Pins and Needles & a time that has passed.....

Ok so first for the pins and needles......our home study agency has sent in our homestudy....hopefully/ prayfully this is it! Praying the review can be done asap (since our sweet Naomi is a waiting child), and we can run over to Lafayette soon to get it....send it off with our dossier (the other part of the paperwork to finish this thing off!).

Even after all of that it will be at least a monthish before we hear about a court date. Then after the actually court date - if we pass (different reasons why that wouldn't happen & sometimes you just have to wait), then it would be at least a month-2 months until travel. Saying that it could all happen alot quicker or a LOT slower. Oh, I feel as though I could burst!

One would think that after 7 other adoptions I would feel different, but nope- still nervous, excited, thrilled, estatic, worried, sad- to not be with our baby Naomi of course :), and well you know all over the place. So if someone tries to tell you that being pregnant is different than adoption- NOPE don't buy into it! Soooo not true!!!! My emotions and hormones I am POSITIVE are just as all over the place!!! And the waiting......well that just drives me crazy.

I am a person who likes my ducks in a row. I like to know what will happen next. You know - plan? Well in the adoption process you can do anything - BUT PLAN. I am soo bad at that game. So we are praying- A LOT!!! Praying for God's timing (not ours), praying for continued health for Naomi, praying for the wonderful "special moms" who are taking the best of care for her (outside of being in our arms of course), and praying for God's provision for all of it to fit together like the wonderful puzzle of our lives.

Oh yeah- the pic above has a story too. You see......we found out while at Sea World a couple years back that all of our kids' names were on the cups. So of course being the crazy mom that I am we bought them. A BIG splurge for us. (Jonathan of course came later, and when he came along I found a cup online for him). The significance may not seem important to most, but at the time we were preparing for the adoption FINALLY after 3 YEARS of waiting of our Joshua, Sarah, & Elizabeth. They were all so excited for this big deal- the name change! It meant no more back and forth of emotions every week, no more lies, no more carrying on as if they didn't exist! All of the foster care side was coming to an end, and they had a NEW START! One that they were soooo excited about, and of course so were we!

So we bought those cups. And although as with everything in adoption.....it took longer than we wanted. Of course, but when it happened oh what a glorious relief, happiness, and a Spiritual high came over our household. Of course it all happened - on EASTER week!!! How perfectly in God's timing it was.

Well, the other day I noticed Abigail's cup had a crack, a leak. It made me sad not because I couldn't order her another one, but as I was looking for the name Naomi- they don't have it. Crazy!!!!! But true. So needless to say I will have to get cups for the kids and put their names on it instead. It's all good, and just looking at those cups reminds me of God's Faithfulness and as I have learned from other Bloggy friends....we should hold onto those important stories of faith.

To be like the Isrealites- passing down the stories, but this time- being FAITHFUL to them. Reminding ourselves constantly that we are HIS CHILDREN! That God is faithful to us even when we don't alway understand the world's ways or God's timing. Clinging to those stories of faith throughout our lives and the lives of our children.

My challenge to you- find and think about some symbols that will help remind you and your family of God's Faithfulness! Maybe it is a cup, maybe a toy, maybe a copy of a piece of paper of some great news, maybe it's a journal of your families story, whatever.....cling to it! When the world seems so cruel- cling to those things you know to be true! We are & Naomi- we love you and can't wait however long it takes....to meet you and love on you!!!!!

*****Some really great news!!!!! We have recieved $750 total so far from friends and relatives- PRAISE GOD!!!! For HIS provision for our beautiful gift of Naomi. We are continually in awe of what God will do for us when we are faithful to HIM.