Fieldcrest Drive

so...our street-  have I ever mentioned our street?
(I know-  this is a blog about our adoption...hold tight!)

Our street has about 10 houses on it (practically speaking).  We live in Lake Highlands, in a neighborhood mixed with original home-owners and young families (for the most part).  There are a few families with college-aged kids, but for the most part, it's either the older or the younger (wow-  I can't believe I'm considered to be part of the "younger!!")
ANYWAY, on our street, the Matlocks are the only original homeowners left.  The rest of the houses on our block have been bought (within the last 5 years) by younger families.
In 8 houses, we have 20 kids...under the age of 9.  It's awesome.  And crazy.  And really, really great.
To be honest, it's one of the reasons that we decided to adopt-  definitely on the + side.  The love, comradery, and community are invaluable.
 We play outside.  Our kids run in and out of yards.  We watch one another's kids, trade recipes, pray for one another, have parties, shake our fists at the teen-agers who drive too fast, play in sprinklers, send kids to time-out, and give out kisses, band-aids and popsicles.

And then there's Mrs. Mary Jo and Mr. Gibb Matlock.
Oh how Mrs. Mary Jo loves our kids.  She delights in them.  She did a "talk" about birds in her backyard for the kids on our street-  complete with a tape-recording of bird noises and stuffed birds.
She gives out hugs and tells the kids that she loves them (and that if they want to run away, they can run to her house).
Mrs. Mary Jo went to the University of Texas.  She was a Kappa...she still goes to reunions with her Kappa sisters every year-  isn't that sweet?
Just tonight, she called to wish us a Happy Easter.  She always says, "God bless."  And she means it.
She told me that she met some women at her church who had relatives in India...she asked if it might help us get a baby from India.

I told her that we were so grateful that she was thinking of us...but that we were going a different direction.  We were hopeful about adopting a child from Russia.  (more on that later).
Mrs. Mary Jo was great.  She said that she's been praying for us, and she would continue to pray for us.
I told her that we thought we had such a great plan(in adopting from India), but that the Lord promises that He will give us "exceedingly, abundantly more" when we trust in Him.  So, we are trusting in Him.  And we are heading towards Russia.
Mrs. Mary Jo told me that she sometimes has difficulty trusting in the Lord.  I told her that I do, too.  She said that her biggest sin is that she sometimes gives things to God...only to take them back again.
Me, too.
I love that Mrs. Mary Jo shared that with me.
I pray that I would grow more bold and more authentic....like Mrs. Mary Jo.

Of course, she ended the conversation with, "Happy Easter...God bless."