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     Twenty-nine. The significance of twenty-nine probably doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, unless you're someone like me...someone who counts. I'm a counter. Believe me, counting is not something I've always done..but I've learned to be pretty good at it.

    Normally, I'm good at counting to twenty-four. Sometimes twenty-five or twenty-six. But never twenty-nine. That's not a number I count to...except this last time. I counted to twenty-nine. Twenty-nine is a very different number than twenty-four. It's even enough different than twenty-five or twenty-six. But I counted to twenty-nine and then...just like that...it was time to start over...beginning at number one.

     The number one began with other counting too.  I counted the number of bedrooms in our house. I counted the number of occupied seats in our car. I counted a lot of other things that made the number twenty-nine hurt even more. But then I began to count the number of papers and appointments we've already checked off our list. The number of things we'd have to do all over again if I counted past twenty-nine. And once again, I'm thankful that I'm good at counting to twenty-four because I don't like counting to twenty-nine.

     Someday, I hope I lose the art of counting. The only thing I want to count...is the moment right in front of me...staring at me and asking me to do something with it. Embrace it. Love it. Be grateful for it. Share it with the people around me. Somedays that's easier said than done. But here's to not counting...at least not to twenty-nine.

Are we crazy?!

     Some may answer this question undoubtedly "Yes"...while others may think it's still up for debate. I've asked this question myself more than once in this process already.  But thankfully, one of South Korea's requirements is a psychological examination. So we can pay someone $800 to answer this question for us! Ha!

     All jokes aside though...we began the psychological examination process a few weeks ago. We were told there was a six week wait for new patients. This news made me slightly nervous since we have a deadline for this part of the home study. I called our case worker and she explained that this was a fairly typical timeline for most families in this stage. She didn't think it would be a problem.

     Upon calling our soon-to-be psychologist and telling her that the six-week time frame would work, she let me know that if Eric and I were open to being called when she had a cancellation...it could be sooner. And we have been SO blessed by God's timing. Due to three cancellations in the last couple of weeks, we're almost finished with our entire process already! We've got 2 visits down and 1 to go. And after tonight...we'll have completed our 2nd required test. Let me tell ya, I am really looking forward to answering 500 true and false questions. Eric is doing this same test as I type. I'm hopeful he's alive when I switch spots with him in an hour. Ironically, he just texted me and he's only 100 questions in...pray, friends!

     On top of the amazing timing of cancellations though, we have also been SO fortunate to have someone (that can complete our specific requirements) who is literally 5 minutes from our house. For example, I received an email from our other case worker talking about another family going through the South Korea program. This family is located within an hour of us and they were having trouble finding anyone to do their psychological examination. But, they had finally found someone and wanted to pass along the psychologist's information to us. I love the community that we're already experiencing with this adoption. While we were grateful for their thoughtfulness, we had already started our process with someone very close to us! WAHOO!

     God is working in so many big and small ways and I wanted to check in and let you know where we are in the process! Now, I've gotta run and go show off my sanity! Have a great week, friends!

Ephesians 3:20...Part 2

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his might power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20

     Before school started, we had put in an offer on a house. While this house wasn't officially on the market, we came to an agreement with the seller that if we sold our house, we would buy their's. We were thankful the sellers were more than willing to work with us and give us a "first" shot at buying their house. It was the PERFECT location...within walking distance to my school. Our children's school. Perfect. Under our contingent contract, we were given x amount of days to sell our house... simply because it was a contingent offer and this family was moving out of state. They couldn't sit on it forever. We understood that, but it seemed like the perfect situation. Great location. 4 bedrooms. Just what we wanted.

     Well Thanksgiving rolled around and our "contingent offer" expired. It was discussed that the owners would try and sell the house on their own. If our house would happen to sell soon, we could still have first "dibs" on their property. As time went on and with no movement on our end, we began to discuss other avenues of trying to make this situation still work out. There just weren't solutions that made sense and we kept praying about it. We really felt like God would provide for us in this circumstance. If it was to be our house, we knew God would make a way for it to happen. At one point in time, this house was even thought to be sold, but something fell through. With each changing scenario, we couldn't help but pray for God's will with this house. Was this all working out for a reason?

