We waited...

The past few weeks have been quite a roller-coaster. Those close to us have walked with us through pain, heart ache, excitement, and joy. They have cried with us, prayed with us, waited with us, and jumped for joy with us.
About 6 weeks ago we read a profile and after prayer and consideration felt they were the right fit. We submitted our letter of intent. We then learned another family submitted their letter just hours before ours. We praised God for placing children in families but our hearts hurt. It took some time to recover.
We went back to the waiting children list. We requested more information. We read more profiles. None fit. I began to feel distant from God. Surely He has a plan...right?
Over labor day weekend I requested more information on a sibling set. Our global caseworker messaged us back stating that they were not in the approved age range for us. Then she asked if we would be interested in receiving information on two year old twins. I immediately responded yes! Many little pieces of the profile drew us to these children.
Late that night we wrote another letter of intent and sent it off to BCS global.  They messaged back with some edits. By noon our team was translating.  Our letter was sent to ICBF by Wednesday evening.
And then we waited...
And waited...
And waited...

But it was worth it.
Our letter of intent was accepted. We are planning to welcome twins (1 boy and 1 girl) in late winter, early spring.

We are overwhelmed, excited, and a little anxious. There are still plenty of financial and paperwork hoops to jump through. I have been writing lots of grant applications, looking at babu stuff, and praying big prayers.

Would you pray with us? Support us? Walk with us on this crazy journey?

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt

Confessions

I love hard and fast.
I try to guard my heart but so far I'm pretty unsuccessful.
I am a little bit of a control freak...ok maybe a little bit is a lie.
I live in a society of instant gratification.
I am prone to being anxious.
I am bad at waiting.
I compulsively check emails/mailboxes/etc when I'm waiting on something.

These things have made the last week a difficult one.  Adoption means losing control.  It means rushing to finish your part of a step only to wait for someone else's part.  It means waiting for unknown periods of time for things that are REALLY important.  Adoption means love.

But I'm learning there are a few other things that are important during this time too.

I serve a huge God.
He has a great plan.
He won't leave me.
He won't leave my children.
He has surrounded us with a great support system.
I love big because that is who He created me to be.
He ultimately is in control.
He knows better than I do.

This week has been hard, but He has been with me.  My support system is rocking it.  Our prayer team has been lifting us up.  I'm still bad at waiting, but God is using the waiting to strengthen me, prepare me, and teach me.
Pray with us as we wait.  Hopefully we will have more to share with you soon!