Joy of a lifetime!!!!

So this adoption is continuing to teach me more and more about waiting on HIM... and this week, we were totally surprised at God's quick answer to our waiting for the next step! Completely unexpectedly, we were called and asked if we would be willing to take the next two boys that were up for referral! um... YEAH! We had said we wanted two, but boys or girls did not matter. I had felt in my deepest mommy heart that there were some brothers out there somewhere who needed a momma to keep them in line;) and when they send us their little pictures, we could not help but shed some tears of JOY.... wow. I honestly don't think it has really hit me yet, but when I look at their faces and imagine what men they will become, I am overwhelmed and I can't stop smiling! It is still maybe 4 months til we get to meet them... and then more waiting for another 4 months after that waiting on all the paperwork... but just knowing they are out there... its so surreal and exciting! I just can't stop praising the LORD! The boys are maybe a few weeks apart and were found in different places, but they are meant to be brothers! They are 2 1/2 and 3 months maybe... and they really are some of the MOST BEAUTIFUL little guys Ryan and I have ever seen. They are tiny but they have smiled and respond to noise and follow an object with their eyes. After we go finalize the adoption, there will be a multitude of pics on here! until then, you can trust us that these guys are some really amazing little creations of our Lord. We are so humbled that the Lord wants to entrust some of his greatest treasures with us, and even though they are not here with us yet, they sure are in spirit! and we long for the day we will meet and they will be our forever family! Josiah and Daniel, we LOVE YOU BABIES! You are the sweetest and we can't wait to hug you!

Smells

I love amazing smells... like fresh pumpkin, apple cider, vanilla nut coffee... Fall smells are the BEST! So, its rainy season here, which makes me think it should be fall already. The weather is a bit cooler and the rain keeps the humidity down for a while, so I am living it up. Unfortunately, Rainy season comes with a lot of smells, most of them not so good! I was riding in the crowded train thinking, "wow. How deodorant would revolutionize this place!" I was still walking around thinking how I could change this place and how at least my home smells of all the fall goodness... (through my Scentsy's and fall baking) I started thinking that I was a better person because I wear deodorant and I know what a good smell SHOULD be. and the Lord ever so gently reminded me of something... When he sees and smells south asia, He does not judge on the outside, but he looks at the hearts, and he LONGS for them to come to Him no matter what they smell like! It was like he said, "I love that smell... i MADE that smell..." He loves the dirty babies on the side of the road, He loves the hardworking man with grease under his nails, He loves the mother who has not had a bath in two weeks. I just forget sometimes that God doesn't expect us to come to Him after we are all cleaned up... he takes us, dirt and all. Smelly and grimy, like a loving father he cleans us up for HIS glory.  

without pollution

I went for a nice walk out in the wonderfully "sticky" part of the day. I needed to run some errands, and I thought why not walk the few miles instead of taking public transit. Well, just as soon as I was almost there, the sticky weather ended when the clouds broke open and I got to experience monsoon first hand. I can't complain, I love rain, but it is funny when you go in to get your groceries and your hair is creating a puddle around the peaches.
James (you know, the one from the Good book) really has a way of convicting, assuring, and inspiring one to action. One of my favorite new verses is James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." As an adopting mother, I really LOVE the first part of the verse, (I will care for whatever orphans God puts in our path!) but the second part has deep truth as well. What is keeping oneself from being polluted by the world? Well, think about pollution. Being in one of the most populated cities in the world in a country where no one seems to care about the environment, I am surrounded by world pollution. It is everywhere. And let me tell you, it is not great. The smell can be so much that you almost choke. Here is Beth Moore's question I LOVE: "How on earth do we serve in the world without smelling like it?" I pondered this on my walk today, and as I was running to get out of the rain, I was reminded that no matter how much you try, there is no way to stay completely "clean" if we are going to go out and serve. But what a blessing to know the One who can truly clean us up at the end of the day, and the more dirt, the more He will wipe away. I want to hear well done, good and faithful one, and if that means some days when I arrive home, I have nothing but worn, blistered feet and dirt under my nails, I am willing. Beth Moore goes on to say, "Living this way requires serious disciple and determination. With courage and deep conviction. You don't live this kind of life accidentally. You make up your mind who you want to be and daily die to the rest. You surrender yourself to living in the tension where you'll always be stretched and often be broken." That is the kind of life I want.