I know I had mentioned in an earlier post that we would be doing a Bunko Fundraiser, but for now with all the craziness in this travel stage, we are postponing it indefinitely.
We had so much fun at last years fundraiser, and we are so thankful for all you ladies who came out and supported us by coming for the evening!! We hope to do it again, but we don't know if we will be able to pull it off before bringing Ellie home...we'll keep you posted!!
In the meantime, God continues to provide financially for this journey, and we will continue to trust Him for the remaining funds we need!! :-)
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Ellie's size
Many of you have asked about the size of clothes Ellie is in right now. When we get her, she will probably best fit in 9 month clothing. We are a little unsure about her official weight as we have heard there are inaccuracies with the weight, but I'm thinking 9 month clothing will probably fit her best when we get her.
A Roller Coaster Ride for sure!!
I once heard it said that adoption is not for the faint at heart!!! There are so many ups and downs...from emotional highs and lows to situational highs and lows!!
These past two weeks have been rough for sure! Although it is not always easy to remember in the moment--we never lose sight of the fact that ultimately God is in control and none of this takes God by surprise :-)!!! He is our daily strength and the only constant in all of this...He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!
As shared in an earlier post, two weeks ago brought a whirlwind of an "adventure" trying to get off our I-800 packet. It was only about 4 days total that we had to wait, but 4 days is 4 days...
Short version spoiler of what's next in the post (for those of you who just like the facts)...Due to Tim's job, we were unable to obtain our visas for right now...
Long version:
We then began the journey of compiling everything together to obtain our visas. Monday was the day that was going to work best in Tim's schedule to go get them, so we got everything ready to head to San Fran.
The extra cost in trying to obtain your visas "same day" was about equivalent to gas, wear and tear, and sitting in traffic driving to San Fran, so we decided to go the "same day" route. The catch is you have to turn the paperwork in by noon.
We started our trek to San Fran Monday morning all packed up and ready to go just a little past traffic time, but early enough to make it well before the noon cut off time...
On our drive we started noticing signs saying, "Bay Bridge will be closed August 28-Sept 3." We prayed that we would be able to do same day pick up because having to travel back after a week to pick up the visas would be a nightmare due to the closure of the Bay Bridge!!!
We then hit the Altamont Pass and traffic came to a stand still... ... ... ... ... for a little over an hour we sat in traffic until happening upon a "HazMat" clean up of an accident near the 680 Freeway split. I can tell you that we tried to make the most of our exceptionally LOOOONG time in the car, but it was definitely trying at times!
We finally arrived at the Consulate. Tim and the boys dropped me off while they went to look for a parking spot. I walked in to an incredibly packed office!!! The number on the visa screen was "58" and our number was "173." I knew we were probably going to be here for awhile and definitely miss the noon cut off!! I also knew that our plans of having a nice family day (we pulled Jeremy out of school for this) in San Fran was pretty much going to be squashed!
Thankfully with the help of a super nice security guard, we managed to get a different (lower) number...can't exactly post my secret of getting a different number, but it was a blessing to say the least!!!
After still a long wait (probably would've been a 3+ hour wait otherwise), we got up to the window. May I just pause to say that although we had to wait a long time, our boys (for the most part) were such troopers!!! We are blessed!!!
The lady looked at our forms, left, looked at our forms some more, left, came back, had Tim sign a guarantee that he would not go to China for mission purposes, left, came back, and then proceeded to tell us that due to Tim's job, the Consulate would not issue us the correct visa that we needed. They could only grant him a single entry, short term visa good for one month from the date of issue.
I proceeded to show her all the documents we had stating that we did not know the exact dates that we would be going to China and thus needed a more long term visa. I also stated that we had all the documentation that was asked of us (including a letter from the church) guaranteeing that we are not going for the purpose of missions and the reasons we needed the type of visas we were asking for.
Unfortunately there was nothing we could do, so we had to leave without our visas :-(. I can say that at this point I was a bit mad, confused, frustrated, etc... We knew God would work it all out, but in that moment, it was super hard!!!
So here we are... on to plan B. Our agency is going to try to courier everything for us to the DC office (where our agency has a great working relationship with) and hope that things will fare better for them than they did for us. They were a bit puzzled themselves as they have never encountered that problem.
