The Vanilla Tree

I had come prepared to connect with god, and with the fresh idea of possibly having a new brother or sister. I wasn't prepared though for this strong of a connection to God.

Not long ago, I got the great opportunity to go to Samuel school. I got the chance to go spend the weekend with friends and with the greatest person of all time. We spent time together. I grew, and grew with people who I knew would help me along the way.

We took walks together. We walked through the trees. We walked through pines and oaks. My favorite tree though, was the one that brought all this around.

I told you I had a dream that let me know that we should choose to adopt, but I didn't tell you how I knew that we would get the kids for sure. I was taking a walk with two friends through the trees to go visit "the vanilla tree". (a tree said to smell like vanilla) Of course, it smells like vanilla. It had bark that just seemed to flake off. The bark was like puzzle pieces and we soon became intrigued with finding pictures or animals in the pieces of bark we removed. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

I pulled off a piece of bark and stared at it. A bulge towards the top left, a "horn" toward the middle on the right side. AFRICA?! As I examine it closer, I find it has the exact shape of Africa. Exact...down to the last little coves! It even has a dent in the bark chip right where Kenya is! How much better does it get? The wind picked up and sent a chill through out my body. I can honestly say I thought I heard my name whispered in the wind.

That night Rachelle was the speaker and she was talking about how maybe the little coincidences in our life, such as having a song in your head and then singing it at church or hearing it on the radio, is God trying to talk to us. Now you know, in some way, we will get those children. God works in wonderful ways, I have proof of that.