This is the post we have been dreaming about writing since we started the blog, or really, the news we have been waiting to have and to share since starting down this adoption road not quite two years ago.
We have a son!
It feels so fitting for this to happen in December. We found out I was pregnant with Lillian and Elliott during this month, and Isobel was a teeny tiny snuggly newborn during her first December.
The Synopsis:
On Friday, November 30, our social worker sent us a file of a little boy who fit our parameters. He is 3, with a birthday that fits in closely with 3 of us, and is actually a couple of months older than Isobel. Thomas and I were both cautiously excited and spent the next two weeks praying, gathering as much information as we could and reviewing it with smart people we know, watching the videos of him obsessively, and talking, talking, talking. No paradigm really exists for this sort of decision, and our emotions ping-ponged all over the place. Some things about him were just as we imagined, and some things weren’t. There is some information we will never have. Some details we will never know. Some details we won’t know until he’s in our home. But at the end of the day, we felt a peace that we can’t fully explain that this was our child. Adoption is a “broken hallelujah,” hope in the midst of trauma, the redemption of brokenness…all made possible through love.
As of yesterday, December 21, we have pre-approval from the CCCWA in China, which is a big step towards bringing our sweet boy home. Depending on how things go with holidays here and there, we are looking at March as our travel time.
The Details:
Here are a few things that stuck out to us (out of many) over the course of the last few weeks.
-so many Scriptures/sermons/messages about HOPE. It’s a popular time of year for that sort of thing, but it resonated in a different way this December.
-On the Friday we received the file, we went to TCBY after school to redeem an expiring coupon and happened to run into a family we know from church who adopted their daughter from China in May. Neither of us usually go on weekday afternoons. Watching their kids eat fro-yo together as if they’d been doing it all their lives was really encouraging to me.
-I re-connected with a pediatric occupational therapist friend while Christmas caroling, who came over to watch his videos with me. She has a huge heart for adoption, including adopted grandchildren, and her professional expertise/counsel was invaluable. “Yes, he’s going to need OT/PT/speech right away. Here are some names I know and some places to call. ” It was so helpful to see the path forward and our next steps as we move into a previously unknown world.
-The day before we had to make our final decision, one of our Re-engage leaders (our marriage class from the spring) found us at church. We hadn’t seen or spoken to her for about six months and she started the conversation by asking us about Oliver and telling us that the Lord had really laid him on her heart that week. Again, this was so encouraging and we are thankful she shared with us.
The Overall
(for the two people who are still reading, ha)
-Are we nervous? ABSOLUTELY. 4 kids is a lottttttttt of kids. :)How does this fit in with my school year; how will the finances work out; what is the nature of his delays; how will this change our daily routine probably top the charts of things we are anxious to know.
-Are we taking the kids when we go? Yep. All 5 of us will be traveling there (and 6 back!)
-Are we doing more fundraising? Yep–watch this space!
Thanks for all the support, prayers, good wishes, love, and financial support already given. We are so grateful.
Merry Christmas! The parallels between Christmas and adoption are staggering and worth thinking about this month.
Galatians 4:4-7 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Team Grooms 