So, as of now everything is out of our hands and we ask for prayer that the enemy wont have his hand in these documents and this step of the journey, and that we will be able to get the necessary visas that we need!!! We will keep you posted!!!
Although on this "adoption roller coaster" we are at a situational "low," we continue keep our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith and praise God for our faith that has grown leaps and bounds through this whole journey!!
Thank you all for your love and prayers!!
These past two weeks have been rough for sure! Although it is not always easy to remember in the moment--we never lose sight of the fact that ultimately God is in control and none of this takes God by surprise :-)!!! He is our daily strength and the only constant in all of this...He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!
As shared in an earlier post, two weeks ago brought a whirlwind of an "adventure" trying to get off our I-800 packet. It was only about 4 days total that we had to wait, but 4 days is 4 days...
Short version spoiler of what's next in the post (for those of you who just like the facts)...Due to Tim's job, we were unable to obtain our visas for right now...
Long version:
We then began the journey of compiling everything together to obtain our visas. Monday was the day that was going to work best in Tim's schedule to go get them, so we got everything ready to head to San Fran.
The extra cost in trying to obtain your visas "same day" was about equivalent to gas, wear and tear, and sitting in traffic driving to San Fran, so we decided to go the "same day" route. The catch is you have to turn the paperwork in by noon.
We started our trek to San Fran Monday morning all packed up and ready to go just a little past traffic time, but early enough to make it well before the noon cut off time...
On our drive we started noticing signs saying, "Bay Bridge will be closed August 28-Sept 3." We prayed that we would be able to do same day pick up because having to travel back after a week to pick up the visas would be a nightmare due to the closure of the Bay Bridge!!!
We then hit the Altamont Pass and traffic came to a stand still... ... ... ... ... for a little over an hour we sat in traffic until happening upon a "HazMat" clean up of an accident near the 680 Freeway split. I can tell you that we tried to make the most of our exceptionally LOOOONG time in the car, but it was definitely trying at times!
We finally arrived at the Consulate. Tim and the boys dropped me off while they went to look for a parking spot. I walked in to an incredibly packed office!!! The number on the visa screen was "58" and our number was "173." I knew we were probably going to be here for awhile and definitely miss the noon cut off!! I also knew that our plans of having a nice family day (we pulled Jeremy out of school for this) in San Fran was pretty much going to be squashed!
Thankfully with the help of a super nice security guard, we managed to get a different (lower) number...can't exactly post my secret of getting a different number, but it was a blessing to say the least!!!
After still a long wait (probably would've been a 3+ hour wait otherwise), we got up to the window. May I just pause to say that although we had to wait a long time, our boys (for the most part) were such troopers!!! We are blessed!!!
The lady looked at our forms, left, looked at our forms some more, left, came back, had Tim sign a guarantee that he would not go to China for mission purposes, left, came back, and then proceeded to tell us that due to Tim's job, the Consulate would not issue us the correct visa that we needed. They could only grant him a single entry, short term visa good for one month from the date of issue.
I proceeded to show her all the documents we had stating that we did not know the exact dates that we would be going to China and thus needed a more long term visa. I also stated that we had all the documentation that was asked of us (including a letter from the church) guaranteeing that we are not going for the purpose of missions and the reasons we needed the type of visas we were asking for.
Unfortunately there was nothing we could do, so we had to leave without our visas :-(. I can say that at this point I was a bit mad, confused, frustrated, etc... We knew God would work it all out, but in that moment, it was super hard!!!
So here we are... on to plan B. Our agency is going to try to courier everything for us to the DC office (where our agency has a great working relationship with) and hope that things will fare better for them than they did for us. They were a bit puzzled themselves as they have never encountered that problem.
So, as of now everything is out of our hands and we ask for prayer that the enemy wont have his hand in these documents and this step of the journey, and that we will be able to get the necessary visas that we need!!! We will keep you posted!!!
Although on this "adoption roller coaster" we are at a situational "low," we continue keep our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith and praise God for our faith that has grown leaps and bounds through this whole journey!!
Thank you all for your love and prayers!!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Prayer Requests and Needs
It has been such a whirlwind, and God answered so many prayers before we were even able to make them public!!!
For one, we got our official acceptance of our sweet Ellie after only 2 weeks!!! The typical wait time is 1-3 months. We couldn't believe it!!!
