It's Time, Here We Go

Well it's Monday morning and the time to leave home has arrived. It just hit Shawna and I last night as we packed the last of our stuff that the dynamics of this house will be so much different when we return (We're a little slow sometimes). We will leave this house of four and return with five, a new toddler in tow.

It hit us last night as Matty and Katie were at the counter eating pizza (I let Shawna off easy last night and picked up some pizza. We'll call it an early adoption gift). There's three stools at the kitchen bar and only two of them have been filled as of yet. We looked at the empty stool and... wow. Is there really going to be another child here? Will that bar stool be occupied from now on? We have been wishing to bring Joy home for so long and now the time is here, and the reality that she WILL be here is starting to finally set. As my text-crazy younger sisters say (or rather text), OMG, what a feeling! We have been so wrapped up in the mess of paperwork and politics that we haven't afforded ourselves the opportunity to envision her here. Don't get me wrong, we dream of her being here, all the time. We dream of holding her, of her playing in the yard, stealing our hearts. We dream of her running around the hallway (which not only provides 'circular' access to the kids' rooms but also doubles as a race track). We dream of grocery shopping with her, playing hide and seek, coloring, you know, the simple things that mean so much to a parent. But now this dream is a coming into reality, and I have a feeling that those that have adopted know exactly what I'm talking about.

So, here we go. We're off. Adios Klamath Falls. We will soon return a different family. Or shall I say the same family, just more complete.

There's one more thing weighing on my mind, well, one more thing with multiple parts. One of the elders taught at church yesterday, and it was good. It was really good. He turned what many see as so simple into something so powerful that it got to me somehow. I'm still not sure how, but things are moving. Maybe it was oil in a drying engine, I'm not sure. But I do thank him for it. I think what it boils down to was that I need another vantage point. The second part came at the close. We were called up in front of the congregation to be prayed for. Many came up to be with us during the prayer, whether it was to lend emotional support or to place their hand on us. At the close of the service they held a special offering for us. That was very unexpected and another experience I won't forget and am so very thankful for. I noticed someone that I had never met put something in the tray and leave. I thought, "Who was that?" He didn't see that I noticed him, and he wasn't one bit concerned that I wouldn't know who left that special gift for us. Incredible. Simply incredible. It was him multiplied by many others who gave, mostly anonymously, from their hearts. The total of the offering astounded Shawna and I, what an incredible blessing. The gift will help so very much, more than most realize. To our IBC family: thank you so much. Your offerings (not only of money, but of prayer and support) are humbly accepted here at the Myron Home, which is a home that I will proudly share with all of you. It's amazing to see a church so "little" be so very big. We love you all and can't wait to bring Joy home into our beautiful church family. Thank you and God bless.