Heavenly Homemakers

It’s been a long, painful road. You know…the kind you can’t possibly walk through without God’s holding you up?

Matt’s brother Randy and his wife Kari have been on quite a journey for the past several years. They’ve dealt with pregnancy and loss…excitement and disappointment…triumph and tragedy. 

Too many times.

It’s been painful, for all of us…Randy and Kari most of all. They’ve clung to God through it all. Because all the time…God is good.

Two years ago, God gave them a new opportunity. The opportunity to adopt.

With this new possibility came a new kind of joy…and a new kind of fear. This adoption process was not a simple one. (are any of them simple?)

There were times it sounded like the whole thing would all fall through. And then it would all seem okay again. And then it wouldn’t. 

I think we’ve all been holding our breath for two years.

Until last Friday. Friday, we could let out our breath and jump for joy!

The sweet baby boy God gave to Randy and Kari back in October of 2007 is officially and totally theirs! 

This is the best Gratituesday ever.
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Share what you’re grateful for! Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here! If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

Have I ever told you that I have a great dad? Not a perfect dad, but a great one.

He spent hours with me in our shed, in our yard, and at the gym trying to help me figure out how to shoot a free throw and for Pete’s sake how to serve a volleyball over the net. That took a lot of patience on his part…because let’s just say I’m not a natural athlete. (I’m not any kind of athlete, really.)  I have fond memories of him running beside me at every track meet while I was warming up to run the half mile race. He would always come straight from working in the field, so his pliers would still be in his pocket. As he ran beside me and gave me a pep talk before the race, his pliers would bounce up and down on his belt. I can still hear the sound of his pliers while he jogged beside me.

My dad taught me a lot about the Bible…how to talk to people…how to see people’s needs and try to meet them.

Here’s what I’m realizing:  My dad has always been great at giving advice.

You want to know the greatest advice my dad ever gave me? When I was playing “the dating game” in college and getting so frustrated with the whole thing, I asked him, “Dad, are my expectations just too high? Am I looking for a guy who just doesn’t exist?”

He told me this, “Laura, you aren’t the kind of girl that boys want to date. You’re the kind of girl that they want to marry.  Don’t compromise on the kind of man you’re looking for. Don’t ever compromise. There is someone out there that is exactly what you want.”

I loved the advice, but still didn’t really think that there was anyone out there in this whole wide world that would meet my expectations for a husband. Still, I held onto my dad’s advice not to compromise. I didn’t want to date around anymore feeling like, “Well, this guy is great, except for (fill in the blank).”

It wasn’t long before Matt and I began dating. I could tell from the beginning of our relationship that he was different. And…it didn’t take long to realize that he was the definition of “exactly what I wanted in a husband.” With no compromising.

When my dad walked me down the aisle on my wedding day and handed me over to Matt, I know he did it with confidence. Not only did I find just what I’d been looking for in a husband, my dad found exactly what he’d been looking for in a son-in-law.

Not compromising was the best advice I ever took.
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Share what you’re grateful for!! Blog about it and come link up here! If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!