life & more on our adoption...

Life in the last week or so seems to be moving very fast. But today we are in the van, going to see family and it has given me time to breathe. To be reminded that all that I need each day is all right beside me. We have had moments like these this last week...

sisters

kite-flying..love this pic!

building with grandpa!

those eyes...

brothers

us. love it.

An amidst these moments, I feel like there is a lot on the go! In saying that, I am very excited about it all and want to highlight one of the things that I am investing my time in these days....

As many or most of you have now read, we are in the process of adopting our next child! This process began a year ago and I thought I would share with you what God has been leading and guiding us in. Just over a year ago we were in little man's birth country meeting our youngest son...I believe it was the day after we met him that we were talking and we just knew that we were going to do this again! 

We committed in that moment that we would begin praying about it but that we would intentionally enjoy our time and love being a family of six. In June we were blessed to be able to go to Regina and meet some of the staff at the agency we worked with and more adoptive families. Following the discussion and talk from the executive director, we again felt a nudging to expand our family. We had a great summer as a family of 6. We prayerfully made some big decisions over the course of this time- the biggest as most of you know was to put our house up for sale and begin the process of building our new home. 

Riley had been seriously considering this for a while and the question that kept coming to his mind was " What do you have to leverage after God's own heart?" At our church, he had spoken on the book of Nehemiah last year. In that book, Nehemiah used his leadership and leverage with the king to rebuild Jerusalem. We knew we had a house, that we had been blessed to be able to buy at a good time. We knew we had equity in it. We knew we wanted to expand our family. So all this put together, we felt that in building our own home, we would be able to have the means to add to our family, both financially and in space! And we know that adoption is something after God's own heart. It has been a crazy adventure thus far but a great one....the roof is on and the windows are in!

Anyways, in the fall, we began more actively pursuing our next adoption. We began talking with close family and friends. We began praying for our next child...for protection, for joy, and for peace. We discussed it with our kids and they thought it was a great idea!!! We began the paperwork in early 2011...the second time around it definitely did not seem so daunting! 

And here we are in May with everything on our end done and now we begin the wait. We have chosen to pursue the same country that little man is from. We have great faith in and love for our agency and pray for them daily.We also pray for those working tirelessly in our chosen country, as they work toward caring for the many, many children without families. Currently, the program is on hold and we are trusting that all will be worked out for the many families that have been waiting a very long time. 

We are very excited about adding to our family. I am sure some people wonder...

"5 children. Really?!?!? 5 children. " I wonder that myself sometimes! But i know that we as a family are following God's leading in our lives. I know that it will require and has already required sacrifice. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am beyond blessed to get to be a mom to 5 of His precious children. 

To our next child....know that we love you already beyond measure. We are praying for you and can't wait to meet you!!!! 
Love, mommy, daddy and all the kids
Blessings,
Candra