Gaining Ground

Wednesday was a big day for Lee and I (Miller too)! We were PRODUCTIVE! We started the morning off with the life insurance guy at our house doing our medical screening. Fun stuff! Then we took a trip to the bank to work out an account for our adoption. Next we were off to vital records to get copies of all our birth certificates and marriage license. Next up... You guessed it!! A trip to the vet to get our two dogs (Cash & June) up to date on their vaccines/heart guard - along with print outs of their records! Yep! We even have to have printed records on our animals' health for the home study :)  Then last but not least - our second home study visit with our social worker, which went great! She is so nice and easy to talk to! And can I just insert here how amazing my husband is (and even how MORE amazing my God is!) Journey with me for a minute! 
      Lee and I started dating when he was 16 and I was 17 (that's right, I got me a younger man!) We were literally only kids. On Wednesday night, almost 9 years after I first laid eyes on Lee, I sat across from him in my living room listening to him talk to the social worker. He described his relationship with Christ, the things he considered to be key concepts in a marriage, and the top few things he desired to teach his children. Y'all my heart was so filled with joy listening to Lee speak. I kept whispering in my Spirit "thank you Lord." I wasn't whispering that because I was scared Lee was going to something silly. I wasn't whispering that because Lee's answer was perfect (although I kinda thought it was!) I was whispering that because the man I was listening to was not the 16 year old boy I met 9 years ago. He was not even the same man I knew 4 years ago. This man was someone whose life has been transformed by Christ and Christ alone. His responses came from the heart. His responses were grounded in Truth. And his responses were REAL. He is my spouse, I know his heart, and his responses matched the life I know he desires! Mmmmmm it was so good! And the best part was - the social worker didn't ask Lee the questions specifically, she asked us both. But Lee spoke up and answered them better than I could have! I guess you could say that was my sweet kiss from the Lord that day! His goodness stares me in the face everyday and so often I overlook it! 

All in all it was a very good day! Malachi, sweet boy, we are gaining ground towards you every day!! We cannot wait to get you in our arms! I long for that day! People ask me "is it weird to think that there is a baby in a belly in Africa that will one day be your son? Or there is a tiny baby in Africa who has just been born that will one day be your son?" No it's not weird! I love it! I love him! I pray for him and his birth parents often! The only way I know how to compare the love we feel for him to a "normal" pregnancy is - remember the first trimester, when you cannot feel the baby at all and your belly hasn't even grown? Yet your heart is completely FULL of love for the child inside of you? The only proof you have of the child's existence is a small black and white sonogram? Well that's how I feel! The proof is in the paperwork. I cannot feel him in my belly but my heart is full of so much love and joy for him! Just like I dreamed about Miller for months, I dream the same about Malachi! What will he look like? What will he love to do? Who will he become? Adoptive mamas like to say "you didn't grow under my heart but in it!" I find this statement to be true! 


"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread." 
                               - Mother Theresa