The Call - written by Linda

Oh there has been so much going on lately.  I have been getting so many messages asking what does a referral mean.  Before we go there I want to share steps leading up to this process.  A couple weeks ago our Dossier was submitted to the court.  The dossier is the important paper work that the court has to approve before you are allowed you to adopt from their country.  Every case is different but in most cases it takes a couple of weeks to hear back from the court.  We got a notification that our Dossier was submitted.  We started praying.  Not as though we have ever stopped praying throughout this journey but you know what I mean.  We were told that it was going to take a couple of weeks so we thought we were prepared.  LOL  The first week we did pretty good with waiting.  The second week I started marking days on the calender.  Then a couple days into the 2nd week I started FREAKING out.  Ryan and I were both about to come out of our skins. On Tuesday we were hit with the information that something needed to happen on the courts end that could hold up the process.  We both wanted to throw up.  I think we both cried ourselves to sleep.  We were going to have to make a decision as to rehost or just wait.  We were sad we didn't want to rehost we wanted to adopt.  At church on Wed. night I just wanted to cry as I talked to everyone about the situation.   On Thursday Ryan and I were just down.  Ryan came home for lunch and he was just having a bad day.  We were sitting down eating lunch and the phone rang.  I said oh I pray that this is our adoption agency.  Sure enough it was.  I told her " I'm not sure if it's good news or not but, I was glad that she was calling."  Just getting information means so much at this point.  She then went on to tell me that she had good news!  The tears started flowing then she said we got the referral.  At that moment I started balling my eyes out.  I couldn't control it.  I told Ryan and then he burst into tears.   The kids came running in to see what was  wrong.   Ryan told them and they were running around screaming.  At this point I'm sure she thinks we are crazy.  She said oh this child is LOVED.  I only cried harder. 

 So what does the referral mean?  It means that you receive approval from the country to adopt a child.  You also receive information on the child.  We read the information and accepted the referral right away!  Now we are waiting for our official invitation to their country and our travel dates!  I can hardly believe that I am typing this.  We will soon be traveling.  We are hoping to learn the dates next week and then things are going to get crazy.  Most families get their dates about 2 - 3 weeks out. This could mean early Nov.  In that time we will have to find an apartment and book our flights.   The first trip will be for a couple of weeks.  We will rent an apartment and live there with him to "bond."  Oh I can't wait to see him again...   We have never traveled out of the country nor have we ever taken all of our children on a plane.  This should be fun!   Our plane ride will be around 9 hours with a lengthy lay over.  If you can't tell I am a little nervous about the trip.  The longest plane ride I have ever been on was about 3 hours and I thought I was going to come unglued.  I'm not scared to fly I just struggle to sit still that long.  Hmm I wonder where my kids get it from.  

 A huge blessing that I am so thankful for is that we will have other families in country with us.  This is huge to me.  Just having others there comforts me.  I do have a huge prayer request.  We have dear friends who are waiting for their referral.  Please join us in praying for them.  Their child will be aging out soon and we are praying without ceasing that they get their referral next week.   Another prayer request is that we are able to come up with the funds that are needed to make this trip.  We know that God has brought us here and he has provided every step of the way.  We have seen Gods work throughout this whole process and it is amazing.  My faith has grown so much during this process.  This is all out of our hands.  We are not capable to do this on our own.  God is leading and we are following.  I love the illustration of the foot prints in the sand.  Lately it feels like God is just carrying me.  I like to control my situations.  I like to plan and love to be organized.  I have been struggling with a health problem.  Nothing life threatening but I do need an out patient procedure done next week.  Oh perfect timing?  Ummm  NO...  I am just ready to be feeling normal again.  Prayers for a quick recovery would be greatly appreciated. 

 So in the next few weeks we will be doing as much fundraising as we possible can. One way you can help us greatly is by sharing our fundraisers with others.  If you are on Facebook please share the post.   We just got done with a garage sale where we brought in a couple hundred dollars.  Huge THANK YOU to all that donated.  We are selling reusable bags for $5.00 plus shipping that say " This bag helped a child find a forever home.  What did your bag do?"  They come in red and grey.  We ordered 200 of these babies and we need help selling them.  In case you haven't seen we are selling tickets for a chance to win Bulls tickets for Dec. 14, 2013.  We are also getting ready to sell tickets for an I Pad Mini.  For our last fundraiser  will be having a family fun night  at Issak's family fun.  We just love this place.  They offer putt putt golf, laser tag, and a climber.  It will be a great family night.  Nov. 11th  VETERANS day from 4-8.  We will also be drawing the winner of the Bull tickets and I Pad Mini that night.  You do not have to be present to win.  

 WOWZERS here we go!