Friday, May 7, 2010

It's all their fault!


Well... I am finally MAKING time to get this blog going! I have so many ideas and thoughts in my head that I am DYING to get down on paper (or in writing) so I don't forget them! The past 3 months have been an absolute whirlwind and I honestly don't remember much of it. But, I WANT to remember it. I WANT to remember the very first time I laid eyes on my baby girl. I WANT to remember the journey that got me to Haiti in the first place. I WANT to remember the journey of my heart in the months leading up to that trip... to the decision to want to pursue international adoption. May I never forget the tiny details. May the Lord sear in my mind and heart the most precious memories.

I still get asked at least once a day about how I got Bella. That story will come. For sure. But the story I don't tell often enough is what made me WANT her. That's the story I SHOULD be telling. That's the story I should be shouting from the rooftops. Because it's a story with God's handwriting all over it!

A couple of years ago, my friends, Ben and Amanda Scott started the process of adopting from Ethiopia. This past December, their 2 blessings finally made it home to their forever family. You can read their story at www.lovingmyjourney.blogspot.com.


Waiting for Ellie and Yose to come home was one of the most exciting times in my life! I was SO excited for Ben, Amanda, and John Harvey (and Baby Graeden). I couldn't WAIT for their family to finally be together. I had always told my mom that if I was not married by the time I was 35, I would adopt and be a single mom. Maybe I meant 30? There is so much to say here... but all I know is, something just started stirring in my heart.

About that same time, I saw the movie, The Blind Side. If you have not seen it, it is a MUST SEE. Talk about stepping outside of your comfort zone and living a really bold life! Again, much to say here, but something was stirring deep inside me... I was challenged. To be different. To be bold. To step outside what is comfortable.

Last, but not least I had a very long, sweet conversation over breakfast with an old friend-Steph Shirley. Some BIG changes were about to happen in her life (SO proud of you Steph for stepping outside your comfort zone!) and she was the first person I told about the stirrings of my heart and the thoughts going on inside me. (this is all still way pre-earthquake by the way!). She told me I HAD to read Donald Miller's newest book - A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I got it that night and read the whole thing in the next two days. Check. Got it. The message from God was LOUD AND CLEAR. "Molly, I don't want you to lead a cookie-cutter life. I am calling you to something BIG. Something different. Something outside your everyday comfort zone. Be ready."

You gotta read the book to get it. But, basically he says no one wants a boring story about their own life. Is the story of your life boring? Have you done anything to make it NOT boring? Are you stepping out? Living BIG? Living BOLD? Doing something DIFFERENT that MAKES you believe in God? At the time, I had NO idea what it meant... I kept having this feeling (and I think I said it a few times) that 2010 was gonna be a BIG year! I told my small group that Kelli and I were training for a half-marathon in honor of my 30th birthday in June. HA! Little did I know I was really training for a DIFFERENT kind of marathon... one of no sleep, lots of filth and heartache, LOTS of poop and drool, but a marathon of an ABUNDANCE of giggles and smiles that fills my heart until it overflows!

So, all that to say... It's all their fault... Them being the Scott's and Steph Shirley... Steph and I joke that we should have breakfast more often... or NOT. We've had enough big change for one year!

Next up- the story of Haiti and "how I got Bella" as everyone asks! Or maybe that will be mixed in with funny stories about the Bee (as my small group girls have nicknamed her!) She is one funny, BUSY little girl.

And for a parting gift, a big grin to put a smile on your face... Is this kid cute or what?!