The End of Our Adoption Journey

It's very bittersweet for me to write this message. I know that many have already stopped following our blog since we're home and our adoption journey has ended. After praying and waiting for more to share, I've found that the blog was truly just for a season. I enjoyed writing and sharing with you all so much. I, too, will have withdrawal from the daily encouragement from home during our challenging time.
Our Celebration of Praise and Worship was wonderful-a memory to treasure! Thanks to Pastor Ken Rucker for opening his church, New Branch, for us to gather. He also gave a lovely opening statement and prayer. Thanks to Angela Brannen for organizing our event. Thanks to Jim and David Brannen, our fabulous musicians, and Leslie Pennington, our talented singer. Thanks to all of you who spent your Saturday afternoon with us praising God and welcoming Kalina to the US!
For those of you who couldn't come, I'll share the events of the day. After the opening prayer, the musicians led us in singing many songs that Nadeem, Kalina, and I sang regularly in Bangladesh, mainly in our bedroom or on the rooftop including "Jesus, What a Beautiful Name" (with our own lyrics because we couldn't remember all the real ones!), "How Great is Our God", and "Shout to the Lord." The children in the crowd all came on stage to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to Kalina. This used to be her nap time song. Now, I can't sing to her at all before bed because she becomes wide awake and turns to see what I'm doing. Hardly relaxing! We shared a slide show of our trip. When Kalina's visa appeared on the screen, everyone applauded! My dear friend and Kalina's Godmother, Lisa Slusher, gave our closing prayer. Afterwards everyone greeted Kalina and enjoyed refreshments. We'll remember this day for years to come!
Nadeem and I also shared what God laid on our hearts. For Nadeem, he shared the importance of praying without ceasing. In Bangladesh, he and I prayed together morning, noon, and night-sometimes more. We also prayed separately. That was vital for keeping our eyes focused on God. I shared that it's so easy to get caught up in busyness here in the USA. It's critical that we all spend time with God every day. Right now we're so blessed to be home but struggling to find our balance as I'm sure you all can relate! One of the treasures of our adoption journey was the gift of time. We had time to spend with each other, Kalina, and God. At the time we wanted desperately to come home and couldn't fully appreciate it. Now I can see what God gave us.
Kalina is doing so well here! She has quickly adjusted to the new time zone, and she loves her home! She's becoming even healthier as she thrives in this environment. She welcomes all visitors and loves going out on errands to see people. She's a joy! For those of you in this area, please come see us!
I'll close by saying that when your faith wavers, please remember our story and remember that God is alive and well, still doing miracles! God bless you all!