Our Journey... and Precious Recaps!

Every day I strive to take one step forward on this journey.  Some days, its hard.  Some days, its pretty easy.  These past few weeks have been hard, especially hard.  And only because we trust our Lord, and choose to seek Him daily, we are gaining strength to move forward.  Its still not easy, and some days I wonder why on earth I am standing here right now doing the HARD.  But, God has called us to this.  We prayed for this, we sought His will for our lives, and He placed this on our hearts - and here we are.  With the good, the bad, the excitement, the joy and even the hard.

He is so good.  He has reminded us over this past week that this is about the journey, not just the "prize".  That is still hard for me to grasp, but after all, that is what this blog was intended for.  This journey, not only to adopt or bring home our sweet and precious child, but the journey towards the cross!  Life as a whole is full of hard choices, decisions, outcomes, etc.  For some of us, that hard may appear so pitty to the outside.  Nonetheless, God gives us all what we can handle and nothing more.  We prayed from day one for this journey, and for Christ to be glorified throughout it.  I fear I am not giving Him the glory He deserves for sooo much that He has done!  Even in those quiet moments in my home, those dark moments when all feels so helpless... He is there and He is deserving of praise!

When I'm sitting here feeling so confused, so scared, and full of fear... He is there.  He is my comfort and my only comfort.  He holds me when the tears won't stop, He cradles me when I feel so scared and lonely. He is there, and I feel Him even in those really HARD moments.  I crave that affection from Him, I crave that comfort of His loving, gentle arms wrapping around me.  Oh how I crave that!  He is so good.  He is so deserving of all of the glory and praise throughout this entire journey, yes, the good and even the hard.

He was there when we step forward in faith and signed the papers to begin this journey, knowing fully we had only $2,000 to bring to the table, & over $18,000 to raise!  He was there when we began preparing for our biggest fundraiser ever, our yard sale.  He was there and He stirred the hearts of so many to respond and give... and oh how they gave so generously!

[recap from July 31st Adoption Yard Sale]

This brings tears to my eyes as I look at this image!  I remember the prayers that were prayed leading up to this, and the remember crying out to God asking for people to respond, to please touch them in a ways that they would feel led to help.  And when I look at this, I feel so overwhelmed with joy seeing how He provided... and WAY beyond what I ever imagined!

And our friends and family that gave so unselfishly of their time and energy.  We're so blessed, and He is so MIGHTY!

And even the people who came.  The Lord had His hand on this, and He provided.  Only He could have done this!  Because of Him, we raised over $2,500 at this sale!

And the yard sale was just the beginning... lets not forget about the many people who have found our blog!  We've collected hundreds in donations from anonymous donors, and friends.  The response has overwhelming, and even humbling.  We receive emails daily from people we've never met.  People who have found our blog and have been praying for us.  Some have followed our journey from the very beginning, and some just recently.  Nonetheless, He has brought these people to witness such an awesome journey!  We're forever grateful!

So... when I say that He is deserving of so much more praise... He is!  This yard sale is one of MANY awesome praises.  So, today I praise Him, for He is so beautiful and so deserving of ALL of the glory from this journey!  Thank you for your prayers, your support and your sweet sweet encouragement!  It is greatly appreciated!  P.S. Sorry for the LONG post... I just felt the need to give Him more.

Until then... Brantley