Happy Birthday to Jen

New Update!!!!!!! Since I wrote this Friday morning we got the very phone I talk about in this post later Friday evening....our adoption approval from Embraced by Grace! We are now ready and waiting to be chosen by a birth mother which could take a week or a year. All in God's timing. We are so thankful to have gotten this far in the process:) Thanks to all of you who have supported us in getting this far!

Well friends and family, I have been singing a song in my head all day. It's a variation from "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth" but my own personal twist is "All I want for my Birthday is to Adopt". I have been so patient these past few weeks, waiting to hear from the adoption agency mentioned on the right hand side of our blog page, about our approval. This approval would begin the process of showing birth mothers our profile and perhaps being chosen to adopt a child (or children, as we have said we will adopt up to 3 siblings). It has taken a bit longer than usual due to the holiday season and the board members not being able to get together. If we don't get the call today I'm hoping before Christmas! What a wonderful Christmas gift it would be!

A little birdie told me that we have a special friend in Utah who has contacted our friends reminding them that donations to our adoption account would be the best birthday present for me, and I agree! So thank you to those that have donated to us already! Our donations have reached $640!! Woohoo! Thank you! This has paid for our Home Study ($500) and helping us recoup our Application fee of $250. All fees for this agency begin around $13,500 but due to the various birth mother situations (whether they have insurance, rent, etc) the fees can run as high as $20,000.

We are not delusional about the very emotional ride this process can become. I have a friend at my church who is also adopting and in the past year has been chosen 3 times, and also rejected by those same mothers 3 times! A heart wrenching situation. My heart aches for her as she is going through these disappointments. If anyone is suffering the same kind of situation, she said a book helped her through this called "Hannah's Hope" based on my favorite story in the Old Testament, Hannah and Samuel. A true mother's story, whether adopted or biological. Our children are not ours, we are given an important responsibility by God to raise our children to know the Lord personally and with a sense of purpose. We are going into the adoption process with eyes wide open.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to my favorite gift tonight, time alone over dinner with my hubby.

We appreciate all of your support, prayers, donations, and well wishes!
Love, Jen