First Things First

This is my first blog entry here and I find myself lost for words.  That NEVER happens to me, just ask my husband.  I can talk your ear off!   That probably explains why I have never quite heard God like I did this past year.  I am quite certain that I was doing all the talking and not enough listening.

Here is how this story begins...

...Last fall, on a typical dark, early morning training run, I was deep in prayer and knew that God was telling me that 2013 would be the time for me to "retire" from run racing.  This was to be the end (or pause) of one chapter of my life and the beginning of another, I just wasn't sure what other meant. You see, I have been a competitive runner since I was little. I was a high school state champ in Alaska, went to college in Montana on a scholarship and never stopped trying to beat people on foot. I do not think of myself as a distance runner but a self-challenge arose in 2011 and I ran the Honolulu Marathon qualifying first round for the Boston Marathon 2013.  It was my original goal, after all, but now I wasn't so sure that I wanted to be a "marathoner"  So, I continued to train for whatever came up.  For the first time in my so-called running career I suddenly felt at peace with what He was telling me and said, "ok God, if that is your plan then so be it."  I came home and told Josh my thoughts and his response was "um, lets revisit that idea in a few months and see if you still feel that way."

Another dark, early morning training session happened and I came home with the feeling that we were called to adopt.  This time, I didn't share the thought.  I have been dead set on two kids since we had our daughter in 2003.  Two, that is it.  We even made it permanent.  My husband was going to freak!

I continued to listen and both feelings never faded.  Boston it was and we were called to adopt.

I told Josh at the end of September.  I also told him that I thought God had twins, around our sons age,  for us.  For a long time I think he was hoping it was an idea that I would eventually forget about.

I didn't.

We did our home study in October and I swear that Josh only agreed to it to make me happy.
We decided that if we were going to do this, we would choose between Ethiopia and Moldova.  A new friend encouraged me to look at the Congo, but it all seemed a little scary so we decided on Ethiopia.
We chose an agency, did all the paperwork, compiled a dossier but Josh never felt like it was right.  Luckily for us, I chose to be a Godly wife and just be patient with his decision.  After all, God knew what our timing was suppose to be and I was trying really hard to not be as damn pushy as I tend to be.
Then, per our parents request, we decided to sit on the idea for a couple months (they asked for 6-12, we gave them 3) and see what brewed.  After all, we have always said we only wanted two.

After a Christmas, the calling was still deep in me.  A girlfriend of mine, texted me to ask if I would pray for her family's decision to adopt 4 sisters from DRC.  Whoa, 4!  Did I mention they already have 4 bio kids and 4 from Ethiopia?  My busy life with two kids was sounding pretty weak right about then.  I told her that, of course, I would pray and could I see a picture?  She let me log on, under her name, to the website where their girls were pictured.  The first page of kids pops up and I gasp.  There in front of me are our 6 year old twins.  I called Josh at work, some switch in his heart flipped and we immediately started pursuing the adoption of our kiddos from a country we weren't considering and never planned to visit.

The rest is history, or I guess future :)  Whatever you call it, we are totally in love, way excited and thrilled that you will be on this journey with us.