We would love to travel on or really close to her first birthday (Oct. 20)... it is not totally out of the question, but it would take a huge miracle by God!!! You see, from this point on, things are really out of our control. We are waiting on different entities...Dept. of US Homeland Security, Chinese Consulate, China's travel acceptance, and for a travel group to be heading to China during that time.
Like I said, it is not totally likely, but it is not out of the question, so we ask for prayer that everything will move quickly and that we could possibly travel in October.
Here's some prayer requests:
1. Now that we are at this stage, we have been given a more clearer estimate of what the rest of the expenses will be for this final stage. It looks like we probably need around $3000 more... we can't believe we have made it this far!!!! God is soooo good (all the time!!!), and we are so thankful to all of you who have helped bring her home!!
Please pray that we will be able to raise the rest of our finances!! We will be having an upcoming Bunko fundraiser again (like last year), so be on the lookout for that flyer. :-)
If you still would like to contribute towards Ellie's adoption, you can either send us the money, or you can contribute to our "Eternal Family Fund" through our adoption agency. Please contact us for more information.
2. Please pray for God to be preparing a great travel group for us!!! Again, we would love to travel in October, but everything has to fall into place first. Pray that we will be traveling at the right time and with the exact group of people God would want us to be with!!
3. Please be praying for all the rest of travel arrangements to go smoothly and that we will not have a problem obtaining our visas.
4. Pray for God to be preparing Ellie's heart to be part of our family!! Pray that she will know somewhere deep down inside of her that we are her family when she meets us for the first time.
We also thought we would throw out a couple of initial needs that we have right now...
1. We are in need of a small dresser for Ellie. For right now, Ellie will be staying in our room, and we don't really have enough room for a large dresser for her, but if it were a small one (or skinnier/taller one...we don't have the width space, but plenty of height space) we could definitely use it!! We just thought we would see if anyone had one that they no longer needed, or if you are a Saturday morning garage sale "nut" :-) and you find one...please let us know!
2. If you are a seasoned "International Traveler" and happen to have voltage converter devices for electronics and other devices in China that we could use, that would be awesome!!!
3. If you have also traveled to China and can recommend (not recommend) airlines that you have flown on, that would be helpful. Our agency does all the travel plans, but we have to list our airline preferences.
I know there will be more needs/prayer requests as we get closer, but we are so thankful for such a great team of prayer warriors and supporters!!! We love and are so thankful for each and every one of you!!!
For one, we got our official acceptance of our sweet Ellie after only 2 weeks!!! The typical wait time is 1-3 months. We couldn't believe it!!!
We would love to travel on or really close to her first birthday (Oct. 20)... it is not totally out of the question, but it would take a huge miracle by God!!! You see, from this point on, things are really out of our control. We are waiting on different entities...Dept. of US Homeland Security, Chinese Consulate, China's travel acceptance, and for a travel group to be heading to China during that time.
Like I said, it is not totally likely, but it is not out of the question, so we ask for prayer that everything will move quickly and that we could possibly travel in October.
Here's some prayer requests:
1. Now that we are at this stage, we have been given a more clearer estimate of what the rest of the expenses will be for this final stage. It looks like we probably need around $3000 more... we can't believe we have made it this far!!!! God is soooo good (all the time!!!), and we are so thankful to all of you who have helped bring her home!!
Please pray that we will be able to raise the rest of our finances!! We will be having an upcoming Bunko fundraiser again (like last year), so be on the lookout for that flyer. :-)
If you still would like to contribute towards Ellie's adoption, you can either send us the money, or you can contribute to our "Eternal Family Fund" through our adoption agency. Please contact us for more information.
2. Please pray for God to be preparing a great travel group for us!!! Again, we would love to travel in October, but everything has to fall into place first. Pray that we will be traveling at the right time and with the exact group of people God would want us to be with!!
3. Please be praying for all the rest of travel arrangements to go smoothly and that we will not have a problem obtaining our visas.
4. Pray for God to be preparing Ellie's heart to be part of our family!! Pray that she will know somewhere deep down inside of her that we are her family when she meets us for the first time.
We also thought we would throw out a couple of initial needs that we have right now...
1. We are in need of a small dresser for Ellie. For right now, Ellie will be staying in our room, and we don't really have enough room for a large dresser for her, but if it were a small one (or skinnier/taller one...we don't have the width space, but plenty of height space) we could definitely use it!! We just thought we would see if anyone had one that they no longer needed, or if you are a Saturday morning garage sale "nut" :-) and you find one...please let us know!
