Birthdays and New Floors

Friday was my dad's birthday and we celebrated Friday night. Friday was also my future sister-in-law's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad and Kim!

This weekend we finally put the new floor in the den. I am SO excited to have this finished. Pretty much all of the carpet in the house needs to be replaced, but the den needed it the most. It looks SO much better!

Molly Update

A lot has happened in the Vietnam adoption world in the last 24 hours. Apparently, the US Embassy in Vietnam has decided that the form called an I600 (which had previously been filed in Vietnam) must now be filed in the US before travel. This means that all of the families who are currently ready to travel have to cancel their trip until they file this form. Please pray for these families. I cannot even begin to imagine the feeling of having my things packed and ready to pick up my child to be put on hold. In the long run this is a good change, but for the families currently ready to travel I'm sure it has been hard to hear.

So what does all of this means for us and for Molly? It could increase our wait for referral and travel, but probably not by much. The good news for the families in our stage of the game is that the form will come with our referral information and we can file it while we wait for travel. God is so good to us and has given me such a peace about the whole situation. I know that He has a plan for us and a plan for Molly and a plan for when he will unite us. Until then, I know that a lot of people are praying for her and she's in good hands--God's. :-)

The progress on Molly's room has been much slower since I've gone back to work, but is coming along. We still need a few more things, but they will come I'm sure. Here are some pictures of where we are so far (although they look a little yellow in the pictures, the walls are actually green):

If You Could See Me Now

Not a day goes by (or probably a minute for that matter) that I don't think about Zeke. I heard this song on the radio this week and it made me think of him. We miss him so much but we're so happy that he's with Jesus with no more suffering, operations, hospital stays, or limitations.

Our prayers have all been answered.
I finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed has now been realized.
No one's in a hurry.
There's no schedule to keep.
We're all enjoying Jesus, just sitting at His feet.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing strong and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.

You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.
My light and temporary trials have worked out for my good,
To know it brought Him glory when I misunderstood.
Though we've had our sorrows, they can never compare.
What Jesus has in store for us, no language can share.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this perfect place.

If you could only see me now.

--Kim Noblitt

Fall Break Coming to an End...

Today is the last day of fall break. This fall break has been a lot of fun. I've only had one week off since I taught intersession but I've been able to get a lot done. Molly's room is coming along nicely. We've been working on the letters for her wall which came out adorable! I'll post some pictures of her room when it is closer to being finished.

Last night I got to have dinner with my two best girlfriends from college. It was so nice to catch up and have some good conversations. I love girl time! :-)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was Mom's birthday and we had a great time celebrating. She and I went shopping and out to lunch and then last night our family (excluding my dad who is on a fishing trip at the Outter Banks) had dinner at our house. It's always fun to get together with family. Happy birthday, Mom! :-)

Molly's Crib

She has a bed! Molly's crib came in today and Brian put it together tonight. Now all we need is a baby to put in it!

Refiner's Fire

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will

Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within

--Brian Doerksen

Adoption Update

" In his heart a man plans his course,

but the LORD determines his steps."

--Proverbs 16:9

I got a call from our agency this afternoon and they said that when they looked into matching us with the little girl they had called us about they found that we were already matched with another child! We don't know anything about her yet, but this means that there is a little girl in Vietnam who is getting ready for us. We are so excited about finding out more! As for the other little girl, she's still on my heart and my prayer is that she will be matched with the family that God has planned for her very soon.

Good Times

Well, not much new news on the adoption front. I did get a call back from our agency yesterday afternoon, but she didn't have a whole lot of information. She said she that the baby was very young (she wasn't sure of her exact age but knew she was under four months) and that she seems very healthy. She said she would let them know we were interested and get back with us when she got new information. Of course I have been checking my messages all day today, but I'm sure it will take awhile. I'm trying not to get too excited and just trying to pray that God will work it all out according to HIS will. I really have a peace about the situation that I know God has given me. I'm leaving the whole thing in HIS hands. :-)

Only two more days of intersession and then I have a week off--I'm so excited! Here are some pictures my friend Anna sent me from our weekend. We went to Cane Creek and had some good times:

Climbing the wall

Ready to hit the trails!

The dogs enjoy a swim--okay Shelby enjoys a swim and Ruthie thinks about it.

Girl Time

Gathering wood for the camp fire.

Lighting the fire.
Geeze, boys--come on!
Alright, Anna--it's ready!

Finally, we can roast marshmellows!

Baby?

Our social worker came over this afternoon to update our homestudy and I was surprised to see when I checked our messages after she left that I had missed a call from our agency. She wanted to talk to me about a baby girl! She said the little girl is perfectly healthy other than the fact that she has an extra toe on each foot. (We said we would be open to children with mild special needs in our homestudy.) I called Brian and of course he said that was fine so I called her back and left her a message. Those of you that know me well know that patience is not one of my strong points. I have been walking around the house for the last hour with the phone in my hand twiddling my thumbs and praying--praying that if this little girl is the Molly that God has planned for our family that He will work it all out.