meet boudin

Last Sunday, our church had a special Celebration of Freedom service that left us done with our morning by 10:30 which gave us a perfect opportunity to go replace D's soon-to-be-falling-apart khaki shorts. While out shopping, we drove by Pawmetto Lifeline, realized that it was an animal shelter, and held on while D did a doughnut in a nearby parking lot.

About 45 minutes later, we left with Miss Boudin.

You see, we've been wishing for a dog. We're dog people. We spent many hours over the first couple years of marriage trying to agree on what kind of dog we would want to have. We were hoping to build a fence as soon as possible before we got a dog. That was until we fell in love with our girl Bou.

At the shelter,  they take you through the aisles of kennels and then allow you to "meet with" certain dogs. First, this is heart breaking. Can I take all of them home? After I remembered that I couldn't, I knew I wanted to see the pretty red pup with the curly ears. Especially since I gasped the first time I laid eyes on her.

They put us in a little room. It's like we were waiting for an interview. Please like me. Please please like me. They brought Boudin and all of her fifty pounds of spunk in. She put her butt in my lap and nuzzled us and nearly chewed through her leash. What seemed like thirty seconds later, we were writing a check and subsequently spending our life savings at Pet Smart like overly concerned parents.

A week later, we've started a habit of obnoxiously referring to one another as mommy and daddy. We've discovered that she's a champion sleeper with a preference for extra soft surfaces. She's wonderfully low-maintenance, a great traveler, and mighty smart. I love the way she paws at you when she wants a little more love, and I'm kind of obsessed with her crimped Barbie ears.

Bringing Boudin home. 

Crashing our nightly prayer time. 

Excuse the finger. I have little control of my limbs while running. 

Boudin take the wheeeeeel.

Snoring like a champ. 

michael and many more

When we attended Secret Church about a month ago, we received the privilege of celebrating with Dr. David Platt as he announced to the 50,000-person audience that they were officially adopting a beautiful baby girl from China. The confirmation had come just that morning.

A few weeks later, Dustin sent me the link to his blog which documented their adoption journey to meet Mara Ruth. This is another time that I am thankful for technology. I'm thankful that he has the means and is willing to share this step-by-step process with us.

This quick post of mine isn't to express an opinion about their journey or adoption in general. It is simply to pass on the story of the few children and a teenager that he mentions in one of his last posts.

Even if this only causes a few more pairs of eyes to encounter Brandon, Bobby, Michael, Paul, and John, it is worth the extra awareness. I encourage you to keep on sharing! Tonight I will go to bed greatly burdened for these children - especially Michael. And I will wonder why I get to experience the love parents and siblings when I am so undeserving. Dustin is right when he reminded me that we are blessed to be a blessing, and we will continue to pray for the Lord to reveal what that looks like in our lives. Even though I wish, possibly more than anything, that we could adopt this nearly 14-year-old boy right this very minute, I know that the Lord's timing is perfect. If nothing else, we can pray - with heavy hearts - for Michael and the others.