One More Week

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Our birth mother went to the doctor yesterday and everything looks great, but it turns out that she will not get a scheduled delivery date until her appointment next week. So, looks like we have an extra week to prepare. Of course the most important thing is that she and the baby are healthy, but I was ready for a delivery next week! Oh well, I am just still so thankful that things are going well! All in God's perfect timing! Please continue to pray for us during this process. I'll keep you posted. Happy Thanksgiving!

Babyland has Exploded at Our House!

First, I'd like to thank all of you for your prayers, phone calls, and messages on Friday! Our meeting went great! Our birth mother is extremely quiet and reserved but very nice. We met with her, her mother, and our agency director. The first thing we talked about was how nervous everybody was, which really broke the ice. For the next two hours we went on to talk about everything from our favorite movies to the baby, the hospital, and all that fun stuff. I felt like everyone left dinner feeling good about the adoption plan! Please continue to pray that everything goes smoothly and please pray specifically for peace for our birth mother. I have such mixed emotions as I am sooo excited about our precious baby girl but my heart goes out to our sweet birth mother!

Saturday morning we hit the baby stores hard!!! We were out from morning till night (literally)! We bought a crib, a pack'n play, a travel system, and every other essential our sweet little girl will need when she gets home. Actually, our first stop was Buy Buy Baby, and after two hours we were completely overwhelmed. Since Tommy and I both felt like we were starting to have a panic attack, we called my sister, Mary Gwin, and she shopped with us the rest of the day. MG, we couldn't have done it without you! Sunday after church, Tommy put the crib and travel system together. He is a gadget kind of guy. Then we spent the rest of the day reorganizing all or our closets to make room for baby. My sister loaned me baby clothes and other fun things (thanks again, MG!), and we'll spend the next few days getting everything organized in the nursery. "Nursery!" I can't believe we have a nursery in our house!

Our birth mother will find out tomorrow the exact delivery date, and I will keep you posted as things develop. I cannot begin to tell you how overwhelmed we are by the outpouring of love, support, and excitement we have received! Please keep praying! Thank you!!!

Here are some fun pics I took throughout the weekend.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even believe that I am making this post, but Tommy and I got "THE CALL" yesterday from our agency!!! We are having a baby girl in two weeks!!! Can you even believe it?!? Praise the Lord! He is so good! Thank you all so much for all your wonderful thoughts and prayers. Please, please, please continue to pray that this process goes smoothly and that our birth mother will have a peace about her decision. We are meeting her on Friday, so please be in specific prayer for that meeting...I am nervous! I will definitely keep you posted as things develop. Right now we think she will deliver the week after Thanksgiving. Thank you again for your continued prayers.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Remembering Our Veterans

It's been a while since I posted, because October and November (so far) have been pretty crazy to say the least. The past few weeks have been filled with mostly fun stuff and some challenging things too. I'll update you on what's been going on this fall soon, but today I want to give a shout out to our veterans.

I'm sure most of you have been touched in some way by the sacrifice that a loved one has made or is currently making for the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy every day. To those of you who serve in our armed forces, to those of you who have served, and to those of you who mourn the loss of someone who has served or wait patiently for their return home...THANK YOU!!! Thank you for all you do for our great nation!

Here in Birmingham we celebrate Veterans Day with a downtown parade. My office happens to be downtown, and the parade passes by just a block from where I work. My coworkers and I caught the tail end of the parade today and here are some pictures that we took.

Here I am with my coworkers and one of my coworker's daughter.

Happy Veterans Day!

He's got this!

Lately, Tommy and I have been feeling really discouraged about the adoption process. As some of you may know, in domestic adoption the birth mother chooses the adoptive parents by looking at scrapbooks we create about ourselves. ALOT of emphasis is put on these books. They are supposed to be big, colorful, and full of pictures of our house, our families, our vacations, and activities. We are supposed to make ourselves look as "fun and interesting" as possible. Adoption is wonderful and mandated by the gospel. Where would we be without our spiritual adoption in Christ? But, this process seems very superficial sometimes. What do our vacations, house, or activities really have to do with what type of parents we will be? Why does it have to be this way?

