Have a blessed wordless wednesday!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wordless Wednesday...Mr. Cow
I just love this progression of pictures, I only wish there was sound to go along with them. You can't see him but our little man was talking and waving to a HUGE cow! Enjoy this wordless Wednesday!
Monday, October 17, 2011
September 15th, 2010...
September 15th, 2010...
The day began much like any other. I woke to the annoying sound of the alarm and I slowly pulled myself out of bed. I rushed to get ready for work, made a quick cup of coffee, grabbed my keys, kissed the hubby and headed out the door. The drive from home to work took an average of 45 minute, a long time to think and pray. It had been over a week and we patiently waited for news. As much as I hoped for good news, my heart was prepared for the worst. We had been down this road before and had become a bit guarded. Each process takes with it apart of your heart, needless to say apart of my heart will always be in El Salvador and Taiwan.
I had spent the night prior in prayer, the Lord had some "heart surgery" to do on me, but that is for another blog. I had a new outlook this morning and my heart was at peace. The rush of adrenaline from the prior weeks events had worn off and we were in a holding pattern, as we had come to call it. I knew if the answer was no it was not a punishment, but rather just another part of our adoption story.
Settling into work I did my best to concentrate. It was 8:00am and I was in full swing with my daily routine. About 9:20am my cell phone began vibrating, it was our adoption councilor. I flew out the door and down the front steps to the same place I had stood for each of our conversations. I held my breath and answered. On the other end our sweet adoption councilor, whose peaceful and pleasant demeanor could be felt through the phone. We made pleasant conversation, I paced back and forth just waiting for the news.
Finally the moment came, I could feel my heart begin to race. This was it. A moment later she said perhaps the 3 most amazing words I have ever heard:
"She chose you..."
Immediately I feel to my knees and began weeping. Few things are etched on my mind like that moment. 7 years of waiting, hoping, longing, praying had come to this moment in time. I could not have scripted it better, only the power of a mountain moving, awe inspiring, jaw dropping God could have written our story so beautifully. I apologized for being so taken by the news, I could hear her smile through the phone and in a shaky voice I could tell she was rejoicing with us. She asked us to keep the news quiet (with the exception of family) until she could speak with the families who had not been chosen. She explained the details of the impending birth and additional meetings with the birthmother. As excited as I was the reality of adoption kicked in and the warnings of the potential for the birthmother to change her mind. She gave me time to ask questions and then we wrapped up our conversation. Hanging up the phone I simply could not believe what I had heard.
I collected myself and quickly dialed the hubby's number. He answered and immediately the tears came rushing in. I uttered the words as best I could "Your going to be a daddy, she chose us"! I wish I could have seen the look on his face (hindsight for all adoptive couples, be sure you tell your spouse in person) but I can still hear his shaking voice today "Wow, really, wow. Thank you Lord". For those of you who know my hubby, he is a man of many words, however in this moment he had very little to say. I relayed all the information to him as best I could and we prayed together. I truly believe we were both so in awe we simply were at a loss for words, we just couldn't believe it.
Much of the rest of the day remains a blur. I remember calling family, finishing out the work day (I still have no idea how) and heading home early to celebrate. Finally around 7:30pm we received a call from our sweet adoption councilor letting us know we were clear to tell everyone....and tell them we did :). One day I am sure we will share the video with all you bloggy friends.
BUT...the story doesn't end here, in fact this really is just the beginning and if you thought this was awesome, you ain't heard nothin' yet! Stay tuned...
The day began much like any other. I woke to the annoying sound of the alarm and I slowly pulled myself out of bed. I rushed to get ready for work, made a quick cup of coffee, grabbed my keys, kissed the hubby and headed out the door. The drive from home to work took an average of 45 minute, a long time to think and pray. It had been over a week and we patiently waited for news. As much as I hoped for good news, my heart was prepared for the worst. We had been down this road before and had become a bit guarded. Each process takes with it apart of your heart, needless to say apart of my heart will always be in El Salvador and Taiwan.
