Lessons from a first time adopter

Adoption is so awesome!  It's a calling!  It's......well.....it's hard! It's a roller coaster of love! But it's hard! 

Here are some things that happen when you adopt (and we haven't faced the potential challenges that will come when she's home....hahahahahah (mad hatter laugh)):

1. You don't sleep...unless it's 3:00 in the afternoon and your body just collapses!

2. You become a hypochondriac, knowing you must have a pulmonary embolus, DVT, brain aneurysm, or heart attack every time your anxiety level reaches the point you have shortness of breath and chest pain and cramps in your leg. 

3. You don't sleep, because you know you'll surely die from your blood clot in the middle of the night

4. You can't stop talking and thinking about your adopted child and have to consciously remind yourself to focus on the present and the children you have in your arms. 

5. You eat! A lot! A lot of chocolate! 

6. you stalk Indian people

7. You dye your hair to be more indian, you cook Indian food, you watch 3 hour long Bollywood movies  constantly,  you learn hindi.....you become Indian!!

8. Your brain is MUSH

9. You realize that your adoption is not the only one and the world doesn't revolve around it, and so you stay frustrated because no one else seems to think your child being without a mother is an emergency!! When in fact, it is an emergency!!

10. Your husband thinks you are crazy! 

11. You cry....a lot!.....while you eat cookie dough ice cream! 

12. You realize alot about about yourself and your relationship with God. You realize: you like to get your way and you secretly think God's way wasn't as good as yours, you learn to trust God completely, you learn how to lose control instead of take control.

13. Your vision changes. You see people differently, you see children differently, you pray for the nations more. 

And I would do it all over again if I had to!!

Adoption is awesome! It is a calling! And it is hard! 

These children are worth the wait! How blessed we are that God is near to us in our waiting! 

Now, I'm going to eat some raw cookie dough and watch Vivah one more time!!

Due date!!

You know how when you are pregnant we all ask, "when are you due?". We'll for the past 30 months we've been asked, "when are you going?, when do you travel?, Is she home yet?". There were some days, I admit, when that question was like nails on a chalk board to me. But from this point out we have a due date! A travel date!! 

We were approved to be in India October 10th! 10/10/2014! So in LESS than 4 weeks we will be knocking on the door to the orphanage! I'll be touching HER face! We will be laughing together! We will cry together! Ok, maybe just I will cry.....a lot! I hope it's only me crying! 

I was so excited this week when I found out our travel date that the bad news didn't really phase me until later. 

Bad news is that Simran Neena broke her leg! Playground injury is what we are told. It sure sounds a lot like a "Luke" story. For those of you who know my monkey boy Luke, he's had several broken bones and none of us ever know the real story!!  We were told she was being "naughty". But surely that means just being a 4 year old and a Quinley! She gets it honest! 

I don't know how bad it was or when she will get the cast off, but rest assured that this momma is seeking information about that! Considering my oldest, Vivian is just a few months out from breaking her leg, this is nothing new! It does hurt my heart to think she is so far away with a cast and no mommy to kiss her bobo or sign her cast, or prop her foot up and get her a movie going and a snack! But somehow it's ok. I have a peace about our travel and this broken leg and our future together. We are praying & trusting God that she won't have to travel 15 hours back on a plane with a leg cast! 

Friday, September 12th, she will have taken her picture for her passport and the application will be submitted. We do still need that passport to come in by October 10th.....but I truly believe it will come in plenty of time! 

We have been blessed by so many loving friends and family recently! You are all part of this journey with us! We are going to try to keep updating while we are in India and back home too! Everyone who ever said a prayer for Simran Neena or encouraged us along the way, we thank God for you. Now let's pray broken bones back together! And passports processed! And families together at last! 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17 NIV)

One more thing

Well as of now, we are waiting for only ONE more thing! Only one thing holding us back from jumping on the next flight to India and wrapping my arms around this child of my heart!! We are now waiting for her passport. Who knows how long it will take! September 13th will be a year since we saw her face for the first time. I never thought it would take us another year to bring her home. But we have a perfect peace about it! It won't be long y'all!!! 

So I'm packing and nesting and we are preparing for our daughter's homecoming!! And I'm using a lot of exclamation points cause I'm so excited!!

We have had two opportunities to Skype with her recently and it was so amazing! It felt like home; like she knows me and I know her! Her voice just sounds familiar and her face like I've seen it every morning for my whole life! I can't explain it all but it's just amazing. Our kids adore her and are so proud of her for being so brave to want to travel 8,000 miles and leave her friends to be their sister! 

I'm suddenly freaking out that I don't  have everything together, like I don't know enough hindi and what if she doesn't like me! But God's got this and he has made me ready and who cares if we don't have it all together! No one ever does really. 

There's only one thing left and all my check boxes, and all the obstacles, will be GONE! And I'll be flying East......

Thanks for your prayers, keep em coming! We are almost there!