Two weeks later

Two weeks ago today we saw our baby girl's face for the first time. However she has been in our hearts and our family for much longer than that. In fact, I think she was born in my heart when I was about 9 years old. I attended a weekly bible club at our neighbors house and it was the first time that I learned about a place called Africa. Everything about it totally fascinated me.

I had always thought that I would live there someday and I went off to college with ideas of living in a hut and joining the peace corps. Even before the first day of classes I met a boy who captured my heart and all I knew was that I wanted to be with him. This handsome young man was totally dependant upon modern medicine and life in a remote village away from civilization was never going to be an option. I had no idea how God was going to write this story.

I spent the summer before my senior year of college giving nursing care at a mission hospital in Togo. It was an amazing experience...especially working with the children. One of the missionaries told me that I was meant for pediatrics. The beauty of the people and the land held on to my heart. While I was there God also made very clear to me that I was supposed to marry Kevin Judkins. And a few months after returning from Africa we were planning a wedding.

While in college I wrote the following statement in my Bible. I have no idea who said it, but it has always stuck with me. "Commit your way to the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes your "loves" may be put in the background for God to work His will in your life. But by committing to the LORD, in the end He will use your "loves" in amazing ways that you couldn't have even imagined before."

The past two weeks have been so incredibly overwhelming emotionally. I think some of it is due to the statement above...it is amazing to see how God has taken all of the "loves" of my life and worked them into a beautiful story that displays His love and His power and His glory. There are so many details to our adoption story that I wish I could share with you....so many amazing things that God is doing! I thought I would give an update with things that I am allowed to talk about, though.

Two days after receiving our referral Kevin left for Hawaii for work. The separation, especially after receiving this referral, has been very difficult. It has made me so thankful for the role he plays in our family and made me once again realize how much I love him!! God has blessed us with one another...a perfect team. What a blessing that God gave me a husband who is passionate about orphans and adoption and who loves Africa. The boys also really miss their Daddy and we are all anxious for that plane to land.

We have so many people praying for us all around the world and many offers for help. Our agency is doing everything they can to get our baby girl home. We also have medical specialists working on our case and helping in any way they can. It has been truly incredibly the timing of help and the amount of support! The boys and I are working hard to get our life and home ready for baby #3. What a blessing to be able to advocate for Faith. Today, though, we started the fun part - shopping. There are two things now in my possession that make me smile - a box of princess Tiana band aids and a package of hair barrettes. Even the boys are excited about these new girlie things entering our home.

The past two weeks have felt more like two months, full of highs and lows, moments of crying, moments when I thought I couldn't breath, moments of dancing in celebration, moments where I felt like I had 2 pots of coffee and moments of utter exhaustion. I am excited to see what the next two hold for Team Judkins.