NYC wedding

  Jeremiah's youngest brother got married in New York City a few weekends ago. We had a blast with the Cox family in NYC.  The wedding was extremely fancy and it was like we were in a movie! It was incredibly nice to hear that some of the inheritance from Jeremiah's G-ma Cox paid for our way out there. We were able to hang out with Jeremiah's extended family and it was just what G-ma Cox would have wanted!
  Olivia was the flower girl in the wedding and she was just precious. She ran down the aisle and forgot to throw the petals. Then I motioned for her to throw the petals and she threw a bunch right at the end of the aisle.
  We had an awesome time dancing, hanging out, and being goofy with Jeremiah's family. It is a memory that we will never forget.
Here are some pictures:

         *Olivia enjoyed doing goofy moves and "striking a pose" while we waited for the bridal party to change. 

          

                 *The Cox family at the wedding.

             *The amazing ceremony/reception!

Family Prayer Time

Jeremiah, Olivia, and I have started a nightly family prayer time before Olivia goes to bed. It's one of the highlights of my day. We always say something we are thankful for and then say someone we want to pray for that night. After we are all done praying we read a few Bible stories together. Here is Olivia's sweet prayer tonight...
 
   "God please wrap your arms around my baby brother and keep him safe and healthy."

I'm just so thankful for this family God has blessed me with. And..to think that one more will be added soon just makes me want to squeal with delight. :)

10:00 on the dot

    Every day my class goes to recess at 10:00a.m. and every day at that time I check my phone just to make sure that my sitter doesn't need me. At this time every single day I think about our little boy because I know it's 8:00a.m. in Washington where our case worker resides. I know she's about to start her day and I think that maybe I will hear something from her about our little boy.
    Ya'll I am tired of waiting. There..I said it. We started this journey 19-20 months ago and I am just ready to see my little boy's face. I was explaining to my friend that I have a knot in my stomach every day. I check my e-mail frequently and every time my phone rings I check to see if it's our agency's number. We are so close to the end and it really could be any day that we receive a referral (or it could be months).
    When you are pregnant you have a due date and I have no idea when I will be able to hold my little boy. I never thought it would be this hard to wait. I know that I'm not even in the extremely hard waiting part yet which occurs after I actually meet my son (and have to leave him in Ethiopia for a few months).
     I was reading Jen Hatmaker's story about how one day she felt that she needed to pray intensely for the children she was adopting from Africa. She remembered that date and then was surprised to see that something amazing happened with her two kids (the children she adopted) on that very date. I had this experience back on September 26, 2012. I was praying in the morning and I had an overwhelming feeling that my son needed my prayers. I'm really interested to see how this date plays into his story or if it means anything at all. All I know is that on that day I was having my morning quiet time and just dropped to my knees in prayer (and many tears).
    I promise you that I realize it will be worth it. I know God has this perfect kid for us. But..at times it just stinks. I feel like every morning I wake up and it's Christmas Eve. You know the feeling that you got when you were a little kid and woke up knowing that Santa was coming that night or that you were going to get surprises that next day? Well..I feel like that every day. I'm not complaining because I picked this route. I have an amazing life and I'm incredibly blessed by my hubs and sweet little Olivia. However, I am a little grumpy sometimes because I just want to hear something positive about our adoption.

 On a higher note, I'm praising God today for the multiple blessings he has blessed me with this week. Here are just a few:
 1. My amazing husband who just makes me happy. I'm so thankful that I get to be married to him.
 2. Olivia-dancing, singing, making goofy voices, asking deep questions about God, and just her overall delightful personality.
3. I'm thankful for our health.
4. Fabulous family members who make our life wonderful.
5. My students are collecting money for a local charity. One parent told her son that she would match however much he wanted to put in to the collection. He got out his wallet and emptied it for our collection. What a sweet boy!
6. Encouraging e-mails from parents.
7. Hearing Olivia pray
8. Kind words from numerous students
9. A lazy evening at home
10. Receiving Christmas cards and thanking God for each family/friend.

  

Two (a very belated post:))

   After talking to people over the holiday week I realized that I never posted about us being moved to number 2 on the list. In my last post I wrote that our case worker told us we would be number 1 within a week. Obviously, that didn't happen. One family accepted their referral, but the other family did not accept the second referral. The second child was too old for us to accept. Therefore, we are now number 2 and not number 1.We moved to number 2 in September.

  We hear news that there could be a few little ones at the orphanage but that it could take up to 3 months for their paperwork to be ready. This makes me think that our son is at an orphanage and I just pray that his nannies are loving on him. I would really like to pray that God reveals our son to us by Christmas, but I know I can't do this. As tough as it is to wait, I know that God is in control. But..wouldn't it be just wonderful for us to hear this news by Christmas!?:) Ha! I am really not getting my hopes up (okay..just a little bit!:)).

 Please keep praying for our journey. We appreciate your support prayers!

THREE!

Two weeks ago we talked with our case worker and she said that we were number 5 on the list. The two referrals that were supposed to go out in July fell through. Today we got news that we are finally the glorious number 3!:) That wasn't even the best news we heard. She went on to tell us that she hopes to send out two more referrals within the week which means we will be number 1!!!!! We know that it may take awhile to move to number 1, but we are still thrilled with the idea that it could be very soon.

Please pray for...
-Our little boy wherever he is right now.
-Pray for his birth mother. Pray that she feels peace when she hands our baby over to the nannies. I've been crying tonight just thinking about his birth mom and the sacrifice she is making to give our baby a better life.

Team Jeremiah (King)

  We have met some pretty awesome people throughout our adoption journey. Last summer I had the pleasure of meeting Mike and Brandy King. They were going through the process of bringing home their daughter, Abi and finally brought her home from Ethiopia last November. Brandy, Mike, and their 3 older kids welcomed Olivia and I into their home multiple times last summer so that we could chat about our adoption plans. We also were able to help them celebrate little Abi's birthday in June.
  Brandy has been VERY helpful, supportive, and encouraging to me during our adoption journey. Now, I need your help to support her family. Brandy and Mike's youngest son, Jeremiah, was hit by a car on Friday evening. He is still under sedation in the ICU. Please pray for this wonderful family. I can't imagine what they are going through, but I do know that they have given this situation up to God. Our God is an amazing God and can work miracles. Please pray for little Jeremiah and his family. Thank you!

7...an experimental mutiny against excess=must read

  After reading this book I said to Jeremiah, "I want to be best friends with Jen." I'm sure she would feel the same way after reading my blog, right? Ha! She is sarcastic, motivating, challenging, and hilarious. I think anyone who reads this book will feel the exact same way. She's real. From the first moment I picked up her book I couldn't put it down. I was constantly thinking about how she simplified her life to get rid of the excess and to glorify God's Kingdom.
  It was so sweet of Jeremiah to listen to me talk about every chapter of the book. Every day he would come home and say, "What did she do today?" I think he understood that I was energized and motivated after reading her words...this book has definitely changed me. I can't wait to share with you some very real and great changes that I have made. However, I'm not going to do that now.:)
 Let me know if you are reading this book. I would love to get together and talk with you about it.
 Jen's blog-jenhatmaker.com. If you want to be best friends with her, just let me know..maybe you live closer to me and we can become best friends. That would be the next best thing, right?:)