Three Weeks and Counting

This week will mark three weeks of being in the system in India. I know for almost all families adopting from India that will seem like a drop in the bucket. Adopting from India is an unpredictable process with families getting caught up in red tape for months. I have heard of families waiting years to even receive word of a referral and that isn't including the year or more following the referral just wading through the paperwork in India prior to getting word to travel. Waiting a year or more to get a referral...

That

is

my

fear.

For those adopting families...you were there. Remember? Remember being at the very beginning of your journey and feeling overwhelmed by the steps you still had ahead of you? For me at this moment the wait seems so painfully long. It's hard not knowing when we will finally see the face of our daughter. She is not some orphan...a number...or a random child we are adopting...our "adopted child." No! She is our daughter, plain and simple. She is our daughter who is not home yet. We have a daughter who will wake up not knowing that she has a mother and father anxious to bring her home and a little brother who keeps asking about his sister. My heart aches. This is hard. But in these moments I remember that God has spoken. There were moments His voice was crystal clear. So I remember...

God always keeps his promises...

He is always at work...

God will choose to work and move how he sees fit and not according to my plans or my time frame.

And most importantly:

God

is

GOOD.

Praise Him for his goodness. I am praying that at this moment I will learn to rest in His goodness alone. With no promise of an end date to this wait...I will rest in God.

Welcome!

Welcome to the story of our daughter!

We know that many of you may be visiting this blog for the first time, maybe you saw us on Give1Save1. We figured we would take some time to introduce ourselves.

This is Jonathan.

Jonathan is kinda crazy...ya know with that red hair and all.
He grew up in South Florida.

He likes cars.
He loves God.
He's a pastor with a heart to shepherd God's people.

He is not the only crazy one...

There is actually a whole crazy family. Four boys to be exact with a few ladies crazy enough to marry into this clan. My side of the family isn't much more sane.

I'm Kristen (the not so crazy wife).

I grew up all over the place, but like to call Kentucky my home.
I work part time helping children in crisis.
The rest of the time I stay at home with our 3 year old son.

He's kinda awesome.
.
We're an ordinary family who has felt called by God to pursue something way bigger than us. We are working hard to bring our daughter home from India. Although we have yet to see her face we know that God already has her picked out. He knows her name and her story. He knows when we will finally bring her home, so in the meantime we pray and wait for his perfect timing.

Stay tuned for more of our little girl's story. We will be sharing more about why we chose international adoption from India and what this process has looked like thus far. Thank you for joining us in this journey to bring home our daughter!

Happy Dance

 I couldn't help myself with this picture!

I was too giddy for words last night. A little after 5pm our family coordinator from America World called to inform us that she registered us with the online database in India and we are now officially waiting for a referral. We could get a phone call today (highly unlikely but still...) That is just crazy!

The wait for a referral will most likely be a long one. There is just no telling what the time-frame looks like from here on out. It is a bit odd because we went from knowing the steps and how long each step would take to being in limbo. After talking with other moms adopting from India this is how things seem to pan out until the day we get word to travel. So I am rejoicing in the moment and praising the Lord that he has brought us this far. He has used you, your prayers, your giving, and your encouragement to sustain us and prepare us to bring home our little girl.

Dear friends and family, rejoice with me today because this is a major step forward. The reality of seeing a picture of our daughter drives me to work even harder to get her home. The next phase in our fundraising is actually raising money toward our travel costs. This is where it gets exciting folks. Just the thought of applying for visas and buying plane tickets brings tears to my eyes. It's getting real.