5 Years Out

Here we are - 5 years out.  This day 5 years ago was filled with all sorts of emotion and my stomach was in knots.  We had a babysitter come and sit with Tess while Brent & I, my mom and some of Brent's family headed to the courtroom.  We chose not to take itty bitty because of some extenuating circumstances with her birthfather - hence the knots in my stomach.
The judge asked us a few questions - you know, like will you provide for her like your daughter ? And this is permanent.  And I was like, "uh well duh!"  No I didn't answer quite like that but I was thinking it.   We had waited so long for this gift...she was our daughter, ours forever - I could not answer "yes" fast enough.   And even though it had not been made "official" she was official enough to us.  An earthly judge just decreed it that day - God the father had decreed it long before.
So we celebrate.  We celebrate her love, her laugh, her big eyes, her inquisitive spirit, her love of learning, her love of animals, her love for her family.  But more than all those things we celebrate and give thanks that our good God blessed our once barren home with life.  We celebrate His sovereign timing in all of it...the wait for her, the heartbreak of possibly having to give her up, and the moment she became ours.  His timing, His wisdom, His gift!