Our Story

I decided maybe I should share a little bit about how we came to the beginning of our adoption journey. We moved to Texas in March 2006, our youngest was about 8 months old. We had planned on eventually having more kids, but health insurance and maternity coverage was really kind of an obstacle at the time. That July I began having some pain and trouble physically, it took me a little while to find a doctor and then they had to reschedule my appointments a couple of times, so finally the beginning of October I got in to see the doctor. After a couple of follow-up appointments it was determined that I needed to have a hysterectomy. I was devastated, with just turning 30 years old and having to deal with the realization that I could never have any more children. I struggled for some time before and after surgery. It was hard to really share what you are feeling inside when you are going through something like that. I knew that time would heal that hurt and God was still in control of what now I know was an incredible plan. I thought that our family was complete and love my three kids dearly. God had different plans, at the beginning of 2008, God began to work on my heart that He wanted us to adopt. I told Him that our family was complete, but as time went on my heart longed for another child and my love grew for our little one that I do not even know yet. I prayed about adopting for a few months and then Joe began to talk about adopting, I was sure that this was from the Lord. We began to pray even more and the Lord led us to friends that have adopted and they shared their stories with us and gave us guidance on how to begin the journey of adoption. We officially began our process in September and have now come to the time of Waiting!!
If I can share anything with you, it would be this, to remember that we do not see the big picture that God has planned for our lives and our family. Sometimes we try to do things all on our own, but God pulls us back and continues to say, Just live one day at a time, but always live for Him and His Glory!!!

This past week, I have been learning what patience is all about. Even though we want desperately for our referral to come, I have been reminded of the precious moments that I have to spend our our three kiddos that are at home right now. You know people always tell you when when you have kids to cherish every moment because time goes by so fast and then they are grown and gone. Wow, you do not realize how true that is until you see it happening right before your eyes. Our children grow up so fast, and I always think about all of the things that I want to teach them and things that they need to know, and you think you have all the time in the world, but let me assure you, we don't. Each day that I get to spend with my kid's is very precious and I will treasure it always. Even those days that are tough and I just want to run outside and scream, but the good definitely outweighs the bad or challenging times.
So as we wait, I have been reminded from a couple of new friends to do things with my kids that we might not get to do when our little one gets here. Enjoy the time that I can spend with each of them and cherish those moments forever. Thanks to my new friend C. for that reminder!! The journey continues!!

Not sure what to say

Good afternoon! I am kind of at a loss of exactly what to say in this new blog that I created. I know we are what I consider to be almost the halfway point of our adoption. Meaning that all of the paperwork on this side of things is done, I hope! I am praying that we will not have to update or repeat any paperwork, but in reality that is probably only wishful thinking. I know some of you that have already been through the adoption process are probably laughing and saying that I have a lot to learn. You are probably right, I know I still have a lot to learn, but one thing that I do know is that the love I feel in my heart for this precious little one that I have not even met yet is sometimes so great that it just brings me to tears. Well, better get back to things on the home front and continue to learn on this wonderful journey!!

Learning something New

Well, today I am entering the world of blogging. I have always thought that I was pretty up with the times, but I am finding out more and more that in a lot of people's eyes I am not very computer savey. I will continue to learn new things as time goes on so please bear with me as I learn how to blog.
At the beginning of 2008, God began to work on my heart and was telling us to adopt. I spent a lot of time in prayer and Joe and I began to talk more and more about adopting. We had talked about adopting years ago when we were first married, but the heart tug had not ever been as strong as it was at that moment. We visited with some friends from my home church that have adopted and they gave us some great insight and information to start with. I began to look at different adoption agencies and we finally decided to go with Gladney. So to bring you all up to date, we have all of our paperwork and our Dossier is complete and on it's way the Ethiopia. We received an email from our caseworker last Thursday, February 12th that we are officially on the Wait List!! What a great early Valentines gift!!