Getting to where we are today

I am excited that I made the choice to open this blog up not only to our friends and family, but also to lots of new friends recently and others.  I am hoping that the blog will offer support and encouragement to many.

I feel it is only fair (especially to newer readers) to share how we got to where we are today...more pertaining to our adoption of Sadie.

Grab some coffee and get cozy, I anticipate this being a long one! ;)

I will start with the fact.  We are blessed.  So undeserving...yet so blessed! 

I will start in late 2010.  We had our family...we have our beautiful daughter Ryleigh and two amazing sons, Kobe and Nathan. Ryleigh being our only biological child and the boys both adopted from South Korea.  The kids were all finally at the ages where we didn't have to adhere to any schedule for naps or worry so much about late nights.  We almost didn't have a need for a babysitter.  Life was great....life was EASY and we were very COMFORTABLE.

Ever since bringing Nathan home, though, I felt the urge and tug that we are not "finished".  Our family, to me, was not complete.  I was ready to jump right in to another adoption.  I guess that this where you can say that I am the gas pedal and Nick is the break.  He was not ready.  Not even close.

For YEARS I prayed for Nick and I to be on the same page with adopting again.  I could not understand why I felt so strongly, for my husband to feel so much the opposite.  I would dance around the subject occasionally just to "feel him out"...only to be shot down quickly and left very sad, disappointed and frustrated.  I had a "come to Jesus" meeting....with Him himself.  I prayed that if we were to adopt again, that it would be made clear and that it would come thru Nick. I begged God that if we were not meant to adopt, to take this feeling off my heart, as it would almost cause me physical pain at times.  But, if we were meant to adopt, to give me PEACE while I waited for His time to be perfect.

About 5 years later, the Lord spoke to both Nick and I and very clearly pointed us towards Ghana....and it came from Nick.

We were not prepared to adopt.  Not even close.  We were not financially prepared nor "room" in the house.  However, we new that if this was God's plan, that was not for us to worry about.  We put this entire process in God's hands.

We moved forward and were blessed each step of the way.  Our homestudy was complete and submitted to the orphanage director first part of May, 2011.  At that point, we truly expected to wait one full year until we received a referral.  However, days later, we had gotten an e-mail from the director, stating that although they did not have a child ready for referral, she was helping advocate for a child that they needed a family that had their homestudy complete and could move forward....quickly.

 We said that we would certainly be willing to look at her information and prayerfully consider it.  I contacted the appropriate person advocating for Princess Solomey (her name given to her in Ghana) and these were our very first pictures of our daughter.

 

We did our "research" on Hydrocephalus (her only diagnosis at that time).  We prayed and read lots of scripture.  But, when it came down to it.  We really felt like...how could we say from the start that we put this entire process in God's hands, but now when He is presenting a child to us, that He hand selected for us and this child was not quite what we were expecting...could we tell God that although we trusted Him, He just asked us to do too much.  That did not make sense to us.  Although this sweet and beautiful girl was NOT at all what we were "expecting" we took one look and knew in our hearts, this was our daughter.

 

To be Continued.......