The Addition of Christian

Originally posted May 6, 2011

This has been an even wilder ride than we expected when we left.  Here’s the timeline:

• Got the call from the agency while at work at Hannah’s Dream at 12:01 pm.
• Headed home to start planning and packing at 12:45 pm.
• Packed, wrote blogs, made phone calls, etc until 6:30 pm.
• Ran errands to tie up loose ends in Kansas City.
• Officially on the road at 7:30 pm.
• Crossed into Florida at 2:06 pm the next day.
• Checked into a hotel at 4:30 pm.
• Arrived at the adoption agency at 5:30 pm.
• Held Christian for the first time at 6:45 pm.

(All this with 1 hour of sleep for Paul and three for me.)

Originally we were told we would get him on Friday.  When we crossed into Florida and called the adoption agency as they had requested they told us we could either get him that night wait until Saturday.  Uhhhh – no brainer!

Despite being sleep-deprived we were SO ready and I was not a little nervous.  We had no idea how he would react to us, but as soon as they got him out of the car, he reached over and practically launched himself into Jessica’s arms.  What followed was about an hour of hugs, cuddles, play, pictures, and sharing of information from the foster family to us.  The foster family was amazing.  They loved him and cared for him.  They bought him things and blessed us with them.  They even bought some new outfits to bless us with.  (He’s a size 3T, by the way…at 18 months!)

After about an hour, it was time to load up and head out…a family of FIVE!  He chattered and smiled as we went through the drive through at Arby’s for a little dinner and headed back to the hotel.  After we ate it was time to get ready for bed.  We cuddled and snuggled until he fell asleep.  It didn’t take long after such a big day.  The foster mom said she rocked him to sleep each night.  I didn’t have a rocking chair so we rocked back and forth on the bed.  He slept like a dream…all night and through tons of noise as we re-packed to make room for his things.

Today we are busy discovering who he is as we head to Daytona Beach to stay at a condo offered to us by the sister of a close friend.  He fussed a bit and then fell right asleep in the car.

You know, it is so strange to say “my son” or “our son”.  Having girls those are words don’t come naturally to my lips.  I can’t say just “the girls” when I’m talking about my children.  I have to say “the kids.”  I’m a mother of three.  Wow!

I know there are many changes coming when we get home…baby-proofing, figuring out a schedule with a toddler, and more.  I am filled with more joy than I could imagine so it is all worth it!

The girls watching for Christian to pull in. They are on the adoption agency's sign.

Just moments after first meeting him. He launched himself into Jessica's arms for this hug!

He's working on a chicken nugget and getting to know us.

First family picture!

Isobel helping dress her little brother.

The Rest of the Story

Originally posted May 5, 2011

Good Morning Friends and Family!

We are well over halfway to Jacksonville now thanks to my all-night driving husband.  We got off at 7 pm last night and are in Atlanta currently.  We’ve spent the night thinking about the little boy we are headed to adopt!  It still seems a bit unreal, but we definitely just passed through the Smokies.  We girls just got a few short hours of sleep and Paul has yet to do more than snooze a bit.

Our hearts are full of wonder and delight at the Lord’s working.  I had a friend ask me yesterday if I could have imagined this back in January.  Nope!

It is amazing that we’ve known of this precious boy for less than 24 hours and we are so ready to hold him.  My mind races with questions.  What will the meeting be like?  What foods does he like?  How will he handle the long car trip back?

Also want to share with you a couple of God stories.  First of all, when the agency called us, they told us they felt one of the reasons we were the right family is because we applied to their agency ON Christian’s first birthday.

When I learned his birthdate, I immediately remembered back to last September and October.  Jessica had a dream that our baby would be born in October.  That seemed impossible since our home study wasn’t finished until the end of that month.  She remained insistent on that timeframe.  His birthdate is October 14!

Both of those are kisses from God, although we knew right away in our hearts that the answer to the question “Will you adopt a 1 ½ year old boy?”  was a resounding “YES!”  We are so thankful that our home study was written to include up to 4 years old.

