The Call...

Last night as I was putting Eisley to bed, I asked her what she wanted me to pray for. She said the usual things, that we'd have a good family day, and that the baby would come soon. I said to her, "You know when would be a great day for a Baby Call? Tomorrow. Let's pray we get a call tomorrow!" Eisley smiled and said, "Okay!" And I prayed...

"Dear Lord,

Thank you so much for this wonderful day. Thank you that mommy and daddy have been married for eight whole years today. Thank you that mommy's surgery went well (more on that later...) and that I am still here to tuck in my babies. Lord, we have a family day planned for tomorrow and everyone is on vacation and tomorrow would just be such a wonderful day to get a Baby Call! Please Lord can we get that call tomorrow? Thank you for all of our blessings. Please protect our baby and bring them home SOOOON!

Amen"

I kissed her goodnight, and she thanked me for getting married to daddy so that she could be alive (it was our anniversary yesterday!). I then prayed a very similar prayer with Jake, and I kissed him goodnight, and I went to bed. I prayed before falling asleep, and I thought, what's the harm in asking? It can't hurt. So I asked that we would get a phone call tomorrow. We had a relaxing "family day" scheduled, it would be such a nice anniversary present, and I just couldn't think of a better time to get such happy news!

This morning I woke up and my first thought was, "Man I really need some pain meds." ;) But my SECOND thought was, "Today's the day." I just had a feeling. We had plans to take the kids to a movie (Summer Movie Fun anyone? We love it and do it every year!). We were seeing "Happy Feet Two." Josh got the kids ready and I took a little pain medication (for those of you that are just dying of curiosity, I had some minor surgery yesterday, all went well and all is well!) and we were all ready to go! It was just one of those perfect mornings. I sat in the movie theater with my husband and my children, and we were just happy, eating our popcorn and smiling and holding hands and laughing, and it was just perfect. I thought to myself, "I just love my little family so much. It cannot get much better than this." I think I even took a moment to update my Facebook status saying that very thing. ;)

We were about 40 minutes into the movie when I checked my phone (sorry movie goers, I'm a phone checker). I had a missed call from a restricted number...with a voicemail. That was the kicker. Restricted numbers can be anyone, and most likely a recorded voice of a politician I don't plan to vote for, but voicemails make my heart jump. I thought, "Don't get too excited. If it was the agency, they would have called Josh too." So I leaned over and whispered to Josh, "Did you miss a phone call?" He nodded and gave me a knowing look. I told him I was going to go downstairs and check my message just in case. But I knew. This was it. I just knew.

Sure enough, I had a message from our adoption agency, asking that I call back as soon as I could regarding a birth mother. So I tried to memorize the number, tried to dial it, fumbled it, tried to find a pen, called my voicemail again to get the number, realized my pen didn't work, cursed silently the screaming toddler who was making it impossible to hear the message, and then sat down. I took a very deep breath, and tried again. Finally! I got a hold of the Pregnancy Counselor, who gave me the news we have been waiting to hear for so long...a birth mother had chosen us, and if we want to, we will be officially matched with her!!!

So if you were able to read through that incredibly long introduction, or whether you skimmed down to the "Good Part"...here it is...we are OFFICIALLY expecting a baby in late July!!! Yes, you did read that correctly. :)

Because this is a very public blog, we will not be sharing many details here, but we did want to share this wonderful news!!! Our family is so excited, so thankful, and very eager to hold this little one in our arms very  very soon!!!

As I have stated many times, and as you all know, there is always a risk with adoption, that birthmom may change her mind and decide to parent, that the child could be born with small or significant special needs, and the list goes on. We are well aware of all of that, but feel confident that the Lord has led us down this path and He will equip us to handle whatever He gives us. This is much like a pregnancy announcement. We are overjoyed, we know the risks, and we hope you will rejoice with us! If things do not go as planned, we know you will grieve with us as well. But we are choosing to be optimistic, because it is just such a better use of emotion in my opinion. :)

We would appreciate so much your continued prayers for the entire situation. Again, we have chosen to completely trust the Lord in this, and though we cannot predict what will happen, we feel totally at peace with this match and we are so thankful to the woman who has chosen our family to parent her child. We could not be more excited, and we hope you will share in our joy!!!

If you are praying, we desperately want and need your prayers for this baby. Without going into detail, we are praying fervently for the health of this child. We are praying for the birthmom. We are praying for our family, both our little family and our extended family, that God will prepare our hearts to love this child exactly how they need to be loved! We are praying that God orchestrate the situation and that He will get the glory for it all!!!

This was an incredibly happy day for our family. We are feeling extremely blessed! Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! We still have quite a road ahead of us, but we are focusing on today, and today was such a good day.

:)