LIVE AND ENJOY THE NOW!!!

I'm not a very patient person.  Through this adoption process, God is teaching me to be patient.  The adoption process is essentially a series of waiting periods.  Waiting while gathering your paperwork, waiting while your paperwork is translated, waiting for a referral,  and in our case waiting on test results, waiting for a court date, waiting for travel dates, waiting for birth certificate, and finally waiting for second travel dates!!!!  Waiting, waiting, waiting!!!  And in this time of waiting (and time of learning patients) I am also learning that I need to slow down and live and enjoy the now.  I can always remember my mom saying, "Don't wish your life away!".  I thought that was one of the silliest sayings I had ever heard.  But now that I am older and in this waiting process, I get it!  I totally get the fact that today is something I can never get back. 

The song that is playing is called "Blink" by Revive.  This song makes me cry every time I hear it because it reminds me of just how quickly life goes by and how fragile life is.  It reminds me that I need to enjoy every moment, even those moments that I get frustrated, angry, upset, tired, and yes, even those moments of a four year old temper tantrum.  And I hate the thought of looking back and wishing that I took more time to enjoy life, especially life while my kids are little!

The words to this song are so powerful.  I hope that you will not just read the words or hear the words, but that you will actually take the words to heart.  The lyrics go like this:

Teach me to number my days
And count every moment before it slips away Taking all the colors before they fade to gray I don't want to miss even just a second more of this
It happens in a blink
It happens in a flash
It happens in the time it takes to look back I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time What is it I've done with my life It happens in a blink When it's all said and done
No one remembers how far we have run
The only thing that matters is how we have loved I don't want to miss even just a second more of this

It happens in a blink
it happens in a flash
it happens in the time it takes to look back I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time What is it I've done with my life It happens in a blink

Slow down, slow down
Before today becomes our yesterday
Slow down, slow down
Before you turn around and it's too late

It happens in a blink
it happens in a flash
it happens in the time it takes to look back I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time What is it I've done with my life It happens in a blink

This song has totally changed the way I view my day!  I hope it changes your too! 

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

So, on October 22nd, 2009 we made the decision to pursue an African adoption.  And that very night, we called our social worker and told her that we had made our decision and that we wanted to get started as soon as possible.  We had another meeting with our social worker in November to update our homestudy and completed some training.  During this time, we also applied to Families Thru International Adoption/FTIA (our placement agency).  On December 29, 2009 our homestudy for International adoption was completed.

Over the next several months we gathered paper work for our dossier (a large chunk of papers about our family which includes employment letters, bank letters, tax information, photos, etc........).  And finally on March 22, 2010 (what would have been one of my sweet grandmothers birthday), after what seemed like an eternity we competed the paper chase and turned in our dossier to FTIA.  That was one of the greatest feelings ever, to know that all the paper work was done and the first part of the process was completed.  Total relief! 

On March 26, 2010 our dossier was sent to Ethiopia to be translated and reviewed.  The wait officially began!  We were told that our wait would be between 0 and 6 months.  During this time, we completed more training and did lots of praying! 

Four and a half months into our wait, we got THE CALL!!!!!  On August 6, 2010 we get the call that we have been matched with a little boy!!!  Salome (our social worker at FTIA) gave me a little information about him and sent us an email with his medical info and picture.  She told us his African name, his age (8 months),  and his date of birth (November 15th).  I called Will to tell him to come home and all I could do was cry. His first words when he heard me crying was, "Did we get the call?"  Through the tears I was able to give him the information that Salome gave me.  I tell him to get home quickly, safely, but quickly!

He gets home and we open the email and seeing his face for the first time was love at first sight!  We were speechless!  This was the moment that I have dreamed of for sooo long!  All I could do was stare at that sweet face!  And you know, God has such a sense of humor because at lunch that very same day, I looked at Will and told him that the wait was getting harder and that I didn't think that we were EVER going to get the call.  It seemed like everyone else in the Ethiopia group was getting referrals and travel dates and I felt so left out!  I know that God chuckled because He knew what was going to happen.  His timing is impeccable!!!  Once Liam woke up from his nap, we showed him the picture of his little brother and we let him name pick his name (we had two named that we couldn't decide between, so we let Liam choose from those two names.)  He was all smiles and so very proud :D

On August 11, 2010 we took our referral acceptance paperwork to FTIA!  We also heard from the medical specialist that we sent his medical records to.  The specialist said that he looks pretty healthy based on the information that was sent to us.  She was however, concerned with the measurements of his head.  She feels that his head has grown too rapidly.   So, she suggested that we order a CT Scan to get a better idea of what's going on.  This was something that was very hard to hear.  It was hard because not only do we want him to be healthy, but if our baby is sick, we want to be with him. And now he has to have a CT Scan and mommy and daddy are all the way across the world.  That's where faith comes in...

