The story

Once upon a time,

there were two really cute kids.

And they decided to

play house get married.

Then there were babies...

the first four came one at a time...

then three came at once.

Then God said...

"I'm not finished yet."

Chrissy began to pray for direction...

Paul began to pray for wisdom...

they both tried to figure it out alone.

The calling had already been defined...

the location was the mystery.

Chrissy gave God lots of parameters,

and God said...

"You're so funny when you say stuff like that!"

Then one day, Chrissy got an online message that said:

"So, your family has a heart for siblings."

Then, there was a photo in the email box.

A photo of FIVE precious, gorgeous children

who need a Mommy and Daddy.

Chrissy made a phone call and sent an email.

And her sweet hubby said "Sounds like fun!"

And at that precise moment,

the Father of Lies set his eyes on this family.

What happened over the next few weeks...

the details are too many,

the pain is too great,

the privacy should be protected...

but suffice it to say,

We had unknowingly entered into a battle we hadn't prepared for.

As the difficulties mounted, 

we began to see less light, less hope, less possibility...

and more despair, more inabilities, more weakness.

We weren't seeing how this was possible.

Until, Monday morning when the worst decision needed to be made.

To walk away from the precious babies we had chosen.

I thought my heart had been ripped from my chest.

This is where I thought the story ended.

I literally felt rejoicing from the enemy.

He had won.

But just like that moment when he thought he won

when Christ was on the cross...

Ohhhh...

did he ever underestimate

MY God.

Over the next few days,

much prayer, much mourning,

many tears, many hurts,

great confusion

and

sadness reigned.

And at the moment when all hope was lost...

the Creator walked right into a hotel room

in another state and grabbed my husband

by his fragile heart

and molded it, changed it,

and declared it GOOD.

And JUST LIKE THAT...

the man who has loved me through some of my yuckiest,

messiest, meanest, saddest, happiest days...

opened his eyes

and realized his heart had changed.

He wanted our children in our home 

with a fierce, fatherly devotion

that I couldn't create for him. 

The next morning,

he emailed the agency, 

asked for permission to bring our babies home

and they said YES!

Oh, and THAT'S the point at which he told ME

about this whole God-transformation!?

So, sweet blog-readers, friends, family...

Our family is "expecting"!!

We are expecting challenges,

difficulties,

great joy,

great struggles,

financial miracles,

lots of noise,

a van-full of kiddos,

and a great number of people who will 

NEVER understand our hearts this side of eternity.

Pray for them...

pray for us.

Pray for the right words to speak when people DON'T understand.

Pray for our family to be a light on a hill.

I don't want the world to see our adoption and

MISS that it is ALL about Jesus!

Yes, we will need money.

We will have to travel TWO times to Africa.

But the very IDEA of being even remotely CONCERNED 

about that right now... well, it's just LAUGHABLE!

Once upon a time,

God gave us a calling.

Please don't miss that this is about Him.

We are so blessed to be on His journey!!