the End of the Beginning

photo credit to the gracious Jenny Omondi

Who could restrain themselves enough to save this for later on in the post!?  Pretty please, let me start with our adoption "end":  At 3pm on December 17, 2015, 6 months and 21 days from our first phone call about a birthmom in Michigan, Asher's adoption finalized! It sounds so fast now (as adoptions go, it finalized in record time) but we are grateful to the Lord for his timing... we were READY for closure!!!

Court room stud

cake smash ;)

Until about 2 weeks ago, we had been realistically anticipating that Asher's adoption would not be finalized until March of 2016.  Asher turned 1 the first week of December and our family had the great pleasure of entertaining 3 members of his birth family (including his beautiful birthmom, Alyana) for about 5 days as we celebrated his birthday and spent some overdue family time together.  A few days after they left town, I received a call from our lawyer, surely another update or form needing to be sent in...

"The judge called me, He wants to squeeze Asher in to finalize before Christmas."  

"...um... what?!!!!" 

photo credit to Jenny Omondi

Our family was shown great favor as we were provided with a last minute court date, a gracious and friendly judge, a volunteer photographer and even complimentary candy canes for Siren- which she is enjoying in most of the courtroom pictures!  Chase was able to leave work without complication. Asher raised his little hand with mama and papa when we were asked to swear in. Sadly, none of our family or friends were able to join us for the day. Happily, like the rest of Asher's adoption, it happened exactly as the Lord had prepared it.  From the night we first met Asher and his birthmom, this day had been planned for us. When our lawyer (and everyone else involved!) warned us of the risk involved with his situation, even when we thought the adoption was over and we had given Asher back to his birthmom and sent him back to Michigan as our child lost, this day had been planned for us.  Since God spoke the world into being, this day had been prepared for the Lord's glory to be magnified and revealed.

It was a beautiful day.

photo credit to Jenny Omondi

 It reminds me that even on my 'normal everyday' days, God is fiercely at work in ways that I will never be able to anticipate.  He has beauty at his fingertips, perfectly placed and timed, and He gives it generously and graciously to us even though we don't have anywhere near the capacity we need to appreciate it.  Our family is grateful and humbled. We have received a perfect gift, the gift of a son- and with him the gift of God's presence in our lives, not that He was absent until now but that we can never receive enough memorial stones of His great love and power.

We look forward to our future with comfort and hope

as we know He has prepared even more for the days to come.

 






Thanks be to Him, and to all of you who have prayed for, supported, encouraged and walked with us.


Our love,

Chase, Ashley, Siren and Asher

P.S. happy new year ;)