Good News!

Soooo happy to report good news from Barker (our agency)! I spoke with them this morning and she wanted to cut right to the chase. She said she just wanted me to know that Bry and I (and a few other families that have been waiting the longest) were highly advocated for in Korea. She wasn't able to give me 100% confirmation that were still at the top of the list according to SWS (Korean agency) but she said that in every case that they have had communication with them and they reported back saying they would consider it, they followed through with that consideration. She told me she is not worried about it at all, and she even told us that we only had two other families waiting in front of us, making us 3rd on the list!! Just to reiterate, though, even though we are on the the top of the list (as far as waiting the longest), doesn't necessarily mean that they match in chronological order. They consider the needs of the children available first and match with families according to how they feel will best meet these needs. Or, if you are a believer, it happens how God orchestrates the matches ;)

She did say that the month of October would solely focus on getting 5 babies they already have matched approved for travel.  So there will probably be no referrals in October, but should start coming in November and December. She didn't know an exact number of referrals, but she did say that we should expect to be in that group of referrals! 

There were other questions I had, like about the rumors of a price increase, and the age of the children being referred now, but truly I didn't care! I was just so happy to hear good news! Plus, I knew that she would be bombarded with phone calls today and didn't want to keep her. She will follow up with more details about the trip and other information next week through email. So, I will keep you updated with that as well. :)

Thank you so much for everyone's sweet messages of support. Bryan and I thank the Lord for you! 

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting!" -1 Chronicles 16:34

One Year Waiting...

Well, it's our Anniversary! Don't know if it is much cause for celebrating, but it's been One Year Today since our dossier left for Korea. At that time, we thought we would have a four to six month wait for referral. Funny how things change.  Please keep praying for us and South Korea. Two of the ladies from our agency are in Korea RIGHT NOW, and they are finding out critical information about the Korean adoption program and specific information about us.  We hope to know something by next week! In the mean time, I'll just be

Thankful Thursday: Summer Memories!

Summer is almost coming to an end.  So, for this Thankful Thursday I wanted to reflect on this Summer! As you know, our Spring was not so wonderful (made up of morning sickness and experiencing a miscarriage). But when Summer arrived, our spirits were lifted. God was so good to us this summer.  We were officially back waiting for our referral and we took lots of opportunities to pass the time! 

I'm so thankful for our Summer 2011 memories!

Celebrating with Friends!

Fun at Tuck A Way!

Family Get-Togethers!

Rejoicing Over Miracles!

A Thrifty Concert! :)

A Belated Anniversary Date!

A Much Needed Weekend Getaway!

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY!" 

-Psalm 126:3

Thankful Thursday: Prayers of a Getty Man!

Thankful Thursdays are something I have been wanting to do for a while now.  In light of my last post and all that has been going on lately with South Korea, Bryan and I have felt led to pray even more now for our adoption. I have also felt that I should stop getting so caught up in the negativity around me, and start looking at all the blessings I have! I know that sometimes we can't see them, but often times we can. So, Thankful Thursdays is for that purpose. To encourage me to look at God's abundant blessings on a weekly basis and hopefully encourage you to do the same! ;)

Prayers of a Getty Man

I had several things happen this week that I wanted to write about, but today I wanted my first Thankful Thursday post to be on my nephew, Getty Page (Bryan's sister's oldest son, named for her maiden name.)  I love all my nieces and nephews very much, but Getty has always had a very special place in my heart.  For one, Getty was the reason Bryan and I wanted to start a family. Before I even became a nanny and fell in love with wanting to be a mom, it was Getty Man (his nickname) that really started it all! It was a camping trip, 5 long years ago, that we took with his parents, Gretchen and Brock, and his sister, Jordan.  It was cold and miserable weather that weekend, but I will always remember it as the weekend God inspired us to have children!   Below is a picture of us on that trip. It is of me feeding Getty while his sister, Jordan (or Jo Jo) was helping. He was only 10 months old then!

Today, Getty is a very sweet and tenderhearted 6 year old little boy!  Getty became aware of our infertility a little while back and since then he and Jo Jo have been praying for us to have a baby. Because we aren't around them on a daily basis, we were told by Gretchen that Getty had started praying this on his own when they would have family prayer time. It was so sweet to know that something in his heart was touched by our "situation" and he felt the need to continue to pray for us.
Back in February, when we discovered that we were pregnant, we wanted to surprise Bryan's family by announcing it as we took this photo. Most people reacted afterwards, but you can see Getty in the front row looking up at us. :)

Later, after all the excitement, Getty came up to me and confirmed, "You are having a baby?" and I hugged him and said, "Yes I am, and thank you for praying for me." That afternoon when we ate lunch, Getty prayed and with no prompting from anyone, thanked God for giving us a baby! It was such a special moment.

Since then, as you are aware, things have changed, and our baby is in heaven now. But Getty man still continues to pray.  Yesterday, Gretchen called and told us that Getty has been having problems getting sad and would cry when they drop him off at school. They have been praying with him over this situation for several days, and just yesterday he came home to announce that he didn't cry today! Gretchen told him, "That's great Getty, God answered your prayer!" To which his reply was, "But I've been praying for Aunt Monica and Uncle Bryan to have a baby, and why hasn't that happened yet?" My heart sunk when I heard this! Gretchen explained to him that God would give us a baby when it was the right time. How hard it must be to explain such things to children, especially when sometimes we don't understand it ourselves!  Since yesterday I have just been thinking about this and although it made me sad, I realized what a wonderful blessing this is! Even though it is very difficult to explain our "situation", Gretchen and Brock took on this challenge with their children. It is very easy for people to ignore, and I wouldn't find fault in them if that is how they felt they should handle it. But I'm so glad they did decide to share our struggle with them! Because now, when God gives us this child, not only will our prayers be answered, but Getty's will be too! What a wonderful way God is at work using our testimony to impact the faith of this little 6 year old boy! He will know that he can always pray for something and God will hear it. And that the answer to his prayers may not always come at the time we want it, but it can in God's perfect timing.  It just makes me smile to think about that and see more of the joy in this journey of ours!  I love you Getty Man! I am thankful for you today!