Happy National Adoption Day!

Today is National Adoption Day!  Although this second adoption journey is not going quite like we had hoped, we are thankful that we can trust Jesus in all the details and every winding road that we are being led on.  Last week, I did attempt to reach the birth mother of the baby girl, but our call was not returned.  So in our hearts, we are once again moving on, and waiting to see who God will have for our family.  It was quite difficult this time around as we had so many baby girl clothes given to us through donation and some by gift, that I had to get all of those things put away so I wouldn't be having to look at them.  The crib has also been put away in the attic, so we won't have to look at that anymore either.  The day we had received the call from our attorney saying we shouldn't hold out much hope on this case, I had sold our baby boy book.   I thought it would be really neat to purchase a girly one, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, and opted instead for a gender neutral one.  An hour or two later, I received the devastating call.  God is faithful even in what may seem like "little" decisions.  God is teaching me that I need to take things a day at a time, even a moment at a time.  Things can change so quickly, whether positive or negative.  Instead, my instincts are to go directly into high planning mode!  Jesus has been teaching me a lot in regards to trusting Him, and looking only to Him for the strength that I need.

On the positive side, we have so much to be thankful for.  We have three wonderful children, one of whom we have been able to enjoy through the gift of adoption.  Oh, how my heart is burdened for those other children, and if we are only able to help one, then we will do that to the best of our

ability!  We have gotten a couple more books about adoption to read to Adia and she really likes them.  She enjoys: My Family is Forever, A Blessing from Above, and God Found Us You.  She is starting to talk and ask more and more questions about her birth family and it has been neat to see how well she has been responding to everything!  It has also been neat being able to observe her birth parents on facebook.  By all appearances, they have not only gotten married, but also appear to be growing in their relationship with Jesus.  That is something that will be so exciting to be able to share with Adia as she gets older.  God is faithful and we pray that the end result will be that one day she will allow Jesus to adopt her into His family. 


Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support!  It means so much to us as there are times, when we feel like giving up!  This journey has been so different from the first one, that we weren't prepared for how emotional this journey could truly be.  However, it will be worth it in the end, no matter the outcome, as I have learned so much more about Jesus through this time, that I might not have otherwise learned.  We have about a year left in our contract with Angel Adoption, so will see what happens during that time.  Thanks for coming along with us on this journey!

Heartache

I write you in tears as the attorney called and said that after meeting with the birth mother that he feels it is highly unlikely that she will follow through with the adoption plan.  She has hidden her pregnancy from her parents thus far and with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, and having 2 other children, how will she be able to hide her pregnancy then as they get together?  If she told her parents about her adoption plan, she told the attorney that they would not be supportive of her decision.  She relies so heavily on them for her 2 current children I don't understand how she has been able to hide the pregnancy from them this far.  She has had the support of her cousin throughout this ordeal, which has helped keep her going. 

As a result, our profile has gone active again!  We are encouraged however, to keep the door open to this birth mother if in case in the end, she does follow through with the plan and place.  How am I to plan?  We may not know if we are going until the last minute!  And then we take the risk of her backing out after we get there (which could happen with any placement).  Angel Adoption recommended I call her on Friday and see how she responds.  Angel wants to not abandon her completely yet, but will definitely let her be making the moves.  We will not be giving any form of living expense to her until afterwards, in the event that this does all come together.  We are waiting to retain any attorney until we see how or if things will progress.  The Louisiana attorney will not be charging us for his time thus far, which is a huge blessing.  We will however be billed for the social worker's time.

Adia's birth mother was able to hide her entire pregnancy from her family, besides her sister, until Adia had been placed with us.  So I know that if its the Lord will it can still happen.  This is one of those cases, where if things fall into place, it is clearly the LORD working and that it will be meant to be.  Thank you for praying!  Hope all of these rambled thoughts made sense as right now, my mind is kinda going crazy!

