Today we celebrate how God made us a family through adoption! Below is an excerpt from my book Bringing Home the Missing Linck: A Journey of Faith to Family. I will be giving away a copy of my book in honor of Jackson's Gotcha Day! Just leave a comment below for your chance to win! Here's a glimpse of Jackson's official Gotcha Day two years ago! Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. We had waited six months to finalize Jackson’s adoption, and April 30, 2012, would officially be his Gotcha Continue Reading
Persevere With Hope….
Monday and Wednesdays are speech days for Jackson. I sit in a room and observe him while he works with the speech therapist. My heart aches at the site of his frustration. He has so much to say, but simply can't. On more than one occasion I have wiped tears away before greeting him with a smile in the hallway. It's easy to feel defeated. Jackson isn't the only one who gets frustrated by his lack of speech. John and I struggle, too. We are praying for progress. We worry that we aren't doing Continue Reading
Purpose of Pain
I've been reminded lately that there is a purpose for our pain. Through conversations with friends, messages on Facebook, and my prayer list, God has shown me good comes from the trials and the valleys we walk through. It's during the hard times that He prepares us to be His hands and feet to the world around us. We become more compassionate. We pray with all our might. We are equipped to walk beside those who find themselves facing the hard stuff that we have overcome. I've watched Continue Reading
Through My Lens
Recently we spent an evening on my alma maters campus. It was the perfect place for a toddler to run off some energy and explore. I took my camera in hopes that the tulips had bloomed. With each click of the camera, I captured a gift. Looking through the lens I saw God's glory in a new light. As I counted gifts He reminded me that even if my bank account is low, my life is overflowing with gifts that money can't buy. Ann Voskamp writes, "The ordinary becomes extraordinary when the eyes see Continue Reading
What is Success?
It's something I've been tossing around in my head - this idea of success. My idea of success doesn't often aline with God's. I feel successful when I blog at least three times a week, get more followers on Facebook and Twitter, and watch my platform grow. I don't think it's enough that I wrote a book. Shouldn't I be working harder to promote it? A Facebook friend and fellow writer posted something the other day that was like a breath of fresh air to my striving soul. She wrote, Continue Reading