Exciting Developments

I've fallen behind with my blogging, but we've been so busy! We've got to get wills, powers of attorney, etc. all up-to-date before Karl deploys. Not to mention all of the extra briefings and training he has to do. And now he has to spend a week out of state, training to do the job he'll be doing while he's deployed. And in case all that's not enough, there's more.....

Karl and I have known for a long time that we wanted to someday adopt older, harder-to-place siblings. We just didn't know when. Recently, a number of things have occurred that have led us toward two particular children in Russia. It has been a series of what non-believers would call coincidences. For us, it has been the gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) prodding of the Holy Spirit. Russian families (or American either, for that matter) do not usually adopt older children. At the age of 16, they are no longer eligible for international adoption. These are sad things to hear but not necessarily a reason for us to rush to adopt them. But sometimes God has a way of pressing something into two hearts at the same time and making it clear that He has plans. We don't know what those plans are, but we know that we are supposed to look into this and follow wherever it leads. We are in the very early stages of asking questions and learning what is expected. Please pray with us that God will guide everyone involved in the process and that we would all be sensitive to His leading. It is our hope and prayer that God will provide a home for these precious ones. It is our desire that we be the ones to provide that home. We have committed to pursuing the call and letting God lead, knowing that there is always a purpose when He calls us to action, no matter the outcome. We are choosing to love them and call them our children in the hope that they will someday be a part of our earthly family. We are choosing to love them and call them our children believing that they will be a part of our heavenly family.