AND SOMETIMES HE SENDS IN THE CAVALRY!!!!

As the weeks close in towards the finish line of bedrest, that "homestretch" sometimes feels the hardest. I'd been praying for strength and just patience for all of us last week as we came upon week 10 of "mommy out of commission". I believe and know God hears our prayers but sometimes His response simply blows me away!!

Instead of giving us more physical energy for my awesome hubby and more emotional energy for me......He swooped down and rescued us!!.....well, at least that's how it felt : ) Phone calls started pouring in....and of course, in the form of the Lord's Army! People bringing us meals, taking Zachary for a special day of fun, 2 incredible cleaning ladies(now that was a gift just for me from God!), the girl's nursery room completely painted by one selfless young man, offers to paint our nursery furniture, calls of encouragement, Starbucks' coffee, visits from friends, pkgs. in the mail, and the KICKER!!!.......received a message from Special Delivery saying WE GOT DNA AUTHORIZATION!!!!! Oh yeah, and that all happened just last week : )

Thank you so much to all you prayer warriors out there! There really is nothing like the Body of Christ to the glory and praises of God! May you all have a blessed week and know I'm praying for all those beautiful babies needing to come home!! (ps. Our computer hasn't been working for a while so I haven't been able to blog)

LEGAL UPDATE : )

YES! .....we have good news! Our social worker interview was done Jan. 10 as planned. Just praying we have a favorable review! The bad news is our DNA still hasn't been authorized......hoping Pedro(our attorney) might get in tomorrow : ) Thank you to all of you who prayed!

Health Update- 3mos.!!!....and some other FUN!

Report says..... Sarah is 10lbs. 13oz. and 22in.! She's happy, healthy, smiles a lot and standing up in her crib(huh?....pretty sure there was an err on that one : ) or we've got a prodigy on our hands! ) Enjoy the pics!

Any of you EN mommies know this caretaker's name....wondering if she's one of Sarah's main mamas??



Getting sleepy..... a lot of action Christmas morning : )

Ah....now I'm content!

OUR OTHER BIG NEWS THIS WEEK..............

Zachary's 1st day of Preschool!! I'm so proud of my big boy!

WE ALSO GOT A FUN PACKAGE IN THE MAIL !!!....my friend Leslie sent us a gallon size baggy of her girls' clippy bows for Sarah and Emily! Thanks again Leslie....as you can see, I wasn't the only one that had fun with this!

My little Zach is going to be SUCH a good big brother!!!

(practicing his "styling" skills on friend Alexis)

.......and here's the finished product : )

But that's not all......we had to practice on our girls from youth group too!!

ps. hoping to hear from our case worker tonight about DNA and the social worker interview!

GIFTS FROM GOD

My sweet, sweet baby!

I was excited to finally seeing some of the things we've sent hanging in her crib!

I'm seeing some PERSONALITY!!! I LOVE it!

Sarah(left) and her crib mate : )

We recently received precious gifts from God.....new pictures of Sarah. I am so thankful for Deidre's and Melissa's kindness in taking these photos while they were visiting their sweet babies at Eagles' Nest over Christmas!

As I plug along in my Ephesians study, I was struck by that very theme today in chapter 3....gifts of God. So often we think about Eph. 3 for it's famous verse 20..."Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us." Believers can take this verse to mean many things and truly the concept of God being capable of ANYTHING is absolute truth.

But as I studied that verse in context today, I realized the gravity of what Paul is praying for the Ephesians. That the gift of God's grace is ALL that we need as believers. His prayer is that believers might be strengthened in power through His Spirit in the inner man...... so that we can SHARE the gift of God's grace. Sometimes earthly prayer requests, whether needs or wants, far outweighs the desire to request strength for the inner man to spread the gospel. I pray that next time vs. 20 comes to mind I will remember that the "power that works within us" has the eternal purpose of revealing God's gift of grace "beyond all that we ask or think".

Sarah coming home tomorrow or pregnancy bedrest being over would certainly be gifts to me. Yet, I am encouraged in this moment to know that the daily opportunities to share His gift of grace may have eternal value that exceeds even THOSE beautiful gifts.

Speaking of my girls...... Sarah's latest is that there is a social worker interview scheduled for Thursday with Sarah's birthmom. We are hoping to have DNA auth. by then so that they will be able do DNA testing at the same time as the interview. Emily's latest is she's doing great!! But unfortunately I'm still struggling with an infection that "seems" to be the cause of my preterm labor.....so, bedrest continues : )
Not much longer and we'll get to add another face to our blog!