a whole new world

So if you've followed my blogging at all you know that i'm a firm believer that ALL things are part of the bigger plan. With that said, I am yet again amazed at how God has connected me/us to another family 1/2 a world away.

This is how it came to be....

While at dress rehearsal on Monday evening i reviewed my email and was deleting many when i came across one whose subject line read "11 host families needed". I opened the email and there was an expressed urgent need for host families for foreign exchange students. I didn't bother to open any of the profiles but for some reason didn't delete them either. Tuesday morning, I went straight to the email. I opened the profiles one by one, read through them all but kept coming back to the very first one I opened. Ekaterine from Georgia. I can't explain what specifically drew me back to her profile but I've learned to not question those things anymore. After reading through all the profiles I asked Andy if he'd want to host and didn't even get to finish expressing the need when he was quick to answer YES! I asked him again, sure he had misunderstood the question. Again, he said "yes". I awoke Kat and mentioned it to her and without hesitation she too said YES! Matt was at work at the time so he had no say. With that said all have expressed an interest in being a host family for sometime so I felt certain that he'd be on board!

Who to host?!? I had Kat make the final decision. I had her look at a few profiles that I had narrowed down and was sure to not express my preference with her. She too chose Ekaterine. With the decision made I made the call and spent the next 48 hours jumping through the proverbial hoops to get things in order so that our newest family member could join us!

"No, we're not going to accept anymore exchange students" that was what was said when I registered the kids for school and we were in the middle of processing. "no" ugh! he had to be kidding!. With a deep breath I encouraged him to be prayerful and I chose to be optimistic! As the day progressed I received a bit of encouragement from another host family and more 'hoop jumping' took place.

Noon 7/31 came the "YES" we had hoped for! With a 5pm deadline for application/placement and ticketing, the limits were being pushed! We were in an approved, holding pattern! And then word....Done & Done! Home visit will take place on 8/2 and we'll receive contact info.

7:00am 8/2: Andy awoke me with a phone call and I anxiously checked email hoping there would be something from/or about her but not sure what. AND THERE WAS! Happy is an understatement. She's beautiful, seems outgoing, and I can't wait for her arrival!

After our chatting I was also able to chat with her father! He and her mother are so excited and nervous for their daughter. This is for sure going to be a most memorable experience and living it out will be a blessing for sure.

God has made this possible without a doubt! And it's going to be so fun. A half a world away two families are joining and an amazing adventure is about to take place!

hold on .....here we go!