic (and thankfully did not encounter too many zombies). Let me digress for a moment and just tell you right now-if you ever have to go to the city for anything please take MARTA. OK. That is my good advice for today. You're welcome.

My first stop was the Clerk of Superior Court to have our home study certified and then it was off to the Secretary of State. BTW good ol' Brian Kemp has way too many addresses. But eventually I made it to the correct building with no thanks to Google.

Upon entering the suite I was greeted by a very lovely receptionist who told me to hand over all my precious documents that have taken me months to gather, notarize and certify. She then told me to sit in the waiting room while they tirelessly checked each one and then (if they were correct) would officially place Georgia's Great Seal on them. With my heart beating out of my chest, I sat in silence for awhile waiting for her to come back . In moments like these we are prone to panic-which is exactly what I did as I considered any misstep that may have caused one of my documents to be deemed invalid.
Then I heard loud sounding booms coming from the other room and broke into tears. I knew right away my documents were being stapled to the blue folders! With every staple more tears flowed.
She then brought my documents for me to look over and gave me a hug saying "Oh honey, it is all good. It is all GOOD!". I thanked her for her kindness and she wished us well on our adoption.
I then speed to photocopy everything, went to the bank to get a cashiers check for the consulate, and went to FedEx to overnight express everything to a courier in Houston, Texas. Our package should arrive by 10:30am tomorrow and hopefully will go to the Chinese Consulate the same day. Once there they will receive the Chinese "stamp of approval" and can then be sent to China.

This has been a long crazy road. It is not done yet. But I feel like we are half way there. There is light at the end of this tunnel and my son is standing on the other side.

His mercies are new every morning

I have struggled with how to update this blog. There is so much to say, and yet so much to hold back so bear with me here.
This past month has been a roller coaster of love, pain, joy and grief.  Many events that I can't even relive right now. But in everything, the good and the bad, I see the Lord's hand guiding, I may not understand or even comprehend his plan but I know he is there. He has reminded me so clearly that I am his and he is my provider. Garrick is his and he will care for him. Steven and I have held on to one another and that promise. No matter what happens with our adoption it is all from, to and through God's hands.

He abundantly blessed our yard sale bringing in more than I could have imagined- more than I dared ask or pray for. And our garage is still full! He is good.
We tried to do it again the next week, but I was worn and weary with other things going on in our life. I was heartbroken and laid low, he knew I could not emotionally handle the sale that day and as I cried out in the early hours of the morning he let the rain fall. All I could do was cry out thankful for his mercy pouring down on me that day. He is good.

That same week both our cars decided to give out on us. But the day before it happened we were given another car by a sweet friend to sell and put towards the adoption or keep if we needed it. Our cars are still broken but it is OK because God provided.  He is good.

I was grieving hard for our Son one morning and in my email came an update with his beautiful face. It was like God was saying to me "See honey, it's OK. I got this baby girl". He is good.

Thus it has been the past month for our family, God continues to show up in the darkness and shine a light. Someday God will make all this brokenness beautiful, but right now he is going to satisfy everything in the mean time.