30 Days of Thankfulness.... Day 8

I have struggled a bit with my thankful post today. Not because I don't have a million different things to be thankful for.... truly, we are SO incredibly blessed. It's because I do know what I want to be "thankful" for today, and I'm not sure any words that I could write could adequately express how thankful I am for this family.

It has been 6 years since we moved into our current home. When we moved here we didn't intend to be here more than 3 years or so; we thought we would be building our "forever" home on some family property. We know now that God had other plans and we needed to be here a while longer. Not long after we moved in, we formed a friendship with our neighbors, and over the years that friendship has only grown stronger. We had no idea how much of an impact this family would have on our lives. We have so much respect, love, and admiration for the way they live their lives, raise their children, and stop at nothing to serve the Lord and answer His call.

It has been such an honor to be able to follow them on their journey to adopt their 2 precious daughters, and they have been such a support to us as we begin our own adoption journey. There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that God brought us to this house, in this neighborhood, beside this family, to show us the miracle of adoption. He has used this family to open our eyes to the plight of the orphan, and to show us what love can do for these children. And just to let you all in on a pretty amazing story.... in our small neighborhood, in our very SMALL town, on our small street, there are currently 4 families in the process of bringing home a precious child from China!! And, we all live right in a row! That is pretty amazing, don't ya think??? God is so good!! And, I cannot wait to get all these children home and see them all together!!!

This is the Barbee family... our neighbors... our friends....

And this cutie will soon be the newest member of their family. This is precious Pearl.

Jennifer was the first person I opened up to when I first felt the tug on my heart towards adoption. It was through her helping me look through files and study up on all things adoption that she found Pearl.... for us.... to consider. This girl immediatley grabbed my heart, and it just so happens that her little heart, has some pretty big needs. Needs that scared my husband to death. While God was reaffirming to us that she wasn't our daughter, He was affirming to the Barbee's that she was indeed their daughter. It wasn't but a few weeks later that we found our precious LuLu. Our stories are amazing and a true testimoy to God's miraculous works.

So, all that, to fall SO short in saying I'm so thankful for the impact that this family has had on our life, and the way that God has used them to impact the lives of so many around them. Please go here to check out their family, their story, and how you can be a part of helping to bring Pearl home.