I had spent the night prior in prayer, the Lord had some "heart surgery" to do on me, but that is for another blog. I had a new outlook this morning and my heart was at peace. The rush of adrenaline from the prior weeks events had worn off and we were in a holding pattern, as we had come to call it. I knew if the answer was no it was not a punishment, but rather just another part of our adoption story.
Settling into work I did my best to concentrate. It was 8:00am and I was in full swing with my daily routine. About 9:20am my cell phone began vibrating, it was our adoption councilor. I flew out the door and down the front steps to the same place I had stood for each of our conversations. I held my breath and answered. On the other end our sweet adoption councilor, whose peaceful and pleasant demeanor could be felt through the phone. We made pleasant conversation, I paced back and forth just waiting for the news.
Finally the moment came, I could feel my heart begin to race. This was it. A moment later she said perhaps the 3 most amazing words I have ever heard:
"She chose you..."
Immediately I feel to my knees and began weeping. Few things are etched on my mind like that moment. 7 years of waiting, hoping, longing, praying had come to this moment in time. I could not have scripted it better, only the power of a mountain moving, awe inspiring, jaw dropping God could have written our story so beautifully. I apologized for being so taken by the news, I could hear her smile through the phone and in a shaky voice I could tell she was rejoicing with us. She asked us to keep the news quiet (with the exception of family) until she could speak with the families who had not been chosen. She explained the details of the impending birth and additional meetings with the birthmother. As excited as I was the reality of adoption kicked in and the warnings of the potential for the birthmother to change her mind. She gave me time to ask questions and then we wrapped up our conversation. Hanging up the phone I simply could not believe what I had heard.
I collected myself and quickly dialed the hubby's number. He answered and immediately the tears came rushing in. I uttered the words as best I could "Your going to be a daddy, she chose us"! I wish I could have seen the look on his face (hindsight for all adoptive couples, be sure you tell your spouse in person) but I can still hear his shaking voice today "Wow, really, wow. Thank you Lord". For those of you who know my hubby, he is a man of many words, however in this moment he had very little to say. I relayed all the information to him as best I could and we prayed together. I truly believe we were both so in awe we simply were at a loss for words, we just couldn't believe it.
Much of the rest of the day remains a blur. I remember calling family, finishing out the work day (I still have no idea how) and heading home early to celebrate. Finally around 7:30pm we received a call from our sweet adoption councilor letting us know we were clear to tell everyone....and tell them we did :). One day I am sure we will share the video with all you bloggy friends.
BUT...the story doesn't end here, in fact this really is just the beginning and if you thought this was awesome, you ain't heard nothin' yet! Stay tuned...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Remembering 31...
Today is the day I mark another year gone and a fresh start to a new year, a new age, a new chapter. I can't help but think back on 31 and be completely amazed at what an incredible God I serve. I had no idea just how drastic my life would change over these 12 short months.
On September 7th, 2010 I woke up with hope in my heart and butterflies in my stomach. We loaded the car for an early morning airport run, our precious Katie Mae would be headed back to school. Looking back I don't think God could have orchestrated a more timely visit, Katie Mae kept me distracted when I needed it most. I don't think I could ever thank her enough for coming.
There was little traffic on the way to Dallas at 6 in the morning. It was dark out and our conversation was sweet, but my heart was beating just a little faster. We pulled up to the terminal, oh how I do love the airport. We gave our precious girl a hug, prayed for travel safety and sent her on her way. Once again we were off, into the jungle of rush hour traffic, with Plano as our destination and the ad*ption agency plugged into the faithful GPS.
The sun began to rise over the cars and it was apparent this would be a gloriously overcast rainy day. How I do love the ran. Our trip was fairly painless and we arrived in Plano early. We drove to the adoption agency to make sure we would be able to find it, the clock read 7:45am, we had under 2 hours to meeting time.
