The suitcases are out!

12 days and counting!!!!! I only have a few things to do between now and then... pack for 2 weeks for myself, Josiah, Faith and Charis (Scott is on his own!), prep my classes for the substitute teachers, get Josiah ahead on his schoolwork so there is less for him to do while I am gone, plan for and carry out a birthday party for Faithy who turns 4 while we are China, get the dog to the vet and to the groomer, meet with 2 dear friends who need prayer and encouragement, pay our bills that are due while we are away, get a few more documents filled out and notarized, I suppose I should wash some clothes, change the sheets, clean the house and figure out how to use my new camera! Ahhhhhhhh! Or should I say Wooooooohooooo! It's almost here...almost time for us to go and get our daughter. I'm living in reality now!

I heard from Trina Walker today. She read my entry about worshiping with Charis. Here's what Trina had to say: "I was just reading your blog and I read the part where you realized that Charis would soon be with you in Church worshipping our Lord. I have to tell you this is one of my favorite parts of this whole experience… Esther stands with us and raises her hands to the Lord and she tries her best to sing what we are singing. She loves to sing! I hold her sometimes during worship service so that I can sing softly in her ear so she hears each word and can learn it quicker. She came home from school the day before yesterday singing the prayer song that the Kindergarteners sing before they eat their snack. She recognizes the name of Jesus in the songs on the CD we play in the car. It is so wonderful. Many Sundays I will just stand there and tear up or get the biggest grin on my face while we worship together… it doesn’t get any better than this!!! God is so good! I wish everyone could know the miracle of adoption and be blessed the way we have been." This is the picture God gave me about what is to come with Charis and it is already happening with the Walkers. Praise God!

Today was the ice cream social for our church's adoptive families to meet each other and get connected with resources in our church for them. Some of them have already experienced the joy of adoption; others are in the process of waiting for their children, but all of them know that God is at work in their lives and how awesome it is to be used by God in this way. So many people think that the child being adopted is so blessed, and he or she is. But let me tell you that I think the people doing the adoption are even more blessed as we get to see and understand God and His heart in such a unique way. It's overwhelming at times to experience God's deep love for someone else...and you don't have to adopt a child to understand that love. That is just who our God is. It is His nature, His essence, what defines Him...love. We are the recipients of His great love and we get to share it and pour it out on children who may never have experienced what love really is. What a privilege. What a blessing. What a responsibility.

Okay, I am rambling...that's just what happens to me when I get excited in the midst of being busy...everything just goes 100 miles per hour, including my brain and my mouth (in this case, my fingers!!!). Well, the suitcasese are calling! Did I mention... 12 days and counting! This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.