The Newest Addition to the Williams Family!

We've been on the DTE list since 11/4/11.....and have been patiently waiting for our referral to add to the Williams family.




Well....



We're still waiting patiently for the child(ren) God has planned to add to our family.  And in the meantime, we grew by four furry (webbed) paws.

We had 2 labs for the longest time and swore we'd never have just one dog again.  Our pal Louie died 20 months ago and we're finally settled in our new country home....so it was time (I thought so at least!).

Introducing our newest bundle of fur, Millie:

She's a Great Pyrenees/Newfoundland, which means she will be a large "bear" dog.  And both breeds fall amongst the top 5 large family dogs...so we know she'll be great!

Isn't she the sweetest??!?!?  7 weeks old and already as big as Owen!

      

The biggest plus....the kids ADORE her!  Addy runs up to pet her screaming "Puppeeeeee, Puppeeee"

I'm pretty certain the next addition(s) to our family will be our kiddo(s) we're praying for daily!!!  But then again, who knows what we'll get up our sleeves next:)

A boy and his dogs

Assurance

Two years ago today I wrote my first blog post ("Do You Really Mean It").  It's crazy looking back to see how big of a leap it felt like to adopt...it's even crazier to think about the journey God has taken us on over these past two years and how He has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

I've been getting questioned a lot lately about our Ethiopian adoption.
Have you heard anything?
How long is your wait?
When do you think you'll bring your child(ren) home?
How old will they be?
To sum up all the lingering questions....We don't know.
And we're okay with that!

Trust me, we are anxious and excited beyond all get out (did I really just type that?!?!?!). 

We could get a phone call today, next week, next month, or 6 months down the road--so there's a continual spark of anticipation lingering around our house.  There's also a little bit of fear---adding children in birth order is hard enough, but to step out and add children older or within the ages of your current family make-up is a whole new ball game.

But, we are at a place of assurance.

Here's the thing. When we started this journey two years ago, our desire was to add a baby girl to our family.  We wanted Ayla to have a sister and we wanted to follow birth order and adopt a child younger than Owen.  By a series of events that could ONLY be the hand of God, we were blessed to welcome Addy into our family.  We followed God's call for us to adopt and He gave us the desires of our hearts.

Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
 Psalm 37:4

He put this journey of adoption in our life to grow our faith and bring us closer to Him.  I truly believe that once we started living for Him, God knew our desire and gave us that desire because we were "taking delight in Him." 

And now, this second (yet first!) journey of adoption is bringing down a different path than what we had first desired or planned for our family.

God knew that through His perfect timing, our Ethiopian adoption would not be our first adoption as we had thought.  Instead, we believe He used the gift of bringing us Addy to make us more open for the plans he has for our family.

We didn't widen our age range because we thought we may get a referral sooner....we widened our age range because our view has been widened.  Through His grace and love, we've made ourselves available to whichever path He has for us.

If there is one resounding thought that keeps me grounded when I question this choice, it's this:

God will use us if we make ourselves available to Him.

So, we continue to push on with patience and assurance.  We are at ease knowing this journey we're on is completely in His hands.  God knows the child(ren) that will be joining our family.  He knows if we'll see their sweet face(s) tomorrow, next week, or next year. 

We're filled with assurance that we've only been given in growing closer to Him.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith....
Hebrews 10:22