The New Guys

I have been soaking myself in God's Word and I am being healed. There will always be a scar but the pain is subsiding. Tears have been shed. Hugs have been shared. Questions go unanswered. Journaling is therapeutic for me so you better believe my pen has been busy filling up pages. Jesus is the Great Physician and I am under His care. Thank you for those of you who have emailed, called, and written letters. Your kind words of encouragement are exactly what we need right now. We are so glad to be a part of the body of Christ in moments like these. We weren't made to walk our life journey alone. We will not give up. Our profile is available again for birth parents to view and we are filled with great hope for our future children to join our family.

Yesterday I decided I was tired of looking at an empty fish tank (yes, Bubbles bit the dust a few weeks ago). We were waiting to get another fish until we got back from Virginia. No need to wait any longer. Malakai LOVES going to any pet store so it wasn't hard at all to convince him to come with me. We spent some time with Mr. Bojangles, the massive bunny and stuck our hands in the touch tank full of sting rays. But his favorite place is the fish room. He runs up and down the aisles yelling, "Fishies! Fishies! Fishies!"

The girl who scooped out our two beloved fishies for us wrote on the bag and told me several times, "There's no guarantee on these fish." I honestly wanted to laugh out loud. My "risk meter" is very high right now. And you can be sure I was willing to take the risk of these "$1.99/piece fish" dying in the near future. Our caseworker told us that exact same thing, "There is no guarantee that this adoption will go through". But I refuse to live my life in fear. I am a natural-born risk taker. I mean, seriously...who starts a photography business with no formal training or camera knowledge? Hey, when the LORD tells you to do something, you just have to trust Him. He knows the end from the beginning. And now, well...Radiant Images is thriving, my clients are more than just satisfied, and I am fulfilled beyond measure with this profession. Was it worth the risk...ABSOLUTELY! I can't imagine not being a photographer/mother/wife/adoption advocate.

Since I've been writing a lot without pictures, I thought you'd all enjoy seeing a picture of Malakai with his two new fishies. The first two that died were named Sushi and Buttons. He can't seem to get them out of his head and every time I ask him what he wants to name his new fish, he insists on calling them Sushi and Buttons. So I guess we'll put a II behind their names and take the risk of them dying again. Hey, sometimes things don't turn out the way we think they should, but we do it anyway.