this is turning out to be quite the week!

starting saturday, every couple hours the doorbell would ring and some sweet friend would be there...with their minivan backed into our driveway...ready to unload treasures into our garage for our yard sale!

it was just amazing!

monday was the last "normal" day...and my prayer that morning was that God would help me connect with my kids...because i knew the rest of the week would be crazy.

not only did i connect with each of my kids...but each "connection" was over laughter! even Joshua! God is so good.

{i also exercised and showered and cleaned the bathrooms and swept the kitchen and made dinner and had a meeting that night and had the sweetest conversation with bailey about heaven during her "school" time and didn't lose it ONCE that day!}

that night, pat's football team and another friend came over and organized ALL the stuff into areas: electronics/books/clothes...

it was SO helpful!

not only is our garage full...but 2 rooms in our house are full :-)

i knew this yard sale was going to be good...but it is turning out to be AMAZING!
we have EVERYTHING...guitars, GREAT kids and adult books, toys, clothes for EVERY age...

and i wouldn't make it through this week without my amazing headbands made by jenn.
you need one.
EVERY headband gives me a headache...and i've tried a LOT...but these don't! and they are 2-sided...so it's 2 headbands in one!

and...as all this is going on, there was also another story unfolding...
try and follow me here {i had to tell pat the story 2 times for him to "get" it}

late last week, a friend emailed me a post on another blog and said, "you might find this interesting."
i clicked on it.
it was the blog of the sister of a girl living in rwanda.
at the time {remember how crazy our weekend was going to be last weekend? plus with the yard sale this week?} i didn't have the brain or heart capacity to take it in...so i just glanced at it.
but i did notice that the name of the girl was not super common.
and i had known a girl by that name in high school...

forward to monday {2 days ago}

another friend...that lives across the country and has NO relation to any of the above mentioned people...forwards me the SAME post. and says, "could the orphanage she mentions be the orphanage where your boys are??"

so...i go back and read and cry and sit amazed that i am reading about the place where our boys live. and take in how LOVED they are...even at this moment!

are you still with me?

so then, each of these friends email the sister of the girl...about me...saying that they know someone that is adopting from that orphanage.

so...the sister of the girl realizes that she knows me.
we went to high school together!
and her sister is now living in rwanda and is visiting the orphanage where our little boys live (and many other precious children!) and holding them and loving them just like the wonderful women that run the orphanage do...but it's just great for there to be 2 more arms to hold them!

now. i have to say that pat didn't think this whole story was that amazing.
once i was done explaining it to him, he kinda looked at me like, "is that it?"
i don't know.
maybe it's just amazing to me.
i hope i didn't mislead you with my excitement...
but i just LOVE getting a glimpse into where our boys are.
hearing how they are loved and laughed with.

and it is helping me, this week especially, to not lose my perspective on why we are doing all this.

here is the first post i was sent (twice!)
and here is her most recent post.

they are amazing posts...