Adios 2010!

2010- wow, what a year it's been! A year ago, we were newly-weds hoping to start a family soon. We were enjoying our time as a couple and looking forward to where God's path would lead. I can very truthfully say, we really didn't have a clue what God had in store for us in 2010. It was in the long cold late months of winter that God quietly began revealing to Wes and I that adoption was where God wanted us to start building our family. We were sponsoring children and had always viewed adoption as a realistic possibility in building a family. It was on a date-night to Applebee's that Wes led off the conversation of "what if we adopted?"... After lots of talking, praying, researching and questions- we started this walk of faith to build our family. We could see the incredible ways in which our hearts, finances and lives were being prepped for what lay ahead. God had blessed us with the sale of Kim's house and Wes' wise savings. Realizing the process is long and at times cumbersome, we decided to get started right way.

Thus, the remaining timeline of the year has revolved around the milestones of our adoption. Trips to the police department, physicals, visits to the courthouse, driving to Pierre for state seals, binders full of paperwork, re-doing our home-study wording three times for USCIS, and finally turning everything in for its flight to Ethiopia. Then came the wait...the long quiet wait. There have been days and weeks when it has felt very long. And, we've been keeping very busy in pursuit of staying distracted and occupied during the big wait. We've been to Chicago, painted the outside of our kinda big two-story farmhouse, completed the world's cheapest bathroom renovation, worked hard, played hard, traveled to see friends and family, and learned a lot about the needs of adopted children.

So, here we are...at the close of 2010. We're excited and anxious to see what 2011 brings- we pray its the year of family. Prayerfully, 2011 is the year 'we' become 'three'! Oh, we can't wait!!! : ) Keep us in your prayers and keep talkin' to God about expediting the process of getting Baby Roth home!

God Bless in 2011