There is no doubt in my mind that the complications that have happened are a part of God’s plan. I may never know the whys of all this, but that is okay.

I can only see a small piece of what is really going on but God sees it all – the complete picture.

From what I can see, it seems Sweet Pea being born now (instead of later) would be a really good thing for everyone involved.

Sweet Pea is full term tomorrow!

So, I am going to ask everyone to pray with me that Sweet Pea comes soon!

As Jesus prayed in the garden before His death that His Father’s Will be done above His own, that is my ultimate prayer, too.

I desire for Sweet Pea to be born on the day God has ordained for her life to begin, however, I’m still going to pray that God would just go ahead and let her be born soon.

Please join me in praying for this.

From Brooke’s fb:

PRAYERS NEEDED……our lawyer just contacted me stating that birth mom contacted her. Birth mom is having remorse. PLEASE PRAY her heart would continue to be softened and that she will give us Elise. PRAY HARD !!!!!!!

We don’t know what will come of this but we are asking everyone to please, please pray with us. God is a God of miracles. He has a mighty plan.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’S PURPOSE that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

We made it to the mountains. I am glad to be here, however, my heart is heavy for Mike and Brooke and I feel this is a post that needs to be written now.

If you are reading this and are a friend of Mike and Brooke’s, you need to know that a failed adoption is equivalent to a death in the family.

To Mike and Brooke, their 3rd child, Elise, has died.

Their dreams of her becoming their child have died.

A common misunderstanding is that a failed adoption is “okay” because every mother has a right to allow motherly emotions to make her change her mind at the last minute. While this is absolutely true, in Mike and Brooke’s case, this is NOT what happened. Their case goes deeper and there are legal issues involved.

Friends and family of Mike and Brooke…THIS is the time to continue to stand by them, to love them, to pray that they will lean on the strength of the Lord in this time.

Brooke’s status on facebook recently was something to the effect that the world continues to live life while their world is standing still.

Those are the same emotions anyone would feel after the death of a loved one. After the funeral, friends and family go back to normal life and the widowed spouse or the motherless child must somehow figure out how to live life with this emptiness the size of the Grand Canyon in their life.

It is the same for Mike and Brooke.

Adoption is a crazy thing and yet a beautiful thing.

My husband and I were crammed in the tiny bathroom of the family cabin late last night, talking. (We couldn’t talk in our bedroom because Little Bug was asleep in there. Wesley was asleep in the living room. Like I said, tiny cabin, so the bathroom was it!)

Dave said something I will never forget. We were just talking about how we could not believe this had happened to Mike and Brooke.

Then Dave said, “The laws surrounding how adoption works aren’t risk-free for anyone involved—the adoptive parents or the birth mother. That shouldn’t be a surprise though. The need for adoption is born out of an original flaw that kept the birth mother from caring for the child adequately on her own. That goes against nature, so how can we expect adoption to be any smoother a process?”

Until you have walked the path of adoption, you just simply cannot understand the magnitude of emotions involved.

It is completely overwhelming.

And what Mike and Brooke are experiencing is every couple who is on this path’s worst nightmare.

It is like a death in the family.

Today was supposed to be the day little Elise was in their arms, forever their little girl.

Today hurts and the days and weeks ahead are going to hurt, too.

We need to allow Mike and Brooke to grieve. We need to take care of them like we would if one of their children had died because essentially, this is what has happened.

You are probably thinking, What in the world do I say or do to help them?

The fact is, you don’t have to tell them any elaborate speech. Nothing you say is going to take their pain away.

Just be there for them. Make yourself available. Acknowledge their heartache. Acknowledge their lose. Make a meal and drop it by. (As soon as I can get internet access to post this, I will also be putting up a “Take Them a Meal” site so you can sign up to take them a meal.) Drop a card in the mail. If you are one of my readers, leave a comment on this post for Mike and Brooke to read.

Anything just to let them know that you have stopped your life, for just a moment, to let them know you care and are praying for their broken hearts.

