Gung Hay Fat Choy

Monday was Chinese New Year! Since it's a 15-day celebration my post is still timely! My how things have changed since the last Chinese New Year. This time last year we were smack in the middle of the adoption process with Margaux. We were busy gathering paperwork and preparing for our home study. We celebrated Chinese New Year by eating some spring rolls and pot stickers, along with a heart-shaped cookie cake (remember here). We spent our time thinking about Margaux and how she was ringing in the new year.

Flash forward a year and we are in a totally different place. This year we didn't really celebrate Chinese New Year here in Drosche Land. We mentioned it to the boys in the morning, Amy and I reminisced about last year, and we did talk about Margaux. She still is, and always will be, a part of us and she does arise in conversations occasionally. I know over time this will lessen but she will always be there. For whatever reason, we may never know, Margaux was placed in our lives, even if only for a short time. What I do know though is that God has a master plan, both for all of us here in Drosche Land and for Margaux. I trust that he has found her the perfect family and she is much-loved and well cared for.

Meanwhile here in Drosche Land we are eagerly awaiting another little girl, our Stella. An answer to our prayers, His answer in His (not our) time. We are nearly halfway through the pregnancy and each day I am more and more eager to meet her. To bring her into the nearly finished nursery and dress her in the pinks, purples, sparkles, and bows. I know that in the scheme of things it will fly by, but currently it seems to be trudging along!

2012 is the Year of the Dragon. Since our Stella will be born in this year I thought I'd research what people born in the Year of the Dragon were supposed to be like, what characteristics would they embody? What I found made us laugh and made me even more eager to meet her. Free spirited and uninhibited. Creative, colorful, flamboyant. Extroverted. Enthusiastic bundles of energy with big ideas and living on a grand scale! Oh my! If this holds true then Stella is sure to be one fired little girl. So far the pregnancy has played out somewhat like this. It has certainly been new and, at times, trying adventure. Research of the years each of the rest of us was born makes me think Stella will definitely keep us on our toes because we do follow the descriptions of our Chinese zodiac counterparts!

Well, I fear this email has become long and random and maybe that's ok. I've just been doing a lot of thinking about God's plans for us and all of the many blessings we've been given! I think our lives, and everything we've gne through and will go through, can be summed up by the Bible verse I've mentioned so many times here on this blog and one that we live by here in Drosche Land: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Amen!

All is well, gung hay fat choy, in Drosche Land.