3 Weeks since referral!

Well, it's has been 3 weeks since we got our referral of Drew!

The first few days Jeff and I couldn't stop looking at his sweet little picture with those adorable brown eyes staring right at us.  I have constantly been clicking on my phone just to see his face and to be reminded of WHY we started this adoption process in the first place.

Just one word.

OBEDIENCE.

We felt God asking us to step out in this HUGE step of faith and to trust Him throughout this WHOLE process.  I remember when (almost 2 years ago) that I felt this leading and was scared to death.  Adoption had NEVER occurred to me before.  I had not known anyone growing up who was adopted and no one in my family had ever adopted before so it was very foreign to me.  Over the past number of years God has brought precious friends and families across our path who have lead by example, encouraged us and have been sweet to share their private stories with us.

I also remember "telling" God that He had better show up and give me a heart for adoption and a passion for the child that He would place in our family forever!  2 years ago I was scared and nervous  and honestly didn't even want to adopt and TODAY my heart is overflowing with faith, trust, hope and love beyond what I thought was possible!  He is so faithful!

So, we have finished all the paperwork.  Waiting for our dossier so we can get it notorized and then send it off to Uganda and then wait for our court date!  We are praying our court date will be before December 15th.  The Ugandan courts close December 15th- January 15th.  We would love to squeeze in before the courts close so Drew can be home for Christmas.  If not, we should be going mid-January to pick him up and bring him home.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, support and offers to be involved!

Keep in touch!

Erin 

Precious referral!!!

We got it!!

You got what, you ask?

The MOST PRECIOUS referral we have been waiting for the past 15 months!!

We can't share alot but... here is what we CAN tell you...there is a sweet little 2 yr old boy who lives in Uganda that needs a mommy, daddy, brother and 2 sisters in his life!

In John 14:18, Jesus says..."I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you."

God ordained from the beginning of time that he would choose baby Drew (nickname) to be part of our family!  We have prayed for months that God would care for and love our little guy until that time came and NOW the timing is PERFECT!

We are hoping and praying that we will travel December or January to meet him and bring him home. Jeff & I will do our best to keep you all updated as we move forward with paperwork, packing, court dates and of course...the homecoming!  

Thanks for all your love, support and prayers as you have walked this road with us!

 Erin 

Summer is coming to a close in a few short weeks.  I CAN'T believe that these months have gone by so quickly and now we are approaching fall and the new school year soon.  I say all that with such different emotions flowing through me.

First of all, I am READY for a schedule!  Hubby keeps reminding me how much better I do with an organized schedule and my calendar all filled up with what and where we need to be.  We have had a awesome, fun-filled summer but it's has also been relaxed and VERY unscheduled!  So...the time has come to organize!!  I have 3 kids going in 3 different directions so we have pulled out the calendar and it is starting to fill up.

Secondly, I have mixed emotions about school starting.  We were REALLY, REALLY hoping that we would have travelled to Uganda with the family this summer.  But it didn't happen, so now we enter the fall and school with still no word about our "little brother".

We were preparing to travel in the summer...we had the time, kids out of school and we were very excited to head to Uganda to meet our little brother! But, here we are with the school year starting with no brother and STILL no travel plans to Uganda.  (Sigh)

My girlfriend posted this on FB the other day...perfect timing for me in my moment of self-pity:)

Official waiting list...

It is shocking that I have not updated this blog since February!  Shame on me : )

Oh well, here I am!

We are well into our summer vacation from school and all our other activities (except softball, of course!)  We have had fun days of swimming, sleepovers, VERY late nights, softball tournaments, BBQ's, time with friends and family.

To top it off, we travelled to my home country to spend time with family and friends.  We packed our car full to the brim and sped way up north to Calgary, Alberta to see cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  It was a great 10 days filled with paintballing, swimming, movies, lots of food, soccer games, wild animal park and a day trip to Banff (unbelieveable...you must go if you have never been there).  Phew!  I'm tired just thinking back to all that we accomplished!

We got home last week and we have been busy ever since.  One of my dearest friends is getting married in a few weeks and we are busy planning showers, bachelorette party and getting everything ready for the big day!

For some reason, she wants me and our other "bestie" to be bridesmaids in her wedding.  We told her that if she wants "old ladies" in her wedding party then she will just have to bear looking at us in her pictures the rest of her life!  :)  We are super honored and unbelieveably excited to marry her off to an awesome guy loves Jesus and adores her!!  Pictures to come after August 5th!

But the most exciting thing to happen since we have gotten home is . . .

sorry, no referral!  : (

But . . . our agency sent an email sharing some changes in our waiting process.  They have decided to share the once secret "waiting list" for families to help them determine MAYBE how long of a process they should be expecting.  We got our first "official" number last week and we are #4!! Yay!!!

Since we do not know who is before us nor what they have requested, we might actually be the first in line for a 2-4 year old boy, or we may be fourth. God knows.

Jeff and I have such peace about His ultimate timing and when He is ready for us to go and bring our son home. And that is when it will happen! We are excited and anxious but ultimately we have total PEACE!

A couple weeks ago we entered our 13th month on the waiting list and now it seems we are so close to meet and bring home our son! Thanks for praying with us.

My horrible memory!

So, yesterday I was looking for a book and I came across an old journal that I used for my first trip to Uganda.  It was in 2007 and God worked out all the circumstances for me to be able to accompany my hubby on a missions trip to Soroti, UG.  I started to journal a few months before we left.  I don't know why because I AM NOT a journaler.  I wanna be.  But I am not!  For some reason (God), I sat down and wrote out my thoughts and feeling about our upcoming trip.  As I was reading the first page I was stopped dead in my tracks...I couldn't believe it!  Here is what it said:

In case you can't read my messy handwriting, it says..."Jeff & I have started to dialogue about adopting a child from Uganda.  Just thinking about it has changed my whole view of this trip.  Looking at my first experience to Africa through the eyes of possibly being a mom is really life changing.  But in my heart I have released this option completely to the Lord, so we will have to wait and see what His plan is for our trip and our family!"

That was almost 5 years ago that I wrote that down. Honestly, I DO NOT remember writing this at all.  Those of you who know my hubby and I know that we both have horrible memories.  We say that is why we don't really fight and why we have a great marriage because we can't remember why we were mad in the first place!

I love God's timing.  I had been praying for a confirmation from the Lord this past week and a word of encouragement for my heart. That was just what I needed!

 We are starting our 8th month on the "waiting list" with our agency.  We were anticipating waiting for around 6 months and once we hit that the weeks seem to have drug on.  Last week we got word from our agency that they are now anticipating the referral wait to be more like 12 months.  So, realistically we have another 4 months to wait.  But...that is international adoption!

We are at peace and we will continue to wait for His perfect timing to meet our son!