Two days before 2009 came to a close, Chad and I wore awoken at 4 am to what sounded like a blood-curdling human scream.  Chase had a friend over for the night and they were sleeping in the basement.  We jumped out of bed and ran in opposite directions to check the kids while the dogs ran around barking and crying.  Just in case you’ve never heard a fisher-cat, here’s what our visitor sounded like:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLU_a-gDF9M  It scared the crap out of us and I can say with a fair amount of certainty that our feelings will not be hurt if it never returns.

By the end of this week, every single form that needs to be filled out for the adoption will be mailed off.  The dossier file has grown by an inch or so in the past month and it is exciting for us to be entering the waiting period.  The fact that the time is drawing near when Ana-Sophia will actually join our family has made us acutely aware of how poorly this house is laid out.  Every since we moved in and the wiring issues began, we have had a hard time feeling comfortable here.  When we did our home inspection, we found significant issues in every single room.  We have plumbing, electrical, appliance, and structural problems and thus far our landlord has taught us exactly what kind of landlords we NEVER want to be.  If you’re praying for us right now, please pray that God gives us some peace with living here.  We still own a home in Georgia and I still hold partial ownership to a house in Baton Rouge.  Our goal is to sell the house in Georgia at the end of this year, buy a lot, and build here.  Just pray that God gives us some comfort for whatever time we have left here.  Of course, it’d be nice if He just gave us the means to get out of this place!

“This is what the LORD says… “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”- Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

2010 was welcomed with open arms around here.  In the past year we were reminded over and over again that God loves us.  2009 brought with it more challenges than we could have imagined, but every challenge just provided another opportunity to be blessed and because of the bitter, the sweet just tasted that much better.

I was asked once at a parenting conference to say in one word how I would want others to describe my adult children.  I chose the word “happy”.  Something I’ve come to realize is that “happy” is how God wants others to describe His children.  He longs to bring us joy by blessing us with the desires of our heart.  This year our family will grow.  This year our spiritual lives will grow.  This year we will chase the dreams that God has planted in our hearts.  And this year, we will be happy.  Our pastor preached an amazing message this morning on making the most of 2010.  I started writing a book two and half years ago.  I have heard very clearly in the time since then that if I finish it, He will use it.  The book is all about healing and there are a couple of parts where I have gotten stuck because I chose to push those wounds down deep instead of letting them rise to the surface so that God could do His thing.  In the past 6 months, I found those chapters rising up and being healed without much effort on my part, yet I still chose to not put it down on paper.  I guess I’ve just been waiting for “perfect” conditions.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (New Living Translation)

⁴ Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

So…with the new year, I’ve been given a fresh start.  The conditions may not be perfect.  They’ll probably never be perfect.  But it’s time for me to finish writing.