Lena

This morning has been no different than any other morning since we learned of Lena.  Thoughts of her consume our days.  It is much like being pregnant, so much love and anticipation for that child you wait to hold, to know, to protect.  It is difficult in the sense that Lena is already present, living where this imperfect world is having an imperfect impact on her daily life.  Which I suppose in some ways will not change, but soon she will come home to Charlie and I.  Where she will experience love, encouragement, understanding, protection and provision.  Her forever family.

I have really begun to ponder and enjoy the thought of how God creates a family... 
let me tell you what we have learned about Lena, most from the incredible people that have had the pleasure of interacting with her, and through our emails back and forth.
Lena turned 14 on July 7th.  Lena is passionate about horses.  Her favorite horses are paints and mustangs.  Lena enjoys taking pictures, we have quite a bit of her work, which one day we hope to share, she likes pizza, hotdogs, fried mushrooms, and chocolate.  She likes to fall asleep to music.  Lena is very good at embroidery and cross stitch.  Her favorite holiday is April Fools day, because her classmates like to "deceive" her.  Her favorite breed of dog is the Malamute.  She enjoys and does well in school.  She would rather wear pants then skirts, and loves to compete in volleyball and enjoys planting flowers in the flower garden. We are told that Lena is a very energetic girl, very communicative, she has very strong leadership potential.  She is friendly, and is active in her class and school.  Good memory, exceptionally smart, very good intuition, very organized, and likes to be the center of attention.  Lena is a character, she is playful, she makes things happen.  She is of strong character. 

...so I find myself laughing on the inside, chuckling on the outside, and wondering out loud why it is that God seems to think putting active and strong personalities into my life is so important...  I was sharing this once again with my dear "strong" friend Roxie last night, she commented, "Jude, God doesn't put them in your life because you need them, He puts you in our lives because we need you."  Maybe that's so, and I must admit and do believe that those strong personalities (and you know who you are, and I'm not just speaking of Charlie :]) that God has spiced up my life with, and whom I do love dearly, are not in my life by chance.  As I consider how God has chosen this very special girl, whom we already love, to join our family, I am extremely grateful, and extremely excited to finally meet her, to hold her, to know her, to protect her.  God is the one who fashions and fits, and did I mention, Lena loves horses, taking pictures, chocolate, prefers pants over skirts, planting flowers in the garden, and music... hey, those are a few of my favorite things! 

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good!

Genesis 1:31

Dossier update: made a call to the FBI Record Request Department this morning, to check on our background check, was told it was received and is in process, to call back mid next week for another update.  Guess our trip to the mailbox today won't be quite as exciting.  :]