Ohhh sooooooo exciting!!! Here's a recap of how it all went down.....
Last weekend Justin and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary! Something beautiful and wonderful!! Although we knew the weekend was going to be busy for both of us, we set aside Friday Aug 13 (hey hey who says Friday the 13th has to be crummy?) as our date night. Our night to celebrate. To love on one another as we laughed over memories and enjoying how fun it has been to be together as husband and wife. This thing called marriage is something special. For us it has brought a deeper level of passion, confidence, vision & teamwork, joy and steady unending love that makes the day in and day out activities of life invaluable.
Getting home just about 20 minutes before Justin, I ran to my computer and checked my email. FriDaYs! They are my favorite. Because each week the gracious Ethiopian team at Children's Hope International sends their families a "family update" email. I love it! I think they might do it for their own good too...you know I can imagine working with us crazy anxious mom's and dad's-to-be must have it's own set of interesting stories...they must do it to keep us at bay....but anyway: the email. It's packed full of encouragement, tips, and helps us families survive each step of the process called adoption. Well, I had checked my email, no "CHI Update" in my in box. Bummer. But what WAS THERE was an email from Angie to me with the subject line of "Dossier back from DC!!!!". Oh I was soooo excited to read that email in which Angie shared with us that we are an official waiting family. Do you know how great that feels to write that. To say that. To know that?!
I quickly closed that email, ran upstairs to get ready, and wrote out a card for our anniversary to give to Justin. He got home just a few minutes later and I was a giddy as a tweener at a Justin Biber concert---ha ha my Justin must have thought I was just nuts for him!!! Don't get me wrong, I am. Totally. ;) But I was trying so hard to keep it a secret and let him read the awesome news later that night. It was hard as I was just bubbling with joy and excitement! (by the way I am a horrible secret keeper when it involves exciting news or gifts!) We made our way up to PF Chang's, got our table, put in our drink order and I slipped his card over to his side of the table. I was nervous and thrilled, just about to jump out of my seat! After reading he glanced over and we were both smiling ear to ear; the waiter next to us came over and said "congratulations and happy birthday!!". Ha ha we let him think that, hey maybe a dessert was to follow?!
Anyway, in all seriousness, it is amazing, do you get that? Amazing to be apart of this little one's life even at this stage of our family growing. There have been dozens of moments these past several months where we were challenged in ways that are unique to the adoption process. Running in the pouring rain downtown Cleveland with my treasured little dossier shoved up my shirt to keep it from getting wet brought on some pretty odd looks and comments from the sidewalk folk. Racing to get to FedEx before it closed to ship off our bundle, only to find out that one of the forty two pieces of paperwork was wrong and that we'd have to wait one more week. Dancing with my man in the kitchen when we shipped off that paperwork just a few days later. Phone calls to family and friends who are riding right along with us through this process is just incredible. Because it's all showing me how God will so gently reach down to use His one of a kind grace to remind me He's here right here all along with all of them and that He's excited for us too! He knows whats coming, He's familiar with the little boy that will someday fill our home with giggles and squirming and sweetness.
When you read "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart." you've got to know that it's true! Even when I think that my deepest longings are there just to keep tucked inside, God knows them and that's where the secret petitions start. In January 2010 when that longing to be a mom just seemed to be more than I could bear alone within my heart, God had been preparing Justin's for the conversation that would soon take place. We stayed up late talking about the possibilities of our family. There will be lots more of those nights over the next several months as we wait to receive his picture and more information on who our son is. But for now, it's incredible to announce to the world that I am an expectant mom! REALLY! It's true: Justin's going to be a dad!! Our Heavenly Father totally gets us, He loves us like crazy, and when we hand it over to Him we can let go of wanting to have control of it all. Learning that we have become a waiting family on our anniversary was an incredible gift. How cool is that Lord! Thank you so much for being that visible and helping our hearts understand just how great You are!
Filled with joy (!),
Kati & Justin