Well, the other day Tommy got an email from a friend that he hasn't spoken to in months. She and her husband adopted a child as well, and here is what the email said.

"I have been thinking about you and your wife for the last couple of days…I keep hearing GOD tell me to contact you…so how are you?

Do you ever watch the George Lopez show…I watch it sometimes on Nick at Night and he is always telling his wife, "I got this!" which usually means he is going to mess it up! But it is so funny that I love that phrase…Well, this summer when my church, at my insistence, did our first VBS in years, GOD kept telling me, "I got this!!!" He made it a HUGE success!!!!

Now, he keeps whispering to me to let you know that "He's got this!!!" I don't know what this is…but rest assured He has it…"

Our God is an awesome God, and He's got this! This process may not be perfect, but He is sovereign over all of it...Amen!

We're having fun!

So we are in the wait, but we're trying to have some fun, too! Lately, Tommy and I have started a "Discovering Alabama Tour." We both grew up in Mississippi and know and love our home state very well. But, we have lived in Alabama for several years now and realized that we don't know much about our new home state. So far we've visited Rickwood Caverns, Noccalula Falls, Desoto Caverns, Auburn, Cullman, Cathedral Caverns, Cheaha State Park, Mentone, Gorham's Bluff, and most recently this past weekend Morgan Creek Vineyard.

Little did we know that Alabama has 13 wineries! Why go to California when you can just visit the great state of Alabama for some fine muscadine wine?!? This past weekend was Morgan Creek Vineyard's fall festival and annual grape stomp. We didn't decide to go until Saturday morning, and as we drove to Harpersville, I was a little afraid we might be the only ones there...that would be awkward...boy was I wrong! There were tons and tons of people there, and we had a blast! They had a band, barrels set up where you could stomp the grapes, wine tastings, winery tours, and Full Moon Barbecue served lunch. However, the best part of the day was definitely the Lucy Look Alike Contest! Here are some pictures and fun facts about Morgan Creek Vineyard.

The entire production process is done in this one room. They make muscadine, apple, peach, and blueberry wine. Muscadine wine does not have to age after the fermenting process, but they age the apple, peach, and blueberry wines about 6 months.

They produce 15,000 cases of wine a year, and ship to 400 stores across Alabama AND Mississippi.

Here is the vineyard. It was really pretty even in the sweltering heat!

One of the Lucy's competing in the Lucy Look Alike Contest

And...

Our favorite of the 30 something Lucy's that competed on Saturday! Hope ya'll had as much fun as we did this weekend!

Adoption Anxiety

So far, all my post have been reflecting the fun and exciting side of adoption. Adoption CAN be really fun and exciting. The sense of urgency that you need to be ready at a moments notice is very exciting. It is fun to anticipate when we are going to get the call, how we will tell our family and friends, will we get to meet our birth mother, will we be at the hospital when the baby is born...even in the delivery room? But...

The adoption road is long. There is a HUGE risk in adoption. There IS such a thing as a failed adoption. Our journey to adoption was long and hard. I have some days when I am flying high anticipating what the Lord has in store for us...and I have some days when my anxiety level is so high I feel like the Lord pulls me back just before I go over the edge. I have been so angry at times. The wait is hard. It is hard to see family and friends have babies. Sometimes it is even hard to celebrate with others. It just does not seem fair. But...

Tommy and I feel called to adoption. We feel called to this struggle, and that is what adoption is sometimes. It is a really hard struggle within yourself to stay committed, to stay strong, and to stay focused on the Lord, and remember that the Lord chose this precious child for OUR family from the beginning of time. Life is full of struggles, and there is no better place to find relief than in God's word. Here are some scripture verses that I look to to remind me of God's steadfast love and faithfulness and that He is my refuge and strength.

"...I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."

Jeremiah 31:3

"but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." Psalm 46: 1-3

"'Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!' The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalm 46:10

I hope these verses lift your spirits, if you are struggling today. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!