Oh What a Weekend

         Like most things, our adoption journey has taken a little while to get off the ground. Like a train leaving the station, things have been moving pretty slowly, so we tend to get excited (sometimes too excited) when anything of any real consequence happens. This weekend got us very excited.

        On Saturday afternoon we went to Winchester, Kentucky and met with 2 wonderful ladies who run a ministry called “Choosing to Love”. We were put in touch with them through their pastor (Ashley’s step-brother), Brian Walton, and they agreed to meet with us Saturday at a coffee house downtown. We were excited all week about this meeting, but to be fair, by the time Saturday arrived, I was getting a little pessimistic. Maybe it’s just how my brain works, but I’m always thinking about what might go wrong. I was half expecting that we’d meet with them and they’d say, “Yeah, you guys shouldn’t adopt a kid” or “Seriously? You think you guys can afford this? Good luck with all that!” After all, we were close to Lexington, which as all good IU fans know is the heart of the evil empire.

      Anyway, we took off from Salem around lunch and made the drive into hostile territory. Ashley wore an IU shirt, which made me both proud and concerned for our safety. (Seriously though, an IU shirt right down the road from UK? She’s awesome.) When we got to the coffee house we found Kristy and got a table. Almost immediately our concerns were gone. Kristy was so open with us about sharing her family’s adoption story and talking to us about ours. When her associate, Christie arrived (yeah, I know, Christie and Kristy, it’s confusing to me too, but bear with me) she was equally open about her family’s experience. They were genuinely excited about us going through this process, which not only calmed our fears, but got us more excited. It was like we were having an adoption pep rally and Christie & Kristy were there to cheer us on.

     We stayed and talked with them for about an hour and a half, but we could have stayed there all day. They were so uplifting, more than we ever could have imagined, and so willing to help with anything we needed. On the ride home, we couldn’t even describe to each other how much this meeting exceeded our expectations. Finally, we were able to sum it all up in 3 words: They get it. These 2 women fully understand how important this is to us. They understand what it’s like to have God call you on this mission and to be willing to stop at nothing to see it through. I came away more convinced than ever that God finds ways, sometimes out of nowhere, to put His people in your life to provide you with guidance, wisdom, and courage when you need it. We found two strangers 100 miles away from home that treated us as friends and wanted to help us without anything in it for them. That doesn’t happen unless they are led by God.

     So that was our weekend. When thinking in terms of the marathon-like endurance race that is the adoption process, this wasn’t a huge event. But to us, it was monumental. It’s the same for us when people read this blog or ask us about how our adoption process is going, even though it’s just beginning. Those things are so encouraging to us because you’re taking an interest in our family. We appreciate all of your love, kind words, and prayers more than you will ever know. And someday soon, we’ll be able to introduce him to all of you who were so anxiously awaiting his homecoming.

(www.choosingtoloveadoptionministry.com)

P.S.-We’ve also finished the design for our t-shirts and are about to place our first order. If you want one, they’ll be $20, but please be patient. We’re placing these orders in bulk when possible to save money on printing, so it could take a little while. However, we’ll be placing our first order on Thursday, so if you get us your information and money before then, we’ll be able to get yours in about a week.
 
We are also selling silicon bracelets. They are $5 Blue with yellow writing that says Jeremiah 1:5

The shirts will actually be blue instead of yellow. The Front is the one that says WillPower and instead of being big on the front it will be a smaller logo in the upper left hand side of the shirt.