thankful and hopeful...and 4 months home

After 3 years of celebrating Thanksgiving in Asia it was very special to be able to spend time with family this year, as well as having the boys home for their 1st Thanksgiving . My heart is full of gratitude for how the Lord has poured out favor over life and yet I am so undeserving. There is so much to be Thankful for.


These days are full of uncertainty for us, as what we thought was "our timeline" for future events now is very unclear at the moment. As we wait on the Lord, to see His plan for us unraveled, we know that we can trust and completely rest assured that His ways are wondrous and trustworthy. Although, I am certain that with everything I am, I can trust His ways; still in my heart, I am longing for the life of what I thought was His plan. My heart is hopeful for this time He has given me, where the Father is tenderly drawing me nearer so that I will seek His face.

I am so amazed by my dear hubby who is able to walk by faith and when plans and circumstances change; is able to ask God what is next and not become stagnate but excited about what is the next step in the journey of faith. I so admire him for this. Well, I pretty much just love and respect everything about this man. have I mentioned what an incredible father he is...so patient, fun and dedicated to seeing them raised for the glory of the Lord. A fun day at the park with my family

Our big boy's 1st birthday celebration
The weekend before Thanksgiving we celebrated Ezekiel's 1st birthday. He actually was in Ethiopia for his 1st birthday but for several reasons we decided to wait to celebrate. He seemed to enjoy being the center of attention, opening presents and of course eating some yummy chocolate cake.



The family celebrating Zeke's birthday.
In just over a month we will celebrate our baby's first birthday...
my how they grow up so quickly.

Last week we passed 4 months of having the boys home. The first few months were so overwhelming for us as we were adjusting to being parents of two, returning to the US (actually our first night in our home here was the night we returned from Ethiopia :), Chris as a full time grad student, lack of sleep...all these led to small amounts of time to sit and think about anything too deep.

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Lately, I have thought so much about our boy's life before they came home. There have been moments of tears and heart ache, prayers of thanksgiving and a lot of wondering about their family in Ethiopia. It's difficult because there are so many parts of the puzzle that we will never know so I ask for wisdom in how to live out this journey not only for us but also for our boys. Though there have been these moments, mostly I have spent my time singing praises to our heavenly Father for His compassion and goodness to bless our lives with these gifts. I just am overcome with thankfulness these days for all that He has done for me.

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Today, I have been meditating much on the fact that He is a compassionate Savior as He healed and restored the lives of the 2 blind men in Matthew 20 by opening up their eyes and giving them love...so too Jesus has healed so many wounds in my heart . One way He has done this is by allowing me the great privilege of being Ezekiel Biniyam and Nehemiah Matias mother. Just as the blind men wanted to go with and follow Jesus after they had personally experienced His touch and love...I too desire to follow my Maker wholeheartedly because of His tender touch and unending love.

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Thank you Jesus for opening up my eyes and for healing my heart so that I can see Your glorious workings and follow that ancient path that you have laid out before us.