Pray for Selah, their 6 year old daughter, who is taking this very hard. She is old enough to understand what is going on. In my opinion, Mike and Brooke are doing a fabulous job of using these tragic events to teach their daughter truths about God. On top of their own broken hearts, I can only imagine it hurts even worse to know their precious daughter is hurting, too. Pray for sweet Selah to be able to process this in her mind and feel the love of God holding her through this time.

As the body of Christ, it is our responsibility to surround them with our love and support.

There is a long road ahead of them and knowing they are not walking it alone is what Mike and Brooke need to know today.

I find my mind is always thinking and praying for Brooke and her family as they are almost 24 hours away from induction.

So many emotions flood my heart as I think about what they are heading into. It is hard to really put it into words.

There is excitement as the day that you have been anticipating is finally almost here.

There is an ache in your arms because you just want to hold that baby and know they are officially yours.

There is pain as you think about the birthmother and the loss she will experience.

There is anxiety as you eagerly wait to know that the birth mother is going to follow through with the adoption plan.

Wrap all these emotions together and you have some pretty crazy days filled with highs and lows and everything in between.

Brooke and her family simply need prayer over the next several days.

Prayer gave me the strength to stand during our 81 hour wait to know if Tracy was going to sign or not.

Please join me in praying with them and for them.

We leave Saturday for our annual family vacation to the cabin in the mountains. I am taking the laptop, but I’m not promising posts beyond updates on Brooke’s adoption.

Tomorrow is a special day for me.

Because of certain circumstances, the last time I saw Little Bug’s birth mother, I did not know it was the last time I would see her, so I really didn’t have the opportunity to tell her goodbye.

Tomorrow I will get to see the woman who carried my daughter for eight and a half months and gave birth to her. A woman I have not had any contact with since the day after Little Bug’s birth.

Forget the fact that we are meeting again to talk business about the growing baby in her womb–I am thrilled to have the opportunity to again see the woman who chose life for my daughter.

I know some reading this may not be able to understand my excitement in this.

Often times, birth mothers are viewed as someone who gives up their baby and then that is that. You never hear from them again. A new life with a new baby is begun. There is no contact between the birth families and the adoptive families.

In this day and age, open adoptions are becoming more the norm. I believe this can only be a good thing.

Every adoption situation is different. For some situations a semi-closed adoption (like ours) is the best. For other situations an open adoption is best. I know people in both kinds of adoptions and all are beautiful.

I’ve shared before I never want Little Bug’s adoption to be a secret. My goal is for her to never remember a time when she didn’t know she was adopted. In an age-appropriate manner, I hope to share with Little Bug as much, or as little, as she desires about the story that brought her to our family as our little girl.

It is my greatest desire that she will one day realize to the fullest extent the miraculous events that brought her to our family. I pray she will one day put all the pieces together to realize that her adoption story is one of grace and redemption. A story about a childless couple and a woman in crisis that God brought together to perform the beautiful miracle of Little Bug.

And so tomorrow I am thrilled for the opportunity to lay my eyes on this woman again. I have absolutely no idea what to expect tomorrow. I have no idea if she will want to know all about Little Bug or will want to just talk about the new baby or a mixture of both.

All I know is that God’s hand is at work again.

Tomorrow I begin a new relationship with Tracy. One that will only last again for a season.

I cannot go into details on this public blog, but I can ask you to please pray for Tracy over the next 6 months. I can ask you to pray that as we have contact with her once again for a season of time, that God would use us to minister to the heart of Tracy and to show her a God who loves her, despite it all.

The truth of it all is that all our lives are messy. Not one of us is without sin in our life. We all need Jesus.

It is my prayer that over the next 6 months, Tracy finds Him. Really finds Him and allows Him to change her course in life.

Because it is only at the feet of Jesus that she will find true peace, joy and hope in this life.

Pray with me, okay?

I had someone ask for an update on Baby Sunshine and then I realized I had not given an update since the beginning of October.

