Dreams......

We all have dreams.  Sometimes they come to reality a little bit different than we expect and sometimes they change as we grow.  Sometimes we chase the wrong dreams. Sometimes they are crushed.  Sometimes our dreams are delayed because we feel the need to share them with others who don't believe and discourage us. But sometimes they come true right before our eyes.  That is the case with my family.  I have the most beautifully messed up wonderful family in the world.  Yesterday I was telling someone how all my girls came to me and said that no one can tell me they are not meant to be my girls!  All three of their stories are incredible.  They are my dream come true!  You know pieces of Eden's and Phoebe's stories....you are very close to hearing about Lyric's story.  We were logged in to China's system yesterday (Happy Valentine's day from our Father!)  Now we are being told that we will wait about 2-4 months for the next step which will allow us to share a little bit about Lyric.  My gut says something different.  My gut says the process will go quickly.  It may just be the fire that God has ignited for this child in my heart, but I am excited to see what the time frame will be.

I am a bit nervous about the finances of this journey, but I believe God is whispering to trust and be still and see what He does.  I keep going back to Sara Young's writings in Jesus Calling for January 9th:  "If you decide on a course of action that is lined up with my will, nothing on Heaven or Earth can stop you!" I am so in love with Jesus.  I love that He is near, that He cares for me and my family.  That He chose to put us together.  That He gave me a husband who has a heart the size of Texas for the orphan and pushes me to adoption when all I can see are my circumstances.

Going back to dreams....
Over the Christmas holiday, we were in South Alabama visiting family.  After we came home, Austin, one of Brandon's cousins, sends me a message on Facebook.  He told me of a dream he had and I was moved to tears and chills and laughter,  and quite frankly....have you ever seen the movie End of the Spear?  If not, I recommend it.  There is a moment when the missionaries are being attacked by the the tribe they are there to minister to and the tribe stops chasing them and looks scared to death.  Later in the movie, one of the tribe members tells the son of one of the missionaries that they saw hundreds of people on the mountain behind the missionaries and became afraid and ran.  The feeling I got in the movie was the same feeling I got reading about this dream of Austin's.  The bible says we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (the saints of old)....I wonder if that is who Austin saw!!!

This his Facebook message:
"Hey,  I just had a realization of a dream I had the other night.  I saw 4 people running down this path as hard as they could, never stopping.  I couldn't make out any faces, then I began to notice there were all these people standing on the side of the path.  I then realized they were angels all the way down the path.
The 4 people ran day and night, never stopping.  Then they got to the end and there was a literal hoop of fire they jumped through without even stopping to think about it.  Then more people came and stood around the hoop looking and waiting on something.  Then the 4 people emerged from the hoop, but they had one more person with them.  Everyone was so overjoyed and happy.  Then I woke up, felt crazy and asked God to explain what it all meant.  The next day it was all I could think about.
That next night, I had the same dream but at the very end, I saw that the people running were a family and the only face I could make out was the mother .....It was YOU!  .....and your journey to bring home another child."