WE ARE MATCHED!!!

Here it is friends! We have finally been matched! We are matched with a birth mother who has traveled from Texas to Kansas to deliver through an adoption agency called Adoption Connections. It is a small agency, run by a husband and wife couple and they are amazing. She is the social worker and he is the lawyer. They are incredibly affordable, compared to their competition and they take really good care of both babies/birth mothers and adoptive families. We got matched with a baby that is due in the coming weeks and though we don't have all the details yet, we are at a place where we feel at peace and confident that this is the right step.

It's amazing. We got calls all fall and at each one I was full of anxiety. Are we making the right decision? How do you make such a decision? What if we heard wrong? What if? What if? What if??? And yet, at this point in the game I have no anxiety. (Except of course the absurdity of the fact that we will have a newborn in the house sometime within the next 15-30 days!!) I have this sense deep within me that this in the one we have been praying for. That the Lord has taken care of her in a very real and tangible way. That he is taking care of us and preparing us for the things he has coming our way. It's completely surreal and yet vividly clear at the same time. Weird, I know.

People we have talked with who have experienced the same kind of situation have shared how things sometimes pass by in a blur. Details get lost, what was important is no longer, and what used to be worthless is suddenly vastly important. I know I sound like I am rambling, but in an effort to share my heart without giving away too much information that is not for the internet, I am suddenly without words.

We are going to have a baby! It's like I peed on a stick this past week and the doctor told me I was due in 2 weeks. Really??? Are you sure, Lord???? And yet. . . of course this is it. We've been planning and praying for about nine months. Interesting math, huh? Finalization in Kansas is 30-60 days, so for those of you who know our plans for 2010, everything is still on for go.

We are also in need of some funds. The fees, including everything, are $16,000. I know, a lot of money, but I like to say it costed $25,000 to have Benjamin and almost $50,000 for Samuel, so this one's a breeze!! No really, we have a bunch in the bank, some promised from a grant here locally, and remain about $2000 short. That's nothing!! If you are moved and have anything to pass along we would desperately appreciate it. We have a paypal account you can link to from the blog, and that would probably be the most efficient and quickest route for now. We could get a call any day that says she is in labor! Come to the hospital!! Let me know if you have any questions and be praying. We covet your prayers over this little one! Blessings friends.

goodbye and goodnight.

The Right Time and the Right Place

Well friends, it has been some time and though we are not fully there, I feel like we are closer and closer every day to meeting our Bethany. We spent the day yesterday working on a preciously pink room- complete with all the necessities. And this morning I find a post about a most worthy mommy, with a creator-God baby and am again amazed at the truth of the Lord. I have never had a Christmas baby. I've been pregnant twice at Christmastime, but never near delivery. I may not have one this year, but this was such an amazing reminder that the Lord can do amazing things if we are open to His leading. I am no Mary, and my Child is no Christ- but life coming anew is always a reminder of the Life that came for all.

Look here at my friend Candace's Blog - she has words to inspire. Words of truth and light. And words that cause us to remember the Savior. Thanks friend!

The Awakening here at IHOP

Hey friends-



For those following the land of IHOP, I thought I would share this link. It's a CBN report on the revival happening here. There is a move of the spirit that has been happening since mid-November. It is amazing to see people hearts and bodies being healed. The Lord is good and loves his people. Enjoy!

Waiting. . .

Here it is. The packed diaper bag. See the really cute blanket? See the diapers? What about the formula? (I realized yesterday at Costco that we have no other way to feed a baby other than formula and they eat often, so we better be a little bit prepared.)

I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but waiting is an interesting adventure. I've waiting for all kinds of things in my life, and for some reason it doesn't get any easier. You know, like riding a bike or making pound cake?? The more I do those things, the easier they get. Not waiting.

Not.

One.

Bit.

So, as different news comes and goes we keep praying. We stay content in the plans he has for us, our family, our Bethany, and her birth mother. This week we decided to show our profile (a lovely little booklet of all the wonderful parts of our family) to a birth mother who is due with a little girl in 2 weeks. We've never gotten to this step before and I may be speaking completely out of turn. We are really praying that this is her. We really believe that the Lord knows if it is or not. He is mighty and good, he carries our hearts in the palm of his hand. And as much as He knows my heart to have her here, He also knows all the other hearts involved. He will do what is best. He will give me strength to pray for her. He will sustain this birth mother to make one of the hardest choices she has ever had to make. He will strengthen this little one in the transition from the world inside to the world outside. He will speak truth and life to my boys, as they adjust to the idea of a new sister and learn about taking care of her. AND, he will guide our steps into righteousness- living out the life of Christ at every step of the way.

