Cloud Nine

I wish I could keep up with the amount of times we heard these similar comments concerning our babies that are on their way.......

..."I bet yall are on cloud nine"

..."You're on cloud nine aren't you?"

..."How does it feel to be on cloud nine?"

As we completely understand why people would think this to be the way that we feel right now, our response is quite contrary to the reaction I'm sure people expect from us. However, we smile and respond with, "we're not actually, but we will be when our son is home from Haiti."

There is nothing about our child being in another country and not knowing exactly when he'll be in our arms forever that give us a tingling, butterfly sense of feeling. We are thrilled and humbled beyond words to be pregnant with our second child, but we know this child will be in our presence sometime around July 7th. And once he or she arrives, we wont be traveling to a third world country to visit him/her. Rowen, on the other hand, is playing, walking, laughing, eating, sleeping, being held, learning, and so much more without his mommy and daddy who only get to see him once every month or two. There is nothing in this world that we long for more than to have him home, therefore we wish we could explain our emotions as those of being on "cloud nine", but right now.......we can't.

In the midst, we have learned and grown so much. And God is constantly reminding me of the rewards and fruit that come to those who wait (Psalms 84:11).

I have been reminded of the season that I waited for my husband. My desire to be married and have children evolved at the age of 4. But God had me wait a lot longer than I EVER had planned. I wanted to get married right out college (really right out of high school if I could have....ha), but God had me wait. I wanted to get married during the five years that I remained single, yet ALL of my friends were meeting their significant others and planning their weddings......but God had me wait. I won't be a cheese, but if I would have foreseen what God was storing up for my life, I would have waited much more contently and patiently. And that is what I'm attempting to cling to. I look at all the fruit that came from that particular waiting season, and I would not have written my story any differently.

If I would not have waited for my amazing husband, I would not be waiting for my baby boy that we love more than this life nor would I be carrying the precious baby in my womb. God's timing is perfect! In eight months, my desires have come to be.....happily and healthily married to an amazing man with two precious children on the way.

I encourage you, when God makes you wait......WAIT! If I wouldn't have, I would have completely missed the cloud that is closely awaiting for us to jump on.

In adoption news: we're still waiting on the waiver. It is partially complete....yay! And will hopefully be sent to the president of Haiti in the next couple of weeks. Once we receive the signed waiver, we will be able progress with lots of paperwork that has been sitting still. Please continue to join us in prayer that this will happen quickly and efficiently.

As most of you know, we need the waiver in order to bypass the Haitian law that says you have to be 30 years old and married 5 years in order to adopt. However, Haiti does honor common law marriages, which means they would recognize the years a couple has dated/lived together. We have been together two and half. We have been "encouraged" to prove/lie that we have lived together for five years, which would make the process so much easier, but we have refused. Some think we were crazy for not telling a little white lie that would have saved us from months of waiting on this waiver, but we believe that God is stronger and will/can expedite this process much better than we can or could have with our lies. He honors integrity....not perfection, because we're far from that.

We're not sharing his because we want a pat on the back for "doing right", we're sharing this because we desire for this process to bring Him and only Him glory. And we are praying that because of our desire to let Him be the only one moving the mountains in this story, that big brother will be home before the birth of his baby brother or sister. As so many of you are, please join us as we continue to circle around this story and pray that Rowen will be home in April. It is something only God can do, so for those prayer warriors who have been so faithful in walking beside us through this, that is our prayer.

Just like Psalms 84:11 says, the Lord bestows favor and honor and no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. We cling to this. We pray and believe that He will bestow His honor and favor on our decision to painfully wait. And that those following this story will be encouraged to wait integriously for whatever He is calling you to wait on.

He doesn't need our maneuvering or manipulation to accomplish His plan, He just needs our faithful obedience and integrity!

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! Happy 2012!