"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!

We Are Matched!

 

We have some exciting news to share... We were matched! For those of you that do not understand the adoption lingo, being matched means that we were chosen by a birth mom to adopt her baby. Those 3 little words "you've been matched" are the words we have been waiting 8 months to hear! Lord willing we will have baby Wall #3 in our arms in 1.5 months! My sister in law asked me if I was guardly optimistic, unsure if it's actually going to happen or excited... I responded by saying "all of the above!" The world of adoption is such a roller coaster of emotions that Dan and I have learned to guard our hearts almost to a fault. When I received the call that we had been matched I tried my hardest to respond with udder joy, while in the back of my head I struggled with doubt. I am beginning to feel more and more optimistic because everything keeps falling into place at the perfect time. Also, the more I learn about the birth mom the more excited I become. We are headed out to California next week to figure out more details and meet the birth mom, which we are super excited about! We both feel that the relationship between us and her is such a key part of this process which is why we are so excited to meet her.  Obviously nothing is set in stone and anything can happen between now and next month.  However, we are trusting the Lord and his will!

Prayer Requests:
-For the Lords will to be done
-For the birth mom
-For the baby
-For finances to fall into place
-Smooth adoption process
-Dan, Caleb, Peyton and my hearts to be prepared for lots of change

We are so ready to add another little one to our family!

*Pictures taken by Michelle Lee Photography for our adoption profile

Basketball & Baby

Wow, it's been a long time since I have sat down to write. We have been so busy with the hustle and bustle of life that I haven't even had time to think let alone write. This week we started our family's (and when I say "family's" I mean extended as well) favorite time if year! We all love the holidays.  However, if you know our family at all you know that our priorities go like this: # 1, our faith and relationship with Jesus, # 2, family and # 3, basketball. Let me give you a little insight to the Wall/ Showers families.  Both Dan's dad and my dad are Varsity girls coaches.  All of Dan's siblings, our sister-in-law, and Amanda and I played college basketball.  Dan's little brother is playing professionally in the Czech Republic.  Dan is the varsity boys coach here in Camp Verde.  I coach the JV girls, and both of my sister's in law have coached or are coaching presently. Whoa... That was a mouthful! I'm sure you get the picture to why this is our favorite time of year!:)

     

I have gotten many questions on how we both coach during the season with kids.  Well, thankfully, my kids do not know the difference.  They both have been in the gym from the time they were born. Where most kids get scared of the loud horn or the plethora of high school kids, my children welcome it and feel at home. Dan and I were recently talking about how thankful we are for our athletes because they play with/ watch our kids all the time and our kids love them.

                                

Although we are jumping head first into basketball season, I still daily think and pray, wondering when God will bless us with another child.  Patience is not my strong suit and throughout this whole process I have been tested and tested by God in that area. I always say, "If I had it my way I'd have 6 kids by now."  But my ways are not his ways and that has been very difficult to accept.  Constantly I have people reminding me that it will happen in God's timing and that is comforting to a degree.  However, when you are walking daily in the when's, what ifs, whys and so on it can be very challenging.

We are still working with an agency in CA and just recently had a slew of pictures taken for our adoptive profile! We are not closed to other avenues of adoption and want to continue to get our name out there, as you never know who will read this blog or who you will run into. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and the financial support we have received.  We continue to pray for baby Wall #3 as we cannot wait to see who God has in store for our family!

Life and Changes

Where do I even begin... life has been crazy in the Wall household lately. Between school, coaching, kids and adoption fundraising I have neglected to give any sorts of updates. Well here they all are in a nut shell. First, we dropped Talli off at college a few weeks ago and she seems to be loving it! ( We are so proud of her!) Caleb and Dan are very busy with school and the ins and outs of what it brings. Peyton and I are loving spending lots of time together while Caleb is at school. This has been a very special time for the two of us. I am also coaching Volleyball and enjoying spending time with my girls.  Call me crazy but I love high school kids. In the midst of our day to day craziness, we have been talking to an adoption agency based in California. We have officially sent off our first big payment to them and are so excited to see how things play out. The way we came across the agency Adopt4me was nothing short of God. Here is that story: A few months ago, without even knowing that we were looking for a new agency, my cousin met a lady on the beach in California. They got to talking about their kids and adoption and the lady ask my cousin if she was interested in adopting anymore.  My cousin told her that she was not interested but she knew someone who was. Well come to find out this lady works for a small adoption agency in California and they only take a few hand selected couples at a time. She gave my cousin her card and told her to have me call her. After I received the information, I stared at it for about a week not knowing what we should do. Finally after a little prodding from my cousin I gave her a call and I loved her and what their agency stood for.  Dan and I knew this was the route we needed to take. And the best part about all of this is that the ladies that work with us are strong believers! So here we are now... We are officially going on board with them and waiting for the right baby to be placed with us. We are relying on Gods timing and are so excited to see what the future brings. Whether it's 1 month or 12 months we are greatly anticipating baby Wall # 3!

 Thank you all so much for your constant prayers and financial support.  As we continue to move closer and closer to our goal each day, we are in complete awe of the generosity God has allowed us to experience through each of you. We will be having another yard sale in a few weeks so stay tuned for those dates. 

We recently got an amazing gift with this verse attached and it truly says it all!

"Rejoice in The Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

 
Here are a few pictures of our recent camping adventures!

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Small Town

A few years back I wrote a compare and contrast paper on the small town life versus the big city life. I wrote this paper after growing up in a small town for 18 years, then experiencing 5 years of big city life. Starting the paper, I thought I knew the direction I was going to take. I was enjoying everything the big city life had to offer and was still thinking, 'I will never, and I mean never move back to Camp Verde."  As my paper began to develop, I was surprised at the shape it was taking.  I was beginning to see what I truly loved about growing up in a small town and what I enjoyed about the city was not looking as glamourous as in my younger days.

Now don't get me wrong, you can definitely find joy in each situation.  However, for me and my family, we have found our nitch back in the place that I said I would never live again. The reason I got thinking about that silly paper I wrote so many years ago is because of these hundreds of little magnets I've been making. I have been shocked, overwhelmed, amazed, and blessed by the outpouring of support from so many people.  But the coolest thing I've experienced is the incredible involvement from my old classmates. I'd have to say that more than half of my orders have come from the people I've gone to school with and their support and encouragement has hit me hard. This is just one thing I love about growing up in a close-knit community.  No matter what you're experiencing ( joy or heartache) people will rally around you.

Dan and I are so grateful for all the support and prayers we have receive while waiting for our next child. We cannot wait to introduce you to our new addition when he or she arrives in our arms and it is through Jesus Christ and with the support of all you that we are able to do this.  Thank you again!

Adoption update: 

We have had a number of possiblities and close calls that have fallen through.  However, we are confident in the Lord's timing and continue to pray for baby Wall #3. As we wait, we continue to save and raise money to make this whole thing possible. Stay tuned because as we learned with Peyton:   Circumstances can change instantly when God brings the right child into the picture!