i think sometimes He says, "yes", just to see us smile

still reflecting on 2 years ago. and this story needs to be remembered.

evan and stacey began their adoption process about a year after us (i think?) we became close during our waits for our children. close in the way that you only can with others that get it in a real way. they became such dear friends to us during that time...and continue to be!

even though they began their process after us, they got their approval and referral...and we were still waiting. we were actually in a place that we weren't sure our adoption was even going to happen. rwanda had closed and we weren't sure if they were going to process the paperwork that was already there (ours was sitting with 150 or so other families paperwork.)

they went on their first trip to ethiopia and met their precious son, ezekiel.

during this time...when there was NO reason for us to believe it would EVER be possible, stacey and i started praying that we would all be in ethiopia at the same time. we knew that they would have to go for their 2nd trip to bring ezekiel home, and we would have to spend about 10 days in ethiopia during our trip. it could NOT have been more of a long shot.

whenever we were together, we would joke about how we were still praying for it...pat and evan would both roll their eyes. it was a ridiculous prayer. especially in the grand scheme of things like us not having approval or a referral and them not passing court and having no idea when they would be able to go back. there were a lot of "bigger" things to be praying for!

well...we got our approval! and referral. and they passed court. and we overlapped being in ethiopia, staying in the SAME HOUSE for a week! i mean....seriously??

i truly think that God just wanted to see us smile and know that He can do anything. it wasn't necessary. we all would have been fine without a "yes" to that prayer, but i think sometimes He says, "yes" just to see us smile.

don't you sometimes tell your kids "yes" just to see them smile? :-)