She makes us THREE | We're adopting!

I want to introduce you to a very special little girl! This is our precious daughter, whom we are in process to adopt! It is crazy to think that we didn't know of her existence a month ago... and then four days after an unexpected late-night phone call, she came home.  

“our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on that which we are waiting for.”

— Charles Stanley Ross

O sweet girl, we have waited and prayed for you for so long. You were well worth the wait. My heart is so full. Our joy is great.

In our culture, we want instant gratification and answers. We want it, want it now and want it our way. But this isn't how God works. He loves us too much to reward our tantrums and foot-stompings.

As a loving father, he teaches his children to trust him. He teaches his children to have patience and to be thankful in all things. He asks his children to bring their worries to him. He shows his children that he is quick to comfort and support. 

He teaches his children contentment—in both the asking and the answer.

In waiting, there is contentment. In hoping, there is still contentment. In infertility, there is contentment. In trusting God with your tender heart and your big dreams, there is rest and contentment.

I don't know what you're waiting and praying for in your life, but I want to encourage you to unfurl your white-knuckled grasp and place your heart's desire in the gentle and loving hands of God. 

If I know one thing about God, it is that he is good. He is good and he wants what is best for you—sometimes this looks differently or comes at a different time than we might think is best. He is worthy of your trust and he knows even better than you what you need. 

If you're interested in following along with the unfolding story, check out my personal Instagram (@andiejael) or my Insta-story on my photography instagram (@avisualanthology)!

Summer Garden Greens

I've never really been the gardening type. Don't get me wrong, I love botanical products and greens on my dinner plate and in my smoothies, but the actual working of the dirt has never been my forte. In fact, my thumb is anything but green. I kill cacti and air plants. Basil plants hate me.

My husband, on the other hand, loves working the ground. He can grow anything. So, when we started our garden from seed, I had no doubt that he would be able to make fresh, green food spring up... so long as I didn't bring my brown thumb into the equation. 

Taylor is the kind of man who loves hard work. He has strong and calloused hands that till the earth, and with those same hands, he delicately plants seeds and cares for the tender shoots that spring up.

I love those hands. I love this man. 

One Year Anniversary!

Last week, Taylor and I got to escape and get away to our honeymoon spot! It was the most wonderful way to spend our one-year anniversary! We were so refreshed by the crisp mountain air, a cheery fire in the fireplace, sizzling bacon in the mornings and the endless breath-taking wonders to be seen in ever direction!

We spent every morning sleeping in, multiple afternoons racing about on quads and most evenings cuddled up by the fire with our books in hand. 

Ladies, I would like to share something with you. Every day that I wake up beside this man, I am reminded that God is good. Yes, He is faithful and good. He knows me, my needs and my weaknesses better than I ever will—He knows yours too. Though waiting is hard, please, please, please know... it is so very worth the wait to be with the man that God brings in His good time—no matter how long and hard the wait. 

A few years ago, I resigned myself to settling. I decided this, despite the fact that I knew with every fiber of my soul that God was asking me to loosen my grip and release my future and my love life into His care and orchestration. 

Mmm, no, thank you, God. I'm just fine. I found a path that that will work just for me. Besides, it's not worth the drama and heartbreak that would surely ensue if I gave it into Jesus' care! I'll make do and I'll be happy. 

I am stubborn, but God is patient. Over the next six months, the Spirit steadily spoke to me so gently and patiently saying,

I am the architect and caretaker of your heart and soul—Trust me, child. Give the broken pieces into my hand, that I might make them into something beautiful. 

I ignored this sweet, clement voice. I was resolute. I was too deep now to turn back without experiencing the agony and chaos resembling that of a collapsing star. 

Then, all at once, I was given clarity to see that my soul was lying in a heap in the midst of the road I had stubbornly chosen. I was exhausted from carrying a weight so heavy.  I had no idea why God was asking me to give up the one thing I thought was 'in the bag'... but He was. 

"These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith—they are waves that wash you further upon the rock—they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see, yet all is well since ruled by Thee." —Charles Spurgeon

I had little faith. In the moment I realized this, I also realized that when much grace is needed, much grace is given. I needed it—badly.  So, to make a long story short, I will just tell you that I let it go. My shoulders felt bare with the absence of my weight. I had forgotten what it felt like to breath.

I was a soul that had fallen apart, but that He has pieced back together! I'll be honest and tell you that the process and choices of trusting and faith can be quite tedious and uncomfortable, even excruciating at times. But, oh! The joys of seeing your failures and dead ends being transformed into something beautiful is beyond description! It is JOY.

Jesus is a carpenter who makes beautiful things. He makes masterpieces out of fallen trees.

Like I said earlier, every day that I wake up next to Taylor, I am reminded of the goodness and faithfulness of my Jesus. I am reminded of that grace He gave to trust. I am reminded every day that I don't know the best plan for my life, but God does. 

A lesson that I have learned: if God ever tells you to drop anything  to follow Him—it is always worth it. Don't hesitate. Do it.

You don’t have to understand God to trust Him. Restoration and peace are His specialty. He will be your refuge and your strength. Right now, quietly turn to Him. He is waiting.