We Are MATCHED!!!!!!!

I burst into tears when I typed those 3 words to title this blog. I can't even wrap my head or heart around it. We. are. MATCHED!!! It feels like a dream! After 4 years, 2 months, and 2 weeks of waiting for Kate, we are finally MATCHED with a beautiful little girl in Thailand!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!

"The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him... "

~ Lamentations 3:25

Kate Jackson

Birthdate: January 19, 2013

Age: 3 years and 3 months

Height: 39 inches

Weight: 30.8 lbs

Place of Birth: Thailand

On Monday morning we saw our daughter for the very first time. I cannot put into words what that moment meant to us. To finally see the beautiful face of the little one we have been dreaming of for 50 months was absolutely surreal! I have cried an ocean full of happy tears, and Rusty and I have gone to bed each night this week with faces that hurt from smiling too much. We are overjoyed!!!

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with JOY!"

~ Psalm 126:3

As anxious as we were to see our Kate when we got the email - I am so glad that we took a few moments to wait and set up our camera. Thanks to our GoPro, we were able to capture the moment when we saw her for the first time, and I cry again every time I watch it. I am so glad that someday we'll be able to tell our little girl that we wanted her before she was even born, and show her that we loved her from the first second we saw her!

I wish more than anything that I could post her photo for all of you to see here and now - but we cannot share her photo* online due to regulations from Thailand. I will tell you though, that she is absolutely gorgeous! I could have never imagined that we would be lucky enough to be Mama and Daddy to such a darling child! She has the prettiest pouty lips you've ever seen, the loveliest almond shaped eyes, and sweet brown sugar skin. She is wearing pigtails, a red and white polka-dotted dress, and standing with her knee cocked "just so" in a dainty little pose! With one look - she has completely stolen our hearts!

We cannot stop staring at her photo, and have even printed and framed a copy already (that we may or may not be carrying from room to room in our house!) She is the background for both of our phones, and we are guilty of gazing again and again with a dreamy look in our eyes. I caught Rusty looking at her Monday night in utter adoration. When I asked him what he thought he sighed and said, "This is love at first sight." Friends... we. are. SMITTEN!

We've been amazed at how obvious it is that God hand-picked this little girl just for us! We have three pages of information on our daughter, and it reads as if she was our biological child. In the words of the orphanage staff, she is "chatty" and "self-willed". (Sound like anyone you know? ;) She is cheerful and smiles a lot... playful and friendly. She can play alone - but prefers to play in a group (our little extrovert!) She shares generously. She loves to listen to music and dance to the beat, and she loves accessories! (Apparently she examines all the jewelry visitors wear - especially necklaces.) She has a lovely Thai name (we will be keeping part of it as a middle name, though we haven't decided which part). One part of her name means "flower", and her Thai nickname means "rainwater". Kate is smart and a fast learner. She's also healthy - and the few minor health issues she has dealt with in the past are all, strangely enough, things that run in my family! (What are the odds?!)

About a year ago, as I was sharing some anxious thoughts with a friend about our adoption, I was given some very good advice. She told me simply, "You can't miss your child." She knew that no matter how the timing went for our home study, or matching - God had chosen a specific child for us, and us for her, and He would see to it that we were together someday. My friend was SO right. There are many other details I cannot share at this time that show His hand was in this match. We are incredibly grateful to witness the evidence of His work. This is definitely our little girl, and we already love her so much!

We know that we have had hundreds of people praying for our adoption for the past 4 years - and we can't thank you all enough for praying us through to this moment. We could not have made it this far without the love and support of our family and friends - and we need you now more than ever! Please help us pray our little girl HOME! The typical timeline for travel is 6-12 months (with some cases taking even longer). But the Lord has been speaking to my heart for a few weeks now, and I've been telling Rusty that I think we're traveling in August. (Even before we were matched, I just knew it was going to be August!) It's CRAZY I know - but something in my spirit just won't let this go. So we are believing God for a MIRACLE - that we will be going to get our baby girl sometime in August (just 3 months from now!) Will you pray in faith with us? We have already missed the first 3 years and 3 months of her little life, and we do not want to miss another moment!

"With man this is impossible, 

but with God all things are possible."

~ Matthew 19:26

"You are the God who performs miracles; 

you display your power among the peoples." 

~ Psalm 77:14

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

~ Matthew 21:22

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for 

and assurance about what we do not see."

~ Hebrews 11:1

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*If you see me or Rusty out and about, or any of our immediate family members - feel free to ask to see Kate's picture! We'll be glad to show her off and tell you more about our darling little girl!