We are Grafted In
My post on discovering holiness through my growing love for sweet Myles is featured over here today. Pop over and check out We Are Grafted In, a blog site that is connecting adoptive families. Thanks!
Our Story
For Eternal Good {more on marriage}
The truth that this two becoming one is for eternal good was an aha moment in our marriage, the understanding we needed in order to focus on what was really going to transform us. For so long we had been trying to appreciate and engage his needs-my needs and how we can work toward satisfying one another in love. Yet the true longing of our hearts is to be fulfilled by the Father, satisfied by his love. If we listen to this heart cry, we will take our needs and attention to the author and perfecter of our faith. And […]
We’re So Glad We Did
Her day came on August 18th. Five years old and full of life. With no kitchen and daddy head down in the remodel, the day passed without much fuss or frolic. But still, we laid in bed and told her birth story like we do for all the children on their special day. And we giggled at how we stopped for a big breakfast in the city while contractions were increasing in strength and frequency. And we remembered how before we took that two hour drive, our family of five piled into bed together at 4:30am to savor the last […]
Discovering Holiness
I watched him playing today. From the kitchen window as I washed the dishes, he catches my attention. His agile body swiftly running through the grass, away from the older brother who threatens to tackle. His giggle is darling. I can’t hear it through the pane, but I know the sound by heart. It’s not often the colors of our family are noticeable to me. Yes, we’re white, brown and black. But to me, we’re just us. The Manrys. Pieced together by the Lord, held together in love. It never seems exotic or interesting or unusual, the way our family […]
Praying Surrender Today
It’s been easy to trust until now. There’s been distance and unknowing. Like a story you’re writing and I’m telling about someone else. But now my eyes have seen. My arms have held. And this changes everything. I know myself. My flesh will try to protect my heart with guard. My mind will wonder and doubt. My spirit will cling (maybe too tight) to the story. You know better than I how I like things my way. How I’d rather fail myself than for others to disappoint me. How I hold tight to what defines me and resent what challenges […]
When things come full circle
There’s a sense of wholeness. Completion. For the present somehow points to the beginning. The now is deeply connected to the then. And the moment we find ourselves suddenly intensifies. Because the story reads rich as we remember together where God took us to, where he’s brought us from, and the place we now stand. A full circle. Of experiences. Of community. Of journey. Seven years ago in May, our family traveled for the first time to Uganda. One month. Three kids. And a baggage of anticipation and anxiety. This wasn’t just any visit. It was a “we’ve never been […]
Grace in Death
Five years ago today we faced tragic death. Oh, how an instant can change everything. How one event can alter the future of many. Just a normal day at our home in Uganda. And a ring of the phone just like we heard so often. It wasn’t a greeting or a message or an invitation. It was the panicked voice of a wife who just got word her husband, our friend, was in an accident. And he wasn’t alone. Together, with our teammate Adam, he had traveled to purchase coffee beans on a mountain just a few hours from our […]