This little boy has already been marked by God.  His birth mama was on her way to get an abortion, but her car broke down and she never made it.  She has been parenting for the past year and a half reluctantly.  She wanted to make an adoption plan for him before he was born, but her family talked her out of it, promising to help.  Unfortunately, they haven’t been helping and parenting him and his 7 year old sister has been too much.

Click the word “Christian” below to see a picture of our handsome guy.  I know you’ll love his smile as much as we do!

Love you!

See our previous post about the nuts and bolts about how to pray and how to give if you would like to help us with our expenses!  I did receive a question about how to do PayPal.  You have to login to your PayPal account, choose send money, then send it to my email shine7565@gmail.com.  I will get notified and can move it into our bank account once it has cleared.

Paul, Angela, Isobel, Jessica, and our Son-to-Be

Christian

Keep Your Hands in the Cart at all Times...

Originally posted May 4, 2011

Keep your hands in the cart at all times…

As most of you are aware, we have been on an emotional roller coaster for the last few months.   First, we have a match, the baby is born, then no match, then being presented to numerous birth mothers who either felt called to parent or were drawn to a different family.  Now we’re back to having a match again!   Things happen so quickly in the adoption world that there is no way to foresee or prepare for what can happen next.

Many of you reading this have already been so generous to help us financially and prayerfully to be part of this adoption story.  Thank you!  Now we are pleased to let you know we have been matched with a birth mom and baby in Florida.  We are adopting a little 18 month old boy.  His name is Christian Micah and he was born 10/14/2009. 

All that being said we wanted to ask you if you’d like to help us again!   We are in need of about $18,500 (total with travel expenses and finalization.)   We still have about $10,000 from the money we raised and saved previously and we are receiving a grant of $3,000 from a foundation associated with our church (www.thezoefoundation.com).   We are more than willing to get a loan for this, but wanted to at least let our needs be known and then trust that God has the perfect plan for how He will provide what’s needed.   He truly is the God of 11:59 and we love what our friend Vicki texted to us recently, “that money is pocket change to your DADDY!!!”   That was so encouraging and we know God will provide for us because this stuff is close to His heart, since He adopted us!

We covet your prayers and well-wishes as we embark on this wild journey today!  We are leaving the evening of 5/4 and plan to be in Florida by the night of 5/6.  We should receive Christian on Friday, the 6^th.  We’ll then be staying in Florida waiting for approval for 5-10 days.

What an awesome Mother’s Day Gift this will be!

Thank you so much for joining in our journey!!!

Love,

Paul, Angela

Not What We Expect/Dark Night

Originally posted January 2010

Elias has been on this earth, breathing the same air we breathe for four days now.  It seems like much longer.  Nothing has gone as we had hoped, prayed, or expected.  Not one thing.

Two days ago we expected to meet our son, to sign papers, to love on his birth mama, and then to take him out of the hospital with us.  Three days ago we packed our bags for a hotel stay on the Kansas side while we waited for approval to come back to Missouri.  We prepared clothes, food, and activities for a week’s stay.  All the time our hearts breaking that we could not see him in the hospital or tell the birth mom how much we love her.  It isn’t normal to not see him in the hospital, but she asked for some special time with him before we came.  We honored her, though it was hard.  In the back of my mind, I worried about her bonding and not being able to let go.  But I packed anyway.

Friday morning, we loaded the car, took the girls to a friend’s house to spend the day and night while we met their little brother.  We hurried to the attorney’s office to sign papers, stopped to get flowers for the birth mom, and hurried into the hospital at the appointed time.

To be met by the social worker with tears in her eyes.

She sat us down and said five words we didn’t really want to hear.  “She has decided to parent.”

First shock and a bit of denial, then prayer, then a great sadness, more prayer, then not knowing what to do next.  Friends loved us, prayed with us and for us, suggested we take some time and then get the girls, reminded me to cry as much as I wanted, cried with us.

And then we left the hospital carrying the diaper bag that was carried in with special home-coming outfits, tiny diapers, and a camera ready to record it all.