So, on August 25, 2010 the CT Scan was requested.  And our acceptance paperwork was sent to Ethiopia on August 27th.

Which brings us to today, August 30th.  Waiting, again........waiting to hear the results of Tytus' CT Scan, waiting to hear when he will be transferred from the orphanage to the transition home where he will stay until he comes home and waiting for a court date which will be our first travel dates.   We're hoping to hear about his CT Scan within the next day or two as well as when he will be moved.  We probably won't hear about a court date until their court system re-opens in late September.  We're hoping to make our first trip mid October and hoping that we will have him home by Christmas!  So, stay tuned, there's lots more to come!

                                          THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Before I started this blog, I asked several people for suggestions on what I should write about.  Almost everyone I asked told me that they wanted to know about our adoption journey.  And our adoption journey is definitely something that I want to share.  I pray that our journey sheds some light on adoption and inspires you to pray about adding a precious child to your family by the way of adoption.  Our journey is somewhat long, so I will split it into two post because it is quite lengthy. 

Our adoption journey began long before Will and I got married.  When Will and I began discussing marriage, family, and the future, both of us began to feel God's call to adoption.  So, in January 2009 we made the call that began the journey to bring Tytus into our family.  Over the next several months we completed paperwork, had both individual and family meeting with a social worker and completed required adoption training.  And in March of 2009, our homestudy was completed for a domestic adoption. 

Over the next few months we had a few leads on possible adoption opportunities, but nothing ever worked out.  In August 2009, we got a call from our social worker saying that there was a birth mother looking to place her baby for adoption upon delivery around the first of September.  So, we begin planning and preparing for the arrival of our second child. 

On, September 5th, 2009 (Labor Day Weekend), we get the call that our child has been born and that it is a girl!  So, we cut our visit with family short and headed home to meet our precious little girl.  And that night, we met Lynlee Faith for the first time. 

Two days later we were on our way to the hospital to bring our little Lynlee home when we got a call from our social worker telling us that the birth mother had changed her mind and that she was taking her home with her.  WOW, you talk about devastating.  We felt like our hearts had been ripped out.  But, you know God is good and we knew that He had something else in store for our family.  We also knew that if Lynlee was suppose to be a part of our family, then He would bring her back into our lives.  And He did just that, two days after we were suppose to bring her home from the hospital, we get another call stating that the birth mother changed her mind again.  Our social worker wanted to know if we wanted her in our home or if we wanted her to go into foster care until the adoption was finalized.  After talking it over with Will, we decided that we wanted her in our home.  We felt that God had given her to us, even if that meant for a short amount of time.  And that was a risk we were willing to take.  For, "Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

The next 5 weeks were a roller coaster.  The birth mother and birth father struggled with their decision and exactly 5 weeks after Lynlee joined our family, the birth mother changed her mind a final time.  The only thing we knew to do at that point was to pray.  We knew that God was in control and that He had something great in store for our family.  

A few days later our case worker called to check on us and to see how we were doing and to see what our next step was.  At that point, we weren't sure what our next step was.  We were praying that the Lord would just show us what He wanted us to do.  Our case worker gave us a blog of a family that had adopted from Ethiopia Africa and told us to take a look at it.  So, that evening I decided to check it out, and as soon as the page loaded and I sat there looking at the face of this precious little boy, I knew what God was calling us to do.  I showed the picture to Will and agreed that God was calling us to adopt from Ethiopia!

GRAND POST

Well ,this is it!  I took the plunge.  And I must admit, I am a little nervous.  I know that sounds silly, but I am nervous because I soooo desire this blog to be encouraging, uplifting, funny (what do ya expect, it's about our family), but most of all I want it to be God honoring.  At the same time, I am very excited.  I can't wait to see where God takes this journey. 

In this blog you will find: things going on in our family as we live everyday life, the ups and downs of  our adoption journey, and most of all I hope you are pointed to Jesus Christ.  This blog is my life on paper.  So, obviously, it's not always going to be pretty, but I hope that no matter what God's glory shines through. 

The process of naming my blog was quite a process.  I wanted something that would be a reflection of my relationship with Christ.  I had quite an extensive list of things I wanted to name it, but all of them were already being used as blog names.  Finally I tried 'Here At Your Feet' and to my surprise, it wasn't taken.  As I was designing my page it hit me that this name was perfect because it truly describes where I want to be in my relationship with Christ.  I can't take all the credit of the name though.  Casting Crowns (one of my favorite bands) sing a song called 'At Your Feet'.  The chorus of the song goes like this:

"Jesus, Jesus at your feet. Oh to dwell and never leave.

Jesus, Jesus, at your feet.  There is no where else for me.

There is no where else for me"

So, I only thought it fitting to have this song playing on my blog.  I hope this song and this blog speaks to you like it does me.  My desire is to be at His feet and to never leave.  And I hope that is your desire as well.