Finally Finley.

You can rest a little easier, friends: Finley Grace is finally home.

I've shared so much of her story here on this blog, that I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out the best part. After years of hoping, waiting, and dreaming, our dear friends are now adjusting to a new normal, to life as a family of five.

We couldn't be happier for them.

Photo Credit: Lindsay at Love is {in Pictures}

Welcome home, Finley Grace! 
We're so glad you're here!

Celebrating Finley Grace.

We threw Theresa a little shower the other night. Nothing big and fancy -- no cute little sandwiches or exploding diaper games or polite conversation -- after all, those are the types of showers you reserve for regular, beautiful, according-to-plan, 9-month-long sort of pregnancy.

And if you are familiar with Finley's story at all, you know this has been no ordinary pregnancy. It has been a four+ year long, brutiful, roller coaster sort of experience. The good news: it is coming to an end very soon. Steve and Theresa received their second travel call this week (!!!), and they will be traveling back to South Korea to pick up Finley Grace at the end of June. Gotcha Day is June 25, and their plane will touch down back home on July 3!

In light of their adoption story, we decided a slightly non-traditional gathering featuring a big SURPRISE!, appetizers, martinis, and lots of girly (toddler) goods might be more fitting.

The surprise went off without a hitch. Theresa seemed a little shocked that she had no idea, until I kindly reminded her it's not hard to pull one over on her jet-lagged, Traumatic Adoption Disorder-ed self these days.

Theresa opened each girly gift with a good mix of terror and excitement, slight confusion and joy, shock and awe. One little girl coming soon to a very boy-filled home near you! Theresa is the last of this group of friends to have a baby girl, so we all had fun picking out those must-haves (and the frivolous stuff too!)

And in traditional girls' night style, we solved a few of life's pressing issues, such as which side of your face is your "good" side. (Real Simple says to cover half you face, look in the mirror, and then cover the other side. Whichever side has more upturned features is your "good" side, and thus, the side you want to angle towards the camera. You're welcome.)

One of the last items on the adoption check-list is now complete. Celebrating Finley Grace. Check, check. We are so excited to meet you, Finley Girl! Come home soon!

South Korea + latte love.

My friend Theresa is in Korea right now. Two days ago, she got to hold her little girl for the very first time. My heart is so happy for her, for Steve, for Finley, who has a wonderful family who can hardly wait to bring her home. They still have some more waiting ahead of them - prayers, please, for a court date happening next week - and another trip to finally bring her home sometime in the {hopefully} near future. I know I have shared some of their story on my blog before, so for more updates, you can head over to Theresa's blog here.

They are 13 hours ahead of us, over in South Korea, but we are able to get a little Facebook chatting in during the evening hours and the morning hours. Last night I had one of those nights... Matt was working late, one kid was giving me attitude, one was being less than truthful, and one had had a potty accident... again. And the house was a mess and the kitchen sink wasn't working properly... and so on.

This morning, there was a knock on the door. It was Theresa's mom, holding a vanilla latte... for me... from Theresa. Even thousands of miles away, she's still My Person. Even in the midst of her own joy and sadness, she's still thinking of ways to bless others.

Thank you, T. You are the embodiment of what it means to love others well. Come home soon! We can't wait to meet your precious little girl!

Dear Finley Grace.

Dear Finley Grace,

Once upon a time you lived far, far away from your forever family. Your mommy and daddy and your big brothers longed for the day when they could hold you in their arms and bring you home. You see, they loved you from the very beginning, even before you were born. They hoped for you and waited for you and your mommy was breathless the day she got The Call, the day they sent your picture. Your mommy and daddy took one look at you and knew in their hearts that you were their Finley Grace.

They had to wait such a long time to meet you, Finley Grace, much longer than they had hoped. So while they waited, they worked and they played and they laughed and they cried and they took care of your brothers...and then they waited some more. And all the while you were never far from their thoughts or prayers.

And here's the thing, Finley Grace, something I want you to know. It wasn't just your mommy and your daddy and your big brothers who waited and waited, it was also your grandmas and grandpas, your aunts and uncles, your cousins, your neighbors, your friends from church, your home team. Everybody wanted you home.

Then one spring day, your mommy got another call, after waiting for four years, after holding your picture for 18 months, a call that said they should travel to meet you. Your mommy and daddy were so, so excited, but also a little sad because this wouldn't be the trip to take you home.

Now your mommy and daddy always knew their would be one big trip to pick you up and take you home, but they didn't know there would be two. In order to get to you, they had to get on a big airplane and fly across the ocean, and tickets for big ocean-crossing airplanes cost a lot of money. And while your mommy and daddy would have moved mountains to get to you -- they would have sold everything they owned if they had to -- we (your mommy and daddy's friends and family) didn't think that would be quite right.

So we did what we thought was the next right thing: we threw them a garage sale. Now there's the kind of friendship that brings you a meal when you're sick or shows up in the hospital in the middle of the night when you're scared. And then there's the kind of friendship that throws you a garage sale. Someday you might throw your friend a garage sale and then you will understand: we loved your mommy and daddy that much. We loved YOU that much.

