The Journey in a Nutshell

Will and I have always known that we wanted to grow our family through adoption. In October 2010, Will began working at a national charity that offers group homes, foster care and counseling services to children. I believe that is where God really started this train. We began looking into international options in November 2010, but were discouraged by the tremendous wait (about 3-4 years!) and cost (we won’t even go there!)
Around December 14, 2010, Will told me about a 3 year old red- head who had come into his office that day with his foster parents. I didn’t sleep much that night because I kept thinking about this little boy… I just felt like he was supposed to be ours. The Foster Care Christmas party was a few days later and Will mentioned that he would be there. I insisted that we go and spent the whole evening playing with him and watching him follow Santa around the cafeteria. As we left that evening, I felt as if we were leaving a part of us behind.
At that time, we knew that his mother’s rights were not terminated, meaning that the state was still working to reunify them, and that he had been in what we believed to be a perfectly good foster home for the past year. This was not a child in need of a home. Now before you all get concerned that I will decide to make your children my own, you should know that this is not typical behavior for me. I have heard hundreds of heartbreaking stories and never felt like I needed to take them home (okay..only a few ;)). I believe that God gave me a love in my heart for this child from the time I first heard his name.
The next Monday, we began searching for a foster care agency and worked to get licensed as foster/adoptive parents are quickly as possible. We were licensed in February and began to wait…. We learned that he had a court date in May to determine if his mother’s rights would be terminated. So we waited…. Then court was rescheduled and we waited some more…..Then on May 17, we learned that his mother’s rights were terminated. **We truly believe that this is for the best, though she remains in our prayers and we ask that she be in yours as well.
As we waited, we began to learn that there were growing concerns about the appropriateness of the foster family as a long term placement for him. There are various medical issues, connection issues, discipline issues, etc… that have arisen over the last 5 months, leaving almost all parties involved feeling as if this child should be moved elsewhere. This is where I stop again and smile at the hand of God. GOD knew before we had any clue that this precious child would need a home. I am in awe of how much God loves His children….
So, since May 17, we have just been waiting to see what will happen next. While my tolerance for the unknown has increased over the years, this has certainly stretched far beyond my previous capacity! The wait has not been easy, but God has done so many things to encourage us along the way that I have never doubted that this little child would be our son. He allowed Will to meet with his attorney, provided just the right color of paint and put clients in my path 3 weeks in a row with his birthday just to name a few….. I could tell of the thousands of “signs” He has given us in the last few months, but that would triple the size of this story, which is probably already pushing YOUR capacity to sit and read!
So…to wrap this up, we received a phone call on June 24 from our wonderful foster care consultant, informing us that his attorney (or guardian ad litem) has scheduled a hearing on Friday, July 1 at 9am to ask the judge to place him with us. We received notice a on June 27 that the hearing would not be required and that he would instead come to live with us on June 30.
Our foster care worker commented that he cannot believe how this has all unfolded and has never seen anything he like it. I am not surprised. My God is always up for the unbelievable! “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days that you would not believe if you were told.” (Habakkuk 1:5) Indeed He has.

As a side note, His middle name is the same as my dad's, who I have always wanted to name my son after. God's train started before October 2010 :)