The Week Ahead

It is hard to believe it has been several weeks since I last posted!  This summer has flown by - which is bittersweet.  I have so enjoyed my summer with Alexis, as she is at such an entertaining age and is so easy to communicate with (sometimes she communicates TOO much).  We've done so many enriching, fun things this summer and I hate to see it come to an end.  One positive in the summer passing so quickly is that it has made the adoption waiting more bearable.

Tomorrow night is the big night in our monthly adoption "matching" saga.  As I've mentioned before, our agency is able to match families to babies/children once a month via the release of the China "Shared List."  Our agency searches - in the middle of the night - for a child who matches our criteria - at the same time as agencies all over the world.  So many people are hoping to be matched with their children simultaneously.....it has to be a stressful and exhilarating process for those agency workers involved! 

Our agency told us that it generally takes 3 months to be "matched" to a specific child, and this is, technically, our third month (although in May we found out we were logged into their system just a few hours before the matching took place and several families were ahead of us).  So, once again, we are very hopeful, but cautious as this matching session takes place.  We will hear something from our agency before lunchtime on Tuesday. 

Please pray for our agency workers, for those in China releasing files and for us as we "patiently" wait to see what unfolds.  If the baby meant to be our Annabelle is on the list, we pray that she is "found" and our journey toward bringing her home can continue!  If not, we will wait some more! :-)

Patience and Trust

This past week we worked at White Mills Christian Camp where I was dean of Performing Arts Camp.  We had a great week - terrific campers, wonderful faculty to work with and nice, cooperative weather.  I was hoping we would receive an important phone call indicating that we had been "matched," but, unfortunately, we did not.  We knew they were completing the monthly matching process late into the night on Monday, so I was a nervous wreck most of Monday evening into Tuesday morning.  Due to an urgent matter at our agency, they were unable to call us until around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon.  Our agency was unable to match any families, which means there were not children on "the list" that matched our criteria.  We were both very disappointed, as we were really hopeful this month.  This part of the process is very emotionally draining and makes me a little angry.  Not toward our agency, just the process in general.  There are so many babies/children in need of homes, so I do not understand why they make it so difficult and make families wait so long!  I think it is most challenging for me because I do not like things being out of my control, so I am definitely working on my patience and trust in God. 

We also had a very nice 4th of July weekend and were able to enjoy all the White Mills Days festivities.  The Heartland Dulcimer Club, of which my mom and I are members, performed on Friday night, my sister sang some beautiful solos, and Jason got his yearly pyrotechnician fix by setting off fireworks as part of Friday's festivities.  On Saturday, I ran the 5K - and survived!  My parents were the grand marshalls of the parade, so Alexis got to ride with them.  She was more thrilled with the games for kids, particularly the duck pond, than waving at parade onlookers! 

Matching will occur again at the end of July, so we will wait and see what is in store for us....