The past couple months have been filled with a lot of sleepless nights here at the Allen house. Our sweet Paisley Jane has been struggling with teeth, and has a strong need to be cuddled in the wee hours of the morning. I'm not going to lie, and say I have been enjoying this "only getting a few hours of sleep" season, but in the middle of those long nights as I am rocking my baby girl, God has been speaking to my heart. I have really felt like Penelope has needed my prayers, especially on those nights where Paisley seems to be wide awake for no apparent reason. It has made me appreciate the simple fact that I am able to hold and comfort my girl when she is sad, and it has broken my heart knowing that I am not able to do the same for my other daughter during her first few years of life. This makes me soul ache, but it is this ache that leads me to pray for her more, and to ask that God would be the one to wipe the tears from her eyes when she is crying from the pain of teething, and to be the arms that hold her when I can not, and to give her sweet heart comfort when she is hungry or lonely or sad and no one is able to come to her aid right away. So in turn I am so thankful for all the sleepless nights, and times of quiet to pray! On one of the nights that I was feeling heavy for Penny, it helped to do some online shopping for some treasures that we will be able to send her once we get matched with her. I knew I wanted to get her a verse swaddle blanket, and found one that perfectly said what I have been praying over her. I posted about it on instagram, and the next time I saw one of my dearest friends she had it for me. . . Oh the tears!!! So thankful knowing this verse is true for Penny! And I am also so thankful for our precious friends! We couldn't do this without them! And speaking of precious friends. . .This past weekend, our church was a local host for the IF: Gathering in Austin. As always, the conference was amazing! This year we had an ambassador for Noonday set up a table so the girls could buy stuff throughout the day to support artisans around the world. Little did I know that they were also supporting me. . .They had some drawings throughout the day, and I was so excited to hear my name called, but when I got to the stage to claim my free bracelet, they said they hadn't really drew my name. They instead, had a surprise for me that everyone was in on. The women of our church had all been sent emails, and were told that 20% of all the profits they made from what they bought during the IF: Gathering weekend was going towards Penelope! Y'all! I just immediately burst into tears. How amazing is that? I just can't tell you how much it means to have such a supportive church, and to have so many people rally around you, and do what they can to help you bring your daughter home! They are sharing Jesus love with our girl before they even know who she is, and it makes this mommas heart nearly explode with gratitude! What makes this even more amazing, is that last year at the IF: Gathering, we were given dominos to write 2 things we felt like God was calling us to do, and look what I wrote on mine. . . Before this point, Jason and I knew we were called to adopt, but we were going back and forth between domestic, and international, and didn't feel like we had clear direction. It was at the IF: Gathering that I felt God pull my heart towards international adoption, and to see what He has done in just a years time is just incredible. He gave our hearts peace about China, He lead us to an agency that shares our hearts cry when it comes to why we are adopting, He sent us a social worker who worked in an orphanage in China for 3 years, and adopted a little girl from China herself, and then exactly a year later from when He tugged us in the direction we were supposed to go, he blessed us with this precious and wonderful financially surprise from the women of our church! Wow. SO thankful for the sweet assurance He has given us through each step of our journey so far, and for the amazing village of people He has surrounded us with! To Him be all the glory and praise!
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AuthorI am a proud stay at home momma who unashamedly instagrams way too many pictures of her kids, loves decorating, Christmas, and coffee, and has a small obsession with Gilmore Girls. Archives
May 2017
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