Today we sent in our next payment which covers the dossier preparation on our agency's side, and part of the Philippines fee. I e-mailed Karin to let her know that I mailed the check via Priority Mail. She e-mailed me back to tell me that she would mail out our dossier TOMORROW!!! AWESOME!!
We are only 3 weeks behind the inital deadline that we had set for ourselves. I think a little part of me thought we would never get to this point. I kept thinking something would come up that would prevent us from finishing the dossier, or sending it out. I guess it's that part of me that feels like I don't deserve good things. God keeps continually reminding me that I'm his beloved, and He wants good things for me. I feel His blessings pouring out on us as we wait on His timing for our children. Not to say that I have been waiting patiently, but I feel like His blessings are better than I can imagine because I constantly remind myself that my babies are in God's hands.
Dave and I got to attend the annual Hand in Hand picnic last Friday. It was such a fun evening!! Karin was right, it was like going to a United Nations party. There were kids from all of the different countries that Hand in Hand adopts from. It was so beautiful!! We saw another couple from our training sessions. We got to catch up with them and meet their little girl who they had biologically. She was such a cutie!!
While we were waiting for the line to go down for the food (we figured since we are kidless, we can wait to eat), Karin introduced us to MaryLee (the founder of Hand in Hand). MaryLee was just up visiting from FL for a little while, and timed it perfectly so that she could come to the picnic. I got tears in my eyes when I was talking with her - I'm so grateful for her, and for the strides she has made in making adoption from the Philippines happen for so many people. She is the one who helped the Philippine government write their adoption laws - WOW!! She also introduced us to her son, Jeremy and his wife. MaryLee adopted Jeremy from the Philippines years ago. He was such a nice guy - he told us that he thought we were pretty great people for adopting from the Philippines. He is so grateful to his mom for adopting him. We felt a huge surge of encouragement from his words, and had a good time getting to know him.
While we were eating we were sitting near a family and their three teenaged boys. We learned from them that they had always wanted a little girl, and they were adopting an infant girl from Guatemala!! We had a great time getting to know them and hearing their stories. They were able to go meet her a few days after she was born!! How cool. The process takes a long time there, though, so they are hoping she will be here with them by Christmas. They already had pictures of her, and she is so beautiful. In Guatemala, they require that the birth mother take a picture with her baby. That small little Polaroid packed such emotion as I stared into the eyes of this 18-year-old woman. She looked so very sad to be saying good-bye to her daughter, and my heart broke for her. It made me realize that in addition to praying for my babies, I need to make more of a conscious effort to pray for the birth mother of our children as well. Birth parents make such a brave choice when they make that adoption decision.
We also got to see little Louis (the little boy who gave us hugs and kisses during our first training session). It was so fun to see how big he had gotten and his eyes sparkling as he played with the other children. There were lots of games for everyone, and there was even a pinata!! My favorite thing to watch was how intent those kids were on hitting that pinata, and seeing even the little ones smacking that pinata with all they had!! As we were leaving, Karin gave us a hug, and told us that she couldn't wait until we were one of the couples chasing around our little ones. I can't wait either!!!
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