2. If you are a seasoned "International Traveler" and happen to have voltage converter devices for electronics and other devices in China that we could use, that would be awesome!!!
3. If you have also traveled to China and can recommend (not recommend) airlines that you have flown on, that would be helpful. Our agency does all the travel plans, but we have to list our airline preferences.
I know there will be more needs/prayer requests as we get closer, but we are so thankful for such a great team of prayer warriors and supporters!!! We love and are so thankful for each and every one of you!!!
Officially Accepted...Happy 10 Month Birthday Ellie "Mei Mei" ("Mei Mei" means "little sister" in Chinese)
It has been a whirlwind of a week!!!
Thursday morning we got the "short" awaited RA (referral acceptance) phone call. I say "short" because it had only been 2 weeks, and the typical wait is 1-3 months for the official acceptance from China...
We had only just finished our final training course (takes place between referral phone call and RA phone call) on Monday, so our agency had sent our certificates of completion in the mail on Tuesday. The RA phone call came on Thursday. Once you get the RA phone call you can send the I-800 application in (travel countdown starts from this point), but you need the original training certificates to send with it.
Are you tracking with me??? :-)...Bottom line, we now needed these silly certificates that happened to be sent "snail mail."
We PRAYED that the certificates would be in the mail on Thursday after our RA phone call, but they weren't (there was no need for our agency to send them via faster shipping since none of us were expecting the RA phone call that fast) :-(.
I went to the Post Office first thing Friday morning to try to track our mail down since Tim and I were leaving to go on our church's marriage retreat for the weekend. It wasn't in Friday's mail either :-(.
We had a wonderful time on the marriage retreat weekend, and I fully expected the certificates to be in the mailbox when we got home, but again they weren't :-(.
On Monday morning, Tim went to the Post Office to try to get our mail again first thing (since our mail doesn't come until 4 PM), but the Postmaster would not give it to him???!!!
I then contacted the Post Office to try to track down our mailman's route, so that I could find him. I spent an hour driving around on and off the phone with the post office. I finally found our mailman!!! I almost cried!!! Unfortunately the certificates weren't in our mail :-(... I drove away so sad and frustrated...but then as I drove around the corner, our mailman cut me off in his mail car trying to stop me...He had found the package in a different bin!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was so excited!!!
After making a quick copy of the certificates, I headed to UPS to overnight everything to where it needed to go...Phew!!! A huge relief!!!
I'm not sure exactly why all that had to happen, and I'm sure I will never know the full story here on earth, but nevertheless it reminded me of the lengths we will go through for the ones we love most of all!!! As my sister has always said, "our own adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High was not easy and cost a great price...this journey wont be easy either!!!"
So, here we are now, buried in piles of paperwork to read and fill out...visas to get, and travel arrangements to be made...this journey is coming full circle and she will be here before we know it!!!
In the midst of all this craziness, we never forget each and everyday why we are doing all this and the beautiful baby girl that God hand knit to be a part of our family...
Thursday morning we got the "short" awaited RA (referral acceptance) phone call. I say "short" because it had only been 2 weeks, and the typical wait is 1-3 months for the official acceptance from China...
We had only just finished our final training course (takes place between referral phone call and RA phone call) on Monday, so our agency had sent our certificates of completion in the mail on Tuesday. The RA phone call came on Thursday. Once you get the RA phone call you can send the I-800 application in (travel countdown starts from this point), but you need the original training certificates to send with it.
Are you tracking with me??? :-)...Bottom line, we now needed these silly certificates that happened to be sent "snail mail."
We PRAYED that the certificates would be in the mail on Thursday after our RA phone call, but they weren't (there was no need for our agency to send them via faster shipping since none of us were expecting the RA phone call that fast) :-(.
I went to the Post Office first thing Friday morning to try to track our mail down since Tim and I were leaving to go on our church's marriage retreat for the weekend. It wasn't in Friday's mail either :-(.
We had a wonderful time on the marriage retreat weekend, and I fully expected the certificates to be in the mailbox when we got home, but again they weren't :-(.
On Monday morning, Tim went to the Post Office to try to get our mail again first thing (since our mail doesn't come until 4 PM), but the Postmaster would not give it to him???!!!
