Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

The past month has been amazing. I'll just list a few of the highlights. There have been a good deal of "regular" things that are encouraging in their normalcy, and I don't want to overlook them, but these are the things that have stood out since the holidays.

• I was privileged to attend the inauguration of President Obama in Washington DC. It was cold, crowded, and simply an amazing day.
• In Super Bowl XLIII, the Pittsburgh Steelers triumphed in one of the best games in SB history.
• One Tuesday in early February, Christina and I got the call that we had been chosen by a birth mom. 

While the first two are exciting, the last item is changing our lives. That call had been eagerly anticipated, and sometimes despaired of ever coming. In an instant, so much changed. So much of the self-doubt, and questioning, the despair, and the feeling that good things happened to other people, but not to us, all vanished. Not to say that there aren't still struggles, but this has certainly increased my consideration of "All things work together for good..." The widespread and enthusiastic rejoicing that we have felt from all our friends, has been a soul-soothing experience. Our families are ecstatic, our friends are so happy, and it all adds up to one of the most enriching experience of our lives. There's still lots to be done, and adoption always carries a certain amount of risk, but we are stepping out of our comfort zone and striding towards the next phase of our life. That feels so good, and a little different than life has in a while.