Sunday, November 8, 2009

Beautiful Day & The Cat's Outta the Bag!!

Today, we dedicated Kaya in church. It was absolutely awesome to stand before family & friends to proclaim this child for the Lord. While we've prayed over her many times over the last two years, we weren't allowed to do anything "official" before she was adopted. After church, we enjoyed a time of fellowship & celebration. Little did I know that my husband had been working behind the scenes on a very special surprise (he totally caught me off guard & brought me to tears). I have attached a picture of a picture that was done especially for our family by Matt, a college student that goes to our church. God has given him an amazing gift & I am so thankful that he shared it with us!



This doesn't do it justice, but I had to share. It is full of such special meaning, I don't even know where to begin, but I want to explain. First, it shows our family walking on the beach, which is where Joe & I have lifted some pretty intense prayers to our Father. It also shows us together as a family walking in His light & in the sand is written "O'hana means family, & family means no one gets left behind or forgotten" (crying again). But this is the most wonderful part...and this is where the "cat is let out of the bag"...if you'll notice all of us, including Kaya on the far right, are holding hands, but on the left, it shows our son Kyler's hand outstretched waiting to grab onto somebody...
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Friends, that little boy is our son........
He is three years old, & he is waiting for us in Ethiopia!
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Yes, God has shown us this is where our next journey is taking us. If you look back in my blog, there is a post "Praying His Will". It is amazing what happens when you ask God what it is you're supposed to be doing. We are thrilled, scared, excited...you name, we're feeling it! But we have said, "Here am I, send me!" & the Lord has said, "Go." We're walkin' by faith, baby.......
Be Blessed ~ Dardi

7 comments:

Brad said...

Crying tears of joy for your as I read. What a beautiful picture to help you walk through these next few months. Praising God with you for all that He is doing in your life. So excited to be on this journey with you!

Annie said...

how beautiful! What an incredible picture and gift!congrats on sharing your big news :)


Annie (also with IAN)

Kimmie said...

;-)

love the picture...awesome. Can't wait to see God play it out in your lives.

Kimmie
mama to 7
one homemade and 6 adopted

Addisyn said...

Goose bumps baby. BIG HUGE GOOSE BUMPS. So excited for that little hand to finally be held forever. LOVE YOU and praising God for choosing you to be His hands and feet. ((HUGS)) Amy

Meredith said...

Holy smokes did I get the chills as I read your post. First I am so happy and excited for you, thank you for sharing with us. Second, I feel like our paths are becoming intertwined... today we dedicated Gabriel in church and while, we don't have a clue what child God wants us to adopt next, we do know that they (we're sure its siblings) are waiting for us in Ethiopia... now we're just doing the money-saving thing :)

God Bless,

Meredith

The Andersons said...

My husband and I are both sitting here in tears. Adoption is an AMAZING journey. I'm so excited for you to go to Ethiopia. It's incredible. We will be praying for your family!!!!! I pray your story inspires many!

Kerry

Stefanie said...

SO SO exciting!! I love it when God reveals a wonderfully exciting piece of the puzzle... happy DAY!!
If you have questions about adding Sunday Snapshot, just email me at chrisnstefanie@gmail.com... I'll be glad to help!!
Congratulations on your new SON!!