If you had told me...

...on June 3rd that within the next four months we would have:

both been unemployed,
received the referral of a BOY from China,
found a new job for Ian (that will continue to allow me to stay home with our kids) within 9 weeks,
packed half of our belongings,
gotten our house ready to put on the market,
found a new home in our new city,
and been preparing for the trip to China when we will be a family of four all the while...

I would have told you that you were crazy or delusional or something! And yet here we are, and it hasn't been quite four months yet! Some days I laugh to keep from crying.

This afternoon in a matter of minutes after a fast-paced, two day rental property search we signed on the dotted line. I guess that officially makes us residents of the triangle area now.

As we were finishing up with our new landlord (man, that's a tough one to swallow after owning our home here for eight years this month) I started to explain to Kylie ~ who was running up and down the hallway of the house ~ that soon we were going to live here. I'm not sure what I expected from her, but whatever it was, it sure wasn't the response I got. She looked at me for a second, took off down the hallway hollering for me to come with her, ran into the room directly across the hall from the master bedroom and said, "O-tay, can I have dis room?" Man does this kid roll with the punches or what?

I suppose though that here is another glimpse of God looking out for us. Kylie loves her preschool and talks each day when she comes home about playing with her friends Ellie and Layna and getting hugs from her teachers Ms. Jeanna and Ms. Michelle. She dearly loves her Sunday School teachers, Ms. Rita and Ms. Heather at church and still frequently calls Susannah on her princess phone. When she says her prayers she usually thanks Jesus for Caleb first and then Aunt CiCi and Uncle Adam get second billing and she asks pretty much every day to go see her "dahamas." And while we're leaving so many folks that are a special part of Kylie's life here in the Charlotte metro area, how many times can you say that your two year old already has friends in their new city? It honestly brought tears to my eyes yesterday to see Kylie and Lottie laughing together as they were swinging on their bellies and made me smile when Darby thoughtfully shared her toys with Kylie today at her house. How blessed we are that of all the high tech engineering cities we could have ended up in that Kylie would be in the same town with not just one, but two of her "China sisters!" And it isn't just Kylie that has friends in these families either ~ their moms have become dear friends of mine and my life is richer for it!

Again though, as exciting as it is for a new beginning, it is hard coming back to this place that has been home for so long knowing that our days here are now numbered. We sat tonight as a family on the couch in the living room and I sighed deeply as I looked around the room that is so familiar to me. Ian gave me a reminder that it isn't the walls that make this house our home. I told him that I knew that and then gave my family a big hug and told Ian and Kylie that I loved them. Ian asked Kylie what makes our house a home (and both of us expected her to say love because we were talking about love) but she turned to us and and spoke perhaps the most profound words I've heard from her by responding, "Jesus makes our house a home."

Yes, it is the love we have in one another as family through Jesus that creates our haven from the world. Amen kiddo, Amen!