Growing by His Grace

The holidays can cause some attention to be drawn to families, couples, and single adults with lots of questions about what's coming next. We've all experienced it in one way or another and it can be annoying when nothing is new but it can also be exciting when there is news to share! This year we are sort of in limbo, we are thrilled and thankful to be where we are in our adoption journey but we don't have any timeline or answers as to what's next in that regard. We want to be positive, patient and abundantly thankful as we wait and see what The Lord has planned for our family. We might have an uncomfortable or sad moment when we don't have the news to share that we wanted or when things aren't changing quickly but we are looking forward to the day when we do have an announcement to make! We can't wait to see what happens by the Grace of God in the coming days, weeks, months and even years. It's amazing to think that our child could already exist a

The first month of waiting has gone quickly because we have been able to talk about this journey with many people and the excitement is so high! We are thankful for everyone who checks in and asks us about any progress. Though things are the same right now, waiting is a process in itself and we are thankful that people are interested in coming alongside us and supporting us! {Lindsey} My heart jumps every time I get a call from an unknown number on my phone. I'm dreaming about all the ways we might be connected to our child and praising God that through Him even my wild dreams are possible if it's His will! At 5:30 the other morning, our humidifier gurgled (the way an office water dispenser does) and I thought it was a knock at the door! Now, i'm not a light sleeper so if if that doesn't tell you where my brain is, I don't know what would! haha I am eagerly anticipating the day when we have another little nugget to cuddle, love and point to Christ! Our children

{Lindsey here, answering a question a friend asked that you all might be thinking!} I had a friend ask me today, "I see that you are asking people to share your posts on facebook... what does that do to help you, especially if my profile is private?" I'm so glad she asked because I didn't know it was something I should explain! If you, like this friend, are thinking that we are super weird to ask you to share our posts, please keep reading. There are a few ways that sharing our posts can help us as an adoptive family: 1. Our network of support grows:      - We are so thankful for every prayer, thought and kind word shared with us or shared on our behalf during this process. This is such an encouragement to our hearts as we wait! 2. It brings us to people's minds:     - People can be mindful of the fact we are adopting when they see available children circulating on Facebook. This one has just recently affected us; I had about five people send me the pr

   We like to know things. Most people do, right? We especially like to know the answers to life's bigger questions: family, health, budget, etc. This is natural... living in a state of unknown is scary. But here we are as a family, living in the biggest stage of unknown we have ever experienced. We don't know if or when another child will come to be a part of our family and yet, we feel a lot of peace and truly abundant joy. We don't say this to brag! We couldn't if we tried as we don't feel this way because of anything we have done ourselves. Admittedly, we don't have any "trick" to relieve anxiety in waiting or living in unknown circumstances and for that we are really grateful. Instead of relying on ourselves, we trust that God will be who He says He will be. We trust that God keeps His promises to those to whom He makes them. We trust that He will in fact work toward the good of those who love Him, according to HIS will (Romans 8:28).    None of

This week has been very fun for our family! We have publicly announced that we are adopting and the response has been phenomenal. We are so thankful for everyone's support, love and joy for us in this season! We've had a lot of people ask us for details that we haven't yet explained here yet so we figured it would be good to get it all into writing! Let's do some Q&A and if you have any other questions, please feel free to message either of us for an answer! Q: What age child are you planning to adopt? A: For now, due to the ages of our boys, we are looking for a child between newborn and 1 year old. Maintaining birth order is a highly suggested plan for an adoptive family. So for now, while our boys are still so young, we are looking for a young child/infant. (Let us be clear... the Lord can do anything and if His plan looks differently than ours, then here we go and we'll see the joy that comes from following Him!!) Q: Do you want a boy or a girl? A:

We are celebrating in the Rebhan household because yesterday we got our final approval of our home study which means we are fully eligible and approved to adopt. Praise the Lord!! We are thrilled that all these months of paperwork, classes and waiting have come together and ended with approval and the open door to move forward. Next comes waiting but it's active waiting, waiting that will result in a phone call or a connection that leads us to our next child. We are so in love with a child that we haven't even met yet! The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad! - Psalm 126:3