A Day of Good Things (yay!)

As the title suggests, today was a day in which good things happened. And before I go into any details, I first have to thank God for today, because I know that the blessings that came my way today were straight from Him. I asked (ok, begged), and He answered. For that, I am so grateful. If you have been reading along with us, then you know that the last few weeks have been difficult. Yesterday, I told my husband, "I just need something good to happen relating to our adoption." And today, I got TWO good somethings. :)

First, our dossier arrived at the Lifeline office in Kentucky! And let me pause to give an enormous shout out to the incredible Ethiopia staff at the Kentucky office. These wonderful people have been so patient with me and have helped us so much throughout this process so far. I am so grateful to the Lord that He created and placed such wonderful God-seeking people in this office, because I am sure they deal with some crazies (like me, for example) on a regular basis. Anyway, I got an email this morning that our dossier had arrived safe and sound (BIG sigh of relief). Shortly thereafter, my phone rang, and it was a KY area code. I knew it was Lifeline, but I was in a meeting at work. With great pain and a lot of self-control, I did not answer (didn't want to be rude to the person giving our professional development at work today). But then the voicemail rang in. And the little notification was staring at me, taunting me. I lasted about thirty more minutes, all the while wondering which critical piece of paper I had forgotten to include. I managed to sneak out when there was a lull. I called our Ethiopia representative...voicemail! Ahh! So, I left her a message. We finally got in touch, and...our dossier is perfect! Nothing is missing; everything is in order. Wahooo!!! The only problem was that I accidentally sent two copies of our marriage license instead of just one. I guess I wanted the judge in Ethiopia to know that Adam and I seriously married. :) So that was blessing number one today. Now all we have to do is wait for our state police clearance to come in, and our dossier will be 100% complete and on its way across the Atlantic.

I am super excited about blessing number two. There is a retreat held twice a year in the Atlanta area for adoptive/adopting women. It is called Created for Care. I have been reading about it online for a long time, and I have read several blog posts about the retreat by women who have gone. Well, my mom and I are going together this coming year, and I am so, so, so excited that I will not only get to go and meet other women who are walking this same path, but that I will get to share this incredible experience with my mom, a woman who will be such an important figure in the life of our little one. This is such a big blessing for me, especially right now. With the timeline increasing for our adoption and the uncertainty of when we will get to bring our little bird home, it is SO nice to have something actually on the calendar that is adoption related.

Today is the kind of day where I am reminded that the Lord knows us so much better than we know ourselves, and I am so grateful that I serve a God who knows me and loves me right where I am.

"You have searched me Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all of my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." Psalm 139:1-6

Love,
Baylor