Five.

Merry Christmas from the Lambs: Mark, Erin,Ryann Cate, and Waiting Patiently for #2 from Ethiopia.

**Way behind on posting, so let's all pretend the date on this post reads December 1, 2011**
To our Daughter,
You have been on my mind so much this month. Christmas is a time for family. We consider you already a part of our family and felt like we had to represent you in our Christmas card this year. Ryann wanted to put your name on the card as well,but we don't know what we are going to name you yet, little one...although Ryann has a different name for you each week. The name of this week in Ryann's mind is Jane, after the little girl in Mary Poppins, one of her absolute favorite movies. We all actually love the name, Jane, but we are waiting to officially "meet" you(get a referral) before we decide on a name for you. We talk about you so very often, Ryann and I often wonder and talk about what are you doing at a specific moment.She told me just today, that she (Ryann) is getting to be such a big girl and will help me out all the time with you when daddy travels all over the world. That is a good thing about this long, long, long, wait...Ryann is growing older too. She is understanding more. Throughout all of our conversations about you, she seems to be "getting" it. It truly is a beautiful thing. A precious reminder, that my timing is not "it". I like neat little boxes, checklists that correspond with my timeline for my life. But, Nope, that is not what the Lord has for our family. He has called us to adopt. A process that definitely is not in a neat little box with a neat little checklist. And that is a good thing. A very good thing. It is leading us to YOU. A question I got a lot this Christmas was if we thought that we would have you by next Christmas 2012. I had to say over and over again,"I don't know." That's the truth, I have absolutely no idea, and I am okay with that, today. The Lord knows...and He has proved over and over to me that His ways are best and "it"