Laaaaaaaaaaaadies and Gentlemeeeennnn.....

I can't wait to tell our daughter the story of her mommy and daddy falling in love.
Today I found a little shirt at Target that says "Circus" and has circus elephants on it. Real cute:) I HAD to get it!
Larry and I had our first date at the circus and one day we went back to the 'greatest show on earth' and he proposed! That's right! Got down on one knee in front of everyone, and asked me to marry him!
So, the mere mention of the circus coming to town brings a smile to our faces:)
What's crazy is we have our 19th anniversary in a couple weeks. If someone had came to me on September 26th, 1992 and said, in 19 years you will be heading to Peru to pick up your daughter we would have said, "WHAT???"
On that day when we stood in front of all our friends and family, we had no idea of the incredible things God had in store for us.
It has been somewhat of a "circus". In the best possible way. Things that we were truly amazed by and we "ooooohed and ahhhhhhed". Things that made us a little frightened or anxious but still ended up thrilled with the outcome. Ultimately, enough wonderful memories that make us keep coming back for more. To see what's next!
Romans 8:28~And we know that God caused everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Everything has worked together for the good!
ALSO! Two HUGE blessings today! One was, Julie (the owner of our salon) told me that all of my rent for my station had been "taken care of" for ALL FIVE WEEKS I'll be gone!! Praise the LORD!!! Wow!! Unbelievable! The second was we received notification that the USCIS had received our paperwork and it was moving on to the next step. YIPPPPPEEEE! We will hopefully have permission to "travel" very very soon!!!
This really is the greatest show!

Why the 4 year wait????

Hebrews 12:1.....And let us RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE GOD HAS SET BEFORE US.

Believe me, over the last few years that question popped into my head on a daily basis. I don't pretend to have it all figured out now but I feel like I have a little bit of a better perspective . Still somewhat in limbo land but certainly on the road to meeting our daughter, but haven't we always been?

From my current vantage point, I see the reason for the wait like this:

#1...I have said to Larry all along, "do you see the amount of people God is "gathering" along side of the road to walk this journey out with us? It is unbelievable! Obviously, countless friends and family, but tons of others you wouldn't expect. The people that have heard our story and were moved. Clients at the salon, being on the prayer list at the dentist office, the girls at the orthodontist office continuously asking if we had good news, the U-verse installer telling me that he was going to send out a prayer request to his connections all around the world, my friends in Jamaica wanting to know when I was going to get my daughter, the officers at the USCIS that yelled, "Good luck WITH YOUR ADOPTION!!" as we left. The list truly goes on and on. People touched by a story that is not ours at all...its God's plan, God's design!

James 1: 27 - Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God means caring for orphans and widows in their distress....

Psalm 82: 3 - Give justice to the poor and the orphan uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.

Psalm 10:14 - ....The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans.


#2 - Speaking of God's plan, even though we have not met her as of yet, we are confident that He chose HER just for us. His word says that she was wonderfully made and that each moment of her life was laid out before a single day had passed. Her eyes had not even seen this world when He planted this "seed" in her daddy's heart while in Peru on missions. How amazing to think that He knew the plans He had to connect her with our family, WAY BACK THEN!

#3 - How can we question all the things God has allowed us to be a part of in this amount of time? Dayton and I have served in Jamaica together, twice. Larry and I went on other separate trips, to Jamaica. We've spent time on vacation making memories, skiing, jeeping, dirt bike riding, even a St Louis trip thrown in. Generally, time spent investing and loving on each other. Moments that are irreplaceable. I can't second guess the purpose of these times.


Now..the connection has been made. We wait, on pins and needles to see the face of our daughter in person. To see what makes our daughter smile, what makes her LAUGH and what makes our little girl cry. Realizing that we are taking her out of everything she knows. What she sees on a daily basis, what she hears when she goes to sleep at night. The smell of her blankie and her favorite things to eat. Her friends.
But...they have told her about her mommy and daddy and her big brothers and shown her pictures of her new home, and bedroom.
I can't wait to be with her.
Flip the page of this new chapter of our lives.
The chapter entitled...MS DELANEY MARIA THURN - COMES HOME!