We Accept the Referral!

Today we officially accepted the referral for Baby Antony.
It has taken only 2 days to decide - - but it feels like 2 weeks while we looked over his medical file and prayed about whether to accept the referral.

I feel very, very at peace about this decision. This is our little boy!
Can't wait to kiss his chubby little cheeks and hold him in my arms!!

Now to work on our i800 application and get that sent in the mail!
We cannot take custody of the baby until this last part is approved by Immigration.
We estimate it will take 60 days...hopefully less!

This is our little boy!!

Referral!!

On July 25 we received our official referral from Carolina Adoption Services!
Honestly I was not even expecting the email when it came.
I had not slept well during the night, and when I did sleep, I dreamed about the Baby. (I was devastated in my dream because they matched us with a white baby girl).

So I was staring at the ceiling at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep, and ironically my husband was awake too. Which is a miracle in itself because he only wakes up when he has to - as in, 7am, to catch the shuttle for work at 7:40am!

I decided to check my email since I had my little iPod under my pillow and couldn't go back to sleep.
And then there was the email from CAS: "Presenting Mr. Antony".

I slapped my husband repeatedly. Reaction. Couldn't help it.
We were so shocked. Less than 2 weeks after our NAC approval and we were matched and then just two weeks later received the official referral with his picture and medical information.
Time is ticking (we leave here in 10 months!!) so I am very thankful and very blessed to have gotten it so quickly!!

He is a beautiful little boy and is staying at a wonderful orphanage here in Nairobi. He is only 30 minutes away from me (55 minutes in traffic!). They are taking really good care of him at that place and we are really at peace about him being there until we can take him home.

Blessed Beyond Words!!

Waiting for Referral News

Sooo....I have been waiting to post our SUPER GOOD NEWS until I had a little more information.
We were informed two weeks ago that we have been matched by Little Angels.
We know he is a boy. And we know he was born May 2011.  That is all we were told.
Apparently there was a misspelling of his name in some of the paperwork, so we still have to wait to receive the official referral that will include all his medical history and his pictures!

So we continue to wait.  I have not "unguarded" my heart yet. Sounds strange, I know, but I just can't go there yet. Too afraid of getting disappointed. So we patiently wait. Honestly I am still in shock. Part of me still thinks this is not going to happen after all.

In the meantime, the kids have all named the baby.
Nick: "Spiderman"
Sabrina: "Cutie Pie"
Emma: "Treelo"

CAS's Online Update

I read CAS's monthly Kenyan update and was excited to read about us in the update:

July 2012

Our friends in Kenya are gearing up for “winter,” as July is the country’s coldest month… a nice change from the stifling heat of North Carolina!
From an adoption standpoint, things continue to move forward, as our most recently approved family has filed their I800 paperwork and eagerly awaits approval from the US Embassy. Of our two families whose paperwork was submitted for the National Adoption Committee’s June meeting, one has been granted approval. (THAT'S US!!!) This family is now awaiting news of their referral from our partner agency, Little Angels Network. (WOO-HOO!!) We anticipate submitting one additional case for the Committee’s July meeting, with at least one more to follow in August.

The Wilderness Detour

Now that we have been approved, I feel like I can write a little more personal stuff here on my blog. Before, I tried to just write about the facts of the process in case someone official here in Kenya was reading this. (But really, how would they even find this??)

I was reading in Exodus 13 again today. I love this:

17 When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.

I feel like that happened with us here. Boy, I thought we would have our baby before Christmas last year (I kept hearing the Words "before Christmas"...) and look at us. It will be October of this year that will be the earliest we will have Baby.  Looking back, I realize we needed this Wilderness time. It has only been a few weeks since my Living in Kenya epiphany. I needed that. Our Baby needed us to experience that shift. And thank you, Jesus, ever since I fell on my face and really sought forgiveness for not being content here, our process has moved forward exponentially.

In verse 17 God says when the people are faced with a battle, they might turn around and head back to Egypt if they are traveling along the shortest route. This process hasn't been easy for us (to say the least), and I am not saying we would have quit during the hard parts if the process was shorter, but we are definitely not giving up now!  Too much blood, sweat, and tears put in so far to give up.

This Wilderness time has also built us up and gotten us "ready for battle" in whatever form that looks like. I feel like there will be many battles yet to come.  I bought this book and am excited about reading it.
Adoption is 100% a spiritual battle. Satan hates families. And he certainly hates adoption.  (How do I know that? Looking from a pure logical standpoint, Jesus loves adoption - He was adopted! - so by definition, Satan must hate it because he is the epitome of everything Jesus is not.) And I completely understand why the enemy does not want this to happen.

I have such huge vision for our child. I believe these adopted Kenyan children are the bridge to healing for our American nation. Healing to white families who would otherwise not embrace a child with black skin. Healing for African Americans to realize we are all one race, one family under God, a place where they are all accepted and loved and belong.


Thank you God for the Wilderness. Continue to grow us closer to you!

Waiting for a Match!

I heard from our Stateside agency and our agency here.
Stateside says it might take several months to match us to a child. The agency here says it generally takes them 4-8 weeks to match families to a child.  Friends, please pray that it is shorter. We have to file our next round of paperwork to Immigration before we go on vacation in August! If so, then maybe our approval from Immigration will be ready when we get back.

I know God has a specific child that he wants to become part of our family. I also know there is an enemy who is trying very hard to keep that child away from our family. So, prayer warriors, continue to declare blessings over our adoption process (which will keep the enemy away!) and let's keep focusing on how big and how great our God is!  Father we commit this portion (as with every part!) to you and we wait with praise and thanksgiving!

Father I pray that as the folks from Little Angels open our folder and open the folder that contains the names of all the babies, that your Glory would descend into that room, that your Glory would literally manifest on that page of names. That your Glory would shine on our child's name on that page, and it would appear as if a highlighter had marked his/her name. Then LAN would know this indeed is the child that is meant to be ours.

In Jesus Name,