A new chapter for the Johnson family

In the midst of all the photos and chronicles of our daily lives, we occasionally have news to post that seems waaaaay more significant than just the typical "here's our trip to the aquarium" pictures. This is one of those posts.

For the past several years, God has been preparing our hearts for something big. We have been praying about fostering children or finding some other way to pass on the amazing love of God and our family to others. The way we figure it, God has filled our home with an abundance of love and blessings; we can either store them up for ourselves or share them with others. The result is that we have become willing to do whatever God wants us to do.

About two and a half months ago, God placed before us the opportunity to adopt a newborn baby girl! After about a month of praying, dreaming and talking about the possibility, we came to feel certain that God has called us to invite this precious little life into our family.

The birth mother is a cousin of a dear friend from Texas and she is without a doubt the most heroic young lady we have ever met. She is one of those extremely rare young moms who is choosing to do the very best for her child, even though it is very difficult. We feel so very blessed to get to minister to her and to her baby in this way. We are doing this as an "open adoption," so we will be able to stay connected with the birth mom as the baby grows.

We plan to name the baby Madeline Kate (Maddie Kate), which is a nice, Georgia-sounding two-part name. She is due to be born in early October, though the doctors are telling the birth mom that she is very likely to come early.

At any time over the next five weeks, we are likely to get a phone call with a voice on the other end saying, "It's time!" We'll load up six in the mini-van and take a 16 hour road trip to Texas. Within the week, we'll find ourselves heading back to Georgia with seven.

We can't believe this is all happening, but God is walking through every detail with us. We look forward to updating our blog with more details in the very near future.

In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers. We're ready to start spoiling, loving, and blessing this precious new life that God has made. Pray that we have the patience to wait for her to get here!

More later....