You know what I'm thankful for?

'count your many blessings, see what GOD has done'

'For this reason, I kneel before the Father'

1. JeffCo Social Workers ~ As much as Jared and I may gripe about 'the system', the more I see of the process and these birth parents, the more I admire the people who choose to make this their life's work. So many people say to us, "I don't see how you do what you do." (The answer is truly, we don't, by the way. God does it all.) I found myself saying the same thing to Mini-Man's worker yesterday. As foster parents, our main focus is taking care of the children. Tough? Perhaps. But the SWs handle the messier end of the deal. They are the ones who have to deal with birth parent drama and scheduling home visits and birth parent drama and writing reports and birth parent drama and on and on. And thus far, in our experience, they do their job exceedingly well. Much love to Tara, Demetia, Sabrina, Faneisha, Tandra, Matthew, and all the incredible workers that we will have the pleasure to work with in the future.

2. Desiring God Ministries' iPhone app ~ I can not express just how much listening to the Word preached during those middle of the night feedings has strengthened my heart and encouraged me to press on. Losing sleep loses some of its sting when I'm having truth spoken to my heart. Too, its never too early to implant God's Word in little hearts. Sometimes I think Mini-Man may be focusing on John Piper's voice....then again, it could just be the sleep-deprivation haze. :)

3. My beautiful, precious, sweet friends and family ~ These sweet gifts from the Father have encouraged me more than I could possibly say. From meals, to prayers, to diapers, to clothes, to providentially-timed emails, to smiles & laughs....Jared & I are so very blessed to have all of them. 

*Cute conversation*
Jared donned his Cam  Newton jersey for the first AU game of the season, and our sweet children said....
"Newton...Hey, just like Sir Isaac Newton!" ~ Rach
"Yeah! Maybe they are in the same family!" ~ Noah
"I don't think so buddy..." ~ Jared
"Cam is dark-skinned and Sir Isaac was not." ~ Me
"So? God can put dark-skinned and light-skinned people in the same family." ~ Rach
"yeah, He put Mini-Man in ours!" ~ Noah