Friday, May 22, 2015

It's Official!

Four years.

That’s how long we have been at this process.  Four years.  We started with some paperwork that escalated into a mountain of documentation and a vetting process that should have resulted in top secret clearance.  Somehow, that transformed into a series of photographs showing the most precious little girls in the most broken of circumstances.  We said yes to those photos and spent the next two years begging for a yes in return.  So, what happens when it’s all said and done?  When courts finally make their rulings and documents of approval are sent to us from half a world away?  What do you do when you finally get that longed for “yes”?  How do you celebrate a milestone that has consumed your life for FOUR. LONG. YEARS?

Well, in my case, you get a raging infection and go immediately to intensive care.

That’s right, family and friends, we finally received our written orders that approved the adoption of Abigail and Autumn two weeks ago.  And in response, I wound up in the hospital the next day.  I was septic and spent a rather miserable weekend in the ICU while they pumped gallons of antibiotics into my veins.  This was no vacation.  This was dodging a bullet.  Definitely not the way I imagined welcoming the news that it was almost time to bring my girls home.  As you can imagine, I have been struggling to recover since my release from the hospital.  (Did I mention I got mono, too? I got mono, too.)   This is the first time I have felt well enough to attempt to compose a blog and fill everyone in.  The truth is, my little trip to Club Med put us a bit behind the eight ball.  Let me give you an update…

  1. We have verbal and written approval of our adoption!  This means that Abby and Autumn are legally ours!  
2. We are thinking that we will be traveling some time in mid June!  This is scary and awesome!
3. We still need to raise a bit more money both for our travel as well as the initial financial costs      of getting the girls home.  Travel has gone up since we first made a budget and it’s going to be a bit more than we thought (isn’t that always the case).

Here’s what we are asking from our family and friends…

  1. Pray for us!  We are excited to finally be in the home stretch, but it is stressful as well.  We want to be able to pick these girls up with confidence that God will provide for all our needs.
  2. Pray for the girls!  This is going to be a huge transition for Abby and Autumn.  I can’t imagine how scary this will be for them.  We know that they are coming into a family that will love and cherish them, but it will be a completely different experience for them.  We are asking God to give them courage and comfort as they experience all these rapid changes.
  3. Pray for Winter and Noah!  Over the last four years, no one has sacrificed like our kids.  They have had to give up our attention as we focused on these long processes.  They have dealt with disappointments as things didn’t turn out as we had hoped.  And there have been financial sacrifices.  No vacations.  Spending limits.  Second hand clothes.  If not for the generosity of family and friends (I’m looking at you, Suresh!) birthdays and Christmas would have been a tough go.  And from now on, everything gets divided four ways instead of two.   Pray that God would bless them through this last month of waiting.  Pray that they would bond with their sisters quickly and that they would find all they have been through totally worth it
  4. Finally, if you would like to donate to help us cover the last bit of our expenses, the link is here on our page.  We would be grateful for anything!


Hopefully, the next time I update, I can tell you that we are fully funded and that we have a travel date.  Then our story can really begin…