My precious husband who knows where my happy place is plugged, Starbucks into the iphone and we found one not to far away. The light drizzle of rain made it a perfect coffee morning. We grabbed the baby name book as we knew she may want to know what name we had chosen. We sat looking through names we had picked over 5 years ago, some we still liked, some we didn't. Little did we know that would not be the day we would choose a name. I sat slightly distracted by all the men and woman coming in and out to order coffee like any other day. Any other day was not today for us. Ever second that passed was that much closer and that much faster my heart was beating. Eventually it was time to head back to the ad*ption agency.
The rain was a little harder and the clouds had completely blocked out the sun. The closer we got to the agency the more anxious I was becoming. We pulled into the parking lot, spent sometime praying together and headed in. It was 8:50am. We met our ad*ption counselor who took us back to a room with windows that looked out over the rain and cars passing by on the busy highway. Thank you Jesus for those windows and the rain, I felt immediate peace. I glanced up at the clock 9:00am and remembered so many had committed to pray for us at 9:00am in my very first prayer party! To those of you who were apart of that party, words cannot begin to express my gratitude.
Our ad*ption counselor talked over a few details with us, she was a God send and such a source of peace during our entire journey. She made sure we were settled and stepped out for a brief moment. We knew the next time the door opened there would be another person walking through. The minutes felt like an eternity, I closed my eyes to pray for peace, a moment later I could hear the door handle turning. Our ad*ption counselor entered the room first and right behind her the person we had only heard about just 6 days prior.
I remember that moment as if it were yesterday, everything I had ever feared in a birthmother meeting was so far from the reality of that day. The walls of fear fell the moment this beautiful young lady with a smile that could light up a room, reached out to hug both the hubby and I. She had no hesitation and was elated to meet us. In that moment my heart was completely at peace. Our counselor opened up the conversation which felt absolutely no different than sitting with a member of your family, isn't the Lord amazing!
We were given the opportunity to ask the first question. I had prayed for days what the Lord would want us to ask, we had made a list, but the first thing God laid on my heart was a question that would impact this process more than we realized at the time..
"Tell us about you, what do you like and what are your hobbies?"
Such a simple question, but we truly wanted to know this precious person sitting across the table from us. She didn't know us but the more we sat there the deeper we were falling in love with her. As she spoke all I could remember thinking is "I get it Lord, I finally get it!". This precious person was no different than you or I, she is a precious daughter of God, just like me. Two different lives, brought together by the orchestration of a loving Father.
The conversation was sweet and before we knew it our time had come to an end. We gave her a hug and said our good byes. We talked with our counselor for a few moments and then it was time to go. I took two steps out the door, looked my rock of hubby in the eyes and said...
"It has to be her, she has to be our birth mother, it just has to be her!"
We knew she would meet several other families over the coming hours that morning, but as for that day I was on cloud 9. I had been changed forever by a young lady had never met.
Friends there are no words that could express to you what that morning was like for us. Perhaps that is why it has taken me so long to blog about it. Only now can I really think back and not be so in awe by God that I am at a complete lack for words. Whatever you know of open adoption, the horrors you may have heard, the fears you may have, the preconceived motives of a birth mother, we have been there and can tell you it is so far from reality. I shutter to even think we could have missed this, but that is for another blog.
To be completely honest I cannot recall the rest of that day, it just didn't matter. The best birthday present I was given was knowing I had finally understood what adoption was truly all about, the heartbeat of a Great Big God! Since that day my birthday holds a whole new meaning, the day I would meet the woman God would use to change my life forever, in so many different ways.
Don't worry this is not the end of the story, you will just have to wait until September 16th for the continuation. For now just know that my birthday present this year is sleeping away in his crib, I still cannot believe this life I am living is real. Only You Lord, only You!
Thank you for being apart of this past year!
hj
On September 7th, 2010 I woke up with hope in my heart and butterflies in my stomach. We loaded the car for an early morning airport run, our precious Katie Mae would be headed back to school. Looking back I don't think God could have orchestrated a more timely visit, Katie Mae kept me distracted when I needed it most. I don't think I could ever thank her enough for coming.
