Road Update

Thank you for all of your encouraging words, thoughtful e-mails and your prayers. You all are a true blessing!

This weekend Mr. Wonderful and I had the privilege of escaping to Lake Travis (outside of Austin) with our friends Jon and Sarah. Sarah has been my friend for over 17 years, and she and I have lots of sweet memories together. Her parents graciously opened their beautiful lake house, and the four of us had a wonderful time relaxing (and playing!) in the beauty of the Texas hill country.

Our time away, especially in the quiet moments on the drive to/from Austin and the serene time on the boat cruising around the lake, afforded me some blessed opportunities for reflection. I was able to get honest with myself and God and examine the "why's" behind the pain in my heart. The Lord used that time to reveal much to me. I feel refreshed, and for the first time in awhile I feel excited about what lies ahead of us!

Which leads me to my update...

Mr. Wonderful and I have spent much of the summer in research-mode and prayer as we've explored the vast world of adoption. As I have mentioned here before, we are immensely grateful for several "new" friends who are on also on this journey, and for the wisdom that they continue to share with us.

The Lord has led us to pursue public adoption through a local Houston agency called Arrow Child & Family Ministries. We are nearly done with the initial paperwork/application and have begun taking the training classes. For example, we are now officially certified in CPR and First Aid for infants, children, and adults! (I recommend everyone take that class, by the way.) We have approximately ten other classes to take over the next month or so, and there is an extensive list of other requirements that we must complete before we can become licensed foster care parents including a handful of inspections of our home as well as interviews, FBI fingerprints, TB tests, etc.

In the next several days I will do an Adoption 101 post (similar to my In Vitro 101 post) to help explain what we've learned about the different adoption options (international vs. domestic, private vs. public, etc.) and what the Lord has revealed to us about His path for our family.

I think most of the pain and saddness I have felt over the past several weeks has been a result of an internal turmoil in my heart. Adoption is very unique. We do not have a 9 or 10 month heads up that our family is growing. But more than that, for me as a woman, I do not have that time which gives us ladies permission to get excited about a baby, nest and decorate a nursery, have a shower with family and friends, etc.

But that turmoil is ending today. In my own way, the Lord has uniquely given me a forewarning that our baby is coming. I may not have a growing belly bump and ultrasound pictures on my refrigerator, but we are confident that the Lord is knitting together our family even today. It's time to get excited about the possibilities, to dream and pray for our child just like other expectant parents. And it's time to start preparing our home to welcome our little miracle!

So on Monday I will be heading to the baby stores to start researching/shopping. Anyone care to join me?!?!?!

**Special note to Mr. Wonderful - Brace yourself, sweetheart! I've been dreaming of this since I was 2 years old! It's gonna be fun...