So for weeks, we gathered books and shirts and toys and lamps (so, so many lamps) from people who wanted to help and then for days (and even some nights) we sorted and dusted and stuck little fluorescent stickers on everything so people would know a picture frame cost $1 and a pair of shoes cost $2.

And then we tucked ourselves into bed, weary and tired, but happy knowing we were doing something to help bring our Finley Grace home. We woke early on garage sale day and posted signs all over our town and hauled table after table out of the garage and before we even had time for a quick snack, they came, Finley Grace, they came. Person after person streamed up the driveway, many just looking for a bargain, but many because they knew your mommy and daddy, because they knew they had been waiting for so long. Many people came who didn't know your mommy and daddy or you at all, but they still wanted to help which blew us away.

They bought armloads of things and they often paid five or even ten times the amount they owed. They said things like keep the change. They told their own stories, they shared kind words, they offered hope. They wanted to see your picture, Finley Grace. They wanted to hear your story.

Your mommy's friends showed up to help too. They bagged purchases and rotated goods and endured swarms of vicious mosquitoes. Other friends came out just to say hello and brought us treats. One friend even brought us iced lattes when she realized we hadn't had time to eat. (One day when you are a grown up lady, Finley Grace, you will understand the power of the random-act-of-kindness latte.)

At the end of the garage sale, we had raised enough money for those expensive airplane tickets. We could hardly believe our eyes. In the midst of the hard and the long, God had breathed goodness right smack dab into the middle of it, right in the midst of a somewhat dirty garage filled with cast-off kitchenware and home decor. God had used your mommy and daddy's community to remind them that they were not alone. God had used strangers to show us that we are all connected.

I'm telling you this story, Finley Grace, because I want you to know something. I want you to know that even though the world is sometimes hard and long and scary and sad, there is still so much good in the world. If you look closely, you can see the good all around you, often in the eyes and the hearts and the hands of others. I hope you will learn to spot the good, to recognize the good, to applaud the good. I hope when you grow up you will be someone who finds ways to share this goodness with others.

You see, Finley Grace, the good in the world, the goodness of God, it will always be a part of your story, beginning in the chapter entitled Bringing Finley Grace Home, and then woven throughout the rest.

You are loved, Finley Grace, and God is good. Never forget these things.

With much love,
Ms. Katie

Friend Love {introducing un.tied}

Over the past few months, I have had the honor and the privilege of watching something come to life in the hands of a dear friend - something that at first was nothing more than a dream and a what if? - something that today is a very cool, very creative, very beautiful reality.

I am thrilled to be able to introduce to you un.tied.

Introducing Em- /em/ industrious, striving; eager

The word "friend" doesn't do justice to what Theresa means to me. You know those people you meet in life who you instantly connect with...the ones who make you wonder what you ever did without them? 

Why yes, we are rocking skinny jeans & tennis shoes. In a hammock. In the woods. At night. 

Theresa is my running buddy, my partner-in-crime, my soul sister. We are different in my many ways {she plays the Golden to my Beaver} and similar in other ways {among other things, we share a love for silent, ridiculous laughter, #hashtags, Coach Taylor, and a good martini}. 

Over the course of the past year or so, Theresa has been on a journey - a self-proclaimed path towards finding her true self. She has sat in the brokenness, wrestled with the tension, and slowly but surely untied her story.

Theresa's party of four - soon to be five!

In her words:

As I have untied myself and my story, bit by bit, piece by piece, I am finding the beauty that lies within myself. I am finding that with each wound there is a glorious chance of redemption and with each lie the possibility of truth. Slowly, I am putting my true self back together and relishing in the work of art God has designed me to be.

Her vision then, has been to take something broken, like old neckties, and name and reclaim them for a greater good. Bit by bit, piece by piece, she has created something beautiful.

Introducing Merideth- \m(e)-ride-th, mer(i)-deth\ noted ruler. 

Each of her pieces is handcrafted with great care and love {if there is one thing you should know about Theresa, it's that she's all heart} and then named because each piece carries a story, just as each of us does.

Furthermore, in naming them, Theresa wanted to represent the orphans and in the world who appear nameless and are desperate for a person to tell their story. Those who have been named all along by a God who is merciful and created them to be his one-of-a-kind child.

Introducing Sophie- \s(o)-phie\ wisdom. 

You see, adoption is very dear to Theresa's heart because her and her family are currently waiting to bring their beautiful Finley Grace home from South Korea. All profits from un.tied sales will go towards bringing their daughter home.

Introducing Finley Grace!

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I would love more than anything for Theresa to feel supported and encouraged as she sets out on this new endeavor. Whether you know her personally or not, I think we can all find something in her story that resonates with us.

Please feel free to send her a virtual (or non-virtual...she accepts hugs too) high five - follow her blog, like her Facebook page, favorite her Etsy shop, or make a purchase. 

{un.tied blog}
{un.tied Facebook page}
{un.tied Etsy shop}

Introducing Gabrielle \gab-rielle, gabri(el)-le\  heroine of God.

Today I celebrate a friend who has put in the hard work, followed her heart, and focused her talents, gifts, and true self towards making the world a better, more beautiful, more authentic place. Friend love indeed.