And we're off!!!

Well we are spending our last night in Florida and have already packed up the RV and headed to the top of the state! Unfortunately the last 24 hours went nothing as planned (Micah was up until 3 a.m., Zoe woke up at 5 a.m., Nathan peed the bed at 5:30 a.m., it started raining at 9 a.m. and ruined our outdoor day plans...such is life with three littles!), but we are nevertheless on the road and so excited to be on our way HOME!

If you've been confused on why we're still in Florida if Micah was discharged on Thanksgiving, there is a small "detail" after you adopt a child out of state called Interstate Compact agreement that basically means the state you're adopting from and the state you reside in agree that you can legally transport your child home. As we mentioned on Facebook, Florida cleared our paperwork this week after just four days, which is incredible these days as they generally take 10-14 working days. Our agency expects us to clear Indiana early this week; in the meantime we are free to travel anywhere in the U.S. (even Alaska, haha!), as long as we don't go back to Indiana :-). So we are getting ready to meet our newest nephew, 1-week-old Samuel, tomorrow!! We will spend a few days there, and hopefully head back home at the end of the week, as long as all lights are green with paperwork! If not we'll be poling you for the best places to visit in the country with 3 children 3 and under--HAHA!

We can't wait for all of you to meet sweet Micah! We know so many of you have prayed with us for his adoption over the past couple years, and we were so blessed this morning to be sent of in a circle of prayer from our host family just before hitting the road. We are so excited for all the Lord has done in Micah's adoption--we have seen the Lord working in every area, and we are so thankful!

As you continue to pray us home, please pray this week for Nathan and Zoe's endurance with being away from home. They are struggling a lot with being out of routine, not in their own beds, and not in familiar environments. They have enjoyed some fun moments, but they are really ready to be home. We are ready also, as the travel has taken a toll on all of us with the kids' sleeping habits falling apart away from home. We trust the Lord will strengthen us for one last leg of this journey to get all FIVE of us home for Christmas :-)

Oh yes, and and for the record, I have no idea how to format pics on our blog--but I will do my best here for those of you who aren't Facebook users and have seen no pictures yet :-). Meet Mr. Micah James--our newest sweetie!

 

Songs of Thanksgiving

While contemplating what to post on our blog tonight, I stumbled upon this verse on a friend's Facebook page: “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” (Psalm 28:7 NLT)

If you read my post from November 16, you'll know I blogged about really struggling spiritually with discouragement and anxiety. The Lord had been working in my heart over the previous months, encouraging me specifically to transform my thinking according to Philippians 4:6, “Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything...” but I had recently been allowing Satan to speak lies into my heart. After asking for your prayers that Sunday, just two days later on Tuesday we received the call that Micah was going to be born. After about 45 seconds of panic, we chose to pray instead of worry, and just three days later we were suddenly guardians of a beautiful baby boy we'd prayed for over the course of two years.

In reading Psalm 28:7 tonight, I really just want to burst out in songs of thanksgiving to the Lord! Even in his few days of life, God has been Micah's and our strength and shield each day. So tonight I just want to list a few ways we have been thanking the Lord for helping us and filling our hearts with joy.

--Our sweet Micah James was born 4 weeks early on November 18. Despite being 4 weeks early, he has, as of today, passed his birth weight by 4 ounces :-). The Lord was watching over his delicate body, and we are thankful!

--Due to some health concerns, we had planned to be spending 4-6 weeks in the NICU with Micah. We were instead discharged on Thanksgiving Day after an 8-day observation with a couple days spent just waiting for him to gain weight. Though concerns could still surface, we are trusting the Lord that He has indeed healed Micah's little body in answer to many of your prayers! We were especially excited to tell Nathan that his daily prayers for Micah's health have been answered. The faith of a three-year-old in a powerful, healing God has truly humbled us, and we are thankful for the spiritual lessons we learn from our children.

--Many of you prayed with us for provision of housing and childcare while we were away. As you know, a sweet family is letting us stay in their RV, and to date we figure we've saved somewhere around $1500 already from the accommodations, which often include unexpected (and amazing) dinners :-). We are so thankful for the Hogue family! (P.S., for those who have asked how you can help us in our adoption expenses—please consider visiting the Hogue family's website here and donating to their orphan care ministry! We would love to see any funds that would have been donated to our travel expenses be put right back into orphan care!)

--We are thankful for my sweet Mom who drove all by herself 16 hours to get to my sister's to watch our kids the first week and then drove another 4 hours with our kids (by herself—gold metal status earned!!) with plans to stay with us for the coming weeks. Unexpectedly, my sister also had her baby 4 weeks early last night, so Grandma had to leave hastily yesterday morning and we're now flying solo. We are so thankful to have had Grandma around to help us get settled together under one roof!

--We are thankful for the Lord's continual reminders of “this is the way; walk in it” throughout our journey to adopt Micah. I could share countless ways the Lord has reaffirmed His call to adopt Micah, but one specific instance recently involved Micah's middle name. We had actually landed on a middle name for him together as a family, but then we really felt we would like to involve his birth family in naming him, so gave his birth mother and siblings the honor of choosing his middle name. After much deliberation and a majority-rules “vote” between his sisters, they decided they wanted his middle name to be James. We laughed in awe of God's hand at work yet again, because our family had also desired the middle name James. We are so thankful for the Lord's small reminders that He is actively working in our lives and calling us to follow Him daily.

Thank you so much for your continued partnership in prayer for our family as we parent all three of our children! We are indeed blessed, and we are exceedingly thankful :-)