Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Happy January, everyone!

January is a pretty special month around here. (It's also a pretty sad one; if you search back to last year, you'll see what I mean, but I'm not going to talk about that today. Only happy thoughts today!) What's so special, you ask? Well...let's see...


  • My nephew,J, was born at the end of January! I think he's the one who started all this January goodness. :)
  • Andy and I began dating at the end of January 12 years ago. In fact, this exact week 12 years ago, I couldn't get a certain friend of mine off my mind. I was a sorry case. Last Saturday marked the 12th anniversary of the phone call he made to me, asking me out on our first "official" date, after knowing each other for six years. Sunday marked the 12th anniversary of me knowing I was going to marry said friend. This Friday/Saturday will be the anniversary of that date. And the rest, as they say, is history. Glorious, wonderful, fulfilling history!
  • We moved to Wyoming at the end of January. Oh my! What an awesome blessing that was! My mom used to say there's nothing in Wyoming but sage brush. I'm here to say there's sage brush and beautiful, loving people who would literally give you the shirt of their back if you needed it. I am deeply humbled by the friendships we made there. I long for the people there, who treated us as family. But, as one of them wisely pointed out to me, they are always with me, even if they aren't nearby.
  • We learned about a certain little baby waiting for a home at the end of January. In an email marked Jan. 28, 2003, (still saved) I read the words that would change our lives:
Dear HopeToAdopt members:
I have recently been contacted by an agency director who is in desparate need of adoptive families. 
There are currently three infant babies with no families. All are African American and healthy. There are two male infants ages 3 weeks and 8 weeks and one female infant that is two weeks old. If you think you could be a family to one of these infants please let me know as soon as possible.
Nate was that 8 week old boy. We met him two days later and brought him home two weeks later. And, because of that wonderful day in January, we got a wonderful day in April three years later, when the same agency contacted us about adopting Nate's little sister, who was due the next week. 


You never know how one day will change your life. One phone call, one email, one decision. I am forever grateful for the moments I have leapt forward, not knowing what lay in the darkness. As Mom used to tell me, "Sometimes you have to move forward and trust the path will be opened before you." Most of those moments of blind faith, for me, have been in January, oddly enough.  So, happy January, everyone! Isn't life marvelous?

3 comments:

  1. This is beautiful and inspiring and a lovely tribute to your family. Happy January, Mary!
    ~Bekki

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  2. Thanks, Bekki. :) I think YOU are beautiful and inspiring! Happy January back! <3

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  3. Thanks for helping us to remember that we all need to acknowledge the successes we have and not just dwell on the challenges.

    ReplyDelete

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