I then contacted the Post Office to try to track down our mailman's route, so that I could find him. I spent an hour driving around on and off the phone with the post office. I finally found our mailman!!! I almost cried!!! Unfortunately the certificates weren't in our mail :-(... I drove away so sad and frustrated...but then as I drove around the corner, our mailman cut me off in his mail car trying to stop me...He had found the package in a different bin!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was so excited!!!
After making a quick copy of the certificates, I headed to UPS to overnight everything to where it needed to go...Phew!!! A huge relief!!!
I'm not sure exactly why all that had to happen, and I'm sure I will never know the full story here on earth, but nevertheless it reminded me of the lengths we will go through for the ones we love most of all!!! As my sister has always said, "our own adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High was not easy and cost a great price...this journey wont be easy either!!!"
So, here we are now, buried in piles of paperwork to read and fill out...visas to get, and travel arrangements to be made...this journey is coming full circle and she will be here before we know it!!!
In the midst of all this craziness, we never forget each and everyday why we are doing all this and the beautiful baby girl that God hand knit to be a part of our family...
Today marks our sweet Ellie's 10 month birthday!!!
"Happy Birthday "Mei Mei" (little sister)!!!"
You can see her picture a little bit in this picture...she's a cutie, and we'll post more pictures as we get them (now that China has said she is officially "ours" we can post her picture). We love her so much and can't wait to see her face to face!!! For now, we will let her know that she is loved and thought of each and everyday, and especially on her "birthdays!"
Thank you all for your sweet prayers, support and encouragement!!! We love you all!!!
Monday, August 12, 2013
Her Name...
Picking out a name:
With both of our boys, we waited to share their names until they were born. This was twofold... For one, what if we saw them and said, "Hmm, I really don't think he looks like a (name)." The second is, we really didn't want to hear everyone's opinion about the name. So, on the day both of our boys were born, we were excited to announce their names!!
It had to be different for her. We finally decided that we would come up with a final name for her on the day we got her referral and would share it then with family and friends.
For over a year I have found it a fun past time to look up girl names for her. Early on in our name choosing we found that in the Chinese culture picking a name is a HUGE ordeal. Often times the family will consult even a fortune teller.
We, of course, would not go to that extreme, but given that the name and the meaning of the name is extremely important, we wanted to hold true to the Chinese tradition.
We found names that we liked a lot, but the meanings of those names never seemed to fit or work right.
When I looked up Chinese names, I found a "beautiful" name that I liked. "Mei" (pronounced 'May'). It means "beautiful." I was drawn to that name, and as we have had a long journey of waiting, the verse Eccles. 3:11 was always on my heart..."He has made everything beautiful in its time." Songs like "In His Time," "Beautiful, Beautiful" and "Beautiful Things" were always singing in my heart too! When I saw that name and the meaning behind it, I knew that it needed to be part of her name. Tim agreed!
The first name was a little more difficult. There are so many cute girls names!!
While looking up one of the girls names that we liked (but didn't particularly care for the meaning), we found the name "Ellie." I thought, that's a cute name!!! I saw some of the names that were associated with it, and two of the top names were "Eleanor and Elaine." "Eleanor" was my grandmother's name and "Elaine" is my sister's middle name!! We also saw that the meaning of "Ellie" is "light." What a beautiful meaning. We knew that we had settled on the perfect name for her!
The pieces of the puzzle fit, and on the day we found out about our precious daughter, we were excited to share with our family the news about "Ellie Mei!!"
So there you have it, "Ellie Mei..." our "beautiful light!!" May her life reflect the glory of the One who perfectly made her, and may she be His light in this world- shining for all to see!!
With both of our boys, we waited to share their names until they were born. This was twofold... For one, what if we saw them and said, "Hmm, I really don't think he looks like a (name)." The second is, we really didn't want to hear everyone's opinion about the name. So, on the day both of our boys were born, we were excited to announce their names!!
It had to be different for her. We finally decided that we would come up with a final name for her on the day we got her referral and would share it then with family and friends.
For over a year I have found it a fun past time to look up girl names for her. Early on in our name choosing we found that in the Chinese culture picking a name is a HUGE ordeal. Often times the family will consult even a fortune teller.
We, of course, would not go to that extreme, but given that the name and the meaning of the name is extremely important, we wanted to hold true to the Chinese tradition.
