Memorial Box Monday- Super-Duper-Robot-Guy

     Happy Monday! I have been praying a lot about what to write this week. So much has swirled around in my head as I have been recuperating from surgery. Life has been at a slower pace as it kind of still hurts to sit, walk, lift kids etc. :) But what has come to the surface during this time is just how deeply God has blessed me. When I am resting in bed, Georgia sticks her chubby little leg up and climbs under the covers so very gently nestling her body nest to mine whispering, "My Mama," then turning to give me that mega-watt smile. When I get up, Parker runs down the hall, blond hair flying every which way shrieking, "Mama!" and then slowing to wrap his arms around me saying, "I love you Mama, are you getting better?" My nightstand is covered with love offerings from Ravenna who peeks her head in the door and then slips in quietly, savoring the time with just the two of us alone. Doug is there serving his heart out, keeping the kids giggling, me comfortable and meals on the table...They are all so precious, radiant, almost like gems that I get to have surround me everyday. When life is busier, it is so easy to miss that and even though I cannot wait for the pain to go away, I never want to forget the gift of these moments. I pray that somehow God would etch them onto my soul.

Miss Georgia at the coast a few weekends ago...

The story for today is about how God did the impossible. Isn't that in itself amazing? He did the impossible!!!! He does it everyday in so many ways and just like it is easy to miss the beauty of those in my life, I can get so busy that I forget how profound it is that the very God of the Universe touches my life everyday.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever. "

1 Corinthians 16:34

 

     I walked down the aisle and married Doug on a hot August day, my heart filled with love, my head with dreams and certain that God had brought us together for many good things. Oh how He had! I am still convinced that I am married to the most incredible man on the planet, he is deeply compassionate, seeks God's wisdom in a way that is profound and beautiful, is authentic and real and works hard at every relationship, loves me like crazy and can make me laugh until my drink comes out my nose! We have had so many adventures and so many trials  and are learning more and more that life is not about having it all together but about knowing how to lean on the Lord and each in the midst of the chaos that is life.

 

     So, after being married a few years, I began to have those longings. You know, baby fuzz against your cheek, tossing a giggling drooling little one in the air, sitting at the park with a stroller, tucking someone into a crib at night, I want to have a baby longings. We talked and prayed and talked some more. I dreamed and Doug worried. We talked and prayed some more and decided to take the plunge. We just knew that we soon would be a Mama and a Daddy.

     Babies swirled through my thoughts and dreams as the hot Summer breeze fluttered our curtains, they entered every conversation with friends over coffee in the crisp of Fall, they filled my hidden tears as Christmas lights began to twinkle in the trees...and the seasons continued to come, one after another as those thoughts of babies weighed down my heart.

 

 

     One windy Fall morning, Doug and I walked along the beach on the Washington, it was hard to even step as my heart hurt so badly. We had been told  that it was "not very likely" that we would ever have a child. The doctors did not know why but were happy to have us take the next very expensive steps if we would like. I remember looking out to sea as Doug said, " Why are we doing this? We have always said that we want to adopt...." and for the first time in months a little tiny lightness entered my heart. We walked for miles, I cried buckets, we began to dream and we knew by the end of that walk that a baby girl was waiting for us on the other side of that ocean that lapped at our feet...and we would name her Ravenna. That night I wept and prayed both in joy for my daughter somewhere and in saying goodbye to the child I had wanted to carry within me.

 

    Fast forward about 9 months, my world was filled with frilly pink, tiny toys just waiting to be played with, blankets biding their time until our baby girl would warm them with her cuddles. Blank picture frames awaited anxiously as we inched so dazzlingly close to our referral day. We eagerly checked things off our lists so that life would be perfect when we welcomed Ravenna into our home. One little inconvenience had crept up that must be taken care of before we could travel...I needed to have knee surgery.

 

Sweet Ravenna collecting shells...

   The night before my pre-op appointment I wandered the aisles of Target seeking those items desperately needed in order to be a truly great parent. As I pushed my squeaking red cart I remembered that they would ask about it. Heavy sigh, I wheeled into that aisle, the dreaded one I had been in so many times before. I picked up a little box thinking, "what the heck, this way I can definely tell them that I am not pregnant"

    At home, I unloaded more pink goodies, smiling as I tucked them away in Ravenna's pristine room. Dreaming of what she must be doing at that moment halfway around the world. In the bottom of a bag, I felt the box. Crap. Well, I had to go so why not get it out of the way? Deed done, I placed the plastic stick on to windowsill and went back to unpacking the little promises of joy for my daughter. Praying for her as I went about my tasks.

   The timer went off and I absent-mindedly went back to confirm what I already knew...looking, knowing there would be...two pink lines? Two pink lines????

    My knees buckled and thankfully, there was a perfect seat right there in the bathroom. I covered my mouth with my hand, giggled and swore all at the same time!

 

Two Pink Lines...

 

 

     I honestly had no idea what to do! I have no idea how long I sat there. At some point I stood on shaking knees and went downstairs, test in hand. Doug was on a business call and I handed it to him. He laughed and handed it back. You see, when we were first married, we had one of those "what if we could be?" times. He had taken the negative test out of the garbage and used a red Sharpie marker to write a second line....He thought that I was fooling him now. One look at my face and he said, "I'll call you back" and dropped the phone to the receiver.

 

Two Pink Lines....

 

 

 

   Those two pink lines are now my precious little boy who wiggled a squirmed in my tummy through our whole trip to China and was born a few months after we got back. He is a gift, our little superhero fighting bad guys everyday keeping his sisters and Mama safe. Somedays he is Mr. Eyeball man, Transformer Dude, or my favorite Super-Duper-Robot-Guy. He is convinced that lasers shoot out of his hands, that he was a baby born in China (ok...he may need therapy on this one) and that his prayers will change the world someday.

Parker and his cousin ridding the beach of bad guys...

 

 

     As I have watched him this week, watched all three of my miracles, I am in awe of God's plan and His timing. He brought Parker in such a way that we could also affirm Ravenna telling her without a doubt that she was chosen. That we chose them both, that we chose all three. I watch as they play and care for one another, and sometimes fight but are learning to make up as well...and I am just blown away by the generosity of our awesome, dream fufilling, cares enough to not do it my way God.

   And I just smile at my little boy, the gift I had no idea was coming....

 

    These pictures? All taken from a beach just a few miles away from the one Doug and I walked that one brisk day...

 

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!"

Ephesians 3:20-21

In my Memorial Box? Parker's hospital bracelet from when he was born!

Want to hear more of these amazing stories of God's faithfulness???? Hop over to Linny's blog where more people share at

and you can read the rest of my Memorial Box Monday stories

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