no words!!!

OOOHHHH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More to come.........!!!!!!

sunshine and daydreams

So it is officially March and we still have no idea what our little girl looks like. As I sit here and watch the sunshine stream through my kitchen window it makes me daydream a little and wonder where in the world our A.J is. Wherever she is I hope she knows how much her Mommy and Daddy love her. Sweet Dreams baby girl.

a little bit stronger...

As we wait for a picture of our daughter we grow stronger. If we get nothing from this process we at least gain the knowledge that we can endure anything. There is nothing worse than the pain of knowing what is coming. The anticipation alone can all but kill you. Adoption is a rollercoaster ride; there are moments when you are overjoyed and moments when you want to cry until you have nothing left. Sometimes these moments can happen all at once. It is hard to believe that one can love someone they have never met, but I am here to tell you it is more than possible. If my future daughter learns nothing from me I hope that she at least learns this "love endures all things" Nothing more than that nothing less. We continue to grow stronger as we wait.

Faith

It feels as though I haven't written in months, yet it has only been weeks...I guess thats because I am still waiting on the day I get to lay eyes on our daughter, ugh. Anyway, today my husband went to church, I was a sinner and slept in lol, and he came home to show me what the sermon was for the day. It was quiet fitting for our season of life. It read: Faith enables us to go without knowing where, faith enables us to live without knowing when, faith enables us to believe without knowing how. I couldn't believe it when I read it...it seemed like this sermon was a message for us. So much of this journey is a waiting game; somedays it feels like we will never get to see her but faith is all we have to depend on at this point so we press on. Keep your fingers crossed for us and our little A.J. I know we ask that alot, but that's all we can do at this time. We hope and pray and cross our fingers. :)

still waiting...and waiting....and waiting

ok, so we are still waiting for the day that we will get to see her face, however we have put the crib together!! It was such an exciting thing, but now we just need the bedding and all to go in it lol. Aside from this blog we also belong to a YAHOO group for couples adopting through the same agency and there were many families who got to see thier children's faces this past week! Our fingers are crossed that we just keep moving up on the list and that the right little girl will be ours sooner rather than later. Hearing the other families good news makes my mind wander to what our little A.J. will look like and what part of Ethiopia she will come from. The name of our blog ' miracle from Toukoul' may have to be changed because our agency has begun to partner with two more orphanages and so our baby may come from either of those as well. For now our blog will stay with its orignial title and we will just have to wait to see what time brings! Fingers crossed!

Project SHE (supplies helping Ethiopia)

My husband and I could not let this holiday season go by without acknowledging the less fortunate and who better for us to help than the children of Ethiopia. These children have been orphaned due to illness and poverty. Most of these children do not even have a toothbrush to call thier own. Help these children obtain some of life's basic needs. These children do not ask for much,so please try and remember them the next time you are at the mall or the next time you are grocery shopping. We have even created a chip-in box that will allow you to donate straight to this website if you would rather. All donations made to the chip-in box will be used to help buy supplies to take to the children of Ethiopia. Thank you for remembering these wonderful children this holiday season. Happy Holidays!

Here is a list of items most needed:

Toothbrushes

Band aids

Ace bandages

Baby bottles

Diapers (ages 0-2 years)

Baby wipes

Formula (Enfamil-milk gas free infant formula powder for babies 0-2)

(if you would like to drop off donations please email us at megan.shaughnessy@smail.astate.edu for the drop off location)

...we wait... [Daddy Edition]

"It is for this joy, this hope, this peace that we wait."

I am not usually such an evangelistic person; I often quite honestly despise evangelism (well, despise is not quite accurate; it is probably more accurate to say that I question the authenticity of evangelism). During the season of advent, however, I am too often moved by the promise of the Christ child. This season my emotions-- usually subdued and hidden beneath a self-imposed stoicism-- are running rampant thanks to our own sense and season of advent. To this end, the quote above appeared in this Sunday's responsive reading. This single line brought tears to my eyes as I cannot wait to see our little girl-- our joy, our hope, and our peace. The full responsive reading is here:

"Comfort my people, says the Lord. Speak unto them words of deliverance./ God will break the chains of the bound./ Comfort my people, says the Lord. Speak unto them words of peace./ God will cast out the fears of the troubled./ Comfort my people, says the Lord. Speak unto them words of assurance./ God will raise the eyes of the hopeless./ Lord, give us faith that the Prince of Peace shall be revealed./ It is for this joy, this hope, this peace that we wait./ Advent is a time of waiting./ Advent is also Christ... in me."

This is my prayer today as I try with every fiber of my being to understand the waiting period knowing that so many faces of the bound, the troubled, and the hopeless long to be turned into faces of joy, hope, and peace. If we are so willing and ready to offer comfort, deliverance, peace, and assurance, why then must the process be one of waiting? And no sooner do I ask these questions is it that God provides the answer: "Lord, give us faith that the Prince of Peace shall be revealed... It is for this joy, this hope, this peace that we wait." I am-- we are-- ready for our joy, hope, and peace named A.J. Maybe this season of advent will be our own season of realized advent.