Ya’ll know the year that we have had, with me finishing my masters and Jeff away at pilot training. All of this while waiting patiently (at least trying) for a referral. As we look back, we understand God’s timing and we know that we couldn’t have accomplished all that we did if things would have happened according to our plan.
Jeff and I haven’t been together for more than a week in the last 6 months. When I came to Jacksonville for this trip, I didn’t know what I was going to do with all of my free time….with Jeff still in the RJ program (school for 10 hours a day) and then finishing up his last week of work. I love the sun and the beach, but there is only so much of that you can do by yourself for 2 weeks. I looked into getting a 2 week job but no one hires for 2 weeks and even volunteer work was not available. Like always, God had a bigger plan!
While in Florida, we got a call…this call was different than any other call we have received from AGCI. Her voice was excited and as she told me to look on my email for a possible referral, I felt her excitement…I also felt overwhelmed, scared, not ready….what am I saying…not ready….of course we are ready, it just felt so un-real! As I went through all the information, medical records, court documents, legal paperwork from AGCI, it was explained to me that before any decision was made, we needed to talk with an international doctor and find out any medical issues. I started to get all our ducks in a row and meetings were set for this week. When Jeff got back to the hotel, I had the picture of this little guy up on the computer and explained everything to him. We prayed and gave him to God, asking God to direct and guide us in our decision making. We sat in our hotel room and looked at each other, realizing that this could be our JLuke and then thinking, this could not have come at a better time.Today we talked with our international adoption doctor from Seattle, via cell phone. J He told us that given the circumstances he is in relatively good health. He said that the information that we have is some of the most detailed that he has seen and that he has heard very good things about Hannah’s Hope (orphanage). This is what we needed to hear to go forward with this process.
So we have a referral! He is a between 4-6mo…not sure of his actual birth date because information gets lost in translation and the Ethiopian calendar is different than ours. Between now and when we go to Ethiopia for the final trip, his birth mother can still change her mind. We are trusting in God’s plan, knowing that any changes made are made for a reason, but also praying and hoping that this in fact is our son. So with all of my free time while in Florida, I completed the paperwork (pages and pages) so that the process could move forward. We will not know when our first trip date will be...most likely some time in October...we wait (we are good at this).
Please continue praying for this journey that we are on. We can’t wait to bring him home to his forever home so that everyone can meet him face to face!
