18 Months and PRAYING!

(I started writing this post on our way home from Dallas, but my computer battery died.  So that's why I am a couple of days late posting it.  This should have been posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012.)

March 17^th is a huge milestone day in our adoption journey.  I have been sentimental about it all day long.  We have had a wonderful, fun, crazy day on our way home from our spring break trip to Dallas.  But Caroline Faith has been on my heart and my mind.  This day just does that to me.

Two years ago today, late on the night of March 17, 2010, God prompted me to finally tell Jody what He had put on my heart.  For four months before,  I had prayed, cried, sought the Lord, and wrestled in my heart with what God had told me. 

In November of 2009, I had clearly heard God speak to my heart and tell me that His plan for our family was to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia.  It was a clear, distinct and life-changing call from the Lord. I knew it was His voice, but it took several months of prayer and seeking His Word to get to a point where I could fully surrender to His will.  There were so many questions and so many unknowns that left me a little scared but at the same time excited to watch God’s plans unfold.  God was breaking my heart for orphans and specifically for our daughter in Ethiopia.

Over the coming months, God began to turn my doubts and fears to excitement and anticipation.  I knew that I had to tell Jody about what God had been doing in my heart.  But to be honest, I was a little nervous about what his reaction would be.  Obviously, I knew that adoption was something that God had to call BOTH of us to.  We had to be in complete agreement that this was God’s call for our family.  I was 99.9% convinced that this was God’s will for us, but I needed for God to confirm it to Jody as well to be completely sure.

So on, March 17, 2010, just one day after Jody’s 32^nd birthday, I let it all out!  It was late at night, and we were both tired, but I knew I couldn’t wait one second longer.  God was prompting me to tell Jody that night.  We sat down on the couch, and through my tears, I began to tell Him all that God had been revealing to me over the past several months.

Then we went upstairs, and I showed him the Lucy Lane adoption video on our computer.  Of course, I cried through the whole thing.  When it was over, Jody agreed that it was a great video, and a precious family.  He agreed that God was definitely stirring “something more” in our hearts, but he didn’t think that adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia was it.  It hurt my heart a little to hear him say that, but he agreed to pray about it.

And I KNEW that Jody would indeed pray.  It encouraged me to know that he would truly seek the Lord about this, and that very night I began to pray earnestly that God would now reveal His plan to my husband.  

The very next morning to first verse that Jody read was Psalm 41:1, “How blessed is the he who considers the helpless;  The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.”  With that verse, he knew that the this was definitely something the Lord wanted him to pray about.  When he told me about it, I was so encouraged!  I knew that the Lord was already beginning to show him.  Jody put that verse on his bathroom mirror, and it’s still there two years later.

That was just the first of countless confirmations from the Lord.  The way that God began to reveal His plan to us was nothing short of AMAZING!!! I am just so thankful for all that He showed us during that time.  So, needless to say, March 17th is a pretty emotional, memorable day in our adoption journey! :)

Now here we are exactly two years later, and today, March 17, 2012 marks exactly 18 MONTHS on the AGCI wait list for our baby girl in Ethiopia!

I am pretty excited about finally reaching this 18 month mark because we are now "in the zone", so to speak!  Our adoption agency's estimated time frame of getting a referral is currently 18-24 months, and we have finally reached that mile marker in our journey!  Praise God!!!

As we have hit the 17th of each month, I have documented about our journey.  For the first 12 months, I titled the posts, "1 Month and Counting", "2 Months and Counting", etc.  Once we finally hit the 12 month mark, I changed the title of the posts to "12 Months and Hoping", "13 Months and Hoping", etc.  At that time, our agency was just estimating a 12-18 month time frame for getting a referral.  All that has changed and now the waiting time frames have been extended.

So, now that we have once again reached the projected time frame, I am changing the titles to "18 Months and PRAYING", etc.  Every month, we will be PRAYING that this is the month that we will see our daughter's sweet face!  And I am praying that there will not be too many more of these "months waiting" posts! :)

To our precious Caroline Faith,

I can't quit thinking about you today, sweet girl.  You are on my heart so much.  I know that the Lord is placing you there, so that I will be praying for you today.

March 17th will always be a special day because it's the first day that your daddy really started to pray for you.  God began to show him some really amazing things, and He confirmed to him that YOU were part of God's perfect plan for our family!

On that day two years ago, we never thought that this journey would take this long and that we'd still be waiting to see your sweet face.  But God knew.  He knows exactly how long we will wait to see your face.  You are so worth the wait!  We will wait for you as long as He asks us to.

Hold on, baby girl.  We love you and we're coming soon.

"I love you, Lord, my strength. In my distress I called to the Lord;  I cried to my God for help. 

From His temple He heard my voice;  my cry came before Him, into His ears."  Psalm 18:1,6