We found names that we liked a lot, but the meanings of those names never seemed to fit or work right.
When I looked up Chinese names, I found a "beautiful" name that I liked. "Mei" (pronounced 'May'). It means "beautiful." I was drawn to that name, and as we have had a long journey of waiting, the verse Eccles. 3:11 was always on my heart..."He has made everything beautiful in its time." Songs like "In His Time," "Beautiful, Beautiful" and "Beautiful Things" were always singing in my heart too! When I saw that name and the meaning behind it, I knew that it needed to be part of her name. Tim agreed!
The first name was a little more difficult. There are so many cute girls names!!
While looking up one of the girls names that we liked (but didn't particularly care for the meaning), we found the name "Ellie." I thought, that's a cute name!!! I saw some of the names that were associated with it, and two of the top names were "Eleanor and Elaine." "Eleanor" was my grandmother's name and "Elaine" is my sister's middle name!! We also saw that the meaning of "Ellie" is "light." What a beautiful meaning. We knew that we had settled on the perfect name for her!
The pieces of the puzzle fit, and on the day we found out about our precious daughter, we were excited to share with our family the news about "Ellie Mei!!"
So there you have it, "Ellie Mei..." our "beautiful light!!" May her life reflect the glory of the One who perfectly made her, and may she be His light in this world- shining for all to see!!
The Day We FINALLY Got the Call!!!
For those of you who have not heard yet...WE GOT THE CALL!!! Our family has been matched and we can't wait to tell you about her!!
Let me back up a bit before I tell you about the day of the call...
What a whirlwind of the past few weeks before the call! Two weeks before was our church's VBS. Both Tim and I were actively involved and it was absolutely crazy and fun all rolled into one!! I led all the music for the 350+ kids, and Tim led the 5th and 6th grade kids. Tim also was officiating a wedding on Friday, so had the rehearsal, and wedding on top of all of it.
We had a Saturday to "rest" (yeah, right...more like finish laundry, run errands, and pack), and then geared up to leave on Sunday to take over 60 5th-8th graders to Summer Camp. Before leaving for camp I emailed our Family Coordinator with our contact information just in case of a referral. She emailed me back saying that it was probably looking more like fall before the call. I was discouraged a bit, but rested in the fact that God's timing would be perfect whenever the call!
This particular week of summer camp brought a HUGE rise in ladybugs!!! They were everywhere!! I think it was Wednesday when Madison (one of our Jr. High students and daughter of one of the "Join the Journey" adoption families) brought the boys and I to the "ladybug lair!!!" There were thousands of them!!! OH MY STARS!! It was so fun and as always, a constant reminder for us to pray for baby sister!! We had an AWESOME week together as a family!!!
After camp, we celebrated my birthday, and settled in to a quick few days of rest before Jeremy started school. Monday was our first day of "nothing" and it felt good to have fun and be together as a family!
The day...
I wish I could say I woke up in a lovely mood on Tuesday, July 23, but I didn't!! Over the past many months I had been in a great habit of waking up before everyone, and reading my Bible, but after a whirlwind of some crazy weeks out of the routine, I just wanted to sleep in. Drew called me out of bed about 7 times before 7:00 in the morning, and on the 7th time, I had had it!! I thought (perhaps God's prompting) after about the 3rd time that I should just wake up and read my Bible, but I knew I only had 2 more days of "summer" left and sleep sounded too good!! I finally woke up Tim and he got up with the boys. I slept in a bit longer, got ready fast and headed to my dentist appt...FUN??!!
Before I continue on, I thought I would just point out the fact that God is good ALL THE TIME!!! He blesses us even in our yuckiness sometimes!!! His grace comes on the merit of who He is and who He is alone...That day, I, in my humanness was so undeserving of the amazing blessing He had in store for us!!
After my dentist appt. Tim had a picnic lunch packed (I DO have the most amazing husband, might I brag!!) and the boys all ready to head to Micke Grove to play some disc golf. We had such a blast being together and even ran into some friends at the park. After our picnic lunch, a game of tag on the playground, and a huge sting in the head and wasp attack for Jeremy and myself, we headed home :-)!
