Magnolia Heart

Uncovering Beauty, Embracing Brokenness, Discovering Joy.

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Honoring and Embracing Joy

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“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it everyday.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Dutch Priest, professor and writer

Honoring the Moments.
There is beauty and wonder in the moments. Even in the ordinary, mundane, messy, scattered and broken days. There are slivers of grace to be found. Fragments of joy yet to be discovered. I will honor my moments by remaining present, my heart wide awake to all that God has for me.

Embracing the Full Life.
Today I choose to fully embrace the life that Jesus offers in abundance. In Him my cup overflows and surly goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. (Psalm 23: 5-6)
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Seek And Find

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He came into this world in a flurry, less than three hours after my first contraction. Wrestling wild, heart rate unstable, umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times. He fit into the palm of my husband’s hand with spiked, jet black hair. A sparkle even then, in his sapphire eyes. One mamma’s heart growing one hundred times larger under his gaze.

Fast-forward five years, he is a flurry of endless energy and words, so many words. He is small for his age yet full of life and curiosity. He has a bold and colorful imagination, big smiles for everyone, shinning eyes and spiky golden hair. One can almost palpate his intense love for life and people.

He asked me recently while we were in the car driving, “Mommy, how do you know there is a God?”.
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Immeasurably More

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Dossier

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I told my husband yesterday that all I wanted for Christmas was a completed dossier. Not something that most people want or understand the need for unless you are or have been in the throngs of international adoption paperwork. I had already written and scheduled my post, “Waiting Well” although I was far from waiting well. I was weary, tired and overly emotional.

Even so, God is so very good. We found out yesterday morning from our adoption agency that if the last document we were waiting for were received before the end of this week then we could summit our dossier to our agency for review.
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Waiting Well

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Waiting is hard. I have never been very good at it. I grow restless and weary and my faith can easily waver.

Our hope and desire was to have our dossier completed and on it’s way to Bulgaria before Thanksgiving. We were ready to take a deep breathe and rest in knowing that on our end of things, we had completed everything needed to bring us to the referral phase.
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Sharing the Journey

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We would love to share one way you can walk along side us as we journey towards adopting from Bulgaria.

As you may know adoption is expensive. Whether it is a domestic or international adoption the fees can range anywhere between $20,000 to an upwards of $50,000. This covering legal fees, travel expenses, fingerprint and notary fees, medical exams and evaluations and much more. It can seem a little insane and completely impossible. Even so, this should not be a barrier to adopting.

We strongly believe that adoption and orphan care are at the very heart of God. We know that God cares most for the least of us. We are confident that God will provide immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine through every aspect of our adoption process. Our desire is to not only perseverance through the many barriers in adopting but to be transparent through the process. Our hope is to inspire and encourage others who desire to adopt and those who have a heart for orphans.
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