Really??

Really?  Three months...really?  WOW how time flies when you have three kids, a job, a house, sports, etc.  But really, three months?

So what's new??  Well, Princess N and Quarterback started school, 5th and 3rd grades respectively.  Love their school, their teacher, their classes.  Can't believe Princess N is already a 5th grader.  Can't time just stop...do they really have to get older???  She will start ballet and pointe in a couple of weeks (after labor day).  She is on safety patrol at school, and loving it. 

Quarterback is as active as ever.  Baseball, now football.  We're full swing into football now.  Three practices a week and games begin the 11th. He doesn't stop moving and is now determined to move even faster.  He's a great big brother, which we knew he would be.  Gets annoyed at Joshua sometimes, but then there are times that he is the one doing the annoying.  We love his personality and his love of motion.

Joshua has been here six months now and has celebrated his 3rd birthday with us.  We had a big party for him - it was the first time he'd ever had a birthday party.  Yet another God is so good moment for us.  He had his six month check-ups at our doctor and the international adoption clinic.  He has grown an inch and a half in six months and gained about 2 pounds.  He would eat all the time if I let him.  Princess N is such a good big sister (and a better mom than me sometimes :)).  He loves his sister and she loves him.  He is a typical three year old - rambunctious delightful, stubborn, loving, active...the list goes on.  He has come such a long way in 6 months.  Even the doctors say so!!!

Oh, and one more thing about Joshua...

HE IS OURS!!!!

Our adoption became final on July 30th.  So after almost 4 years since we started the process with Jonathan and three years of being in process with Joshua, God has answered every prayer.  OUR son is home, healthy, safe, and ours.  We have one step left with his citizenship, but unless there is a law passed, that won't start until July of 2012.  We are praying that the US Government would allow these Haitian parolees to become citizens sooner than that.  But, we look at the positive side....we have our son and he is OURS!!!

We continue to pray for the parents that are still struggling with getting enough paperwork to get their adoptions approved  Two of our friends are still in finalizing their adoptions here in our state.  And one friend still has a daughter in Haiti that was denied parole.

More importantly though, we pray for those who are in Haiti - the missionaries, the Haitian people, the children.  There are too many horror stories to mention.  People still living in tent cities.  Much of the money that has been promised has not arrived and if it has, isn't being used.  Children are still being "cared for" by UNICEF.  I use that phrase very loosely...the level and quality of care these children have been receiving is horrible...many dogs in the US are treated better than these children in Haiti.

We pray for HIS Home for Children and the work they continue to do to help the children, being sometimes the only voice the children have.

We pray for Nehemiah Vision Ministries and the work they are doing in the now, not so tiny village of Chambrun and the HUGE difference they are making there.

We pray for Ebenezer Evangelical Missions and the work they do in St. Louis du Nord, a once quiet village on the north side of the island that has seen an influx of people since the earthquake.

And on the lighter side of things, maybe...

I watched a video on facebook today about homecomings.  Specifically when a soldier comes home from being away.  Watching the surprise of their friends and family; the adoration of their spouses and children.  Watching as looks of sheer relief travel over their faces at the same time as tears of joy start streaming down their cheeks.  YUP!!  I cried too.

And I started thinking.

I was first reminded of coming home from Haiti in March of 2008.  We had been delayed overnight and arrived 12 hours later than we should have.  My kids were in school by then.  I went to the school office to sign in and just as I was walking out the door to go into the school, Quarterback's class came walking up in the hall.  I stopped and just looked at him, then all at once he came running towards me and propelled himself into my arms.  I was the one crying, so happy to see him.  And I had only been gone a week.  I can only imagine what it would be like coming home after months away.  He didn't let go of my hand until he had to.  I will never forget that as long as I live.

I also thought about something a friend wrote when she posted the video....that going to heaven must be like that...a homecoming.  As I watched, I agreed.  But then I really started thinking...that's what God does with each new believer.  And if I were honest with myself, with me even though I became a believer a long time ago.

We know that God will search out the 1 sheep that is lost, leaving the 99 safe sheep behind.  He's just like that.  He loves each one of us so much that he will search for us relentlessly until we are safe in his arms.  There are some who will continually run from Him, vowing to stay away.  That is their choice.  God is still there, still loving them, still searching for them.  Here's the thing though, it doesn't take much for me to follow another path or get distracted.  And soon, I find that I have wandered far away from God.

As I watched this video, I thought to myself that that must be what God feels like when WE come home...when I come home.  Not to heaven, but to his loving arms.  He didn't go anywhere...he was always right there.  Rather it is I who left for a time and am now home. 

He isn't surprised by my coming back to him.  But he holds his arms out and lets me run into them. 

He hugs me. 

And I cry.