unexpected encouragement

so i know it has been forever since i posted last. i don't know how you have been standing the wait. i know you count on me for your entertainment, and it is really irresponsible of me not to post. i promise to do better about posting in the future. it's just a lot of pressure to have so many people breathing down your neck (judy c. would understand).

so anyway, now that summer is coming to an end (hallelujah) and most of our trips are over (we have saved the most fun for last...a board meeting for bc's work!), hopefully i can have more time to write. well, i should say that i have been doing plenty of writing...just not fun writing. i have been working on my thesis (which, incidentally, i present this afternoon and am not finished with...can you say procrastination?). have i mentioned that i am in grad school? i love to talk about being in grad school. it gives me the opportunity to remind everyone about what a big deal i am.

there is lots to update on (although anyone that reads this blog already knows all of this - however, i write for posterity's sake).

we have officially decided on ethiopia! after lots of prayer and discussion, we really feel that God is leading us to this wonderful country. that is the country our case worker was so excited about, that is the country for which we were dispositioned with no concerns, and that is the country where our hearts are. we are still very much in the paperwork process (don't you just love paperwork?), but we are moving forward every day. hopefully, before too long, we will fly across the atlantic ocean to addis ababa, ethiopia, and meet our beautiful daughter. God already knows who she is, and we are praying for her every day.

while there is so much excitement and joy in my heart about this whole thing, there are some days i feel very stressed and overwhelmed. i tell myself that we are not getting our paperwork done quickly enough, or i think of all the things that could go wrong. this past week i have felt like that pretty much every day. i don't know if it is just exhaustion, or if i am just stressed about my paper (did i mention that i am in grad school), or if it just pms. whatever it is, it has been really discouraging to me.

i was reminded yesterday of what an incredibly awesome God we serve.

several weeks ago, before we had even officially decided on ethiopia, a good friend of mine (shout out to amy b.!) shared a youtube video with me. the video is about a family's "gotcha day" (the day they went to pick up their daughter). it is actually just the mom that goes (the dad was at home taking care of 4 other kids!), but the video shows her going to ethiopia to meet her sweet little girl. i have watched this video many, many times, and shared it with my whole family. it has been a real source of inspiration for bc and me.

so yesterday i was at chick-fil-a with my dad (which was really unusual - not to eat with my dad but for us to meet for lunch at chick-fil-a), and we were walking out the door when i saw her - the lady from the video! i knew it was her because i had watched it so many times - and she had her little girl with her! i was like, omgoodness! i could not believe it. i walked over to her (i couldn't help myself), and said, "i am so sorry to interuppt your lunch, but i just had to meet you. i have seen your video so many times." i started crying and told her that my name was katie, and that my husband and i were trying to adopt from ethiopia, and that she had been such an inspiration to us. she was actually with another woman with her new son from ethiopia and another couple who were talking to her about adoption (they are thinking about it). it really made my day.

i know God put all of us in that place at that time. i continue to be amazed by what He does - He is so good to me! it was just what i needed - and of course He knew that!

so, go watch the video (search for "lucy lane's gotcha day" on youtube), because i think it is so encouraging and inspirational. hopefully she and i will cross paths again.

at the end of the video, they use this quote, which i have fallen in love with:

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. - Hellen Keller

in case you wanted to know, i had the spicy chicken sandwich at chick-fil-a. it's good, but it is hot!