An end in sight... Adoption Update

I often describe the adoption process as a ride on a roller coaster, up and down, round and round, highs and lows. There is never a dull moment in this emotional yet exciting journey. The past few weeks have been very interesting. Two weeks ago we held our final yard sale where we raised $700! Not only did we receive so many donations of items we also received some very generous gifts. Also one of my good friends gave a Norwex party and donated 20% of the amount made to our adoption fund as well! Little by little God keeps sending these blessings to us as we head towards the end of this part of our journey.  In so many areas of life you develop a "family" like bond. Whether it be a church group, a group of moms going through the sames stages with there children or even a bond with people who have experienced some sort of devastating loss. As humans we feel a closeness with other people walking the same path we walk. The world of adoption is so much like that and the fellow adoptive families who have come out of the woodwork to walk beside us on the journey has been incredible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

All of the recent craziness began on Friday April 24th, the day of our yard sale.  We were able to sneak away (thanks Bailey!) and Skype with our birth mom. It was then that we learned her blood pressure had sky rocketed and she was most likely going to be admitted to the hospital. If this problem continued, they were going to have to take the baby sometime that week for fear of pre-eclampsia.  At this point, I was a wreck, not only is Dan still in school, the baby would be almost 2 months early which also meant that I would have to stay in Florida for longer than anticipated and to top things off our home study had not been finished!  So, we did the only thing we could do, we prayed. That next Monday morning, I waited for the call from our attorney to see how the appointment went.  That afternoon I talked with my attorneys secretary and she told me that they wanted to admit our BM, however they were going to wait until Wednesday to check her again and if there were no changes she would be admitted.  After I got off the phone I sobbed, I got down on my knees and begged God to be with her and the baby.  I reached out to our family, the church prayer chain and friends on Facebook, and guess what? On Wednesday I received word that her blood pressure had stabilized! Praise the Lord! We were able to Skype again on Friday and she looked like a new person! With all this being said we are still praying daily for her blood pressure and for her to be able to make it to her scheduled c-section date, which is May 29th. We also know that anything can happen until things are official and pray daily for the Lord's will to done and if he sees fit to give us this baby boy that everything goes smoothly. I can't even imagine being on the other end of this, so we pray numerous times a day for our BM (birth moms) heart. Everything is falling into place with housing and we are so very thankful for everyone who has stepped up and connected us with friends and family in Florida!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, gifts and encouragement as we enter this last stretch! We desperately covet your prayers. Hopefully my next post will be to introduce you all to our miracle baby, baby wall #3!

"Trust"

"Trust"... That is the exact word I hear as I pray for this adoption. I find myself doubting more often than not.  It is hard to trust when everything is so uncertain and many situations have not worked out the way we planned.  However, God has shown up in big ways and often at times where we both feel like giving up. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times we talk about throwing in the towel and within the hour we receive an encouraging note or donation.  These moments are so welcomed and much needed as we continually learn the true meaning of trusting our Heavenly Father and replacing our desires for our family with His.  Thank you to everyone who has lifted us up in prayer and walked with us through this journey! Here is an update:

We are about 2 to 2.5 months out from the due date. Since my last update we have been Skyping with the birth mom and our attorney just about every week. We have enjoyed getting to know her and look forward to having a relationship with her for the rest of our lives. A lot of the details of the adoption are up in the air until the due date gets closer.  One detail I have learned is that I will have to stay in the state of Florida 2-4 weeks while the adoption is being finalized. Thankfully, so many people have stepped up and I think I will be able to move between a few different homes so as not to impose on anyone for too long.  I am not looking forward to being away from my husband and other kids for that long though. This process is so stressful, yet so exciting to think that our baby could be in our hands so soon.  We ask... Beg you to join us in prayer for these last few months: 1) pray for the birth mom and her heart, I can't even imagine what she has to go through 2) Pray for the baby that he remains healthy 3) Pray for finances to fall into place, and finally 4) pray for the 4 of us to continue trusting 

Thank you all so much for everything! I will keep you updated! 

Back on the roller coaster...

Hi Friends!

I was very hesitant to give any sort of updates because let's be honest, in the world of adoption, nothing is certain. After a lot of thought I have decided that it is better to share our updates so that we can have others join us in prayer. So here it goes... A few weeks ago I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook, when I happend upon a post from a foster/adoption group I follow. It simply stated: "Adoption opportunity, if interested contact this attorney. However, the birth mom is really looking for someone from her own state."  Well with us being in AZ and this opportunity being in FL, the opportunity did not look very promising.  However, I decided that I would at least give it a shot in the dark and contact them. To my surprise, they contacted me within a few hours and I gave them some of our information.  By the end of that week I had met the birth mom via Skype and we were officially matched!  I still am in some sort of shock. Lord willing, we will have our baby by the end of May or beginning of June. We share all this because we covet any prayers.  Because this is an out of state birth, we are in the dark about how this will play out and welcome any advice!

Prayer Requests:

That the Lord's will be done
For the birth mom
For the baby
For everything to fall into place

Advice welcomed:

If any of you are experienced travelers we need advice on how to go about getting there. We will have to leave when we get word that she is in labor, so we can't necessarily buy tickets in advance.

*On a side note, our entire family was recently able to get together to celebrate my grandpa's 79th birthday. We all had such a great time celebrating him and although he is struggling with stage 4 cancer, he was able to enjoy this special day! Here are some fun pictures...

Update

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

-James 1:2-4

This has been my favorite set of verses as well as life verse and it continues to bring me hope throughout all the crazy situations life has thrown my way. 

I was anticipating with this next post to deliver you all good news.  However, that is not the case. We were hoping and praying for this baby to be baby Wall #3 but unfortunately, like so many previous times, it appears God has a different plan.  Though our agency is continuing to be hopeful that the birth mom will contact them when she goes into labor, they have lost contact with her for quite some time. With the due date here and gone, and no contact from the birth mom, it looks like this little boy will not be the one for our family.   

As we continue to ride the roller coaster that has been this whole adoption process, Dan and I are constantly provided with opportunities to grow in our faith as we continue to trust the Lord and his plan for our family.  While we are certainly disappointed in what appears to be the outcome of this situation and unsure of the road ahead, we are still praying for baby Wall #3 and have complete faith that he or she will arrive in God's perfect timing.

With all that being said, we are so appreciative of your prayers for this journey our family continues to pursue.  We will remain on board with our agency in CA.  However, we are always open to other avenues as well. You never know who you will come across, so please continue to get our name out there. 

Thank you for your words of encouragement, support and most importantly prayers! We are excited to see what 2015 holds!