We walked out arm-in-arm.  Being close helped.  We drove a bit and then realized we needed our babies.  I needed to hold them.

The next 24 hours we vacillated between numbness and sadness.  We unloaded the car and put away the food, but couldn’t face unpacking just yet.  We loved on each other, prayed, sat silent, and watched a movie because we couldn’t really face much else and the girls couldn’t really just sit and do nothing all day.

Throughout the entire time we clung desperately to His love and promises.  We replayed the past month and the past days in our minds over and over.  Were you there, God?  Did we miss your leading, Holy Spirit?  Why did you call us to this, Father?  Help us, Jesus!  Be with Elias and his family, Abba.

Paul was the strength.  Despite how he was feeling he spoke scriptures over us, prayed out loud when I couldn’t utter a word, spoke God’s truth in our lives and over me as a mom.  He was a rock for me, a covering even in his desperate sadness.  He felt like a failure, but he led like a man after God’s own heart!

No, the past two days have not gone as expected.  I would consider them a dark night of the soul.  Waves of grief still come crashing, but there is light everywhere.  God is good.  God is love.  My Father loves me.  I love Him.  This experience will produce deeper love in my family.

I’m reminded of a portion of one of my favorite songs (Simple Devotion by Misty Edwards)

“Angels o Angels, look and see.  Through that dark night of faith she is gazing at me.  Angels o Angels, look and see, through the cloud of unknowing, she is gazing at me.”

Yep, that sums it up.

Adoption Update

Originally posted January 2010

Dearest Friends and Loved Ones,

We know many of you are waiting to see pictures of our new little guy. It is with heavy hearts that we write to let you know that this little one’s sweet mama has chosen to parent him. As you can imagine we are grieving heavily for this baby who already stole our hearts. We’ll be spending the next couple days processing this as a family, loving on each other, and continually putting our lives in God’s hands. We covet your prayers and your emailed words of comfort and encouragement. Please also pray for the birth mama. We firmly believe the Lord had us involved with this situation for a reason. His hand was all over it. We may not know why until we get to heaven, but we are thankful that the Lord found us worthy to walk through this.

We love you all,

Paul, Angela, Isobel, and Jessica

In Just a Few Weeks

Originally Posted December 2010

In just a few short weeks, we’ll be holding a little baby boy and calling him our own.  You see, I am 33 weeks pregnant…paper pregnant as they call it.

It is a strange sensation.

Knowing a baby is coming, preparing the room, and hanging clean baby clothes in the closet seems surreal when my belly isn’t any bigger than it was a few months ago.  It hardly seems real until we sit across the table with his biological parents.  Lovely young people making a hard decision.

I absolutely love learning details about their lives.  Getting to know them.  Storing up facts and information that will go into our son’s story.

Sometimes I get a picture of what life will be like this coming February.  Without a doubt it will be different than now.  Also without a doubt, we are longing to hold this little one who has already made his way into our hearts and dreams.

Thanks everyone for well-wishes.  Thanks also for continued prayers!

The Journey Begins

Originally posted December 2010

Well, really the journey began ten years ago when we first talked about adopting.  It sped up when we started the adoption process in August.  Now, it is REALLY moving.

Yesterday we were matched with a birth mom.  Her baby is due February 7 and, Lord willing, that baby boy will join our family sometime around then. 

The best part is that we gain more than just a son in a little less than two months.  We gain a relationship with his birth family as well.

I (Angela) got the call that we were chosen at 1:30 pm on Friday, December 10.  That’s just two days before Isobel’s 11th birthday.  The first person I called was Paul, of course! :-)

Everyday prayers are in our heads and on our lips for the birth mom, her family and the baby she is carrying as well as the birth father who isn’t sure about the adoption plan.

And so we begin a new chapter.  A time of waiting for a baby who is already becoming a part of our hearts.

Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity!  Thank you, birth mom, for trusting us to raise your son!

Angela with the papers she wrote THE call  notes on.

Paul is excited!

The girls are excited, too!

We celebrated with sparkling juice in real glasses!

About to be parents of three, not two.