It hasn't even been a month since our last blog update, but it strangely feels more like a year after all God has done in our hearts and lives. . . This is a really inadequate way of explaining it, but the past several weeks have kind of felt like one of those amazing suspense movies where the end completely blows your mind. You didn't see it coming, but now that you know the ending, the entire movie makes sense, and you want to go to starbucks and talk about it for hours and unwrap every detail, because it was just. that. good. God has been preparing our hearts for years for this journey He has set us on. It was a bit of a surprise to us, but now that we are here, we have been able to look back and see how His hand has clearly guided each and every step that has lead us to this point. It has been an overwhelmingly beautiful thing to be able to feel His spirit move in such an evident and tangible way. There are so many divine details in this story that we will share soon, but we can't keep the news to ourselves any longer! . . . We have our beloved and precious daughter!!!! Meet Penelope Joy Allen. . . We. Are. Overjoyed!!!!!!!! And SO grateful God lead us to this precious girl! (Hey guys, Jason here!) . . . There is something you need to know about our Penelope. Something that is really hard for us to know how to bring up. Something that we don't know exactly how to share with others, because God sees it so differently than we do. Here it is: She is created by God and CHOSEN to be in our family. That feels so good to get off our chest. . .We fully believe God chose us to adopt her from the moment we saw her profile. Oh, and Penelope also has down syndrome, which is a beautiful part of her! We aren't loving her in spite of her down syndrome, we have chosen to love her, as down syndrome is a part of who she is. Can I speak honestly for a second? We have had this ongoing fear about how to tell people she has down syndrome. Do we tell them at all, or just let them find out? Do we just announce it and get that portion over with, so its not a secret that we don't know how to bring up? Honestly, we don't know the right step, but we do know we don't want her to be ashamed of ever having it, so we don't want to talk about it as if we are ashamed either. She has down syndrome, she is so happy, clearly learning, and so beautiful. It is a part of who she is, but it is not who she is. We know how much joy she will bring to our lives and others. Every part of her will be used by God to advance His kingdom. We only want to be a family that lifts her up on that journey. What a blessing for us!!! We are excited to bring her home to be with our family! Another blog post explaining how God lead us to this decision coming soon :) "No, I will not abandon you as orphans - I will come to you!" John 14:18
1 Comment
Rachel Archer
5/27/2017 01:20:13 pm
Wow! What a wonderful journey your family has beeen on! So proud of the COURAGE you both have to accept the journey you were meant to take. Love you both and keeping you in my prayers.
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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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