It was a pretty normal morning. I dropped Gavin off at speech, took Jacob and Casey grocery shopping, stopped at Starbucks and decided to get hot chocolate for the boys, the hot chocolate ended up spilling all over the car... you know. Life with three boys.
I was driving home when I saw the phone number that I have now memorized as our adoption agency. Could this be it?? (The last four times I thought it could be, but they were just checking on me to see how everything was going and if I had any questions. Have I mentioned that I LOVE our adoption agency?!) Since I was driving and had all three boys in the back seat, I decided to let it go to voicemail. I had a feeling though... a feeling this was the call we've been waiting for.
I got home, fed the boys, put Casey down for his nap, and got Jacob and Gavin quiet and settled. Then Adam and I went into our bedroom, prayed together, and listened to the voicemail on speaker. My pulse raced as "my feeling" was confirmed that they had a referral for us! I took a few deep breaths and could feel my hand shaking as I called them back. I listened intently, not wanting to miss a single word, as they relayed all of the information they had about this little girl. Thankfully my trembling hand didn't have to write anything down... because they were going to send it in an email along with some pictures. Pictures!!!
After getting off the phone, I described every detail of the conversation as carefully as I could to Adam. Our eyes simultaneously filled with tears. Then we immediately opened the email to see her pictures. My face couldn't help but light up with all of the cuteness. Chubby little cheeks, button nose, dark eyes, possibly strawberry blonde hair? The attached medical report was confusing at best, but overall, she looked in pictures and on paper to be a fairly healthy little girl. After putting her weight, height, and head circumference in a gram to pound converter, we were delighted to see that they were all above average for an orphan in her situation.
In the beginning stages of our adoption process, I talked to a mom in Louisiana who had adopted two girls from Russia. She had given me some very solid advice... like not to be alarmed if there is something that sounds concerning in their medical report. Almost all of them have something. Fortunately, some of the best International Adoption doctors and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome experts in the nation work out of the University of Washington. She told me to call them when I got a referral and they would explain everything to us and give us their best advice. So that's what we did.
We had to wait four days until our phone conference though... and there was only one problem in the meantime. I fell in love with her. I promised myself I wouldn't, that I would keep at a distance until we were certain that her medical records checked out. The next morning though, after reading the first chapter of James and praying, I got this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to go get this little girl, hold her in my arms, and bring her home forever. James 1:5 says, "If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and He will give it to you." James 1:6 says, "When you ask for something, don't have any doubts." Since the beginning of our adoption journey, we have been asking and praying that our first referral would be the girl God has chosen for us. So we are choosing to trust that she is.
Praise the Lord, the phone conference last night confirmed our decision! The IA doctor told us that she was an average/above average referral from Russia. He was very positive and encouraging throughout the entire phone call. So... this morning we called our adoption agency and accepted the referral!
I read on
another blog about a book called When God Winks at You. It is about how God speaks directly to you through the power of coincidence. For those of you who
know our story, the night when I prayed to ask if it was God's will for us to adopt was November 6th. That SAME day, halfway across the world, our sweet little girl was born. I'd say God is definitely winking at us. ;)
