Oh, the pleasures of a cup of Ethiopian coffee!! Ethiopia is quite known for their coffee so Steve and I thought we'd try it out and have been hooked ever since! So cheers! Clinkety, clink. clink!

I debated on whether I would share this next nugget of my story. It is in someways personal, but such a milestone in my faith. Emotionally I was, well...a wreck. We decided to open our home to a child we didn't know, I had just quit school, I was stressed about money and I had nothing to do at home besides clean house. My house was quite clean most of the time.....except for that laundry thing. Ugh. So I was having a "time".

One particular morning I was gripped with panic. Oh no, what if this doesn't happen? What if God really doesn't want us to adopt. Maybe Steve and I were wrong about what we felt called to do. I suddenly got sick to my stomach because I remember a "pact" I made with God. Oh no, did He remember that pact? Remember Steve and I only wanted one child. When Steve had a vasectomy I remember asking God to take away any desire for another child if the idea ever came up. In prayer I asked God if I ever changed my mind about another child to make it impossible. I'm very serious when I say we only wanted one child. So here I am thinking I made the biggest mistake of my life. This prayer for another child will not be "granted" for lack of a better word. I had a moment. (Does that ever happen to you? You say something and later ask yourself why did I say that?)

I knew that I needed some reassurance so I opened my Bible. I had an index card stuck between two pages and I decided to read the devotion that was on the page. It was about holding on to a dream. It went on to say that if you had a dream you should hold on to that dream until it is a reality. The devotion suggested holding on to a tangible object to remember your dream. A verse was given and it read, "I know you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted." Needless to say, I wept. I can make all the "pacts" with God as I want but in the end His Plan will be. I read that verse a few more times even though I could barely make out the words due to the flood of tears collected in my eyes. I even looked up the word thwarted. The definition read, 'to prevent accomplishing a purpose.' No plan of His can be thwarted. Phew... what a relief! So now I need to find my tangible object.

At that time I was sitting at my desk because that is where my dictionary sits. I thought to myself, 'I have nothing that would represent a young child.' I sat there thinking but nothing came to mind. Oh well, I guess I will have to buy something. But something did catch my eye. It was a little snow globe made from a baby food jar. Alexa made it at pre-school when she was two-years-old. I hate to admit it, but that snow globe had seen better days and was about to find itself in the trash! I know, I know, how could I do such a thing? You can all smack me later. I had packed all of my Christmas stuff but left this out because I was seriously going to throw the little sad thing away. I say sad because the little toy soldier in the jar was no longer fixed to the lid and it just floated about this way and that.

I held that little jar in my hands and gave it a gentle shake and wept some more. This little object would never see the bottom of a trash bag... ever! It truly is a keepsake. Little did I know that when Alexa's little hands were making it, a Big plan was in motion. That snow globe sits near my desk and I give it a gentle shake every now and again. The dream is very much alive (I have a very empty bank account to prove it! lol!) and very soon will become our reality!

I'm going to post a picture of the snow globe today! I also have another object that I want to talk about later. Thank you for being a listening ear. It really is great therapy to get all my thoughts out. Have a super day!