Just like a roller coaster

For those of you who don't live nearby, there's an awesome amusement park in Elysburg called Knoebel's Grove.  Each summer we make a trip (or two...or three...) to the park.  All four of our kids love roller coasters.  They come by that naturally.  I've been to known to say that I love the feeling of having my stomach rise to my throat and fall back down again!  The scarier, the better!

Well, let me tell you that this adoption process is a little bit like a roller coaster.  One day things are moving along great, the next day we feel like we're screeching to a halt, only to begin up the big hill again.  This type of roller coaster is NOT as much fun as the Phoenix at Knoebel's, though.  This is the kind of roller coaster that plays with your emotions.  It has its emotional ups and downs, twists and turns - so much that it almost makes us want to hop off and not finish the ride.  Ya know - to look for a more peaceful, "choo-choo train" type of ride.  Then we look at Caleb's picture and remember the nagging feeling that we had before we started this adoption process...the feeling that we needed to be doing something important that God wanted us to do.  We recognize the feeling of emptiness in our hearts, knowing we have a baby boy waiting for his mommy and daddy to come and get him. 

No, this roller coaster ride may not be totally fun, but we are hanging on until this ride is completely over and Caleb is with his forever family.

The Waiting Game

July 8, 2010

Once again, I've been delinquent in my posts, but let me bring you up to date because a lot has been happening.

For starters, everyone keeps asking me, "What's his name?". I think it's "legal" for me to post the name we're giving him, so I'll tell you all that his name will be Caleb. We have decided to keep part of his African-given name as his middle name (can't post any part of that on here - sorry).

Secondly, we spent nearly the first two weeks after his referral with no new information, other than his picture. We were beginning to get discouraged wondering if he was really going to be ours when we received his "official" paperwork (referral papers, health information, etc.). We spent a little bit of time compiling all the pieces of our dossier. Then we went another two weeks without hearing a thing. Let me just say that it is unbelievably hard to be patient, especially now that we have his picture. We look at it, hug it, kiss it, talk to it, but that's enough -We want HIM!!

The good news is that things are moving along. We spent a week on the Outer Banks. It was great family time, but we found ourselves talking a lot about Caleb. Check out the completed family project in the picture below.

On the way home from our vacation, we were told that we were not in court yet, didn't know when our case would to to court, etc. We were slightly discouraged, but still trusting God for his timing. Long story short, we got home and the very next day, we got a phone call saying the adoption was final. Now we begin a 30-day waiting period. I think the whole thing should be called a "waiting period"!

Continue to pray for us as we prepare for his arrival. We are hoping that he will be home in August, but that remains to be seen.

Above photo was taken while we were talking about Caleb on the beach one day during our vacation.  We decided to put our thoughts into action playing in the sand.  :)