Are we there yet?

     I am getting so tired of waiting to bring our child(ren) home!  I recently heard (ok, read) another adoptive mom say that a movie will never be made about adopting internationally because 90% of the movie would just be parents waiting! (Did I mention that this is literally the first day of our adoption?)

Let me give you some back story....

-1991 (?) : Met and briefly played with an adopted child of friends of my parents.
-1997 (?) : My Sunday School teacher adopted a little girl from China
- August 12, 2006: Married my college sweetheart (Adam) and immediately felt the call to adopt.
Found out that we had to be married for 1 year before starting the China adoption process.
- 2007: Found out that we didn't qualify to adopt from China due to Adam and I having Anxiety Disorders.  Decided to adopt from Ethiopia at some point in the future.
Named our first four children  ;)
-June 25, 2010: Our daughter was born! Start/continue to nag Adam about adopting :)
-August 12, 2011: Adam tells me he is ready to start the adoption process!
-September 2011: Get declined on a pre-application to adopt.
-September 2011: God tells me that our adopted baby has already been conceived!
Freak out, freak out, freak out.
-September 2011: God tells me (a week later) that "It is not time."
-October 2011: Get declined on a pre-application to adopt again. Decide to have another biological baby.
-November 4, 2011: Get pregnant on the first try (woo-hoo!)
-December 29, 2011: Find out that our son Isaiah's heart stopped beating and that he was very small.
-February-July 2012: Try to get pregnant again.
-July 2012: Adam inadvertently stumbles across an adoption agency.
-August 3, 2012: Meet with the agency.  It feel like a God given match!
-September 28, 2012: Get declined to adopt from Ethiopia due to our Anxiety Disorders (recent policy change).  Cut ties with the agency for leading us on then declining us after they had our money.
-October 2012: Decide to adopt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  God verifies our adopted daughters first and middle name on two separate occasions.
-October 10, 2012: Receive refund check from first agency.
-October 24, 2012: Get approved by our new agency!

     Getting approved from our agency is not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it feels huge for us after being turned down three other times!  There are many more approvals ahead of us, but the good news is that we feel like now is the right time to adopt. Finally!  I just can't wait to have my children in my arms.

     Adam and I have wanted to adopt for 6 years now.  We have had a lot of ups and downs both in bringing our adopted children home and in bringing our biological children into this world.  Through every triumph and every trial God has taught us amazing things!  He has used missed opportunities to guide us to the right opportunity. He has used death to bring life.

     I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in God.- Isaiah 8:17