Exciting adoption news!!!

Guess what we did today? We made a scrapbook! 

This past Wednesday we had our Full Disclosure meeting for the adoption.  This means the adoptive family meets with all those who are involved with the care of the child(ren) they are seriously considering to adopt, including the current foster parents. 

In this meeting we felt so informed. We were able to ask a lot of questions and we learned more about the kids from people that actually know and care for them, it was very cool!

We were so excited to meet everyone. We were so happy meet a current foster family and learn that they are Christians. We could tell that they were really providing a nurturing, caring environment that is so needed. Praise the Lord!!

We also met the therapists, one of which is a sister of one of my best buddies here, another praise!!  We are so excited to see God’s hand leading us through this journey.  There certainly have been some deep disappointments and hurts, but even in the heartache and frustration we knew God had a plan. 

Friends, we are so delighted to tell you that tonight we signed the Intent to Adopt form for two boys aged 9 and 11.  So, today we worked on a special project, a scrapbook that the foster care worker will present to the boys this week to introduce us to them for the first time, to ease them into the transition.  We will be able to meet them soon!!  I anticipate that this will be time of excitement and nervousness, and it will be so thrilling to finally meet them!

We know it's natural to have lots of question and we will share what we can and what we are comfortable with sharing.  We thank you, in advance, for understanding if we do not share certain bits of information; as we advocate for the boys’ safety and privacy there are many details that we will not be sharing now, if ever.  For now, we will not be disclosing their names or location (other than that they are from here in Michigan). We can't wait to share that information as soon as possible though!!! :) 

What an exciting time in our lives and we are thrilled to share this process with you!! We truly are so blessed to have many friends and family praying and/or sending encouraging thoughts on our behalf throughout this process. We so appreciate the many caring and encouraging words along the way.  

It might seem strange, I have not even met them yet but I feel like they are already mine. I can’t wait to be their MOM!!!  I sat in the meeting with tears running down my cheeks holding back the gulping sobs that were threatening to present themselves. I ached for what they have known and seen and heard, I want to absorb any hurt and rejection for them. I want them to know we are in this for the long haul, I want to say, "it's okay, you can trust us" and I want to help point them to the ONE who loves them most of all and can ALWAYS be trusted!

I overheard the foster mother talking about needing to find a different pair of winter boots for...she named the child. I was sitting across the lobby and I was thinking to myself, I want to get the boots, that should be my job! Soon. 

For now, I wait and pray for the Lord to prepare our four hearts that will soon be coming together to form a family.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they tell them about us and see the scrapbook for the first time. What will they think? How will they feel? What questions will they have? What are their fears? What are their dreams? In time...

I just want to love those little kiddos....I already do!

An exerpt from one of my favorite children’s books, I know it by heart! The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

But the Skin Horse only smiled.