The Lucky Ones

It was a beautiful sunny day on the beach. Bethany was just shy of one and crawling all over the place. My friend Tiffany came over to help me prepare a traditional Nicaraguan meal. We were several weeks away from leaving on our mission trip and Tom and I were hosting the team for dinner and our last team training. The menu was rice and beans, fried plantains, churassco steak, tortillas, tres leches cake, and mango juice. I didn't soak the beans long enough and scorched them. The smell of burnt red beans filled our house as we started the beans again. The second time was a success and the meal was delicious.

Our training was led by some friends of mine from Tallahassee and it was just the preparation and inspiration we needed as we prepared to go. The team was amazing and being together that day made me excited for the trip. It was a wonderful day.

It is only now, almost two years later, that I can fully appreciate how wonderful that day really was.

On that day, at the team training, God was preparing my friends Missy and Adam for something greater than a one week mission trip. They had no way of knowing at the time, but during that trip they would fall in love with a little girl. Before even stepping foot back on US soil they would know in their hearts that they were to pursue her adoption. Last week, after an incredible but long journey, Missy and Adam became parents to that little girl and her older sister. I was at the airport to welcome them home. Missy has been my constant companion in this adoption journey. Even though our process has been different, we have found understanding in each others' words as we have supported each other on the journey. It was a joy to be there and watch as they started their life as a family of four this past Friday. All because they trusted God.

This story gets even better.

God was also preparing Tom and I that day for something greater than a mission trip. While I was burning red beans and frying up plantains, a little boy had just been born in China. The day of our team training was the day little Caleb entered this world. Somewhere between going over the trip itinerary and drinking my last glass of mango juice, our family grew by one without us even knowing it.

Some people tell Missy and I that our adopted children our lucky to have us. Can I tell you a secret?

We're the "lucky" ones. And besides, I don't even believe in luck.

There are millions more like Caleb and Missy and Adam's girls. Maybe you'll be the next "lucky" one?

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