Gentle Reminders.........................

Last Saturday I had the priviledge of being able to talk on the phone with a friend & sister in the Lord Kristi. We had been communicating for awhile through email but hadn't actually spoken on the phone before. Kristi is adopting a beautiful little girl from Guatemala that is only 5 days older than Zane. For a reason unbeknowned to me at the time I felt compelled to share "Chloe's Story" with her. Since coming home with Chloe I am always careful of just how much of her story I reveal for you see I don't want details of our journey to Chloe to be one of discouragement, but one of encouragement. I want people to concentrate on the ending & not necessarily the journey itself. I want people to see just how great God is & that He is worthy of our praise. I want people to see that no matter what we are going through we are not alone, He is right there carrying us if we will only allow Him to do so.
Late that night I just told Kristi everything, for close to 2 hours we talked, we laughed, we cried, & we prayed. Something else happened that night, a friendship was formed. God crossed our paths because He absolutely knew we would need each other in the coming months. I just sit here and thank Him & praise Him for taking care of both of us.
I must admit Friday night I was a bit sad because we haven't gotten pictures of Zane in awhile nor an update. Not that I didn't know it would be like this, I have actually gotten more updates than I expected but still the selfish part of us always wants more. I was thinking that my sweet baby boy's 1st birthday will be on February 22nd and that just might be when we put his crib up & start to work on his room. I had said that I wouldn't do that until we were alot closer to picking him up because Chloe's nursery was ready for so long and it got so painful that I got to the point I couldn't even go in there anymore. So I didn't want to do that with Zane, but I think that it might be good for us to have something to do for him on his special day. Nevertheless it made me sad just thinking about it.
I got up yesterday morning, showered & then went to the post office. In that box was a card from, yes Kristi:

Folded Hands, Open Hearts
When we fold our hands to pray,
God opens His hands to help.
When we speak from our hearts,
God listens with all His heart.
When we place our faith in Him,
God fills us with the power of His love.

That card was so beautiful that I sat there in the parking lot & just cried & I let God speak to me...........I needed that gentle reminder that He's right there working on our behalf even when we don't know anything even when we can't see it, He is always right there.
Praise the Lord for that!

There's more..................
We got an email from J last night saying that she will be going to Vietnam from the 21st - 29th of this month. PRAISE THE LORD!!! She will be having meetings with our facilitator, going to the DIA, going to the US Consulate & most exciting of all is she will be spending time with our babies in the baby home. She has promised to take pictures for us & hopefully even a video. She said she would be giving our babies lots of hugs & kisses from us. That just made my heart sing. Just when I started to feel a bit down, I get this wonderful news & I am uplifted and strengthened again. Thank you Lord for doing this for me!!!!!
Thank you Lord for your love, your mercy, & your grace. YOU ARE WORTHY TO BE PRAISED!!!