Last Night

Last night we joined our Pastor, his wife and their daughter for dinner at their home. We enjoyed some marvelous Thai food who their daughter ( a missionary to Thailand) fixed for us...it was great! We had a sweet time of prayer specifically for our travels/our children/ Sarah and Jody/our new child/the process in country and for us as we start the next journey in our lives...the hard part had yet to start. We were so humbled at their kindness to us. We needed this sweet time of prayer...thank you so much, we are so blessed by you!

Emotions

Boy...the emotions are flowing! I woke up this morning to behold the view of our lovely luggage staring me right in the face. This journey has been  a long road and now as the time approaches it seems things are happening so quickly...we were warned this was how we would feel. I am broken at the thought that the precious time with my children is counting down quickly...the thought to me is unbearable. So, this morning I fixed the kids breakfast and went back to bed to cry in my sorrows...the Lord gave me comfort and then I was better...I opened my computer to read a blog of a family who we have been following who are in country now....while at their visit this morning at their child's orphanage, a young mother came in crying and sit on the bench next to them in the play room where they were playing with the child they are adopting....tears were running down this young mothers eyes...a few minutes later a nanny brought a baby to this lady...she was the child's mother. The mother embracing and crying over her little baby, then pulled out an old film camera...the mom who is there adopting walked over to her to see if she could take her picture with her baby, she was able to get 2 pictures of them. The momma stayed with her baby for a short time longer and then the nanny came to take the baby away. This could have possibly been the last visit this momma will ever have with her baby. She obviously loved her baby and was broken over leaving her. I cannot imagine her pain as I get ready to leave my babies for a short time,  I know that Lord willing I will be returning to them. How quickly I am reminded to not judge these birth mommas as we know that children with special needs are sometimes shunned by their families..we also know that is not always the case. Sometimes these orphans are/were greatly loved by their families and through much much pain they come to the decision that in the best interest of their child, they give them up for adoption for many hard reasons we may not be able to understand so much in our own country. I have said before and still feel such gratefulness to our child's birth momma for giving her child life and giving us a child to love on, to raise and to call our own...that decision may have possibly been a very heart wrenching decision for her.

We are still here...

busy making final arrangements..thank you for your prayers. Pray this journey would unravel as smoothly as possible and that we will be back sooner rather than later. :)

We have come so far...

Soon I will be, Lord willing seeing the face of my child! It just does not seem real. I know when we behold his face (whoever he may be)...it will be worth it all...all the tears, all the prayers, all the waiting, all the challenges....He IS worth it all.

Our big day....

We have our date !! We will be leaving SD very soon in order to take our kids to Texas and then fly out several days before our appointment. The timing is perfect!! Praise the Lord. Now, off to book plane tickets and an apartment :)!!!

Tomorrow...

WILL (Lord willing) be our Big day!!! Our appointment letter is signed and ready for our facilitator to pick it up first thing tomorrow morning...I hope to hear from him by midnight tonight (9am their time on Wed.) Thank you Lord! Please pray it will not be way too soon (as we have to get the kids to Texas) but pray that it will be soon enough..The Lord will have His perfect timing :)Thank you for praying. NO sleep for me tonight!! :)

Sorry

to keep you hanging...the only new word we have is this...we spoke with our facilitator this morning who just spoke with the SDA and our date has been issued and is on the "high up" officials desk to be signed off on...we should have it at the latest mon-wed of next week...he said to be ready to travel quickly...I am thinking the very first of Feb..Yikes! So much to do...better get off here :)

Still waiting....

The soonest we will hear something is this Tuesday or Wednesday as our child's country is closed for their (Jan 7th) Christmas. I am still hoping we will be leaving the very end of this month to the very first of Feb. In the mean time I have been gathering things for our trip and tossing them in the suitcases. I had/am having a really hard time buying anything for "D". Maybe it is the Lord preparing my heart that we will come home with a different child...or maybe I just struggle with attaching myself even more to him buy buying clothes for him when I know there are no guarantees. So...Mike and I decided to buy somethings (socks, white t shirts, couple Pj sets, gloves, coat, hat, couple pairs of jogging pants and some soft tops)...if the Lord gives us a child that cannot use those then we can either donate them to the orphanage or bring them back home for Luke to wear. If we do get "D" I just cannot imagine that the town where he is will have too many shopping options at all. So..we need to bring those things in case.

My emotions here are everywhere. I am about to go on a trip that I have wanted to take since I was in high school...I never though I would actually get to go and that the Lord would have me to be the mother of a child there..so I am ecstatic to say the very least my adrenaline is pumping. At the same time I feel my heart is being pulled from my chest as I leave my 4 babies back home for this length of time. This is one of the most exciting yet most painful times of my life.

I would love to say that next time I post..it will be to announce a date...however we all know from our international adoption process....don't get your hopes to high, things do not always move the way we want them to move :)

Wow

Just learned that a family who were submitted the same week as us..got their appt today for Jan 25..so..we should be getting really close to getting ours!!!! I know I will cry of many emotions when we get it!

So much to do in preparation for our travels...and I have been so tired the past week or so...please pray for strength for me to get done what needs to be done. It is a bit like a pregnancy...you have this long list of things you want to accomplish before you go into labor, however...if labor were to start you would happily throw the list out the window and get to the hosp. to meet your precious baby. That is how I feel...rush rush to get things knocked off my list, but when we get the call that it is time to go...what does not get done on my list will be thrown out the window and I will run to get my son.

Update

To all of you praying, thank you...I did not mean to leave you hanging :)
We spoke with our facilitator this morning...we have officially been processed but all the Jan. dates have been issued. Seems we will be traveling in Feb. Please pray the Lord might be pleased to have us travel the first part of Feb. They have been giving couples a 2 1/2 to 3 week notice only..pray we get a 3 week plus notice..that would be great! Our facilitator will check back on Fri. to see if the SDA is ready to release our travel date. I am getting so excited as Feb. will mark 10 months of working towards this adoption...yet I am so sad as the time draws closer to leave our children. Please please be in prayer for our children and for Sarah and Jody who will be watching our them.

We have been blessed...

to have my mom for the last week and a half. Remember her in your prayers as she leaves early in the morning. We will not see her again until this summer. Also, pray we might find out a date in a couple hours...I doubt we will get a date today but we are hopeful :)