I simply think of my favorite things....

Watching M*A*S*H with my whole family (Mama's laughing like a school girl).

Chowing down on the best pecan pie EVER made by my gorgeous sister Whit :)

A smile from my beautiful piano teacher :) (I plan on wearing red lipstick just like her when I grow up).

A new pair of boots to keep my feet warm.

Rereading the Anne of Green Gables series (Gilbert is.... *sigh*)

Movies that give you chills, make you cry and keep you laughing for days.

Discovering how soft Jesse's cheeks are.

Getting the new Anthropologie catalog.

Catching up with old friends (and making new ones).

Wearing my favorite scarf with every top in my closet.

Finding out a friend from church is going to Shorter too!

Discovering a never ending, incomprehensible, life saving truth:

John 13:1

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

To the end. To the cross. Why?

I am surrounded by warmth, laughter, family, love, comfort.... Why? Out of all the situations God could have placed me in He chose this family. Instead of leaving me for dead (as I deserved) He gave me HIS life. Not just any life, HIS PERFECT LIFE. Why? Never will I fully understand this but I have eternity to bask in His Life, His Blessings and His Love.

Oh come to the Father through Jesus the Son

Give Him the Glory

Great things He hath done!

You're the reason why

Today was homecoming at our church, so like any good Baptist church, we had singing after the meal. We were asked to sing, and on a whim Marigrace asked Jubilee if she would sing with us.

She said yes.

Today my beautiful new sister sang "Amazing Grace" in front of our church family. Later Marigrace shared that she almost began to cry as she held her African sister and thought of the story behind the man (John Newton) who wrote the song, and his conversion from slave trader to a man of God. By the grace of God both Jubilee and Jesse are free. Free to be adopted, free to love and be loved. Free to be taught God's word and declare their love for Him.

That same grace that Newton discovered is still promised to anyone who will believe. You're the reason why Christ came to earth as a mere man, lived to serve, heal, and disciple, and then died for the redemption of ALL sin. The same sin that He died for will chain you down, and keep you bound for Hell unless you repent of it, accept Christ's forgiveness, and believe that He is the Son of God and His Father is the Creator of all things, the only God.

It doesn't end there. Now comes the hardest and most rewarding part of it all. You will be a child of God; therefore the going will be tough, times will get hard, but guess what? You have the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings on your side! He is dying to hold you, to draw you close and give you His very best for your life; don't settle for less then that.

Stop running. You belong to Him.

You run, you hide

As tears fall from your eyes

They fall like snow

From a wounded soul

You hold inside

The hurt of great divide

The hole is starting to get old

So come back to the light

To the love, you will find

It’s been here all along

So come back to the start

And you’ll find in your heart

That you always belonged

To me

Just take the rope

I won’t let it go

Give in

We can start again

I’m life, I’m hope

And I’m ready to explode

With how bad I want you back home

So come back to the light

To the love, you will find

It’s been here all along

So come back to the start

And you’ll find in your heart

That you always belonged

To Me

You’re my daughter, you’re my son

You’re the one I long to love

And you’ve heard I chose to die

Do you know you’re the reason why?

~ Grey Holiday

Home

These babies have officially stolen my heart. I could hold them in my lap for hours and just listen to them laugh (which they do constantly).

Mama has been blessed with new students!

Whitney-Faith slipped into the role of big sister with ease.

The THREE Travis Smith boys :)

Thank you all for your prayers! Without God on our side these babies wouldn't be here.

Six days and counting....

On Sunday, August 2nd, I will be waiting at the Atlanta airport to meet Jesse and Jubilee Smith!! Our children are being escorted home from Ghana and Mama and Marigrace will meet them in NYC on Sunday afternoon.

In six days I will be holding my dear, precious, LONG awaited siblings! Isn't God good?

Thank you for all the prayers. None of this could have happened without our Awesome God :)

The Wilderness

My sisters and I went on a weekend retreat with our youth group to "The Wilderness", a secluded piece of land conveniently located near an awesome river. It has the sweetest cabins, a pond for fishing, and fields for recreation; all of these combined make for an awesome weekend of reflection and diving deeper into The Word. My morning devotions were spent atop a massive boulder on the trail to the river. It doesn't get much better then that. The splendor of God's Creation is unavoidable at this place. The mission of The Wilderness is to give you a place to worship God (at little or no expense). It is an awesome ministry and if you want more info. just let me know.

The river :)

We had a beautiful hike to the river (even though you were dying on the way back)

Group photo!

"I hold, without appeal to revelation, that when we take a view of the Universe, in its parts general or particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power in every atom of its composition. It is impossible, I say, for the human mind not to believe that there is, in all this, design, cause and effect, up to an Ultimate Cause, a Fabricator of all things from matter and motion."

Thomas Jefferson

Awesome news!!!!!

Guess who's flying to Ghana on Aug. 18th? That's right, Mama and Marigrace have tickets reserved and will be coming home with the babies on Aug 20!!! Mama got a call Thursday that Joha (one of our adoption advocates) was holding Jesse's passport in his hand, had looked it over three times for errors and everything was fine.

Man, God is good :) Thank you Jesus for Your blessings!

A disappointing update....

I don't have words better then my mother's for the sad news we heard a few days ago concerning Jesse's passport. Please be in prayer for our family and check out Mama's blog here to get the details.