2017

 

We really thought 2017 would be the year Mary-Lynn came home. I even wrote this in her journal on New Year's Day 2017...

 

We had already been waiting for the No Objection Certificate for 3 1/2 weeks and would have another almost 7 weeks before we finally got it. Two months after we got NOC we finally had our first court hearing. We never dreamed it would last 7 months! But praise God we finally passed!! 2017 has been a lot of waiting and frustrations in our adoption. But we have grown in our relationships with Christ in ways we never would have without this experience. And as Britt said in his sermon this morning, our suffering is never wasted, God uses all things for His good.

 

 

We have hopeful anticipation for 2018! We received an e-mail this week that the passport has been applied for. There seems to be some trouble surrounding it, but we know God will handle it just like He has handled every other issue in our adoption process. So for now we keep trusting Him and wait in hopeful anticipation! We continue to pray that God prepares Mary-Lynn for all the changes that 2018 will bring her way. 

 

 

Santa came to see Mary-Lynn!

 

She also got gifts from MawMaw & PawPaw...

 

...Aunt Ashley, Uncle Michael, and Zoe...

 

...and Aunt Kim and Uncle Greg.

 

My sweet friend, Christie, got this for our family...

 

 

Eli is starting to wonder if we will be here for his birthday (Jan. 21). We just are not sure. We have told him most likely we will find out it is time to travel and then leave within the same week. Pray for all 3 boys, we have never been away from each other as long as we will be for this trip.

 

Even though the adoption has brought frustrations and long waits, God has really blessed us with some great family time with our boys in 2017. Here is a video of our 2017 fun...I had to add that first song for Mary-Lynn (and her birthday is in May!)...

 

 

Happy New Year and THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support you have given our family through our adoption! Praying we will be with our daughter so soon!!!

 

 

 



Merry Christmas!! (2017)

2 years ago today I posted my first blog announcing our adoption. We had just started our process 6 weeks before. We were not matched with Mary-Lynn yet, had never seen her face, but we were so excited and full of anticipation. She was 1 1/2 half years old sitting in an orphanage over 8,000 miles away from us when I posted my blog...

You can read it HERE!

 

This time last year we had been matched with our precious daughter 5 1/2 months. We had seen her face. Her daddy got to meet and hold her a month before. We were coming into a tough No Objection Certificate wait, and even tougher court process. She was 2 1/2 years old and still sitting in that orphanage without her family.  

You can read last years blog post HERE!

 

And here we are, our 3rd Christmas since we started our adoption process. We so hoped she would be home with us by now. But at least we see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are still waiting on the birth certificate so the passport can be applied for. Please pray along with us that those things come quickly.

 

Another sweet couple, the Kirkegaards, are at their 3rd Christmas without their son. Please pray for them also!! I wanted to share what Kelsey so transparently shared with all of us on social media...

Their son is in a tough northern state of India like Mary-Lynn is, but our babies are SO worth the wait and the hard!!

 

Another India adoptive momma shared this...

 

I'm sharing a lot from others tonight because it is just so good and worded better than I ever could have. This is from a blog called No Hands But Ours...

 

 

We have had a tough week. Matthew had the flu and I had a fender bender (my first ever, still mad at myself). But I think God was trying to slow me down and remind me that this season is about Him and nothing and no one else. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of this time of year and forget what it is really about. When we have Mary-Lynn home with us next Christmas the most important thing will be to teach her what Christmas is really about. Jesus! And oh how I pray that she will come to know Him and have a personal relationship with Him.

 

Boo for the Flu!

 I looked down to change the air and when I looked up the car in front of me had stopped. The guy I hit was very nice about it and kept asking if I was ok. My legs are bruised up and my van had to be towed. But the man I hit was able to drive his car home, thankfully.

 



 

We did get snow in Alabama on December 9 though! That was awesome!!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service tonight...I started to get emotional a few times not having Mary-Lynn with us but our 4 year old was so bad he helped the emotions go in another direction! #ineedemojis #jesustakethewheel

Mary-Lynn's Christmas tree in her room!

Christmas surprise for the boys in the morning! And yes, we know we are CRAZY! Hahaha!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!!

 

 



We have writtens!!

Praising God for quick written orders signed by the judge!!

 

The corrections have been made

(in pen...they just crossed out the wrong info and wrote the correct info above it...Oh India...hahaha)!

