Anyone else have a tendency toward loving (even expecting?! 😬) instant gratification? 🙋🏽♀️ How do we look at the seasons (the fruitful and seemingly not fruitful) of our lives differently? How do we embrace the long, challenging winter seasons? @jenniferdukeslee and I chat about it all in We Are Free Ep. 063 - Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart ✨ LINK IN BIO ✨ Jennifer says, “Time is our friend,” and rather than fighting it, there’s so much goodness, healing and harvest that comes from Growing Slow. Whew! I needed this one. Can’t wait to hear what you think 💛 
💛 3 years 🧔🏻👩🏽👧🏻 We’re a family built from surrender and prayer. We grew from grief and ashes. Not just Jesse and me, but all that transpired on the other side of the world without us knowing. Sometimes adoption is romanticized. But the truth is our sweet girl traded comfort and familiarity in her orphanage and all the mamas who we believe loved her well, for us, two strangers, eager for their new daughter. We tried our best to immerse her heart in a new love that would someday become her safe place. We’ve been adoring her for three years, some might think to a fault. But when God’s entrusted you with a brave little soul who’s endured more than we can ever fathom, you take it seriously. You pursue her tender and tentative heart, over and over again. You delight in her. You do all you can to show her she is chosen. As I look at photos from our first hours and days and months together, it’s so apparent what love and intention can do in someone’s life. Over the years, God has transformed our beautiful girl. And He’s not done yet. Jesse and I are just instruments in this glorious redemption story. What an overwhelming honor it is to feel the fullness of God. To be used so clearly and specifically by our creator to take on his greatest mission: loving those who need it most. Three years in and I still can’t get over that I get to be her mama. I don’t think I ever will. Happy family day, sweet girl. Your life is so incredibly important. You are deeply loved and oh so adored 💛 Photo: Vera’s first time swimming with us in China, about a week in to being a family. #weloveyouveramuch 
Seeds sprouting. Bougies in full bloom. Enough sun for sprinkler runs. And this girl, who smiles with her eyes. #getaftergrateful #weloveyouveramuch #babiesandbougies 
I never thought I’d be in my late 30s, raising a baby and aching for more. But, here we are. A scalp sprouting gray and the two of us transported back to six, seven, eight years ago, when we first encountered the beast of infertility. Except now, the biggest miracle we’ve ever witnessed sleeps down the hall. She’s also someone I never would have imagined. Better than any hope or dream. God is funny, surprising and kind like that. So, as we sort through the options and all the ways we could possibly bring her brother or sister into our lives, into our home, I’m trying to remember...I’m trying to play the scene in my head and heart over and over again where God and His glory come out on top. Not the one where I whine, plead and beg and get what I want. But the one where the desires He’s given me and eternal impact meet face-to-face in slow motion, and then beautifully, inexplainably collide. And I’m so lucky because this time around I have proof He is ABLE because He’s already lent me one of his precious, most beautiful children. This all sounds so optimistic and like I’ve got my head on straight. But I think we can all agree, that we often know the right answers but can’t always feel the bright light of those truths in the hidden places of our hearts. Sometimes, it’s dimmer. Darker. Harder. Since I’m opening this door out loud now, I have a feeling you’ll hear about some of those things, as we wait. The spectrum of feelings on this one is wide and deep. So unlike me, I know 😉 But, I’ve said it before we ever knew of our girl and I’ll say it again: EVEN IF our family stays a trio and this specific ache is never satisfied, He is good and I will praise Him all of my days. 💛 #freetocomeundone