Big, Big News!!!

I apologize for the length of this. I'm writing it all down because as life gets busy and things move forward those little details you thought you'd never forget sometimes slip your mind.


On Thursday, July 3rd, I got up early and set out to clean. By clean, I don't just mean my normal weekly routine, I mean crazy OCD type cleaning. So the first thing I did was take all the screens off the back porch windows so I could scrub them and make them shine.


While I was out back scrubbing away Andrew came running outside with my phone hollering that it was ringing. When I looked at the caller i.d. about five things flew through my brain in less than half a ring. It was our caseworker at the adoption agency. I had just spoken to her the week before and emailed back and forth a couple times. It wasn't time for quarterly calls. This must be important! Answer the phone!


I answered and she asked if I had a few minutes to talk. Ummm . . . always, and you should know at this point my heart started pounding in my ears. Then she told me that she was looking at a picture of a beautiful little girl that had been referred to us, and y'all, I can't for the life of me remember much of the rest of our conversation. My heart was racing, and I was somewhere between crying and squealing like a teenage girl. And oh my goodness! It was so much like the afternoon that I took a pregnancy test and realized that Andrew was on his way. My ability to focus on anything for the rest of the day went right out the window. Let's just say it took every ounce of focus I had to finish those windows, and then I was done!


But here's the thing about a referral . . . you can't accept it right away. We could've if we would've been allowed to, but you have to wait on medical information and reviews and videos. Then you have a phone consultation with an international adoption (I.A.) pediatrician. Then you make your decision. I've never wished a holiday weekend would pass as much as I wished that one would. My stomach was in knots all weekend. I counted the hours until Monday when we could set up the appointment with the I.A. pediatrician, and I don't think I stopped praying for more than a few minutes.


On Monday, after talking with the doctor's assistant, they scheduled our phone consultation for Tues. at noon. The thing was we weren't expecting much. We had a medical report and one picture, but no updated videos or pics. Our caseworker told us not to expect the videos until Wednesday so we were expecting this to only be the beginning consultation. I don't know how I got any sleep Monday night, but thank the Lord I managed to sleep some. Tuesday morning at 10:45, just a little over an hour before our appointment, my caseworker called. She had just gotten videos and pictures, and she was sending them right then. I immediately sent them to the doctor and her staff and Patrick, who just so happened to be out of town at youth camp. I've never been so thankful for modern technology. We were able to get videos in a matter of days rather than weeks. Patrick was able to conference in on the call from the church van at camp. The I.A. pediatrician is in Cincinnati. This great big world suddenly seemed so small.


The phone call went wonderfully, and immediately upon ending the call, I called Patrick back. For us there wasn't even a question. She was ours. Ten minutes later, I called our caseworker, and we accepted the referral. We then set everything in motion to get travel dates and paperwork done. We were told to expect travel dates sometime at the end of the week or early the next week (tomorrow or Tuesday). On Wednesday morning, the 9th of August, my phone rang, and Soojin, our caseworker, asked if we were able to be in Bulgaria from August 10-15 for our "meetcha" trip. It took me about two seconds to say, "YES!"


So this time next month we'll be with our daughter. I wish I could show y'all pictures and give y'all details galore, but out of respect for her birth country, I can't do that right now. Here's what I can tell you. She's beautiful. She's young . . . very young for an international referral in Bulgaria. And if you see me on the street I do have pictures in my purse. I will whip them out and make you look at all of them.


I'm also going to ask for prayer like never before. So many of you have stood with us and prayed for us throughout this journey. The next five to six months we're going to need prayer more than ever.  So if you have a few minutes, and could say a prayer for one of the following things it would mean the world to us.


- This is only our first trip. We have to leave our daughter in Bulgaria and come home for 3-5 months while we wait for court and paperwork to be done. Pray for us. Pray for her. I'm already sick at the thought of leaving her.
- Pray for safe and smooth travels.
- Pray that paperwork and court and all the red tape pass in record time. We're praying that we can have her home by Christmas. That's a stretch, but we're believing for that.
- Pray for our daughter's health. There are a few small concerns which of course, seeing as how I'm thousands of miles away, are suddenly amplified in my head. She's in good hands in her orphanage, and God is watching over her. We know this. But I'm struggling with not worrying myself sick about her. So I guess pray for my worrying, but ultimately pray for her continued good  health (again I'm not free to give specifics but God knows).
- Pray for Andrew. Oh y'all his reaction deserves a post in and of itself. Thrilled doesn't even touch it.


And thank you! From the bottom of our hearts thank you! Thank you for your prayers! Thank you for walking this road with us! The best is still ahead!