Tonight I'm celebrating 16 years of being married to my amazing husband.  This crazy journey of our lives together has shown us incredible happiness, intense sadness, insurmountable joy, insanely difficult decisions, (I just realized I have an "i" pattern going here...but I'm going to break it now) unparalleled friendships, heartbreaks, victories, wonders, surprises, and this list could go on forever.  We've seen it (almost) all.  Now we are  embarking on another aspect to our journey -- one we've never done before -- adoption.  The Lord has carried us through so MANY different adventures thus far and I have every confidence that He will continue.  It's intense and exciting and stressful and crazy and we love it!! 

We keep finding things out about Sam/Yuri that confirm over and over that he is such an amazing "fit" for our family.  He is a leader already in areas of his life and I just know that that will continue as he has the proper encouragement to do and be everything that he's been created to do and be.  I can't wait to see where this path of our journey takes our family.

Please continue to pray with us for the Lord's timing on our adoption hearing, travel, etc.  I just feel so strongly that he is supposed to come on our summer trip with us this year, but if the timeline holds true to what it's been for other families, it doesn't look like he would be able to join us.  Please continue to pray for mercy and compassion for the officials who will be making the decisions on our case.  Pray they will be compelled to let us get him home in plenty of time for us all to be prepared for our trip as a WHOLE FAMILY.  I would hate for him to miss it just by a few days as it will be a lifetime of memories for our clan and he would not have them with us.  It breaks my heart to think about.

But, once again, I publicly declare (puts a little more pressure on me that way...) that I am RESTING fully in God's timing for all of this.  He knows and He is at work in a mighty way!!! 

I head to bed tonight a VERY thankful wife...