matched!!!! introducing our newest :)

Yesterday morning we sent in paperwork to proceed with the adoption of a 13 month old little boy in Henan, China!!!!!!!!!!!

His name will be John Paul K******* and we will call him John Paul.  (If you're not familiar with the double name phenomenon then you need to spend some time south of the Mason-Dixon line .... it's seriously gotta be one of the biggest perks of being southern!) 

Almost three years ago when we first saw our Isaac Luther (named after Matt's dad) we knew that if God gave another son we'd name him after my dad Paul.  And sometime early in our adoption we settled on John Paul.  That was almost two years ago and believe me, there were days I thought we would NEVER get to bring our John Paul home.  So that we even have a picture and a name, to hear our kids say "can John Paul walk?" and "where will John Paul sleep?" .... oh my, to finally think that this crazy adoption journey of ours will end with a child in our home - it's a lot for one heart to grab hold of. 

After the final decision was made and the last of the paperwork emailed off to secure this step in the journey, after all that..... late yesterday afternoon I printed off multiple copies of the few pictures we have and packaged them as gifts for our kids.  A few weeks ago I 'randomly' bought some cocoa powder at the import store and decided that brownies would be the perfect extra-special dessert when we gave the kids pictures of their new little brother. 

So now we wait again.... many more steps between now and when we can go pick up John Paul and bring him home with us. Which gives us plenty of time to practice writing his name, and drawing our new family picture. 

And, yes, there are definitely moments when I've thought "is this absolute insanity, I mean, I'm 34 weeks pregnant.... what are we thinking?"  and then I remember that I am not the one writing this story of ours.  God is.  And though the story has strayed from the plot line I anticipated, I choose to believe that God's wisdom and sovereignty and power are perfect. And my wisdom.... well, perfectly imperfect.

So we'll go with His plan :)  

More details on John Paul and his story, and how it will intersect ours to come.... And I know you are desperate for a picture (and trust me, he is precious), but we've got a few more steps to pass through before it's okay for us to post his little face shot publicly.  If you live near my parents or in-laws, scoot on over to their house.... they've got some ready to show you!  Us too, of course ;)