Obedience = Adventure

Our hearts crave adventure. We were made that way. So, we often spend tons of money and time trying to grasp that elusive, amazing, deep-down-in-the-gut satisfying feeling we get when in the middle of an adventure.



But . . . . to be obedient to God is THE beginning of being part of His great adventure. When we are truly obedient and have our hands open in surrender, He never fails to call us to something that is truly an adventure that our hearts were made for.



Such is our adoption.



Adventures are not easy, otherwise they wouldn't be called adventures. They would be "rides", I guess, with not much effort for us to have to put in. But adventures are hard work and often scary, mixed with exhilaration, exhaustion, joy, frustration, fear and just plain silliness and fun (yeah, throw some impatience, anger and grumpiness into the mix, too, honestly). Thank God we are not called to an adventure on our own, but instead to walk next to GOD! How cool is that.



Such is our adoption.



I hope to keep stepping out in obedience no matter what. I hope to keep my hands open in surrender and ready to embrace whatever God puts before us. I hope to be obedient in the daily things, spending time with God and also stopping my own jabbering and being quiet before Him so I can hear HIM, and trust that He is good and that the adventure He calls us to is also good, no matter what. Are you with me?

OK, here are some pictures for those of you that don't read my post, but just like the photos.

These shots are from a recent camping trip we went on with several other families who have adopted or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia in West Michigan. What fun! And what a privilege to have a group like this to support each other.

Here, you can see our new Beagle, Bo, in the background. Things are going ~pretty~ well with him. Wish he would figure out the electric fence better. What was I thinking???

Here is some of the group enjoying our time at the beach.

Jambo (no longer his name, but unless you come visit us, mum's the word) totally exfoliating in the sand.

Kume (again, her nickname) drawn to water at a pump like any typical kid.

About their names, we wondered how long it would take older kids like them to embrace their new names. Well, the answer in our case is about 2.5 months. We paired both their names together all the time, with a few slip ups here and there, and they easily slid into their American names, and now call each other by these names.

Also, since lots of people comment on their language development, just wanted to let you know they have spoken up to 8 word sentences. Genius? Boy, I hope not, we wouldn't have a clue what to do with that! We are enjoying it, though.