The Best Summer Ever

We titled it "The Best Summer Ever" because it was.  We gave our summer to the Lord, and He gave us something incredible in return!

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

~Psalm 37:4

When we delighted to commit ourselves to the Lord, He gave us a desire to do something significant in the lives of others.  Then He delighted to fill that desire.  It's an awesome place to be.

Well, you already know a little of the story, but here it is in a nutshell:

We wanted to go on a summer mission trip as a family, but we felt like it was not the wisest use of our resources.  The financial cost would be great, but we would have limited time in the mission field as a family, so we investigated other creative solutions and found one that seemed to be a great fit.

Through a post on http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com we discovered an international hosting program for orphans and children with absent parents.  In essence, we could bring the mission field to our home for 3-6 weeks!  Not only that, but our church family and friends could also be a part of the summer adventure!  Our mission:  Let God love the lonely and orphaned through us.

We were placed with two sisters from Eastern Europe, Anya and Tanya (we are not yet at liberty to share detailed information regarding location of the children until our adoption is completed).  

These beautiful girls arrived a bit fearful, reserved, and unsure.  It's quite understandable.  But what we witnessed as they began sharing in the love of our family and friends is that they came to life.  From straight faces and polite smiles to laughing, joking, hugging, and acting as any other member of our family.

 There is joy in being loved and finding a place to belong.

The to-the-point ending is that we just couldn't give these two beautiful girls that love for 5 weeks, and send them packing.  Enter: the amazing journey of adoption.