I have been so encouraged by the comments and feedback from readers following the series! Some of you are finding new ways to support and love the orphan both at home and abroad. For me, that = SUCCESS!
There has also been another unexpected "success" from this series....
We're expecting another miracle through the joy of adoption!
Jeff and I have completed the initial application with Lifeline Children's Services (Birmingham, Ala.) to begin the adoption process. We just last Thursday received the exciting news that we have been accepted into the Haiti program and are currently tackling another mound of paperwork to be ready to begin the home study process in January! WHAT??!! Did I just write those words?
We have started down this road two other times and felt like God closed those doors very quickly. We have continued to pray and offer our family in willing obedience, in case His closed door was a "not yet" rather than a "not ever." Today, we are thrilled to share with you our confidence that this is His timing and things are going so smoothly and much more quickly than we could have ever imagined. We are not going into this blindly as we have many close friends and even our own family who have been through difficulties and much trouble in the process, but will continue to say "Yes!" and fight for the child He has for us as long as we feel like He is in this and fighting with us.
Our boys are very excited about being big brothers, and when I talked with Eli about it initially, I asked him what he thought about us having a baby sister. He looked at me in surprise and said, "Does Dad know?"
We ask that you pray with us as we begin this journey in two specific ways: 1) Please pray for our discernment (and patience!) in this process. We are not so naive as to believe it will all go smoothly, and we covet your prayers as we determine next steps. 2) Please, please pray for our baby girl or boy and his/her family. We do not know yet whether he or she is already born, currently in the womb or yet to be conceived. Regardless, we pray for safety and for comfort until she/he is in our arms.
This is not a short process so we ask you to stay tuned here on the blog and via our other social media to keep up with our journey to our our newest little Walton. We will share all the ups and down and moments of excitement and difficult times as we can. It is also with great anticipation that we share this exciting news and with humble hearts that we ask for your prayers...
