First selfies of 2016!

2015 has been a whirlwind of craziness. It's been rough and trying and also exciting. It is not a year that I will look back on and say "let's do that again!" but I will remember 2015 as the year that God started working so visibly in our lives. Of course this is not to say that He hasn't been doing this all along, only that maybe now we are really paying attention. :)

We have made some beautiful friendships this year because of the adoption process. Have been extremely blessed by old friendships and loved ones and people we haven't even met in person. Family time to me has been extra special during the holidays this year. The holiday season is my favorite time and I had been longing for it since the last one ended. But this year was so different.

We were missing some loved ones at Thanksgiving dinner and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for different reasons causing the family time to not feel quite complete even though it was lovely and fun. But the real difference was that we couldn't help but keep wondering about the possibility of next year's holidays. Would we have a new tiny family member added to the bunch? How would Christmas morning be with our own babe wrapped in a blanket and in our arms? Will this be our last "single couple" holiday season? And the thought of that is pretty mind blowing. It's hard to comprehend. 

We don't know when we will have the funds ready. We don't know who God has carrying our child or if they are carrying the baby yet at all. We don't know how long this adoption process will take, if it will be a whirlwind or if it will be a long wait. It's hard to prepare your heart for the change of parenthood when you aren't the one watching a child grow inside you. There is no nine month specified timeline to keep track of. 

Oh, but the excitement is there! The potential that we will have a baby sometime this year is so real and scary and wondrous. 

There is so much to do in a short period of time to get to that point. We are almost done with our home study(...lots to get done still!) and then it's doing everything we possibly can to save the full amount for the adoption as quickly as possible. I know that God's got this. He's got us and He's got our birth mom too. 

Please continue to pray for us in this new year. Please pray that we will continue to visibly see God's guidance in every step of our adoption. Pray for the woman who will make a courageous decision to give life to a child and place that child in a stranger's arms because for whatever reason, that is what is best for the child. This decision will not come easily. Please pray that grace and peace would be hers through it all.

Looking forward to the changes that are sure to happen to our little family. Looking forward to changes in me along the way too.

God bless you all in this new year.