Our Village

Throughout my life I've been given great courage. Courage to stand before others and ask for help. It is never all that easy as we think we can carry the load and solve what lies ahead all on our own. This courage has been God's nudge in teaching me that there is only good that comes from trusting in and relying on others. After all we all seek to be needed. So often I stand in awe of the many little angels who surround and nurture me and my family. It is my village, my people, my community. In a busy world of sometimes running around to try and “fit it all in” I am so amazed to be a part of a community that will do what it takes to help another. All the random acts of kindness that have been shown me this week always help to strengthen my excitment to give what we can away to another. We can all make a difference one phone call, one smile, one email, one act at a time in the life of another. My strong community makes my life so rich and since I so often have our adoption on my brain a connection was made for me...

You see It is this village, this community that I have always thought of and dreamed about when I envision bringing our little Ethiopian daughter home. I cannot wait for not only our family to know and provide for her but I am also excited for her to become a part of our extended worlds. She will get to know those we have been blessed to call friends. She will come to know you. Perhaps her story will even inspire another heart that has dreamed of adoption or a mission trip to Ethiopia. She will be schooled and loved, carpooled from here and there, she will be fed and nurtured by us and by Grandparents and friends. She will play with other children and have opportunities to learn and create new adventures. She will become a member of this wonderful community we feel blessed to be a part of. She will have a place and a family to call her own and to call home.

All of you are what make up our extended home. Having a minor surgery this week served to me as a great reminder that friends and family are one of God's greatest gifts. So thank you all for the warm bread, the rides for my kiddos, the phone calls, the emails, the texts, the flowers, the conversations, the meals and so much more. It all means the world to me and someday soon it will mean the world to our new Strobel daughter.