Mercies

Every morning Evie and I start the day off with a simple little reminder. I tell her that God's mercies are new each day. Really, it's more for me than it is for her! If I ever forget, Web always asks me if I've remembered to tell Evie "that thing you always tell her". Well, today as we began our journey to bring S home, God so faithfully reminded us of His mercies. Thanks to a red eye flight, we experienced two mornings all in a single day, which meant double the mercies!

Our "first morning" was simply hanging out with our little ones. We shared cinnamon rolls and got in lots of hugs and kisses! I knew it was going to be hard to leave, but God was there with us, loving us through it! The only tears that were shed were mine, and I kept them at bay until MiMi and Pops had all the kids loaded up in the van for a trip to the pool! As we waved goodbye, they were all smiling, and this was such a sweet mercy!

The second mercy was an indescribable surprise at 35,000 feet somewhere over the Atlantic. Pictures can't do this beautiful sunrise justice as God reminded us once again that His mercies are indeed new every single day. Our day of traveling, despite a 10 hour flight followed by a 7 hour layover, was very smooth and much easier than the last time we made the trip. This is a huge mercy!!! Will and I were both dreading that horrible jet-lag feeling we experienced on our first trip, and so tonight we are extra grateful for how this day went! We are tired, but so glad for a chance to get unpacked and settled in the hotel in Sofia before we leave tomorrow afternoon for S's hometown! We'll be back here Monday afternoon with our newest little girlie, so it's a blessing to have had this time tonight and tomorrow to get our room set up and ready before she comes back here with us! It's also a huge blessing that we'll get a good night of sleep tonight and a chance to sleep late in the morning! :) It's been a while since that has happened!

It feels so good to be safe and sound here in our hotel! It feels so good to have gotten text messages throughout the day telling me how well the kids have done! Most of all, it feels so good to know without a doubt that God's mercies carried us through this day! I can close my eyes tonight and rest peacefully knowing that tomorrow morning there will be new mercies just waiting to unfold! I can't wait to share them with you!

Thanks for your prayers! Today you can pray for Will and I to have a restful night and get caught up on some much-needed sleep! You can also pray for Web, Palmer, Hank, Barrett, and Evie that they will continue to do well and not be sad and homesick! Finally, you can pray for S! Little does she know that in 2 mornings she will wake up and forever have her life changed! Pray for her little heart as I know the Lord is preparing her for this much anticipated Gotcha Day!!! Tomorrow is her last day of 6+ long years in an orphanage.

The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassionate never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.

Lam. 3:22-23
XOXO,
Melanie