Lori Florida

It's almost 8 am tomorrow morning in Ethiopia right now.  In her time zone her birthday is over and a new day is beginning.  She's a year older and I wonder who noticed.  The sweet orphanage workers put on a birthday bash for the kids every year...birthdays are celebrated, all at once in a group.  But was there anyone who singled her out...on the day she was born....to celebrate that it happened?   She's a Florida now....at least almost.....and I hope the letters we sent got there in time for her to know that 8 people on the other side of the world are oh-so-glad that she was born 15 years ago today.  I wonder how many of her birthdays have gone by like this....how many years since her first Momma was alive to recount the details of the day she was born and dream with her about the next?  How many years since her first Daddy treated her like she was the birthday gift? I know her Heavenly Father has continued to celebrate and sing over her day after day and year after year

After the months of N.O.T.H.I.N.G happening, we now can't keep up with ourselves!!  I can't remember who I've told what and I tend to put off making an official blog update when I'm not sure I've shared all the important details in person with my Mommas.  Since my brain's on overload, things keep happening so quickly, lots of people care and pray......and, because I have such understanding Mommas....I'm just going to go ahead and put it all out here.  Here are the highlights!! My heart's been calm.  The beasts are, at least for now, wrangled.  There's been a sweet peace laced with adventure adrenaline rushes in their place.  I like the new tenants! Our church family is celebrating...and that's so dear to us.  Our Pastor asked us to read our referral announcement blog post  in the Sunday morning service.  This was an important moment, and I'll admit I had a good bit of dry mouth and crazy, last minute "what are we doing????!!!' t

There are faces, there are names....that are oh so different from the ones my heart thought it was saying "yes" to 2 years ago.  Back then the "yes" was hard, it made my heart wrangle through all the unknowns....but now I'm realizing that it was kinda squishy too, had soft edges... because of some of those unknowns. The wranglings in my heart have begun again now that there are hard edges....a few certainties....real people.  Suddenly, adoption isn't just an idea, something we're going to do....it's something we're doing, and right quick!  The rubber is meeting the road, the pie has left the sky, the buck is stopping here, the road is rising to meet us.....  I'm breathless again, asking myself all the same questions I did 2 years ago.  I'm facing the same fears I thought had been lain to rest.  It feels like a twilight zone version of the spiritual wranglings of the beginning. My sister once gave me a different vantage point on re-wr