Things are still moving in the direction of Jeremy and Laura adopting Baby Sunshine!!

They have signed the petition for a court date to be able to adopt Baby Sunshine.

Jeremy and Laura are hoping and praying for a court date before the end of the year, but they have been told they will most likely get a date in January.

Would you pray with me that Baby Sunshine’s adoption can happen before the end of the year?

The road has been anything but easy for Jeremy, Laura and Baby Sunshine but I am so incredibly happy and excited that very soon they will officially be a family of three!

Please pray for Sonja’s (blogger friend of mine) quadruplets!

Liam was diagnosed with RSV and is in the hospital.

The other three babies have the sniffles as well.

Sonja’s quads are 5 months old (2.5 months adjusted age).

RSV can be pretty serious for preemies, so please bathe these precious babies in prayer!

Click here to read Sonja’s blog.

A friend of mine is in the same situation I was in nearly 15 months ago.

J was officially matched with a birth mom (due to give birth to a baby girl in August) on August 3rd.

This morning Baby Girl was born. J met the beautiful baby girl around 3am this morning. She loved on her and held her until leaving to go home and get some rest and to give A (birth mom) some time with Baby Girl.

Later today J received a call from the pregnancy counselor saying that A is having a very hard time with her decision. A isn’t sure if she wants to go through with her adoption plan for her baby or if she wants to parent. A does not want J at the hospital at this time. J will receive a call on Friday from the pregnancy counselor telling her to come pick up her daughter or the counselor will say that A has decided to parent.

My heart sunk when I read her blog.

Such an agonizing place to be. Not knowing just about drove me crazy and the only peace I had was knowing people were praying for me during those agonizing hours of waiting.

Please pray for J’s heart tonight and tomorrow as she waits. Pray for peace. Pray for A as she is also in a very agonizing situation. This part of the adoption process is never easy for anyone.

Birth mom is processing emotions in choosing to give her child up to someone else to raise while adoptive parents sit on pins and needles, hopeful that the pain of waiting to become parents is soon going to be over, and yet guarded knowing that baby isn’t theirs until the birth parents terminate their rights.

I am praying for J tonight believing that God will complete the work He has started. J’s adoption journey is amazing – a miracle, just like every adoption story. God has a way of timing things so perfectly and bringing birth parents and adoptive parents together in such a way that it is so obvious that His hand was on the situation long before anyone was aware of the miracle unfolding.

J’s heart was opened to adoption in November of 2009. J turned in her adoption application on November 10th – exactly 9 months before A went into labor!

Let’s lift J and A up to the Father tonight and pray peace upon all in whatever decision is made over the next two days.

Bryan went home to Jesus around 3pm today.

Please lift Joy, Benjamin and Timothy up in prayer.

Things don’t look hopeful. There is still no brain activity at all. The doctor told Joy, his wife, that it will take a “Lazarus miracle” for Bryan to survive this.

Joy’s most recent facebook status is this:

"Just left my precious Bryan, things have progressed, he is on life support for his body, but God is giving me a peace that he went quickly in my dad’s arms on Saturday. Bryan has never been mine for keeps, he loved God before everyone. A Bryan quote for all "There’s a new statistic out on death, 10 out of every 10 people die, Are you ready? Do you know Jesus?”

Please keep praying for a miracle.

And pray that the peace of God will continue to stay with Joy no matter the outcome of this tragic event.

Bryan on July 4th – six days before the accident. Bryan’s son, Benjamin (4) is the boy in the red shirt.

Bryan on THE JESUS BUS – the bus he used for evangelism and the bus he stepped off and crossed in front of before he was hit by the car on July 10th.

This picture depicts who Bryan is. A man who is so passionate about sharing Jesus with others. The following is the quote attached to this picture on facebook:

We were driving by in the Jesus bus and Bryan saw this group of boys down by a lake and of course, being Bryan, he had to stop the bus and run over to the boys. There he is sharing Jesus with them.

Bryan, Joy, Benjamin and Timothy