100

This week is a personal celebration of sorts for me. This week I'm celebrating 100 babies that I've helped though adoption.

100 families I've walked with on their adoption journey.

100 families who added the joy of a little one.

100 babies who found their forever families.

Each of these faces represent an amazing story of how God worked to bring them home. Of God's perfect timing. Of God's sweet kindness. And of God's crazy miracles. If you ever want to read more of their stories, you can find almost all of them here. Grab a mug of something hot and some kleenex. I promise it will be worth your time.

It's been a joy to walk with each of these families. I've had the privilege to counsel them in hard times, cheer them on when they wanted to give up, cry with them when things were hard, pray with them for God to show up, and celebrate with them when those prayers were answered. I've been in hospital rooms with them, introduced them to their little ones, and spent countless hours encouraging them on the journey. 

Some of these sweet faces I see in church on Sunday mornings. Some of them I see at restaurants or shopping around town. Some I see yearly at "Family Reunions." And others I watch growing up over social media and pray I get to meet and hug them and their parents someday.

My families probably don't know that with each of them, I can remember exactly where I was the moment I had the privilege of telling them they were matched. Having the chance to tell someone they're going to be a mommy or a daddy are memories etched into my mind. When calls like these need to be made, I make them as soon as I'm able. I've been working in my dining room, playing with my kids on the playground, or on my way into the grocery store. My families have been in their office at work, vacationing in the Bahamas or Paris, and on their day to a pro hokey game. There's often astonishment at the other end of the line, laughter, and almost always tears.

I feel incredibly blessed that this is my job. As in, this is how I help put food on the table and send our kids to school and keep the utilities going in our home. But doing this? Having the opportunity to partner with families in kingdom work is truly amazing. 

Today I'm celebrating these 100 amazing little ones (some not so little anymore and many not pictured) and their families. And I'm eagerly anticipating the future and what it will hold working with 100 more...