If you’ve been following our story, you know we’ve been all over the map so far emotionally. God has been using the journey to transform our home, and stretch both us and those near to us in many great and uncomfortable ways. In July of this year, after much waiting and prayer, we received a referral. We were so excited to finally begin pursuing our daughter, and learning more about her. Unfortunately, almost 2 months later as we were sending her first “package”, we were notified the orphanage had been lied to. Her parents had come to bring her home. This was great news, although difficult, as her family could actually care for her and had gotten through whatever obstacle had previously caused them to give her up.
Thankfully, we’d previously planned a little “family getaway” camping together. It was great medicine. Little did the world know of the news we received the first morning of camping…
I love to get up early when camping, with the sun. To quietly tiptoe 
out of the tent (that zipper is evil), and grab a nice book. I grabbed my phone to check the weather for the day, and saw I had an e-mail. The title was “Potential New Referral“, and I knew I couldn’t open it without my wife by my side. There was my dilemma. We were camping (read “up really late with kids who didn’t want to sleep”), my wife was still asleep (read “a couple more valuable hours were left where our kids would actually rest”), and I was sitting in a quiet wooded morning with a good book.
But I couldn’t resist.
I quietly unzipped the tent, and crawled in next to my wife. As the kids slept tight in their sleeping bags, we opened the e-mail together and saw the information and picture of this beautiful little girl who needed a family. It was such a blessing to us, to begin to know the next part of our story.
But wait, you may be thinking, that was August 30th. Why are we just now hearing about this?
It’s true. My wife and I have had pictures, and talked personally with someone who has held this little one in her arms. But it has taken an unusual amount of time to secure her medical records, etc. Now that we’ve received information that she passes the conditions we’ve been approved for, we can finally tell you. “We have a new referral.” We’ve begun the process, and hope that in 9-12 months we can travel to bring her home.
Already, our children have prayed with brutal honesty, “Dear God, help us to keep her picture.” They’re aware of the things we don’t like to mention aloud. This is all taking place in the midst of a country filled with brokenness. But from the midst of brokenness, we’ve been blessed. We continue to move forward one step at a time to bring that blessing home.
There are more things we know, and obviously a picture….that we do not want to share online at this point. If you know us, and want to connect….give a holler on FB or in person.
It’s a very exciting place to be, and so good to be learning about her, praying for her, and seeing that face as we trust in God moving forward. Thank YOU for your continual support, love, and prayers. Certainly there will be fundraisers coming up, and you can still give through our “Both Hands” project for tax credit. $17k in 12 months seems dauntingly intimidating….but we look forward to looking back and saying “Wow….God made this possible….”
words from wick 