Lenny Kravitz will do it

I was asked to give a talk about God's love in church on Sunday. I remembered one time I was sitting in a ward where a woman got up and for half her talk she read The Beatles song, "All You Need is Love."
So instead of giving my talk, I wanted Lenny to do it for me. I wanted to stand up and just read God is Love by Lenny Kravitz and then have the congregation sing it for a hymn. (How great would that kind of church be, btw?) But alas, I gave the talk, sans any chorus from Circus or any other Kravitz album.
I did stumble across this gem in preparation though, which I did use.

• "'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' the Apostle Paul asks. 'Not tribulation, not persecution, not peril, or the sword. For I am persuaded,' he concluded, 'that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.' This great principle helps us understand the WHY of many things. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons' choice in order to protect the well-being of other persons--even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another--for this would destroy his plan for our eternal progress. He will BLESS US TO ENDURE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OTHERS' CHOICES BUT HE WILL NOT PREVENT THOSE CHOICES." (Dallin H Oaks, Love and Law, 2009)

And with that, and lots of tears spent, I think it is time to move on.

Really? A text?

One text saying she was on a plane back to FL and that she couldn't go through with it. Our hearts weigh heavy with sadness about what was to be for our family in just 1.5 weeks. A package arrived this morning with tiny leather cherry shoes we just bought two days ago. I hate timely delivery. We are trying to process it all with a mass purge of emotion so we can enjoy Christmas and the many blessings we do have and the amazing boys we have been given. Thanks for peaceful thoughts and loving prayers sent our way. Please be respectful of our sadness and don't talk about our loss with our boys or with us while they are around. We will resurface stronger, eventually.

It's more real when I see it in black and white!

Matched

The following table represents matches between birthmothers (initials) and adoptive families (first names).

(LS) AA Gender Unknown - To be born in MO - December 16	Robert and Andrea
(CB) CC Boy - To be born in Utah - December 30	Annette
(LS) 3/4 CC 1/4 AA Girl- To be born in Utah - January 7	Jack and Jaime
(CW) AA Girl - To be born in Utah - January 9	Lance and Bethany
(YG) AA Gender Unknown - To be born in Utah - January 11	Josh and Melissa
(SL) 1/2 CC 1/2 Hisp Girl - To be born in Utah - January 12	Mike and Nora
(TH) AA Boy - To be born in Utah - January 16	Michael and Clara
(KH) CC Girl - To be born in Utah - January 17	Justin and Natalie
(JS) CC Girl - To be born in Tennessee - January 30	Jeremy and Lisa

Christmas is coming 2 weeks late

On November 8th, we got the final call from our birthmother

telling us she had chosen our family for Baby Girl.

There are lots of details and a beautiful story to tell to the world, some day. For now, we know that Baby Girl is due January 7th. We are flying out to meet our amazing birthmother face to face in Utah on December 9th. We have a lot of unchartered territory to cover, hugs to give and I am sure, tears to share. Until then, we anxiously await and study up on what to do with a girl...

And please, any ultrasound techs out there, feel free to stop in and give me a tutoring session on the actual parts of a baby seen here. At this point, I take it on trust that this is indeed an actual baby.

Deny it, I dare you!

With my tiny little pink camera I took these pictures. I say that not because they are professional-ish photographs but because even with my rinky-dink camera, it still looks amazing.



We live in a beautiful part of the world. It's beauty is one of the main reasons we have chosen to stay throughout the years. After having our Brazilian guests (that is a whole other blog, not just another post even) here, I was reminded of the beauty again as I was able to witness it through there eyes. I feel so blessed to call this home.