Party of Five

It is with grateful and humble hearts that Andrew and I announce our family is growing by one.  We are adopting a baby girl.

Ashby London will be the new addition to the Shull family :).

Almost 3 years ago, the Lord really started working on my heart and telling me that we needed to adopt an orphan from another country.  When I first mentioned this to Andrew, we had a 26 month old and a 10 month old...obviously, he thought I was a little crazy (Andrew's testimony about adoption is here!).  Over the last 3 years, we have been so prayerful about this decision, but it's with 100% certainty that we know God is calling us to bring this child into our family.  We began the official adoption process at the very beginning of June but feel like now is the time to share it with you :).

Because of the sensitivity of international adoption and the fact that my world is pretty darn public, we are not saying at this time where she is from.  At some point, we will fill you in on all of those details.  We are hoping and praying to have her home with us by next fall...but honestly, only God knows when our family will be complete.  

We had originally decided to wait until our new home was completed before we started the adoption process (because only crazy people build a home and adopt a baby simultaneously)...but God had different plans.  We are in the middle of both processes at the exact same time.  If you ever thought building a house was tricky, you should try adopting.  It will kick your butt.  No lie.  But knowing that this new home will be for the Shull five makes everything all worth it.

Please understand something...God doesn't call everyone to adopt.  Everyone has a different purpose or calling from God.  Some people are called to be missionaries, some people are called to be pastors, some people are called to work with children, some people are called to drive minivans...everyone has a different calling.  Our calling was clearly to adopt.

For me, I prayed and prayed to have kids for years.  I struggled with infertility, I had a miscarriage, my heart was completely broken.  Then God gave me everything I wanted.  He gave me a daughter and a son.  Both of my kids are healthy...both of them are pretty perfect.

But over the last 3 years, I kept coming back to the scripture in the Bible that talks about the parable of the talents (or bags of gold).  I kept thinking about my life.  Had God given me exactly what I wanted and was I just going to sit on it?  Was I just going to take what I wanted and then not do anything else? (Matthew 25:14-30)

I don't want to be that person.  I feel blessed to have received everything I wanted so to speak (my two kids) and now God is calling me to step out of my comfort zone and do something to further his kingdom.  He's calling us to do more.  And so here we are.  We are neck deep in paperwork...we are using words like dossier, home study, and immigration every day (while at the same time ordering lumber, windows, and flooring...it's craziness I tell you!).

I have no idea what the future holds.  I have no idea what God has planned for my life and the life of my sweet little family.  But I do know this...my life is going to be wonderful if I follow God's will.  It might not be easy.  It might not be a lot of fun sometimes...but it will be wonderful because it's what God wants for me.

Tomorrow, I'm posting Andrew's side of this story.  Believe it or not but this whole adoption thing did not come easily for him.  God is moving in our family.  Please pray for us and for our new daughter Ashby.

And yes, of course she has a British name :).

And we can't forget about our Stella & Dot giveaway today!  The winner is
Marianne Gleason!
Congratulations Marianne!  I will email you about your prize this morning!


And on the menu today, my Quick & Easy Cinnamon Rolls...

 Happy Friday everyone!