There was little traffic on the way to Dallas at 6 in the morning. It was dark out and our conversation was sweet, but my heart was beating just a little faster. We pulled up to the terminal, oh how I do love the airport. We gave our precious girl a hug, prayed for travel safety and sent her on her way. Once again we were off, into the jungle of rush hour traffic, with Plano as our destination and the ad*ption agency plugged into the faithful GPS.
The sun began to rise over the cars and it was apparent this would be a gloriously overcast rainy day. How I do love the ran. Our trip was fairly painless and we arrived in Plano early. We drove to the adoption agency to make sure we would be able to find it, the clock read 7:45am, we had under 2 hours to meeting time.
My precious husband who knows where my happy place is plugged, Starbucks into the iphone and we found one not to far away. The light drizzle of rain made it a perfect coffee morning. We grabbed the baby name book as we knew she may want to know what name we had chosen. We sat looking through names we had picked over 5 years ago, some we still liked, some we didn't. Little did we know that would not be the day we would choose a name. I sat slightly distracted by all the men and woman coming in and out to order coffee like any other day. Any other day was not today for us. Ever second that passed was that much closer and that much faster my heart was beating. Eventually it was time to head back to the ad*ption agency.
The rain was a little harder and the clouds had completely blocked out the sun. The closer we got to the agency the more anxious I was becoming. We pulled into the parking lot, spent sometime praying together and headed in. It was 8:50am. We met our ad*ption counselor who took us back to a room with windows that looked out over the rain and cars passing by on the busy highway. Thank you Jesus for those windows and the rain, I felt immediate peace. I glanced up at the clock 9:00am and remembered so many had committed to pray for us at 9:00am in my very first prayer party! To those of you who were apart of that party, words cannot begin to express my gratitude.
Our ad*ption counselor talked over a few details with us, she was a God send and such a source of peace during our entire journey. She made sure we were settled and stepped out for a brief moment. We knew the next time the door opened there would be another person walking through. The minutes felt like an eternity, I closed my eyes to pray for peace, a moment later I could hear the door handle turning. Our ad*ption counselor entered the room first and right behind her the person we had only heard about just 6 days prior.
I remember that moment as if it were yesterday, everything I had ever feared in a birthmother meeting was so far from the reality of that day. The walls of fear fell the moment this beautiful young lady with a smile that could light up a room, reached out to hug both the hubby and I. She had no hesitation and was elated to meet us. In that moment my heart was completely at peace. Our counselor opened up the conversation which felt absolutely no different than sitting with a member of your family, isn't the Lord amazing!
We were given the opportunity to ask the first question. I had prayed for days what the Lord would want us to ask, we had made a list, but the first thing God laid on my heart was a question that would impact this process more than we realized at the time..
"Tell us about you, what do you like and what are your hobbies?"
Such a simple question, but we truly wanted to know this precious person sitting across the table from us. She didn't know us but the more we sat there the deeper we were falling in love with her. As she spoke all I could remember thinking is "I get it Lord, I finally get it!". This precious person was no different than you or I, she is a precious daughter of God, just like me. Two different lives, brought together by the orchestration of a loving Father.
The conversation was sweet and before we knew it our time had come to an end. We gave her a hug and said our good byes. We talked with our counselor for a few moments and then it was time to go. I took two steps out the door, looked my rock of hubby in the eyes and said...
"It has to be her, she has to be our birth mother, it just has to be her!"
We knew she would meet several other families over the coming hours that morning, but as for that day I was on cloud 9. I had been changed forever by a young lady had never met.
Friends there are no words that could express to you what that morning was like for us. Perhaps that is why it has taken me so long to blog about it. Only now can I really think back and not be so in awe by God that I am at a complete lack for words. Whatever you know of open adoption, the horrors you may have heard, the fears you may have, the preconceived motives of a birth mother, we have been there and can tell you it is so far from reality. I shutter to even think we could have missed this, but that is for another blog.
