whoa...

I thought it was jet lag.
I thought it was lack of sleep.
I thought i was being wimpy.
Come on, I"ve done lots of overseas travel.
No, some bug definitely got me. It "got me good".
I am just now seeing outside the cloud that I have been in for the last five days. Shew, it feels good to breathe again.

SO many of my friends break up their ethiopia trips day by day. I will be honest, with two kids there, there was NO TIME. Even with my mom there to help (who was awesome and helpful).  I did not take the photos I thought I would take (mostly because you weren't allowed to take photos of the other babies in the transition home because they were all promised to waiting families, some of whom hadn't been referred out or gone to court yet). Anyway, I realized that by the time I dealt with one sweet child, the next one needed me. So, the updates will come sporadically.

 Real quick up front, I wondered if you, awesome blog readers, would help me to spread the news. A friend of mine, who bought shirts and is just generous and sweet has offered to offer the proceeds from her 31 sales to our adoption. So we will have a party open for a month, and whatever we get, I will get her portion of it. What a generous girl. Seriously. And I'll be honest, sometimes I struggle with "throwing parties" and with the "trendy" stuff, but gosh, these bags and the stuff is so cute, I have even bought three or four pieces that I have around my house. So, no pressure, but will you pass this on, it will be open for a while.  And they have a great deal right now.

http://assets.thirtyonetoday.com/monthy-specials/april2012/april_2012_specials_customer.pdf

And if that doesn't convince you...

bwahahahahahha....
I hate to see my children in distress...but Finn's face here might be the funniest thing I've ever seen. This is moments after we met our sweet Eli.  More on that story soon, step by step....

Please pass on the fundraiser...if you don't mind :)  It ends at the end of April.  You should mark that you do not want it ship to hostess, or you will have to find it in Western KY :)  Questions: email Emily at thejochims@gmail.(dot)com.
HAPPY WEDNESDAY FRIENDS!

5 month reflection, decorating...

The coolest things happened this week.

Those things that just is so ordained by the God of the Universe that you have to step back for a moment.

Well, it started several weeks ago.
I don’t know if I told you that Brandon and I had the opportunity to share our story at church, the same week that we got the big check for our adoption. Several really amazing things have come out of that. One couple came up to us at church and said that the Lord had asked them to move forward with fostering to adopt after we spoke at church. So they went on Monday to enroll in the program and immediately began the classes. They hope to have a child in placement in 30-45 days!! Whoa...that blew our minds. We weren’t there to motivate, just to share what the Lord was asking us to do. It was incredible. And so humbling. To know that we had nothing to do with that, but the Lord will use us if we allow him to. It’s true in so many areas, but was so unavoidably obvious in this...

Just more confirmation of that little life, that visited us so briefly 5 months ago {today}.  Brandon remembered this morning and I forgot.  But obviously, he is  more of a day to day, moment by moment thought...than one that I celebrate 'death anniversaries" of.  I just want him to live on.  And the journey to find Briar's brother is one way that his little life is continuing to inspire.  Praise God for that.  Because above all else, we prayed the God would allow us to see his Glory through Briar's life.  And we do.  Every. single. day.

Today, just by chance, my computer froze on this picture on the screensaver.  I couldn't stop staring at it.  It is so sweet.  SUch a sweet little gift to momma, on the 5 month day... His one little finger looks cut off, but it's not, must be the angle... (in case you thought I took it as some sort of weird souvenir...oh gosh..not even a good joke, sorry)

Then there was another girl, Priscilla, whose blog I was already following. I have loved reading about her journey. She was someone who had lost several babies and wrote about her struggles with such openness and complete vulnerability. It was refreshing to read and not only that, she lived near where I live, so I had been following her story for a while. She made a post about our church, and hearing our story on their first visit there. Someone from our church staff saw it and sent her post to me. It was all about her and her husband and their journey as they lost one baby after another (3 total) and how their faith in God began to falter (please...join me in saying that if you were in those shoes, I am sure you would have MAJOR QUESTIONS and maybe some harsh words for our heavenly father......). Anyway, after that, I just felt so burdened for them. For their losses, their hurting hearts, their babies in heaven (with my little guy)...I just felt moved to pray. So I did. And I have been. For weeks now, whenever I think of them. I just felt that they were a special couple and I could relate to just a little portion of their loss.

Well, on Tuesday, Priscilla showed up at my photography growth group!! I think the first thing I said to her was, “OH! It’s so good to meet you in real life!!!!”. What a mess I am. I am sure she was terrified to walk into my house like that. But it was incredible and definitely a moment that was completely from the Lord. I think we will be friends. We have a ton in common and we are walking through similar pain. She is pregnant again, about 19 weeks now. I am so excited for her, but I know she has a lot of fears, having lost baby in all three trimesters. I cannot even begin to say, “I understand” to her losses, but I can support her and know what my loss feels like. To add to it, she is leading the Faces of Loss group in our town, which I think I will be a part of. I am so excited for what this spring has in store!!

I think I’m in way over my head with the photography growth group. I am NO expert. But I am looking forward to learning and growing as we move forward. And I know I have not been updating. Can I be honest? I don’t have much to offer you. Don’t fight with me about it, I just don’t.
I am tired and busy. And with kids this will get busier. So, the blog could be coming to an end?! :)
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In other news...

In other news...this is an inspirational room of  a sweet blogger named Edie...unbelievably creative and wise homeschooling decorating momma.  Her house burnt down right before Christmas.  She is blogging through the journey with an inspiring real spirit.  And I have always loved reading her, and I have always loved her decorating.  I'm sure her new house will be just as beautiful, if not more!