Lori Florida

Processing has been slow for me.  I came home with a headcold and ears that stayed plugged up for 2 weeks....that put my thinking skills in molasses mode.  It's been 3 weeks since we've been home from the trip of a lifetime.  I realize I've left many of you in the dark, some thinking we already have the girls home, everyone wondering how the trip went and what's next.  I'm sorry.  I've realized as I've been praying for anxiously awaiting the next installment of my high school friend's blog who's just brought home 2 little sweeties from China, that I've left all of the Florida family prayer warriors in the dark.  Although I realize God's not in the dark and can convert your prayers to reflect the things you don't yet know....I want you to know because my heart needs you all with me. I want to take you along to Africa and let you meet my girls.  But first, let me tell you what's next.  Our last formality, last document driven hoop t...

Have you met Ginger??  If you have, you probably just smiled when you read that!  She leaves an impression, that girl! The mustache picture is very appropriate to this story....as you will soon see! Our spicy Ginger...baby Florida #6 was very much planned.  It's been 4 years since she arrived and her story hasn't been recorded anywhere but our hearts.  Her birthday seems like a good time to share! Her story has to begin with that fact that her Daddy really loves babies....I mean reeeeaaallly loves babies....as in, we would have 64 by now if money, time an logistics didn't have to be a factor in family planning!  So a common comment heard in the Florida house since the first Florida baby came along has been, "How 'bout another baby??  Why wouldn't we want to do that again!"  Now Ginger's Momma loves babies too....really loves babies.  But Ginger's Momma also gets tired, especially after 5 babies in 8 years, so Ginger's Momma just...

We're on the verge of this adoption moving from the "something we're doing" column to the "what we've done" column.  I've met my daughters, touched them and started falling in love with their sweet faces and voices.  It won't be long before you all meet them and fall in love too and they will be the faces of this story.  I'm so happy that's going to happen....because you're going to love them.  You're going to be captivated by who they are and what they bring to all of our lives.  You're going to wonder how our family was ever complete without them.  I can't wait. Last night, a song and portions of the book of Acts brought me right back to the beginning of this whole thing....and the first face that we fell in love with, the face that started the ball rolling and made this whole things happen.  Before it's about us, before it's about our girls, as sweet and deserving as they are.....it's been about Him and I ...

Can't wait till I've got one of all of us together....but this is a good start!!    

Two very precious possessions I packed in my suitcase for Africa were necklaces made by my sweet sister . These necklaces carry a lot of meaning from our hearts to the hearts of two Ethiopian hearts that are probably pumping with the same mixture of excitement and fear as ours.  I'll be wearing my own version of the same necklace, stamped with "Momma."  They'll each have a letter to read, that explains in 2 languages each thought and prayer.  When we leave, we'll leave them with our love and promise hanging around their necks.....until we come again.... Dear Asnaku, We have been praying and waiting for this day for many years, and finally it’s here.  God’s hand has been obvious leading and guiding in all of our lives to bring us together and make us family.  We had this necklace made for you (by your Aunt Kathy) to remind you of all the ways God has been caring for you and planning your future.  And our friend, Aster, who was adopted fro...

The bags are packed....mostly.  The lists and instructions are taped all over the dining room walls.  The grandparents are moving in.  The cupboards are stocked with food.  The reservations have been made. Now it's just us, one last night's sleep, and the beginning of the end of a road we stepped on over two years ago....and then the beginning of a brand new, lifelong road.  Have tell you, "Can't believe we're actually doing this!" has crossed my mind and come out of my mouth more than once the last few days. I am every bit as excited and expectant as I've ever been on the way to the hospital.....the biggest difference is that if I'm a total dweeb when these new babies meet me for the first time, they're old enough to remember it!!  I'm dreaming of all the same things I did with my newborn babies.....wondering who they'll be someday....aching to kiss their temples and breathe them in....knowing that there are sleepless nights on their a...

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 af...