The past two months...

Significant things have happened in the past 2 months :-)

February was our DTH!!!  :-)

DTH = date to Honduras.....the culmination of our paperchase. We received our letter of approval from the Honduran consulate in D.C. at the beginning of February and by Valentine's day, our paperwork packet (dossier) was off to Honduras for translation and approval. From my own timeline goals we were about a month behind (mostly because of the delay in our psychological evaluation), but the Lord's timing is right and we trust that everything is still right on with His timeline which is exactly what we want.  We're waiting for the dossier to be translated and then approved (or for us to be possibly contacted with the need for additional documentation). After that -- that is when we get our waitlist number. To get translated and approved, it seems for other families we know in the program it takes about 5 months.  That means we may be welcoming our first Wanee child to the world at the same time we're getting our official waiting number from Honduras. Please pray that this process goes quickly and that there is no additional documentation requested that could slow the process!!

We feel so blessed to be able to have our family growing at the same time in two very different ways. And yet, in so many ways it is very similar. It is humbling to see these things unfold before us as we continue through the process.
    1. The most common question we're being asked about our biological baby is whether we are going to find out the gender. Our answer is, "It'll be a boy or a girl"  heehee...which is exactly how we're approaching our adoption. We've left ourselves very open for the Lord to place the exact child we are to have in our lives -- boy or girl, baby or toddler or preschooler--God knows what our family will look like and we are trusting Him to guide that. We are eagerly anticipating what He has in store for us.
    2.  We have an idea on the timeline of our adoption, but so much is up in the air. We're told 3-5 years, but who knows when things may surprisingly speed up or slow down with adoptions in Honduras. We are spending this time to be prepared for the time when we get the phone call, email, etc about our child being matched to us. Just the same, we know a pregnancy is 40 weeks, but unexpected things can happen (like our friend having their baby 5 weeks early!!) and so we are taking this time to prepare to be parents to an infant child. Time spent waiting should not be wasted with it just passing by....we want to be intentional so we are ready for what is in store for us!
    3. We can't wait to meet both of these children. I know there will be an some sort of immediate maternal connection to the child I have growing inside once he/she is born.....but just as I day dream about what this baby will look like, what they will be some day, etc, I also daydream about our Latin love and who they will be, what their personality will be like, what will they look like. Our Latin love is already just as dear in my heart as is the baby in my belly and my heart beats anxiously to meet both of them!!

I could go on forever with the amazing lessons the Lord is teaching us and preparing us to be parents, both by birth and adoption. If you would have talked to us a year ago (well before we had officially committed to adopting and well into our acceptance of likely not having biological children), we could have never EVER dreamed this was how our life would be progressing.

God is so good to walk with us and surprise us with His ways along the journey. I am so blessed to be a child of His and pray that I will be a reflection of His character and love to our children that are on their way!



More to come soon (I promise) .....there are good things happening in the Honduras program :-)