Drew went down for a nap and Jeremy turned on a cartoon. Tim told me my phone was ringing and named off the area code. I didn't recognize it, so I answered (expecting a telemarketer or something). I was surprised to hear our family coordinator from our agency on the other line. She said, we would love to talk to "ya'll" about a referral... OH MY STARS!!!
I can tell you that the rest of the call was a whirlwind!! I don't know if I could tell you everything she said because I think Tim and I were in complete shock!! We just listened. We were so excited!! After the phone call, we cried and prayed!! I don't think I've cried that much in a long time!!! We have waited for "the call" for 10 months... the wait was finally over!! The fact that we both happened to be home at the same time and it happened to be on a day/week where we were just home and could process all the details was clearly God's perfect timing!!
Unfortunately we can't give all the details yet over the Internet, but we're excited to say that we have gladly accepted the referral for our BEAUTIFUL baby girl!!! The Journey Continues...
Let me back up a bit before I tell you about the day of the call...
What a whirlwind of the past few weeks before the call! Two weeks before was our church's VBS. Both Tim and I were actively involved and it was absolutely crazy and fun all rolled into one!! I led all the music for the 350+ kids, and Tim led the 5th and 6th grade kids. Tim also was officiating a wedding on Friday, so had the rehearsal, and wedding on top of all of it.
We had a Saturday to "rest" (yeah, right...more like finish laundry, run errands, and pack), and then geared up to leave on Sunday to take over 60 5th-8th graders to Summer Camp. Before leaving for camp I emailed our Family Coordinator with our contact information just in case of a referral. She emailed me back saying that it was probably looking more like fall before the call. I was discouraged a bit, but rested in the fact that God's timing would be perfect whenever the call!
This particular week of summer camp brought a HUGE rise in ladybugs!!! They were everywhere!! I think it was Wednesday when Madison (one of our Jr. High students and daughter of one of the "Join the Journey" adoption families) brought the boys and I to the "ladybug lair!!!" There were thousands of them!!! OH MY STARS!! It was so fun and as always, a constant reminder for us to pray for baby sister!! We had an AWESOME week together as a family!!!
After camp, we celebrated my birthday, and settled in to a quick few days of rest before Jeremy started school. Monday was our first day of "nothing" and it felt good to have fun and be together as a family!
The day...
I wish I could say I woke up in a lovely mood on Tuesday, July 23, but I didn't!! Over the past many months I had been in a great habit of waking up before everyone, and reading my Bible, but after a whirlwind of some crazy weeks out of the routine, I just wanted to sleep in. Drew called me out of bed about 7 times before 7:00 in the morning, and on the 7th time, I had had it!! I thought (perhaps God's prompting) after about the 3rd time that I should just wake up and read my Bible, but I knew I only had 2 more days of "summer" left and sleep sounded too good!! I finally woke up Tim and he got up with the boys. I slept in a bit longer, got ready fast and headed to my dentist appt...FUN??!!
Before I continue on, I thought I would just point out the fact that God is good ALL THE TIME!!! He blesses us even in our yuckiness sometimes!!! His grace comes on the merit of who He is and who He is alone...That day, I, in my humanness was so undeserving of the amazing blessing He had in store for us!!
After my dentist appt. Tim had a picnic lunch packed (I DO have the most amazing husband, might I brag!!) and the boys all ready to head to Micke Grove to play some disc golf. We had such a blast being together and even ran into some friends at the park. After our picnic lunch, a game of tag on the playground, and a huge sting in the head and wasp attack for Jeremy and myself, we headed home :-)!
Drew went down for a nap and Jeremy turned on a cartoon. Tim told me my phone was ringing and named off the area code. I didn't recognize it, so I answered (expecting a telemarketer or something). I was surprised to hear our family coordinator from our agency on the other line. She said, we would love to talk to "ya'll" about a referral... OH MY STARS!!!
I can tell you that the rest of the call was a whirlwind!! I don't know if I could tell you everything she said because I think Tim and I were in complete shock!! We just listened. We were so excited!! After the phone call, we cried and prayed!! I don't think I've cried that much in a long time!!! We have waited for "the call" for 10 months... the wait was finally over!! The fact that we both happened to be home at the same time and it happened to be on a day/week where we were just home and could process all the details was clearly God's perfect timing!!
Unfortunately we can't give all the details yet over the Internet, but we're excited to say that we have gladly accepted the referral for our BEAUTIFUL baby girl!!! The Journey Continues...
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