and off they go...

 

we've known this day was coming. i've laid awake at night praying over my kids going off to new schools. wait, let me re-phrase that...i have laid awake at night in near panic attacks in which i finally turned to the lord in prayer over my kids going off to new schools. i was so concerned about those going, that i kind of forgot the pain of the one staying behind...

poor little lu. it was rough. tate was off while it was still dark. it's sick and wrong if you ask me. but i have been up two days in a row at 6:15. shocking, i know. he was pretty overwhelmed by his first day of high school, but it was fine. he has school and then football practice which means this young man i adore is gone for almost 12 hours each day. again, sick and wrong if you ask me. 

jack is the next to leave at 8:08. though it's earlier than he was used to starting in nebraska, hes' a morning person, so it's not bad at all. and he is getting to see a dream fulfilled as he is getting to ride the bus now. something this momma was NOT excited about. though school pick up lines make me want to cuss, the conversations with my kiddos in the car, especially on the way home are priceless. thankfully, the bus stop is just on the other side of the park across the street. though the goodbye was hard for lulu and me...

 he was excited...

 he loves his new school and his teacher. that's my jack. he makes the most out of every experience in life. the last to leave was the divine miss em...

she gets a pretty sweet deal not leaving until 8:56. lulu (and i) fell apart after she left. but we did what made the most sense to us. we got some daddy love...

and painted nails...

and then we prayed like crazy, especially for em, throughout the day. the boys at least knew a few people in school. but this dear girl started her first day of middle school not knowing a SOUL. but, she didn't end the day that way. she made friends in school and actually had a pretty great day. but what was REALLY great was seeing this coming down the street in the afternoon...

 

 and the blessed reunions that followed...

 

 

 back TO school was good, but there was something better...

 

 

 and now we do it all over again...and again...and again. 

girl scouts are smart cookies

i can't continue with my blog tour of home because i keep forgetting to take after pictures. before and after pictures don't really work that way. so i just haven't been blogging. and that's just no good. so blog i shall.

as we left nebraska, our friend kelly gave us a beautiful word picture. she told us she was praying for people to "catch us on the other end".

we said some pretty hard goodbyes...

but we have also had some pretty sweet hellos on this end too...

i guess the girl scouts know what they are talking about when they sing that song.

more than anything, we know we have been "caught" by the One who never let us go in the first place.

a dream come true

this is not, as advertised, a post on my blog tour "hey, this is where i live". it was supposed to be a post about a room where dreams come true. sorry, i lied. that will have to wait. this post is better. it's about a real dream come true, in a literal sense. and it's beautiful. i can say that because the beauty is not in what i am writing. it's a story god has written. and those are the very best kind.

our friends, paul and anne, have been in a long, heart wrenching process of adopting from ethiopia. about year ago i had a vivid dream that i was at their airport homecoming. but we lived 1500 miles apart, so that was going to stay as just another dream.

until we moved 1500 miles. and their dear son came home weeks after we moved here. and that dream came true in a literal sense. though the REAL dream come true was having their son in their arms and home for good...

 (big brother racing for the meet and greet)

 (a family reunited...and forever changed)

 (momma and her boy. priceless.)

(brothers)

 (meeting new friends...like another ethiopian named lulu)

though i was behind the camera the whole time, it actually gave me an opportunity to connect in a unique way with this dear boy...

 

he kept stealing me glances, grins and even flashed that irresistible smile...

this post isn't about MY dream coming true. it's about theirs...

which is really god's dream for them. and oh, what a dream-maker He is! happy homecoming, you guys. now on to the home living. together.