Phone Call from Louisiana Attorney

On Friday, I was given the phone number and name of the attorney that we would be working with in Louisiana but unfortunately I didn't receive the information until it was too late to call him on Friday.  So this morning I called and left a message with his secretary and waited until he returned our call this afternoon.  Needless to say my bubble of excitement was popped a little with a sharp needle of reality.  He felt the need to share with me, which I am thankful for, that honestly only 20% of adoptions in Louisiana are actually completed.  Another way of saying this is that 80% of birth mothers at some point will back out and change their minds.  Culturally it is very difficult for birth mothers in Louisiana to place their children.
 
He has already spoken with the birth mother over the phone but plans to have a face to face meeting with her within the next couple of days.  He will be taking along a social worker and they will be conducting a mental evaluation, financial needs analysis, see if she is being truthful about the whereabouts of the birth father, better determine if there is any family involvement and also trying to get the motives behind her decision to place.  In other words, see if they can get a clearer picture as to how solid of a case this really is for us.  Thankfully this attorney is not requiring us to pay him before he meets with her as he wants to get a clearer picture if at all possible before we continue.

The plan would be to finalize in Kansas, but I am to wait on contacting the KS attorney until I hear back from the Louisiana attorney to see if we should even try to proceed with this case.

This wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but am thankful for his honesty and thoroughness.  The odds of this placement happening are NOT in our favor, but know that Jesus is not limited to odds and that if this is God's will, we can be a part of that 20% of successful placements.  Will you please join with us in prayer?  Pray for the birth mother as she meets with the attorney, and that the attorney will have the wisdom to ask and say what needs to be said.  I'm not sure when we will hear back from the attorney following his meeting with the birth mother, as our phone call got cut short, so praying for peace of mind as we once again wait for the next step to be completed.

We're Getting a Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell that I am excited???!!  I was able to reach the birth mother, "A", this morning.  She had her doctor's appt this morning and the baby is growing and everything is fine!  This baby will, however, be a smaller baby (which will be fun - Adia was small as well).  She is very ready to move on and take the next step!  We are too!  We will be in quite a bit of contact with her until the baby is born but afterwards it is still up in the air as to how much we will communicate.

The baby is due December 29, and her two previous pregnancies both came a week early so we are looking at possibly spending Christmas in LA.  Now to see where we can stay. :)

Please be praying for "A" as she continues on with this pregnancy as well as raises a 5 year old and a 9 month old.  She knows that this will be a difficult decision and that this is what she needs to do.  So will pray that whatever is best for the baby will be done.  As we know, it could still fall through, but she is a really neat person who has been quite open and honest with me as we have talked.  I am looking forward to building a relationship with her.

The next step will once again be lining up attorneys.  Angel Adoption will line our attorney up for us in LA, and then will see if she finds one for us in KS as well.  If she doesn't we will need to find another attorney, one that is not the same that we were using when we were matched with Alexis.  I believe the law in LA is that the birth mother has 3 days to change her mind (as opposed to 10 with Alexis).  We will still see if we can get the attorneys and the birth mother to go with KS law, but if not, 3 days isn't too bad.  We should hear back from Angel Adoption either tomorrow or the latest next Tuesday as to where we are at in the attorney process.

Another prayer request is that I just learned that parts of LA are being affected by a sink hole.  Please pray that all will be safe as the sink hole isn't too terribly far from where she is living (its in another city at least).

What a great way to start out National Adoption Month.  Tomorrow is my birthday, so I couldn't ask for a better birthday present! :)

Lastly,  please be in prayer for our family as we have had sooo many changes going on in our lives over the past few months.  We are in process of making another change, which has been quite painful, so please be in prayer that we will sense the Lord's peace as we make what we feel is a necessary change. With all the ups and downs with adoption and the other major decisions and changes, I am physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted.  I am praying that through all of this that I will be more like how Christ wants me to be!

Thank you for praying!

Thank you for being excited with us!