I'm Thankful

We sent our list of medical conditions that we would be open to this morning to Cindy.  After prayer and advice from friends, we decided on a list of items we felt comfortable with.  It is still difficult to go through a list of 50 or more conditions and state whether or not you are open to the condition and if so, to what degree.  Items in the list that we had to look through included simple things like:  birthmarks, warts, allergies, learning disabilities, and so on.  Items on the other end of the spectrum include:  spina bifida, autism, cerebral palsey, and so on.  It's hard to picture the many orphans in Ethiopia that have one or more of these either simple or extreme medical conditions and are waiting for a family to love them, hold them, care for them.  We are resting in God's leading with the choices we made.  I am thankful He doesn't have a list limiting who He adopts.

We were encouraged by hospitality again last night as our care group met at the Voloshens.  We had a great time of togetherness, meat nachos, chocolate, and coffee.  It was good to talk about what God was doing in our lives.  The Voloshens definitely put the "care" in care group!

We finished up basketball tonight with a 1.5 hour scrimmage, pizza, and pop.  I was off my game tonight as I only took 2 or 3 boys to the floor.  Scott (Mr. Basketball) was on fire shooting three's as usual and Pastor ("the ghost") was unstoppable in the paint.  It was a great year and it was a lot of fun to see Don, George Stokely and the boys improve through the year.

Sunshine goes to Norfolk tomorrow for her last show choir show of the year.  She's excited about that.  She's especially excited because they are taking a charter bus instead of a regular school bus.  She gets to hang with her school peeps and do swingin' show choir moves all day.  She will have fun.  Heather is taking the kids to Norfolk also and will get to see her dad and the legendary Roxanne.

Anderson and Big Mac are looking forward to a possible trip to a baseball field on Saturday to play some ball.  They can't stop talking about it.  I told them that if it doesn't rain, we'll definitely make it happen.

Baseball season is upon us and it sounds we will have at least two boys playing.  That will certainly liven up the summer.

As we think about the busyness that's about to start (baseball, septic tank work, summer, and oh yeah, adoption), we're thankful for kids that liven up our lives.  I'm thankful to God for blessing us abundantly beyond all we could ask or think.  I'm thankful that we have healthy kids that can run and play.  I'm thankful that He has entrusted us with their spiritual, physical, and emotional development.  I'm thankful that even when there is much craziness, there is much love.  I'm thankful that the love that I experience for my children is only a shadow of the love the Father has for me.  I'm thankful that He has opened a door for us to bring another child into our deeply blessed lives.  I'm thankful that these are rich, rich times in our lives.

He has continued to shower His goodness upon us, and I am thankful.