hannah is coming to africa with us

we decided early on that we wanted to bring rebekah, joshua and bailey with us when we brought our sons home.

like, REALLY early on.

but we haven't had to REALLY think through the logistics of that until now.
and, wow.

it's gonna be CRAZY-TOWN!!!


NONE of our kids have flown.
we don't even own suitcases that work.
and we are going to pick up 2 boys in africa that don't know us and don't speak our language.

yes.
pat and i are pretty confident, strong people. but...
i think we need some help.

we've mentioned it to my sister a couple times during this process.
kind of just, "if we decide we need to bring someone, we'd love it to be you. but, we'll see when the time comes."

well, the time has come.
decisions need to be made.
shots need to be gotten.

so, i told her over the phone, that we would love her to be there.
BUT, there is a REALLY big piece of the puzzle...she leaves on june 28 for south america for 4-6 months.
right.

we have NO idea when we're going to get our referral or travel.

we just asked her to let us know what her thoughts were...what the circumstances would need to be for her TO come with us...and then we could start figuring out the other plans we would need to have. all the "plan a", "plan b", "plan c"...was keeping me up at night. a LOT. i almost had a panic attack while i was swimming laps one day. i wouldn't recommend it. it's hard enough to breathe when you're panicking...but when you're swimming? it's even harder! you might choke :-)

well...yesterday i was sitting on the beach and my cell phone rang. we are at the beach with the fogarty's and there was lots of craziness going on around me...so, when i saw it was hannah on the phone, i walked a little ways away and answered it.

i sat down on the sand, facing the raging ocean that rolled onto the sand and soothed my soul with the reminder of His power all week and talked to her.
and listened to her.

she basically said, "i've thought about it and talked to those i needed to talk it through with and i am coming with you to africa no matter when you go. no matter what the circumstances are. there is no place i'd rather be."

i burst into tears.

i blubbered through thanking her over and over and over.
the peace she has granted me has already been such a gift.
i can sleep!

i'm not sure i've ever felt so indebted to someone.
and unworthy of their love and sacrifice.
{besides Christ, of course!}

hannah is coming to africa with us.
to help us as we give our older 3 children an experience they will never forget.
and to help us bring our sons home.

this story just gets deeper for me all the time...i'm not sure how much deeper i can go without breaking in half.