A long overdue update

Wow.  It has been a year since I last blogged.  Where to even begin?  We've been through some changes...that's for sure.

Our last post was in regards a second adoption so I'll start with updating there.  In October we traveled to Latvia and brought our son home.  The next few months had a lot of wonderful moments but also some very difficult ones too.  There were a lot of different dynamics that played into the outcome and in March of this year our son returned to his country.  His adoption into our family was not finalized.  Thankfully though that is not the end of our relationship.

You see, adopting older children requires going through some pretty murky waters sometimes.  You have to love with abandon and without expectation and sometimes you are going to get hurt.  For whatever reason God wanted this boy to be a part of our lives and so we have continued a relationship with him and are doing our best to love and parent him from a far.  Do we have regrets? Yes.  Does he? Yes.  Does it stink? Yep, that too.

But being open to these children is God's command for all of us.  And while we don't always understand or like the outcome He has already gone before us and know's what lies ahead.  None of it was wasted.  Not the money or the time or the heartache.

So where do we go from here? Only time will tell...  Once you know you cannot pretend to unknow.  These children are forever in our hearts and there are plenty more still waiting for families to come forward.

But for the time being we will continue to pray for all of God's children.  He will not forsake them.  They all have the opportunity for a hope and a future.

If you've always wondered how you can become involved in orphan care I encourage you to check out New Horizons for Children.  This is an amazing non-profit organization that brings these children into Christian families for a few weeks each summer and winter where we can be the hands and feet of Jesus and show love, compassion, grace, and mercy.  Currently they are matching children from Ukraine and Latvia to come over the Christmas holiday.  Matching for China and the Philippines will begin soon.

All that aside our family is doing well.  Our daughter will be home two years in March (hard to believe it's been this long already) and we are seeing progress with her in many areas.  Our youngest started Kindergarten this year and our oldest boy is a high schooler. Our middle boy is blossoming and coming out of his shell.  Everyone is officially in school now and while it makes for quieter days not so much for nights lol.  We stay busy with work, extra curricular activities, and homework and it does make for quite the scheduling adventure at times but we love the family that God has pieced together for us.  We are doing it, the good, the bad, and the crazy, and but most importantly we are doing this thing called life TOGETHER and as a FAMILY :)  And on that note I really need to update my blog graphics and get my girl on there!

So that's the brief version of where we are today.  Hopefully it won't be another year before I update again.