What a year!

One year ago today in a VERY hot and stuffy Ghanaian court chambers, my wise and handsome husband and I officially adopted two new children.

This last year has had MANY highs and MANY lows:

Lows:
-leaving our kids for 9 months to return home to America
-waiting
-learning about Gabriel being hospitalized for Stage 4 malaria twice
-waiting
-reaching road block after road block for their visas
-waiting
-returning to Ghana to bring them home only to wait longer while Adam returned to America
-waiting
-walking Debo Grace into the operating room 8 hours before boarding a plane to America as she kicked and screamed so that she could get stitches in her massive leg gash.

Highs:
-seeing Gabriel's expression as the plane took off from Accra, Ghana on February 22.
-introducing Gabriel and Debo Grace to their big sister and brother
-reuniting with Adam/dad
-showing the children their new home, toys, clothes, bikes, etc.
-introducing the children to their many sweet cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents
-watching Gabriel excel on the soccer field and in 2nd grade
-watching Debo Grace learn to play with others and learn how to play independently
-seeing true affection from all of our children to one another.
-learning to trust God more


We are all being refined. This is a high and a low. It is painful to be refined but in the end you look more like Jesus and ultimately that is what I want for myself, my husband and all of my children.

Thank you God for taking us on this journey with you. Thank you that you will not leave us or abandon us but that you go before us and stand behind us. We are doing our best and we know that is not good enough. We need you to come into our home and fill in all the huge gaps that we are incapable of filling. You are enough and we know that. Thank you!

I wonder what things will look like a year from now?