Sacrifice

   God continues to amaze us! This week I received an email from a girl who we honestly do not know personally. She shared that she felt God moving her to give up her iphone so that she could give to a family adopting. She heard us share our story at church and decided that the money she would normally spend each month on her phone, she would send to us in order to help bring Grace home. Tears filled my eyes as I felt God once again confirm this journey for us. The costs for an adoption is great and with each payment, we look to our God and trust knowing that it is achievable when we are obeying and take each step according to God's call.
   This sweet girl has blown me away. She has decided to give something up that so many these days see as an absolute necessity. Her sensitivity to the Spirit and His calling has humbled us and given us such great confidence in how God provides. It causes me to desire to dig deep into the Word and draw close to my God so that I do not miss when He is calling me to do something outside of my normal routine. Sacrifice could be money, an object, or even sacrificing my time. This sweet gift from this girl has caused me to ask when was the last time I sacrificed? I mean truly gave up something that seemed like a necessity in order to obey my God? God has given so much to us. I want above all else to love and serve the Blesser more than the blessing!

Date Night with Steven Curtis Chapman

   Last Thursday was such a special night for David and me. One of our sweet friends, Mrs. Misty, offered to watch our boys so that we could go to the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert. David and I both loved SCC growing up. When we were dating in college, we went to one of his concerts in Atlanta. That concert is still to this day one of our favorite dates! We were so moved by God's presence and Steven's passion for the Lord. After seeing him in Atlanta, we got the chance to see him in concert in Memphis 6 years ago. The amazing thing about this concert was that it was not a typical concert at all. It was a fundraiser for adoption that SCC was supporting! How awesome is God! We were already considering adoption and this was just an example of how God was moving us in this direction to bring Grace home. For me, this past Thursday was such an encouragement to me as this journey can sometimes get long and discouraging. It was so great to be around others who support and are involved in adoption. Our adoption agency was there so that was so neat to hear SCC affirm what an amazing agency they are.
  I loved singing all of his songs and just enjoyed hearing about God's faithfulness even in the midst of difficult situations. One of my favorite songs is "When Love Takes You In." He sings this song while showing pictures of his adopted daughter and other orphans. This video says it all! (Just pause the music at the bottom of our blog so that you can hear this video.)

We can't wait to have our Grace HOME! We love her so much and she belongs HERE! 

Our Little Train Master

 I never knew much about trains growing up and I sure never expected them to be a large part of my life ever. My Grandfather Cooper loved trains and had an electric train set up in his living room that traveled around a track built on a ledge close to the ceiling. I remember loving to go to their house and he would turn it on for us to watch. Another train memory from my childhood was when my grandparents took us on a special train ride. David's grandfather loved trains too. He had an elaborate train table in his basement. I was amazed by the intricate details and amount of time he spent in creating this train table when I had the privilege of seeing it. David has many fond memories of this train table. Knowing my little boys now, I wish they could have met both of these grandfathers and seen their amazing trains and I wish these grandfathers could have met Robby and Daniel to "play" trains.
 I love when Robby wakes up in the morning and is already talking about Thomas the train and is ready to make a track. Last Saturday morning was one of those mornings. He woke up and David was home because he didn't have any morning ball games. Robby ran in and told him he had an idea of how to build a new track. He said he wanted to build it in the shape of him. What a great idea! We had never even thought to do this before. David and Robby got busy and they made this amazing track before we even ate breakfast!

How fun is that! Of course, Daniel wanted in on the fun as well. He loves to play with trains too!

Now, I know about Diesel Engines and Steam Engines, Conductors, and every train slogan there is to say. "All Aboard" is one of Daniel's favorite things to say. I'm not a train expert by any means but my boys sure have taught me a lot as I attempt to teach them! These train memories will be ones David and I can add to our train memories from our childhood and will be treasured for years to come!

Official FBI Fingerprint Date

I never knew I could be so excited about receiving a letter from Homeland Security! I had been praying for several days that we would receive a letter that gave us our appointed fingerprint time so that we could move on with the final stages of paperwork for our adoption. On Wednesday, I checked the mail and gave a huge shout when I saw the letters for David and me from Homeland Security. I'm so thankful that the appointed times are times that David and I can make. In a week, we will go and let them fingerprint us so that they can know "There are no prior arrest." Can't wait!