Answering the Call

My last post was in mid March and since then so very much has happened. I have been asked soooo many times when I was going to update my blog and I have an extremely good reason why it's taken me so long. Read on and you will learn why...

After all we'd been through over the winter, Eric and I decided that over our spring break in March we would take a little trip to Chicago just to get away and have some quality time together. At the advice of a social worker from our adoption agency, we decided to take a weekend trip and do some things that wouldn't be as easy to do once we received a placement. It really gave us something to look forward to as well, so we booked a hotel right off of Michigan Ave. and planned to go see some of the things we didn't get to see on our last trip there like Navy Pier, the Hancock Building, and eating REAL deep dish pizza at Gino's East.

A few days before spring break, the phone rang and it was again our adoption agency. Every time I would see their number come up on my phone, I was nervous to answer because you just never knew what they were going to say or ask. This time it was a good thing I answered the phone because another expectant mother had looked at our book and wanted to meet us.

We were so excited to get another call, but knew that things may not work out like we wanted to like our last experience. The social worker gave us a little bit of information about the situation and then let us decide if we wanted to come to the offices to meet. We didn't really have to think long because we already knew that we did not want to throw away any opportunities.

We agreed on a day and time to meet at the agency and had a few days from the call until the meeting would occur. We again told our family what was happening and everyone started praying and hoping just like they always did for us. We were reluctant to tell too many people that someone had asked to meet us, so we did keep it pretty quiet. I didn't even tell my closest coworkers or friends for fear that I would jinx it!

The day finally came for us to meet the expectant mother, her parents, the birth father, and his parents. Because of their young age, their families were very involved in the process. We were nervous to meet so many people for the first time. We knew that they had read our book and obviously liked us enough to want to meet with us, but we knew very little about them. It was almost like a blind date. We really didn't know what to expect, but walked into the meeting with confidence. We talked on the way up to the offices that we were going to just be ourselves and show them what we are really about. We wanted to make sure they knew how down to earth we are and how much we were looking forward to being parents someday.

I will never forget walking in to the room and they were all sitting around one big table. Eric and I sat at one end of the table where everyone could just stare at us if they wanted to. I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest, but then we all just starting talking. The expectant mom's parents had questions they had prepared to ask us and we answered all of them as best we could. As they were asking questions and we were answering, we felt the conversation turn from being sort of like an interview, to just talking to each other and getting to know more about everyone in the room.

The meeting lasted quite awhile and we were super impressed by both of the teenagers and their parents. It was quite evident that they came from good homes, were active in school and sports, and had plans and goals for their futures. Their families had thought through the option of adoption and knew that was the choice they wanted to make.

When the meeting was done and it was time to say goodbye, we all hugged each other. We had talked about so many things while in that room together and it felt almost like talking with our own families. I was so impressed by everyone that my heart was filled to the brim with hope that they would choose us. I will never ever forget walking out of the building to our jeep and looking at Eric. The smile on his face was unforgettable and he looked right at me and said, "This is it. I have a good feeling about this and this is meant to be."

All we could talk about on the ride home was the families and how much we had in common with them and what an ideal situation it was. It was almost too good to be true. We were crossing our fingers already that they would officially choose us to adopt their baby. We weren't even halfway home on the interstate when the social worker called to see how we thought it went. She told us that the families really liked us and asked how we felt about potentially moving forward with them. Of course we wanted to and we were thrilled that they liked us as much as we liked them!

Emails were exchanged and soon after the meeting we began communicating with them. The birth mother's parents wanted to meet with us for dinner so we could get to know each other better and we agreed that we would like to do the same. We set up a time to meet before we left for our trip to Chicago. When we did meet them for dinner, it was like we had known them forever. We talked for so long that our dinner lasted about 4 or 5 hours I think! When it was time to go, we again all hugged and talked about how this situation was working out well and how much we were glad to have found each other.

I could hardly believe that we were going to get a baby and I REALLY couldn't believe how nice the birth family was. It was like God made us wait because he knew all along that there was a family out there that would be perfect for us. He really couldn't have picked a better family to help us become our own little family as well.