Curtis' first post...

Sometimes in our quest to do exciting and Godly tasks, the most basic of things which serve as our foundations in life tend to get neglected and fall by the wayside, resulting in hard lessons to learn and hurting hearts to find healing. This is unfortunately the case with Amy and I right now, as I am writing to inform you that we have decided to temporarily shift the focus off of our adoption journey and onto our marriage and family for the next little while. There are a few things (mostly from my end of the spectrum) that need our unwavering attention in order for us to make our marriage and family stronger and for us to progress with a healthy adoption in which we will bring one or even two more family members into the mix. It is mostly heartbreaking for us to have to do this, as we know adoption is for sure what God has planned for us and we have been chomping at the bit to get underway with our applications and home study, however for the sake of the longer term, it is encouraging to know that this will further strengthen our relationships with each other, and our Father when the time is right to pick up where we left off. Also...hopefully the Columbus housing market will be a little stronger in a few months to a year, and we can sell this condo a little easier! We are still going to be continuing our fundraising with our Etsy Shop and other things we have on the go, so when the time comes for full steam ahead that will be one mountain we don't have to begin to climb, and can hopefully start the process and pay some of the fees right way Thank you all for your prayers and support as we take this pause, looking forward greatly to what God has in store for us during this next season, and especially when he gives us the green light to turn our attention back to Ethiopia.

Curtis.

Duck thoughts...

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink;

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is life not more important than food,

and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air;

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV)

(Lessons taught by ducks during a snow storm tend to be some of the most powerful. If I was a duck, I would have long ago flown south...)

Whoops, I fell off the face of the planet

I ... uhhh... forgot how to log into blogger?

Merry Christmas, Happy New year, and happy over half way through January! Christmas was crazy, leading up to Christmas was especially crazy(so many orders for the Etsy Shop as well as photo shoots!), and A little time "off" has been good for the soul. But I am about ready to get back on the horse!

The shop is pretty bare bones right now, but I have plenty of ideas from fabric hair bows and headbands, a little jewelry, and new adorable patterns for baby wipes. Look for all of that in the next couple weeks! And of course, our fundraising shirts can be bought there as well!

And for the elephant in the room... our place. This "selling" process has been trying to say the least. I HATE it. The cleaning is enough to drive me up the wall! We are (not very willingly) learning about patience, this is completely out of our hands, but so will the rest of the adoption process, so it is a lesson that has to be absorbed. We are attempting to trust that it is in God's hands, that He will sell our house when it is time. And in the mean time we are praying for our future little one. That they are being nourished in their mommy's tummy, that she is safe, or that they are being loved on by their first family. We are trusting that there is a reason for the delay!