That's why......

I know our decision to adopt for the 3rd time was tough for some to swallow. Some didn't understand. Some worried. Some thought/think we are crazy. But it is times like tonight...... carving pumpkins........ This was a wonderful, cute, fun memory making event with Julia and Sam. I loved it! But when I see my 2 dark-headed beauties bent over their pumpkins, giddy with excitement, I catch my breath. The tears sting my eyes. It takes on a whole new meaning. They would never have done this had they stayed in their past environment. What would their lives had been like? I watch as they stand back and marvel at their creations. Excitement builds for the big candy seeking night that is upon us. Thank you Lord for these precious souls you led us to. To watch them live lives filled with love and belonging is enough to melt my heart...every time! And that is why we did it again.

The Pumpkin Patch 2011

And representing our little "pumpkin" in Hunan!

The next 3 letters.......

LOA!!!!!!!

Thanks Be to God

We are humbled at God's goodness. What a wonderful craft show we had. What wonderful generous people God brought.

Let me back up a minute and give you a few details so that you can truly see God's provision. We decided on Oct. 15th for the craft sale as that was the only weekend we had NO soccer. Well, we had so many people respond they could not come for one reason or another-mostly it was fall break for several schools and they were headed out of town or there was another sporting event of some sort and it was out of town. Then it rained. All week. Every soccer practice was cancelled. We didn't get to hand out the fliers. Julia and I were quite depressed Thursday nite. We had a house FULL of crafts and all we could think about was Saturday nite -few people showing up and STILL having a house FULL of crafts! We talked about it and realized we HAD to rely on God. We HAD to give it to Him and trust He would bring the people He wanted to be there. Oh how He showed us His "stuff"! He brought the people. So many wonderful people.We are thankful for each and everyone of them He provided. We are humbled at the generosity and support of those that came and we enjoyed chatting with each and everyone of them and sharing a little bit of our precious Lulu's story with them.

I had a "dream" goal for this sale that I dared to dream and then I had what I thought was a more realistic goal. God had another goal. It was 2-1/2 times my "dream" goal. Thank you my loving Father. And thank you to everyone who came. We are thrilled with our end result but more importantly we are so grateful God showed us His "stuff". We have hearts that are filled with this rich experience where we got to see God at work. It is one of those moments we will all tuck away for a lifetime and recall frequently. A lesson in trust. A lesson in faith. A lesson in love. God is good!

ADOPTION CRAFT SALE

ADOPTION CRAFT SALE!!!

Sat. October 15th

10-3:00pm

Our House(email me for address)

Proceeds go toward travel expenses to bring Louisa home!

Julia and I have been "crafting" all summer. We have holiday items, gifts, and bake goods.

Hope to see you!

hatcher123@comcast.net for address or directions

Happy Birthday Daddy....and soccer!

Julia recording Sam's game.

Keeping busy.

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!!!! A day filled with sports and meat.....3 soccer games, football games on the big screen and grilled meat...lots of meat! A very "manly" kinda birthday!

The Flowers

We have been talking as a family about how beautifully God decorated the world. Our assignment was to notice all the ways God gave us sights, sounds, smells, touches, etc and to thank Him for them. I had had a particularly hard week and so my run on Friday was my therapy with God. I felt His presence and His love with me that morning. My heart has really been aching for my baby and I just worry about her and want her here with us. As I finished, I walked around the cul-de-sac to catch my breath. We have a small neighborhood with just 8 houses and 2 empty lots. On one of the lots a lovely orange flower decided to bloom and I noticed it earlier in the week. I thanked God for it that day and shared with my family how pretty it was amongst the other not so pretty vacant lot "stuff". This day as I neared my orange "friend" I noticed several splotches of color. As I looked closer, I noticed there were 5 flowers now. 4 of them were on a single stem and 1 was on a separate stem off by itself. All 5 were beautiful and thriving, just separate. I knew instantly that was God's reassurance that my baby was ok, beautiful and thriving, just not with us right now. She is blooming where she is planted for now and I will have to trust Him to care for her until we can bring her home. I just love how God is "into" details. Isn't He amazing!