To be completely honest I cannot recall the rest of that day, it just didn't matter. The best birthday present I was given was knowing I had finally understood what adoption was truly all about, the heartbeat of a Great Big God! Since that day my birthday holds a whole new meaning, the day I would meet the woman God would use to change my life forever, in so many different ways.
Don't worry this is not the end of the story, you will just have to wait until September 16th for the continuation. For now just know that my birthday present this year is sleeping away in his crib, I still cannot believe this life I am living is real. Only You Lord, only You!
Thank you for being apart of this past year!
hj
Start at the very beginning...
Can you hear Julie Andrews singing in the background? Though slightly different than the Von Trapp family, none the less here we are at the start of new blog journey. Many of you have been around for the plethora of blogs I have been doing a poor job of maintaining, so in an effort to keep up I'm combining them all into one.
Not to worry, Doodling Dragonfly (my craft/DIY blog) isn't going anywhere, that will stay solely a creativity blog. Our Life's A Hoot is all about our family, our ministry, our life and our passion, adoption. So stick around, you never know what you will find :)
hj
Not to worry, Doodling Dragonfly (my craft/DIY blog) isn't going anywhere, that will stay solely a creativity blog. Our Life's A Hoot is all about our family, our ministry, our life and our passion, adoption. So stick around, you never know what you will find :)
hj
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More Month 2
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| So peaceful! |
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| Loved that he looked like he was praying |
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| This beautiful blank came from his bio family, it is beautiful! |
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| Yes we did discover our tongue in November |
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| Best buddies, love my boys! |
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| One of mommy's favorite pics |
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| Lovin bath time, so relaxed. |
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| If only you could hear the noise that went along with this precious face! |
Where in the world are Patrick and Heather Janson....
Are you hearing the theme from Carmen San Diego yet? By now I'm sure you are among the few who are asking this very question. We haven't moved or disappeared, we have just been extremely busy. In short the Seminary I work for has spent the past three years preparing for their accreditation visit. Shortly before I returned to work in January I was asked to take the lead in planning all the logistics for the visit that would occur in MARCH!!! YIKES!!! This was a HUGE undertaking as these visits happen once every 10 years, so I was greatly honored to be asked and in January hit the ground running. To keep a very long story short, the visit went better than I could have asked after the countless hours of work that had been put into it.
To those of you who have faithfully been checking in THANK YOU! Now that life is starting to slow down we have a backlog of pictures from November to present day. So be prepared to see Jaedon grow before your very eyes!
Love you all,
Patrick and Heather
To those of you who have faithfully been checking in THANK YOU! Now that life is starting to slow down we have a backlog of pictures from November to present day. So be prepared to see Jaedon grow before your very eyes!
Love you all,
Patrick and Heather
Thursday, February 24, 2011
To keep you comin back...
Okay so I realize it has been some time since we last posted and I have SO MUCH to share, but time just doesn't permit. Life at work has been incredibly busy so every moment of free time I have I spend with Jaedon and Patrick. It does seem blogs take a back seat when life gets a little nuts.
So if you are still out there and checking in, please don't stop! There is some CRAZY EXCITING NEWS coming, you won't want to miss it. I promise the nursery, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Etc pictures are coming very soon, just bear with me.
To keep you comin back here are a few teaser's of whats to come....you just have to be patient ;-)
So if you are still out there and checking in, please don't stop! There is some CRAZY EXCITING NEWS coming, you won't want to miss it. I promise the nursery, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Etc pictures are coming very soon, just bear with me.
To keep you comin back here are a few teaser's of whats to come....you just have to be patient ;-)
Fun in Fall 2010
December 2010 - Jaedon's 1st Christmas
December 2010 - Christmas to remember
January 2011 - The Beloved Bumbo Seat
January 2011 - Strong little man
January 2011 - Hi Mom!
January 2011 - My first airline adventure!
With much love - The Janson's!
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