Isaiah 40:28-31 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Psalm 139:13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

All of my days have been ordained before me and all of Bethany's days have been set before the God of heaven and earth. He is forming her, fearfully and wonderfully. We will see her at some point, the Lord is good and so we wait. . . .

In honor of my sister and her christmas joy. . . .

You got to see the pic of my sister. They are on her blog (see below, I'm With the Lion). I thought I would show you the Harrigan fam at their best. Or maybe almost. . .



really, aren't we cute??? :)

Quotes of the Day. . . .

We were having the classic cup of sparkling white grape juice after the Thanksgiving Dinner. Big Boy got distracted by a fun game of War (the one with the cards of course). After about ten minutes. . . .

Big Boy: "Mom, do you know where my sprinkling sprite is?"

Enough said.

Goodnight.

Another Monday . . .

So though we can't contain our excitement about heading to NaeNae and PaPa's this week, I thought I would give you a glimpse into our day...



This is what I found when doing laundry and suddenly realizing that Little Boy was lacking in socks. I found this in his shoe basket. Yes ladies and gentlemen, in the shoe basket. Very logical to the young mind.



Another self-portrait. Enough said.

Goodbye.

Fun at the house. . . on a Saturday Afternoon!

Hello friends. I thought this was such a true statement about what we are teaching our kids. We were out yesterday afternoon working in the yard. Most of the time, the Big Boy is working with his Daddy and the Little Boy and I are doing something more 2 year old appropriate. Nonetheless, yesterday afternoon, my sweet boys were outside having a blast- if a bit differently than usual!





Little Boy told me, "Mom, I need to fix my car. But look at my hands."

Mom proceeds to look at hands, noticing they are fairly clean and there is nothing in them.

Mom: "Your hands aren't dirty. You can fix your car, like daddy."

Little Boy: "But Mom look. There aren't any tools in my hands."

Ahhh. . . . of course. :)





While we were all working outside, I found Big Boy inside watching whatever commercial happened to be on TV. I quickly decided that we had to find something else to do. SO, in a stroke of genius (you know me), I gave him some small hand pruning shears. He took to my brown-eyed susans and purple coneflowers like they were the enemy himself.

"Look MOM! I am zooming their heads off! Cool!"

Mom: "Can you stop for a minute to give me a cheese?"

That is what I got.

Goodbye.

New Babies. . .

So, here we are friends. Still without a new little one. The diaper bag is placed at the foot of the bed. I haven't really packed a bag for myself, since I don't know where we will be going. My parents are ready to take the boys if we need to leave in a moment. Our friends in Arkansas have just had a sweet baby boy, another 2 friends found out they were having their third girl (two different families), another friend found out she was having a boy, another friend is getting bigger and bigger every day with her third boy, another friend (or 2) is just beginning to show the marks of growing life. . . . and it goes on and on. New life is flourishing all around me.

I know. The Lord is completely taking care of my little one. I know, He knows where she is. I know, He is bringing her here at exactly the right time. I know, He knows better than I. I even know that she is exactly where she should be right now. I long for my babies to come out of my own uterus this intensely at the end of my pregnancies. It's just hard, you know??? I am ever ready to meet this little one, to hold her in my arms. To feel her, to experience in a tangible way who she is. As I long for this in my nights, I am sitting and watching the "awakening" happening here at IHOP. (that's another post for another time) It's pretty amazing- people who have struggled their life through are seeing Jesus in a way they never have before. They are seeing the Holy Spirit in a powerful, new way. Tangible. What is it about humanity? Eve- touched the apple, David- touched another man's wife, even Thomas had to touch the scars to believe Jesus had risen from the dead. I know that longing for our daughter is not in any way sinful- but I do know this. Sin always starts somewhere- and longing to be in a place that the Lord has not put me never leads anywhere good. Lord, give me peace and contentment. Give me the patience to long and pray for something, while keeping my heart connected to yours and trusting your plans. In my desire for the tangible, give me a new taste of the Holy Spirit. That I may know you in a new way. That it may sustain my heart, my longing, and my patience. That it would be my sustenance. My tangible.

Exercise, really???

Ok, so we all know that I am not nor have I ever been particularly inclined towards exercise. But, thanks to my dear friend Candace, my loving mother, and my sister and sister-in-law- every once in a while I like to do the pilates video. This week I decided it was time. Seeing as the holidays were approaching and I was going to eat even more- we went for it! Emily took this video and we thought is was hilarious! It does make quite a statement about what our children are learning from us. . .