Christ is Risen!

I love Easter. I have found that the older I get, the more I choke up around Easter time. To remember what Christ did for me and the sin He took on for me, it just gets me a little weepy.
For example, I may or may not cry every time I read the story of Jesus' death and resurrection to our children. No need to mention that it comes from their children's Bible (side note: if you do not own "the Jesus Storybook Bible" by Sally Lloyd-Jones, you must buy it, you must).

I give you our yearly Easter picture. I still cannot believe we are a family of 5.

 

And one of the kids

We had our annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt yesterday. Look at what a difference 1 year makes. Most of our neighborhood friends have up and left us. Makes me sad :(

neighborhood egg hunt 2013

neighborhood egg hunt 2012

We also has a little egg hunt at my Grandma's. 

 These are their excited faces.

And some other ones before you go

 Happy Easter!

slightly embarrassed

We just had a visit with our homestudy social worker. Since our family dynamic has changed (meaning Zeke was born), we had to update our homestudy.

I thought she was just coming to check out our new little guy and maybe to make sure that having three kids has not made me go completely crazy. It never occurred to me that she would need to see where he sleeps.

Before I show you the pictures let me just say these things in my defense...
1. Three children create a lot of dirty clothes (especially when one of them is an infant).
2. One week is all it takes for them to create multiple loads of laundry...I promise I do their laundry every week.
3.  I had planned on putting laundry away earlier in the day, but it just did not happen - remember I have three kids.
4. Zeke is a really noisy sleeper...

Here is the maze of clothes we had to walk through in order to get to Zeke's "room". 

 Yes, this is our closet a.k.a. Zeke's room. I think it's nice and cozy, don't you?

So yes, she came to see me and the baby. But little did I know that she would also get to see Zeke's resting place. One day this will be funny...

whoomp there it is

This is it...all of it. Our Dossier for DRC is DONE and was mailed to our agency today! Doing my happy dance right now.

living for today

This poem was read during a Bible study that I just completed with my church. It hit home with me because I often live with my eyes focused on tomorrow instead of what God has for me today.

It was Spring.
But it was Summer I wanted,
The warm days,
And the great outdoors.

It was summer.
But it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves,
And the cool, dry air.

It was Fall.
But it was Winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow,
And the joy of the holiday season.

It was Winter.
But it was Spring I wanted,
The warmth,
And the blossoming of nature.

I was a child.
But it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom,
And the respect.

I was twenty.
But it was thirty I wanted,
To be mature,
And sophisticated.

I was middle-aged.
But it was twenty I wanted,
The youth,
And the free spirit.

I was retired.
But it was middle-age I wanted,
The presence of mind,
Without limitations.

My life was over.

But I never got what I wanted.

"Present Tense" by Jason Lehman

adoption update...and another change!

It has been a looooong time since I have posted about adoption. One because we have made some changes that I was not ready to public. And two because we have a newborn (an two other kids) who pretty such take up all my time and energy along with my thinking skills. Seriously, I have trouble even making coherent sentences 90% of the time.

We realized in October of last year that our i-600 approval was expiring in January, and not just any day in January, but Zeke's due date. Crazy, huh? So, we began the paperwork process...again.

If you have been following our journey, you may know that before we found out we were expecting #3, we were faced with a decision on whether to stay in Uganda or switch countries.
When we found out I was pregnant, we decided to stay put in Uganda and then make the decision closer to my due date.
And then in October, when we realized that our paperwork had to be updated, we also knew that we needed to make a choice on which country was best for our family.

Well, we decided to switch. We are now adopting from Democratic Republic of Congo.

There were several factors affecting our decision, but the overriding factor was travel time. We would have had to take one 8+ week trip to Uganda. Our original plan was to take the kiddos with us. But after Zeke was born, we knew that travel with all three kids, especially a baby may not be the wisest decision. And leaving the kids in the states while we traveled was not an option! I have trouble leaving them for a weekend, there is no way I could do it for 2 months!

So here we are...once again having to start certain processes over and once again finding ourselves on the paper chase.
Our adoption journey has been one of many emotions. When country processes change, it is frustrating, but it also reminds me of who is in control...and that is NOT me. God has showed me many times that He is sovereign over this entire process. It is not mine to control, it is His. Our baby is in His hands.

Now that we are settling in to being a family of 5, our adoption is back at the forefront of my mind. With that, I am hoping to do a better job of keeping y'all updated!