When it Becomes Forever... {Our Adoption Story}

We're making cards for all 27 kids in her class. And that night, I dreamed my little girl was short Valentine's cards when it came to handing them out in her classroom. Oh, the stress that ensued.. 

Talk about a mama dream. 

Maybe these mama dreams began the day the social worker called and said quite matter-of-factly that we would be a forever family. It took everything I had to speak normally into the receiver, and to keep this jaw from dropping to the floor. 

If this is true... 

Then, we could allow ourselves to go there. To dream. 

To breathe out...

Because sometimes you don't realize how long you've been holding your breath until someone tells you to let it go.  

And quite subconsciously we realized we'd always kept just one foot out, but now we can dig in both heels hard and so can they.

And we'll experience our youngest starting school, and school meetings, and report cards, and athletics, and summers on the beach, and discipline and character building... and oh yes, we'll have the glorious teen years... because quite soon we'll be using this word adopted.

It all feels so surreal, and I hardly know how to share this.

The day the social worker called, we wept for the loss, and we smiled at how He redeems, and we felt completely inadequate because we are. 

But we couldn't have felt more chosen than this. 

Friends, this reflects how we feel... nearly speechless... this news is quite unexpected. 

On January 13th, our little ones were given crown ward status, and we so look forward to adopting them and being this family forever. We are in the midst of a 40 day appeal, and then we'll begin the adoption process with hopes of having this all finalized by spring. Your prayers, friends, were and are valued beyond what you may know.