Kris Allen and God of This City

This has been a good day!

We have talked about the possibility of bringing the girls. Today we submitted applications for their passports. We have pretty much decided to bring them. At least we are one step closer to preparing them for the trip. So much more to do but it feels good to have one item crossed off the list.

This afternoon we received an attachment with a developmental checklist for Yihun. He is hitting almost every milestone!!!!!!!! He is amazing!!!!!!

And, the best part of the day.... we have been praying for a certain child in Ethiopia - that he would be matched with his forever family soon. Today we received the news that he has been matched and he will be home with his new family by the end of the summer. God is sooooo GOOD!!!!

Update on our son

We received a small update on our son yesterday. Not much, just that he plays with the other kids and talks to them but the nannies don't speak the same language as him so they don't understand much of what he is saying. But they were able to say that he is speaking. Apparently he speaks a language that is uncommon in the orphanage.

We were so thrilled to hear something about our little man even though this is just a glimpse into his life at the orphanage. Just picturing him playing with other kids makes me smile.

Overwhelmed with God's Blessings

I was given this verse yesterday:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (Ephesians 3:20)

This speaks volumes to how I've been feeling lately. I have much to be thankful for - an overwhelming peace, the privilege to prepare for a new son, renewed strength - just to name a few. I have been given more than I ever imagined receiving. Life comes with challenges but in "all things, God does work for the good of those who love him."

Happy Mother's Day!

This morning Steve made breakfast for the family and during our prayer time I was reminded of how this Mother's Day is extra special for me. Today I celebrate motherhood and the privilege of raising my 3 daughters along with the blessing of adding a son to our family soon.

The reality of having a son is finally sinking in after the flurries of activities that came last week with our referral. I'm starting to come down from the cloud. Now I know my son's story and I have a sweet face to remind me that this is real - yes - I really do have a son.

Last night, when I tucked our two youngest girls in, I thought about our son and for the first time, I thought about who might be tucking him in each night. I have heard amazing things about the care in his orphanage so I'm not concerned about his safety and I know he is getting a lot of love from the nannies. But right now he doesn't have the physical love of a parent.

Although I feel overly blessed this Mother's Day, receiving the gift of a son at such a time as this, makes my heart ache over another mother's loss of her child.

Steve and I have decided not to share his story at this time but I will say that our son does have a birth family who loves him. No doubt they are grieving over the loss of this precious family member. If I'm wondering who's tucking him in at night, they certainly are wondering as well. They are the only family he knows and that knows him. They know what comforts him when he is sad. They know how to put him down at night. They know how to communicate with him. Up until April 16th, the day he was relinquished to the orphanage, they took care of his every need.

Today, I do not know him like his birth family knows him. I admire their strength and their will to seek a better life for their son. Making the decision to give your child a better shot at life, without your child being part of your life, is a love almost too incomprehensible.

We hope to meet his birth family when we travel to Ethiopia. I don't know what they will think of their son's new family but until we meet them, I pray that they will feel an overwhelming peace about their son's future. May God give them the reassurance and comfort they need to as they grieve their loss.

I don't even know what more to say other than God, thank you for the privilege to be a mother to your children. Even though he doesn't have a parent to tuck him in at night, may he still feel the hug and the love of his Heavenly Father.

Accepting our referral!!!

For those who are intrigued with the mystical sides of life, this post is for you....

Yesterday, May 5th, we accepted the referral for our son.

Several months ago, I had a strong feeling that there was going to be something important about May 5th. For a while, I was hoping it would be the day we meet our son but as the months passed, that became less of a reality.

I felt weird about telling Steve that I think our referral is going to come on May 5th. At the time I was hoping we would not have to wait that long but I still had a strong feeling that we would wait that long.

More time passed and then we received a referral on April 6th. I was confused and decided that May 5th was just something I dreamed up.

Then we lost our April 6th referral. Soon after, out of the blue, Olivia asked me what was going on May 5th. She said May 5th has been on her mind and for some reason she thinks it is going to be a special day. I shared this with Steve and Olivia had expressed this with him as well.

Last week, we received a call from our specialists and her exact words were, "I would be very surprised if you receive a referral in May". She wanted us to prepare for a June referral.

Monday, May 4th, we received our referral. We were very surprised since 2 business days before that, we were told we would not get a May referral. On May 5th, yesterday, we had complete peace that this is our son. We accepted the referral on May 5th.

I know this is not a coincidence. This confirmed God's hand in this adoption. He gave me the date we would claim our son.

Now we wait for news of our court date. We hope to still travel this summer sometime, most likely August.

REFERRAL!!!

Our social worker called Monday (May 4th) at 3:00 p.m. with a referral for a 2 year, 3 month old boy. His name is Yihun and it means "let it be". She forwarded us an email with his file and I tried calling Steve's cell phone 3 times in a row but he never answered. I also tried calling his work (which I never call) and I got to the directory but kept pushing the wrong buttons on the phone and could never get to him. I finally called his cell phone one last time and left him a message to call me. What seemed like an eternity later, he called and I told him the news. Apparently he didn't feel his phone ringing.

Yihum is very handsome. He has very large eyes, round face and is healthy. We noticed and others have made comments as well that he shares similar features with our daughters Lauren and Avery. In other words, he looks like our family. He's defiantly our son.

I can't even put into words the feelings and emotions that have been going through our family this week. We are over the moon with excitement, exhausted, overwhelmed and joyful, just to name a few.

As our family celebrates our new son, we also think about his birth family, their loss of a son and his loss of the only family he ever knew. So, you can imagine how we can cry out of joy one minute and cry out of sadness the next. Like, I mentioned, words can't even begin to describe the emotions.