    Fast forward to February... It was a Thursday and I was coaching my girls' basketball team. We had just lost a heartbreaker...by 1 point. As I left the locker room, I sat on the bench (in between games) and got out my phone. I always check my phone in between games to make sure our kiddos have made it home with Eric, etc. I had a message from the seller of "the house". He was apologizing and letting us know that they had sold their home. I immediately texted back a "Congrats!" message. We were so grateful they could move on. We truly were. And honestly, we had just felt like God was telling us "no" on this house.

     Three days later...on Sunday...we were asked to show our house at 1:00. That night, we were asked to show this same couple our house AGAIN on Wednesday. Wow. That was quick, God! On Monday, the couple that came through our house (just on Sunday) put their house up for sale. On Tuesday, they made a "contingent" offer on our house. By Thursday, we had come to an agreement and accepted their contingent offer. On Friday morning, we learned that they had sold their home which meant we had sold our home. WHAT!? Let's recap. We find out on a Thursday that the house we had been looking at has sold. Less than a week later, we have sold our house. Friends, that is ONLY a God-thing. It became crystal-clear that the house with the "perfect" location was not the perfect house for us.

     Now for a few extra God-details...we are in the middle of a master bathroom remodel. It was understood that this project would be finished before we sold it. The message was passed on to anyone that came through our house. Well...our bathroom still isn't finished, but Eric was making headway on it. Well during the second showing of our house, the buyers brought their own contractor through the house. {Scary} They found some issues that quite frankly were just that...scary. The kind of stuff that makes you want to throw up. BUT they wanted the house "as it was"...meaning the bathroom did NOT need to be finished. While Eric wasn't quite sure whether he should be offended, I was praising God! This project had already been dragging on for several months. And finishing it just seemed impossible. And to have a buyer come through and ask us not to finish it? HALLELUJAH! They also waived the home-inspection which helped save money for us. Again, another detail to His perfect plan.

     Things are beginning to fall into place ...and we are so grateful for answered prayers. We'll close on our house in mid-April and move at the end of the month. To where? Well, we will just see! Praising Him as we have about two months to finish up our home study...we're so thankful that selling our house is off our to-do list. Trust me when I say we have SEVERAL other things we need to cross off our to-do list.

Ephesians 3:20..Part 1

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his might power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20

     Life is happening fast. Faster than I can stand. And yet...there's this peace amongst my chaos. A peace that I have in spite of it all...because that's the only thing I've been praying for in the last month. The only thing.

     Peace isn't something that comes naturally to someone who has just been given a task list of 43 items that need to be complete before we can start our "official" home study. That's just not a typical response to such a large, seemingly insurmountable list of to-do items. "Here Lindsay, have some peace. Oh, and by the way, you have x amount of days to complete these tasks."

     Peace? No. The words that come to mind have been more like panicked, stressed, defeated, overwhelmed...to name a few. And for more moments than I'd like to admit, I've let these words define me. 

     On top of this, you have other happenings. Lots of other happenings. For example, LIFE. (read: teaching, coaching, being a mom, being a wife, and selling a house) See? Happenings. 

     Selling a house you might ask? And trying to get ready for a home study? We like to make things interesting, don't we?! The truth is...we put our house on the market before school started (knowing full-well it may take us a year to sell in this market). This was before we signed on with our adoption consultant and before we applied to our agency. Our oldest starts Kindergarten next year and we'd like to move to the school district where she'll be attending. The same district Eric and I graduated from...and of course, it's where I teach. It's also the community where we attend church and where we spend time with our families. Moving just makes the most sense to us. But things that make sense aren't always easy, right? 

   So here we are...with a house to sell...working towards our home study...with a house to sell...so someone can visit our home...which may or may not be sold...needing to take pictures of our living spaces and bedrooms to send to our agency and to South Korea...which may or may not be in our current house... Dilemma. Stress. Life.

     But remember, HE is able to accomplish far more than we could even ask or think. I can't wait to share what the Lord has accomplished in our lives this last month. Stay tuned, friends! Our story is a true testimony to His plan and His perfect timing.