Exciting Week Ahead!

This is a big week for our family!! We have a meeting on Friday at which time "Punkie" should officially become our "adoptive placement" vs. our foster daughter. While this change happened in our hearts long ago, it almost seems surreal that we will FINALLY make it legit to the world.

I am hoping once she is officially our adoptive placement that we can go ahead & share her name & pictures (and let me just tell you, be ready b/c she is so sweet & cute & I absolutely can't wait to share her with everybody!!!).

Please be praying with us this week for everyone involved in all her paperwork. God bless them for working so hard to try to get her adoption finalized before the holidays...what an absolute gift that day will be! I can't decide if I want to cry or do cartwheels...probably have to stick with crying b/c the cartwheel thing ain't happenin'!

Be Blessed ~ Dardi

P.S. Hope you like my somewhat jazzed up blog...It's not professional, but I gotta say I'm a little bit tickled that I was able to figure this much out!! I just couldn't take the boring, basic thing anymore. I look forward to adding a WHOLE family pic soon!

Priceless

Marshmallows: $1.69
Graham Crackers: $2.29
Chocolate Bars: 2/.50

Teenagers Hanging Out & Communicating with Something Other Than a Cell Phone:

PRICELESS!!!

Waiting

My daughter, Kam, has been known to make us a bit crazy in her 15 1/2 years; she's a planner. What's next, who can come over, how many days until she gets her driving permit (which, incidentally, happened last week...oh, boy), and so on and so forth. With her, we are ALWAYS in a waiting pattern in anticipation of what's coming next...not much into being into the current moment.

Reality check: She's a lot like her momma. Yikes...did I just admit that!? Ya, you know that thing your parents say that goes something like, "I hope you have a child that is just like you"... Believe me, I have heard all the stories about how I used to always want to know what was coming next.

These last couple years have gone completely against my nature. I cannot plan. AT. ALL. I wait. Honestly, it has been very, very hard. But I am trying to see what God is teaching me. One of the things I am trying to do is enjoy the things that are happening TODAY while still allowing myself to hope for tomorrow. However, I'm trying to not let the hope for tomorrow become an obsession for tomorrow. Does that make sense? I REALLY am trying.

So, as we continue to wait for finalization for Punkie, for the path God is preparing next, I am so thankful that we have made it this far. We hope & pray that the wait is not much longer, but rest in knowing that God's timing is perfect.

I love "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord", but truly, I feel sometimes like I've been waiting so long I could go toe-to-toe with Hercules. Ok, ok, I know that's not what it really means, but we all have our moments. The thing I continue to hold onto is that God does not waste a moment, and I can already see God in the midst of a lot of these moments while I wait.

Thank you, Lord, that you are strengthening my faith as I wait for your perfect timing. Please help me to live in today, loving all these moments, and living for You. Please show me when to plan and when to be still.

And now, my sweet daughter, who takes after me so, needs a back rub. BTW, please do pray for healing for some back/shoulder issues that she is having. Basketball season is just around the corner.

Be Blessed ~ Dardi

Walk By Faith

I mentioned that as they came to mind, I would share different things from our walk of faith. Today was another day of revisiting the places we have been. We had the pre-adoptive staff meeting for Punkie. I must confess that I become impatient. While we would like to sprint to the finish, it feels like we are moving at a much slower pace. We would appreciate prayers for the adoption to be finalized before the holidays.

Anyways, this is a journal entry from early on in "the process". I am reminded of how God has been molding me, sustaining me & teaching me to pray. While it would have seemed so nice to go from having Punkie placed with us one day & being able to adopt her the very next, I KNOW that God was doing a work in me that was not an overnight job. I am thankful that He continues to work in me. The encouraging words for the day on the radio were, "I want to continue to grow & learn".

"...there have been so many prayers during this time, and they have really evolved as God has revealed different things to me. While we hope with all of our hearts to be able to raise this little girl, I also realize it is not about me. So, I pray often for the truth about the situation to be revealed and that Punkie's future is full of hope, happiness, love & safety. From the first time I heard this child cry, I have loved her as if I had given birth to her myself. How amazing!! I have vowed to give her everything I have regardless of whether her time with us becomes permanent or not. I want to remember some of the different things God has impressed upon my heart, especially about adoption. For some, the thought of adoption is scary because of the hereditary unknowns. When I look at Punkie, I choose to see the potential purpose in her life instead of the problems that may arise. Thank goodness God looked at me the same way when He chose to adopt me into His kingdom....."

"Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see."

Be Blessed ~ Dardi