Almost six years ago, Josh and I arrived in America with hardly any possessions and a baby boy about to be born. We had just finished our two year teaching contract in South Korea and we had no jobs lined up, no health insurance and no home. We prayed for God to provide for us. We asked Him to give us a house, health insurance, good jobs, a good church, the list went on and on. God slowly answered all of those prayers over the last few years, but He has still been working on the house one. Since we came back from Korea we have lived with my parents (briefly), in two different tiny apartments, in a giant old home that belonged to some friends (briefly) and in our cozy townhouse we are in now. I used to pray fervently for God to give us a good house that we could afford with a fenced in backyard. I begged Him day after day to make my dream a reality. It never happened. Lucy died and I stopped asking God for that house because I had much bigger problems. I gave up on the house prayers and thought it just wasn’t going to happen. The beautiful thing is that God did not give up, even when I did. All this time He has been working on my behalf and planning on answering that prayer with the perfect house at the perfect time.

Our oldest son, Liam, just started kindergarten this fall. He has the most unique brain (he is gifted and has sensory processing issues) which means he needs to be schooled differently than most. We realized soon after he started school that he probably needed to be in a different school zone, which meant we needed to think about moving AGAIN. About a month ago our landlord told us he was probably going to sell the town home that we are renting and that we might need to look for a different place to live. A couple of weeks later my parents told us about a house that was for sale in their neighborhood that looked perfect for us. They said it had been on the market for a while and the price had been reduced. It was in the perfect school zone, the one where we could pick from the two top schools in the city for Liam to go to (Verner and the Magnet School, for those of you in Tuscaloosa.) We doubted that we could get a loan for this house since I still have a lot of school loan debt and we don’t have a large income. After looking at the house (and loving it), we decided to just see if we could maybe get approved for a loan. We found out the next day that we WERE pre-approved for a loan for the exact amount that the house was being sold for. We got a special loan that was only available for us because of the huge tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa in April of 2011. We were so excited to get the loan approval. We put in an offer the same week and our offer was accepted! We are still in shock at how quickly we bought a house, the perfect house for our family. Two weeks ago we weren’t even looking for a house! And it is SO cute, we love it so much. It has a huge backyard for the kids, a screened in porch, a wood burning fireplace and beautiful hardwood floors. It’s in the same neighborhood that my parents and my sister and her kids live in. The prayer that I prayed day after day in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 was answered last week in the most fantastic way. We will be moving into our new home the week after our new baby arrives!

We don’t have many pictures of the new house yet so this will have to suffice. Besides the fireplace, this is my favorite space in the house. I plan on transforming it into a playroom for my three favorite little people on earth. By the way, the cute girl in the picture is my niece Lily.

After we met K and P things didn’t go perfectly smoothly like I thought they would. There were some problems with the adoption agency and K. It was stressful for all of us and I was frustrated with God. I was annoyed because I had had so much heartbreak trying for a biological baby that I thought trying for our adopted baby would be easier and safer. I remember saying to Josh, “After all the suffering He has allowed, you would think that He would at least give us a break with this adoption.” Eventually the unrest led to us leaving the agency and going with a local adoption attorney. Looking back, I am SO thankful that God orchestrated that. If we had stayed with the agency we never could have afforded this wonderful new house and we would be going into debt to finance the adoption. I think God allowed the strife between K and the agency because He wanted us to go with the lawyer. He wanted us to have this house and He wanted K to be better taken care of by us directly, rather than through the agency. That whole time I thought He was turning His back on our adoption, He was masterfully creating something better. He was working on my behalf, even when I couldn’t see it at all. Even when I complained and blamed Him and doubted, He patiently worked for me, answering my prayers in the sweetest way ever and blessing my life with good gifts. He is such an awesome, loving and patient Father. Ask Him to be in charge of your life and then let Him work. He will do far more than you ever could have imagined. And for goodness sake, be PATIENT (unlike me.) Your blessings ARE coming. He IS working for you behind the scenes.

 Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure.

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him; to the soul who seeks Him.