Small Hands Big Heart

Hello my beautiful friends! Goodness I've missed you. Why is summer so busy?! I have to be honest with you... I cannot WAIT for fall! :) I feel you can go on more walks in fall and that's where I go to collect my thoughts. Walking on a forgotten trail with the vibrant colored leaves falling on my shoulders, I almost forget about all the to do lists I have at home and am able to breathe and take a step back without worrying about what I need to do before the sun goes down.



I'm also excited for fall to come because that is when we will be doing our home study! Ah another step closer to bringing home our little one. We were kind of at a standstill since spring you see, all the paperwork we need to send over to China next July cannot expire and everything we sign or get processed expires after one year. So we kept ourselves busy preparing our home and reviewing and organizing what we need for our home study and played the waiting game.......

Over the summer we were able to attend a craft sale for another successful fundraiser. Sharing our story with the families in the sale and others who walked by.

Our pallet wooden signs caught the eyes of bystanders and even though one little girl was told she could not have a sign as she didn't need one......she reached into her little purple coin purse pulled out as much change as her gentle hand could hold and placed the money in our donation can. I could have just squeezed her. Bless her heart and the family who raised her.



It's completely 100% not about the money. What it is about is the constant reminder that Jeff and I are not alone. That the slightest encounter of compassion and grace from a complete stranger, can give someone a large amount of hope in ones heart. The action she had done that day made me feel like this enormous world that we live in, may not be so big after all. We can often feel so distant from others due to our lack of noticing others pain and struggles for the fact that we are so distracted by out own problems.



As the little girl waved goodbye to us with a large smile on her face I could see in her mothers eyes how proud she was of her little girl, her little girl who obviously saved and collected those .80 cents as she could have used it any other way at that craft sale. Instead of candy or jewelry of some sort she chose to give that to me, to help bring home my child. The money to her was valued and she gave it up to help our family. She gave me hope.



I was again reminded why it’s so important to put others first. Sometimes we feel we can’t do anything for anyone for lack of money or time. A simple smile to a stranger, allowing another customer to go ahead of you in the checkout line, buying the coffee behind you in the drive-thru. We often may get so wrapped up in our to do lists and focused on our timed schedule that we inconsiderately ignore others around us. The simple act of kindness you share with an individual could turn their day in another direction and hopefully show there is still good in this scary earthly world. I may be weak in some areas but also have strength in others. What good are my strengths if I keep them selfishly for my own reaching. God made us in the image of Himself, each with a purpose with a gift. How silly I was to think it was my gift to keep.  My purpose on this earth is not to use my strengths for my own benefit. This is a dark road that can lead to greed and loneliness. It’s easy to be blinded by our list of what we need to do and what we want to do that we can miss out on showing Grace to someone who needs it more than ourselves.

And here I am again, learning each and every day by the simple miracles I finally allow myself to notice. Choosing again to see the good instead of asking the whys. Bringing home our child through adoption has shown me so much light, hope and love that I will be forever grateful to them. Again I remind you only a year ago I was lost with doubts of my futures direction. God truly knows His plan for us and His is beyond more beautiful that I could have ever imagined.

From the moment I’d accepted His path for us back in January, the weight on my shoulders disappeared and my shattered heart began to heal.

Bumpy roads may always come and go but holding on with trust and faith I know His guidance will always pave my burdens straight.



-Have patience, God isn’t finished yet.