Always reading...

I can't seem to read enough these days. In between filling out paperwork and researching, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on to help prepare for the coming months...I've found some really amazing resources!

Sunburns and Yard sales

After a long week, a yard sale is not on my top three activities for a Saturday morning. Nonetheless, to help fund the summer youth events, we set up shop bright and early in our driveway. About an hour in, the kids started to bring out some crafts they had been working on the night before. Emma brought out a jar and Elijah made a sign saying "help us bring our afrikkan baby home" :)
Shane and I were humbled, and with tears in our eyes watched our children fearlessly ask strangers to help. Although $55 doesn't seem like much in the face of what's ahead, we are excited to see how the Lord has united our family in a common, and beautiful goal.

Narrowing our Focus

Well, I guess the ultrasound picture was a little flawed. It seems that our little girl is in Ethiopia....not China. And I love her. Despite some recent changes in their adoption policies, we are believing that the Lord will deliver her to us in His time.
In anticipation.....

Pink Palace Adventure

It was raining all day but we could not have had a better time! Spring break with my sweet babies and adoptive (almost adult daughter).

The End of August

I was told today that we should expect to pay almost $8000 by the end of the summer in this process of adoption. It is daunting, but believing that the Lord will provide beyond what we expect or imagine, we ask our friends and family to join us in prayer as we seek to get little Song home. You'll probably be hearing more from us than you'd ever care to in the next few months...please consider joining us financially as we rely on our Lord for $1 at a time. We would be amiss if we didn’t also ask for help from families and friends who may be willing to donate to get us one step closer to our baby girl– no amount is too small! Our plan is to apply for as many grants as possible and pray that doors will open for the money to come through.
More details to come. I've added a PayPal button to our page to assist in this process. Every cent raised goes to pave her way home.
Thanks in advance for your love, prayers, and support.
Love to you all!
The Groves

The. Longest. Pregnancy. Ever.

So I am pregnant....in a way I wouldn't have imagined. Preliminary paperwork is filled out, sent in, and we wait. We are expecting the Lord to deliver our daughter into our arms within the next 24 months.....and I am scared to death. But without a shadow of a doubt, I know the time has come to begin this process of adoption. We are focusing on a few countries, but are waiting for Jesus to sharpen the image and direct our focus. The details and costs are staggering, but we know that every obstacle will be shattered by a God who is bringing the orphans into families.

Some of you know the journey I've walked since Isaiah was born. For a long time I've felt that there was another child that was waiting at the edges of my vision, waiting to be brought into our family. I thought this would be another child of my womb. Due to complications with my last delivery, pregnancy has proved to be very elusive....with tears and frustration I have handed this over to the Lord again and again. But this child has not departed, still dancing and laughing and waiting for me in a place I didn't know how to reach. I thought I couldn't love a child that I didn't nurture within me, didn't feel the precious kicks and hiccups, didn't bring into the world.....But oh. Praise be to the God who changes hearts, changes plans, and changes dreams.
"God is always working to make His children aware of a dream that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream, a new dream that when realized will release a new song, sung with tears, til God wipes them away and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts."
So with much delight and anticipation I ask you to join with us in prayer as we step onto a path that is unfamiliar.....however the destination is known. Our God is victorious and for now He will hold my daughter until I can. There are times I can almost feel her kicking...our little Song.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

Hello Again

So my efforts to consistently blog has again been undermined by life in general. My intentions are noble...to chronicle these beautiful moments with my husband and my children that so often pass through my fingers much too fast.
So again, another good time to start. These days of trees and lights, stockings and pumpkin spice, Rudolph and presents....the proverbial Christmas season is upon us....and I'm scrambling to do the things a good minister's wife should. Including (but not limited too), home tastefully decorated, check; Christmas cards sent to everyone in the church, check; baked goodness in green cellophane ready to give out at a moments' notice, check....
You'd think I would have been doing this long enough to not get caught up in the bustle, in the to-do list, and to remember "the reason for the season." But, alas, I forget ....and my sweet Jesus reminds me again, exactly where a frazzled mom of three would be looking....in the endless containers of toys that fill my home. We had the tree up, lights on the house, various stockings, poinsettias. The house was Christmas ready. Emma disagreed. Last year she received a playmobil nativity set as a gift and wanted to set it up as a decoration. We found Mary, Joseph, an angel, donkey, even a manger...but we could not find the baby Jesus.
I was surprised because Emma usually keeps up with her toys very well and the whole set was intact, except an inch long baby Jesus. It took several hours of determined sorting, organizing, and cleaning through ALL of the kids' toys, as I became more and more frustrated. You'd think I'd just give up...who really cares anyway, just some toys...it'll turn up sometime. But I couldn't stop looking. I dumped out every bin of toys we owned until I at last found the tiny white swaddled figure. It was ridiculous how relieved I felt placing the finishing touch in the manger.
Stepping back with a sigh, I felt the heart of my Father. Just stop....spend some time looking for Me. Let your children see your love for Me on your face when you again remember the day that love came down. Don't waste these days.