“She woke each morning with a glow of hope,
not because a new dream had been born,
but knowing the one she carried
inside her heart would last.”
-Jodi Hills
***
They came bearing desserts, y’all. 🙂
They swooshed right into my living room, with their sweet desserts and sweeter hearts, and they helped me pack up t-shirts all the livelong (Tues)day. 🙂
Some of them are friends from church, and some of them are friends from the neighborhood, but you better believe I checked ALL of their backs for wings when they left our house that day. 😉 #angels
Kevin’s mom came back the next day to help us pack up the remaining shirts…
…and I’ve been making 2 trips a day to the post office ever since!
I’ve got 4 hamper-loads to go, but for those who ordered, you can expect to see a package from me in your mailbox soon! Thanks SO MUCH again to everyone who placed an order! XO
***
Okay. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to share one, but are you ready to hear about our latest adoption update? 😀
It was such a fun one last week!
Our caseworker, Meredith, called around 10am. Kevin and I were eating drive-thru breakfast in our car in the parking lot next to Dillards at the time. It’s kind of our thing if we’re out and about. We choose our (warm) car over (always freezing) fast food joints almost every time. We usually park somewhere scenic, but that particular day we were in a bit of a hurry, so an almost-empty Dillards lot next to Chic-Fil-A it was!
I mashed my speakerphone button with a quickness and in leaned a little closer to Kevin. Meredith told us she was going to send us an email, and asked if we wanted to stay on the phone with her while we checked it, or if we wanted to check it and then call her after we had read it. We decided we wanted to check it and then call her back.
A few seconds later, and a few seconds apart, these all-caps words popped up at the tops of our email feeds:
REFERRAL PAGE
 If you’ve adopted a child you know exactly what those words mean. If not, in short, a referral page is a document that includes photos and information about the child you’re adopting. Kevin and I have heard about these things called “referral pages” ever since we started our adoption journey, so to see those capital letters staring back at us on Friday (April 4, 2014) was so surreal! We already knew most of the information they included on our boy’s referral page (it was very basic info: name, how he ended up at Three Angels, how he’s doing developmentally, and a tiny bit of medical info), but it was so neat to have it all laid out on paper. There are three photos of him on the page- two we had already seen on Three Angels Facebook page, and one we had never seen before. Needless to say, we’ve been staring at that one A LOT since Friday! He is just SO sunny, y’all! 😀
We called Meredith back, and after a fun chat about our boy, she went on to tell us that she had received word that a decision has been made by IBESR about how to proceed with consentment letters, but that she didn’t know what that decision was at that point. So, our prayer this week is that the in-country orphanage director at Three Angels will have a successful, information-filled meeting about how they’ve decided to proceed with consentment letters, and that Meredith will hear from him about that this week.Â
***
Until then, each morning continues to bring with it a fresh glow of hope. A hope that encourages me to focus not on the when, but on the Wonder. 🙂
PS- To follow along with our adoption timline click HERE, and for adoption updates between posts, join me over on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram!
Congratulations!!!! Sounds like he’s already bringing you sunshine and joy. A son!!
GOOSIES!!!!!
Oh, I bet you wanna just kiss Sweet P’s little face!!!!!
God Bless your hearts!!!!!
Wow! I got all teary eyed reading this how exciting to know for sure who your little one will be. My husband and I are praying about a country to adopt from and will God-willing be starting the process in the Fall. How did you come to the decision to adopt from Haiti if you don’t mind me asking?
– God Bless
Crystal
I seldom comment, but reading this post made me just so happy for you! I can see God’s hand in your life and it reminds me how much He and His Son love each one of us. Good things are coming, and I can’t wait to read all about the journey.
I love my new tshirt & seeing pics of the angels that helped you pack it up!
oh Layla I am so very excited for you both! I will pray it goes super quick for you! by the way where did you get that cute bell with a cow on top? I need one, I love cows!
I received my t-shirt and it is soooooo soft. Love it. Now I will have to hide it so my girls don’t take it.
Also…I signed up for Kevin/Shootfly courses and am enjoying them too.
Good luck on your adoption…the little guy is a lucky one.
L
Oh sweet Layla!!! I have followed your blog for a long while now and many times I have wanted to write a comment. But for last few weeks I have found myself watching each day for adoption news. I found myself worried about it. I know as a mom myself, the awaiting of a baby is truly wonder filled and I am so thrilled at your news of the referral. I cried with joy as I read. Just know that so many people are rooting for you…. So many prayers and happy thoughts are sent your way. You will be a wonderful mother…. It is so evident in the joy you take in the world around you. Never lose that joy!!!! Motherhood is such gift. And believe it or not, as the years pass, the joy just multiplies! Sending you lots of love and happy thoughts!!!
So very happy for you two! I love the adoption updates. It makes me cry every time. I will be buying both shirts when you get a site set up, but we were packing for a move and hubby left for his job in Seattle and left me to sell the house in Southern California and take care of the four kids, so I had just too many things going on then. I look forward to when they will be available again. Both have messages that certainly apply to our lives right now. Many blessings your way!
How exciting!!!!!!!! I’m just so happy for you both, and am so looking forward to seeing photos of the sweet P with you guys!!!! XO
I missed purchasing a shirt but would love to buy one if you change your mind about making more.
Congratulations! I pray you guys will be traveling soon!
I love my shirt. The color is vibrant. It’s as soft as can be. And, I just love the message “Don’t Give Up Your Daydream.” Great job, y’all!
I’ll be praying!!!
I LOVE my new t-shirts!! Thank you!
You are a wise girl to focus on the Wonder. What a beautiful phrase.
But I have to think…….next Easter, you’ll be deciding what your little guy will wear to church. And of course he will look so sunny!
That’s a lovely thought.
I am adopted myself so this post makes my heart swell and my eyes well up! How exciting!!!!
I’m not in a rush but just wanted make sure my shirt didn’t get lost in the mail or something. I haven’t seen it yet so thought I would check to see if they all have been mailed and should have been received or if you are still working on it? Thanks!
Layla, I got the shirt (Here I Am), gave it to my daughter, and she wore it to her church’s Saturday night service that night! She loved it! Thank you & God bless you both.
yay!! such an exciting day! today is actually our 2 year anniversary of getting c+a’s referrals! a day we will NEVER forget!!
Congratulations on your referral!!!
When we received our referral (for an 8 year old boy from Ethiopia), we didn’t stop staring at those pictures until we got the update the next month…then we stared at those for a month…and, so on!
Just got the “Here I am” t-shirt. Thank you soooo much! This is for my son’s 22nd birthday and it arrived faster than I thought it would. 🙂 Y’all are the best!
Layla,
I would LOVE to chat with you some more. My husband and I are in the process of also adopting from Haiti. We are almost ready to submit our dossier and just finished our psych eval last week! We received awesome news that our homestudy is completed and has been accepted by the Arizona court system! YEAH! One big thing completed!
I have been reading your blog and keeping up with your news via IG as well. So excited for you guys! I pray that the process will speed up, as God wills it!
Many blessings to you and your husband and your family 🙂
-Erica
That is so exciting, Erica!!! Congratulations!!!
Please keep me posted on how everything is going, and I will be sure to keep doing the same. It sounds like things *might* actually start moving again soon! #FingersCrossed