Exciting News!!

We are expecting!!!

Boy, have I waited an extremely long time to be able to declare that! In all seriousness, we are so excited to announce that we have been chosen to be parents to a little baby due in January! We met the expectant mom last week and had a wonderful conversation with her. She is a pretty amazing woman who is trying to do what is right for her baby and her family. We currently don't know the gender or the exact due date, but hopefully will find that out in the near future. In the meantime, we are praising God for answering our prayers!

Just to give you a little background into the process, in case some of you are wondering (and to the best of my knowledge). Most times, when an expectant mom is making an adoption plan, their birthparent counselor will send out an email to waiting adoptive couples with some background on the mom and the situation. Couples can then decide if they would like to submit their profile book to be shown or not. If the expectant mom likes a profile book, she can choose to meet with you to decide if she would like to move forward or not. After meeting, if you both are comfortable, and she chooses you, then you are "matched". Once you are matched with an expectant mom, you no longer are available to other expectant moms (you're basically off the market). Once the baby is born, the mom (and dad sometimes) are not permitted to sign any papers until 72 hours after birth. Once papers are signed, custody of the baby belongs to the adoptive parents. Fathers that are not at birth to sign the papers have 15 days to go through some sort of process to contest the adoption, if they want to. Once the baby is placed with the adoptive parents, a social worker will visit over the course of the next 6 months to make sure everything is going smoothly. After those 6 months, the family goes to court to finalize the adoption.

So, while we are super excited, we are still extremely cautious because there is still the possibility that the birthmom will change her mind. In fact, I had told myself that I was going to guard my heart in case that were to happen, but as soon as I found out we were matched, I completely ignored those thoughts. I am jumping in and trusting that the Lord knows what is right and I am hopeful that this is the baby He has chosen for us. And if it doesn't work out, I will be heartbroken, but I will survive and push forward because I know that He has a grand plan for our lives, greater than I can ever imagine.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper

you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways

are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8