A BIG Update ... Blessed!

We have some news to share.  We are now settled back home as a family of seven!  We received a call on Monday, March 6^th that resulted in traveling to Texas to receive our little girl on Wednesday, March 8^th … which was Corbin’s birthday!  Our sweet Adalyn Joy was born on March 2^nd weighing in at 5 pounds 1 ounce.  She is a healthy, precious girl.  Chris, Alex, Kylie and myself drove through the night to Texas and spent seven nights there waiting approval to come home.  It was glorious to make it back home and reunite as a family again. We had always thought we would be traveling to Georgia but going to Texas instead was also a blessing.  I was able to see a precious sweet lady that I have known through my adoption work for many years now.  That was another very special part of this trip. It was a whirlwind, but we are amazingly blessed. 

 

I wanted to share just a bit about the past month.  Corbin and I were able to go on a short term mission trip to Honduras February 10^th through the 18^th.  It was an incredible time together, serving the Lord through drilling a well for a community school.  God spoke to me often on that trip and in ways I was not expecting.  This adoption process has been long, at times it has felt discouraging, but also God graciously gave us so many moments of confirmation.   Some may feel we are too old to be doing this again.  I know some have wondered why we would start with a newborn in our 40’s.  All I can tell you is that God has led us down this road, and even when things may seem odd from a worldly perspective, we believe this is what God has led us to do.  Back to the mission trip, one common theme on that trip was JOY … we sang often of Joy and of the goodness of God in every single day.  God gave us so much joy in that week.  Coming home renewed, joy-filled, has been an amazing gift I was not expecting.  God spoke to me on that trip.  He confirmed the job He has for me in my work life and in my mommy life.  We are ready to continue to ride this adventure with Him. 

 

A story on her name … while driving to Texas we had been trying to decide on her name, when it came to her middle name I just kept coming back to wanting her middle name to be Joy.  We had discussed Joy, Grace, and Hope.  When we finally decided on Adalyn Joy and texted it to our agency in Texas the worker passed along the name information to the caring home mom for Adalyn.  Because our sweetie did not have a name leaving the hospital, the caring home mom did not have a name to be calling her.  We found out from the agency that when her name ADALYN JOY was relayed the caring home mom shared that she had been calling her Joy because she has the most joyous little face and personality.   How is that for a God moment?  Another reminder that God is in the details.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us over the past (almost) 4 years.  Can you believe we started this journey in the international process 4 years ago this coming May.  The domestic adoption side of this journey has been just over a year and a half.  It honestly felt much longer than that much of the time.  We have always believed that God had the timing all figured out.  We are grateful that we have been entrusted this little one.  It is a big job, and one we do not take lightly.  We are blessed.    

 Isn’t she beautiful!!!