You're not going to believe this...

Oh my goodness, God just keeps blowing us out of the water with the coolness of His plans!!! Listen to this...(and get ready for chill bumps!)

Let me first backtrack to about 1 and half years ago, when Jody and I were trying to decide where to move. We were moving to Madison because our oldest would be starting school, and we really wanted to be in the Madison school district...and we really wanted a little more space too! :)

Well, I was determined to move to this one neighborhood that I loved, but it just wasn't working out. But I was still determined, aka STUBBORN! Jody had really wanted to look at another neighborhood in north Madison, but I was not feeling it...at all! My determination (stubborness) kicked in at a whole new level! And it wasn't pretty!

But you know what? God soon broke me of that. I had been reading "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George with my girl's book club at church.  Wouldn't you know that right about that time, we got to the "submission" chapter?! Well, once again, God used a book to rock. my. world.

I knew that He was telling me I needed to submit to Jody...and specifically, about the neighborhood in north Madison that I had not wanted to look at. God told me I needed to submit to my husband and begin to open my mind and heart to a different neighborhood, that was not a part of MY plan. Oh, this is hard for someone like me who likes to try to "take control". But I knew that God had a different plan than mine, and His plans are always WAY better!

So...we ended up building a house in that neighborhood...and of course, I LOVE IT! We love the area, the neighborhood, our house, the friends on our street, everything about it! Love it! Truly, it has been a huge blessing in our lives!

This past Tuesday, I contacted AGCI to see if there were any families from Mississippi that had completed an Ethiopian adoption through their agency. Answer? Nope. Not one...BUT, she said there was one other couple from MS that was a little ahead of us in the paperwork process. I was so curious to know who this couple was and where they lived, but I didn't ask...I just wondered.

Well, yesterday afternoon, I get a call from a good friend of mine, that goes to a different church here in Madison. You know what she told me? There is a couple at their church that is adopting from Ethiopia, with AGCI!! Do you know where they live? Yep! IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!!!

Remember, I just introduced you to the Smith family in my last post, that are starting the process to adopt from Ethiopia!! Where do they live? In our neighborhood!!

So get this, AGCI has THREE couples now from the entire state of MS that are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia, and THEY ALL LIVE IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD! Now, seriously, there is no way that is a coincidence...that is GOD!!! WOW! He never ceases to amaze me! Everday I am blown away at HIS plan that is unfolding!!

Well, let me introduce to you the Braddy family!  We are all going to try to get together this week! This may just be the beginning of our adoption fellowship group that I have been wanting!!

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9