Lifted Out Of The Water

Wow, so much has changed since my last update! We received the final paper we were waiting for and within 24 hours we booked our flight and hotel and were headed to the airport! Madness! From start to finish our trip was blessed by the Lord. We have returned home with a new awareness of God's divine plan for each one of our lives. From the moment we saw Sambhav's picture we felt a strong connection to him that continued to grow with time. In our hearts we knew he was our son. To be honest, I doubted whether this feeling was God given or my imagination. I know there were people who thought we were crazy and I feared that maybe they were right. And I'll admit that twin toddlers + adopting a 5 year old felt a whole lot like crazy! But we chose to have faith that this was truly God's will for our family and to continue to follow where He led us. I cannot explain the feeling of overwhelming peace and wholeness I felt once Sambhav was in our arms. That same unexplainable con...

I once heard that "if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." Looking back on the last 10 years of my life, it is so evident that my plans are not always THE plan. Justin and I are "planners" by nature and thought we had this whole family thing planned out when we dove head first into parenthood. We would conceived one child, then in a few years our adoption would progress and we would bring home a healthy infant girl from India. Then done; family complete. Well, needless to say, God had other plans for us. Within a year we added twin biological daughters and a 5 year old son to our family! We like to tell people that we ordered the "Family Starter Pack".  Our family looks nothing like we originally planned, which we are forever grateful for.  We are more aware of God's beautiful plan for our lives than ever before! As we wait...and wait...and wait for our son's passport and travel dates, it is becoming increasingly easier to doubt G...

Lately I have been captivated by the stories of Spiderman and Superman. Did you know that they were adopted?! I love it! These strong, powerful, heroic characters were once orphaned and alone due to tragic circumstances. I love how they demonstrate resiliency by overcoming obstacles and how the story line normalizes families built through adoptions. Although the Superman and Spiderman stories have won a place in my heart, there is one adoption story that is my favorite: JESUS. Over the last few years my eyes have been opened to the significance and importance of adoption in the Bible and how it is woven into it in so many ways. I love how the following article explains this: http://showhope.org/adopted-or-biological-they-are-your-own-kids/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=26228700&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_QrjE9AC-h1iYpKO3k-2AJH_gMoB2ytIDLXdwyP0ydrmBwdTADJ7MViyezDYZHkwlSSyA32kd65P7znB-b5QMNRrcwRA&_hsmi=26228700 Here is our OWN Superman aka SuperSam (nickname c...

Its official! He is our's...all our's! We have finally received our court order which makes little man legally our son. Our hearts are so full of gratitude. God is so good! Next step (once we receive his passport): TRAVEL! So beyond excited! I will write more about this exciting phase soon, but of course, I have more adoption paper work that needs my attention. Thank you for all your prayers!

We received word today that we have been granted our NOC! This approval means that the courts did not oppose our adoption of our sweet boy and we are able to proceed in efforts to finalize the adoption. THIS IS HUGE! I have been praying for this day for what seems like forever. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude and excitement. WE CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL! It is about a 5 month wait to receive our court order and then apply for little man's passport. Then TRAVEL! We are anticipating traveling to India in February or March, but praying it is sooner than that. We can't believe that in 6 short months we will be holding our sweet boy. Oh my heart could burst! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Please be praying specifically for little man's health and wellbeing, our court order, and for our hearts to be patient.

Happy birthday to our sweet boy! Last month our little man turned 5! It was painful to celebrate his birthday and not be able to hold him and shower him with our love, but we are so grateful that (Lord willing) we will get to celebrate together next year and every year after that! Please be praying for our sweet 5 year old.

We have very exciting news….we have officially accepted our referral! Even as I type those words, it does not seem real. It is amazing to think of how far God has carried us in this adoption. We are so excited to announce that, Lord willing, we will be bringing our son home this winter. God is so good! On March 19 th 2014 we received an “India Program Referral Announcement” from our agency (AWAA) advocating for children in the system that were still waiting to be matched with a family. These “waiting children” had been in the international adoption system for a long period of time and currently did not meet any families’ listed referral criteria. We had just submitted our dossier (THE giant compilation of paperwork) and were looking forward to a much deserved break from paper work as we waited for the arrival of Summer and Brooke. AWAA had made it very clear that we were not able to receive a referral (being matched with a child) until approximately 6 months after the...