 

Birth certificate applied for!

Written orders done!

 

Come on passport!!!

 

The orphanage director will apply for Mary-Lynn's passport and take her to have her passport photo done. Our agency is in constant contact with the director. So they will let us know when the passport has been applied for. Once that is done it can take 4-6 weeks. 

 

We are getting closer to bringing our baby girl home!!

 

 

Please pray for her little heart and mind as her world is fixing to be rocked big time! Pray that she will not be scared. Pray that she will attach and bond quickly to her mommy and daddy.

 

 

 

 

We were the Hebrew family at An Eclectic Christmas, an outdoor walk through that tells the Christmas story.

 

 

 

It is snowing in Alabama! Hoping to wake up in the morning to a lot more snow! MattMatt is ready to build a big snowman, make a snow angel, and ice skate! Haha!!

Thank you, as always, for your continued prayers for our family!



What a day!

We got new pictures and videos of our precious girl from a sweet, sweet adoptive momma who was picking up her daughter! It is bittersweet...it was SO good to see her and how well she seems to be doing; but she is growing so fast and getting bigger and we are missing it.

 

 

But we are praying it will not be too much longer and she will be in our arms and home where she belongs! I can't wait to share her beautiful smile and gorgeous, big eyes with all of you!!

 

 Our written orders were uploaded to the court site the same day we passed. But there were some typos that need to be fixed.

 

 

So good to finally see in writing that she is ours!!

 

 

Her birth certificate has been applied for. As soon as the written orders are fixed and they have her birth certificate the passport can be applied for. Please pray that all of this goes smoothly and quickly. Our awesome adoption agency is staying on top of it all for us!

 

Another sweet India adoption momma sent us some beautiful India clothing for Mary-Lynn. It came in the mail today...

 

It has been a good day, an exciting day! We are getting closer and closer to bringing our daughter home!!

 

 

 

 

We went to see Santa tonight. Can't wait to have Mary-Lynn home to make memories like these along with us!

 

These pajamas are hilarious! Mary-Lynn has some too! Can't wait to take their picture in their matching pajamas!!

 

Please continue to pray along with us that we are with our daughter so soon!

 

 

 



Update...

7 months and 11 hearings later...

We have finally PASSED court!! 

Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!! 

We had our 10th hearing on Nov. 25, but the court site was not updating and our agency had no news from India. I was checking the court website like a mad woman all weekend. I decided to check it one more time before going to bed last night around 10:00 and saw that we were scheduled for our 11th hearing on Nov. 27 (while we slept last night)! They did not meet on Nov. 25. 

When I checked the court site this morning I saw this...

We have been waiting to see the word DISPOSED for a long time! I went running and crying to Britt! We are SO thankful and relieved to have this huge step done! 

We still need written orders. 

The judge has to sign them and then they have to be certified.

Once our orphanage director has the signed, certified written court orders she can get Mary-Lynn's birth certificate and then apply for her passport. 

So we still have some waiting, but like Eli (our 9 year old) said, that's only 3 more things!!

We are so much closer to bringing our baby girl home now!

Please pray these last steps go quickly! I am going to leave you with a song my daddy introduced us to recently...

  

Please pray for our 10th Court Hearing Tonight!

 

I have been keeping a daily journal since we were matched with Mary-Lynn back in July of 2016. I am almost done with journal number 3! One day I will give the journals to her. But I decided to look back at my entries from last November/December. I really, really thought by this time she would be home! I thought she would be here making memories with her family at the pumpkin patch, the fair, Thanksgiving, cutting down our Christmas tree to decorate, the Hanging of the Greens service where we go as a family to place an ornament on the church tree, seeing Santa, and all the other fun things we do as a family this time of the year. BUT God really has given us a peace beyond understanding (Phil. 4:7). I LOVE Christmas, so I am sure it will be tough, especially since this is our 2nd Christmas without her. But I love this quote that I wrote in Mary-Lynn's journal on 12.22.16 (the day my Granddaddy Head went to be with Jesus)..."Tears do not reflect a lack of faith. Tears are a gift from God that help to wash away the deep pain of loss." Or in our place right now, the empty seat at the table and arms aching to hold our daughter and kiss that little face!! Even in the midst of aching arms and hearts, and the wait that is just too long, God gives us His peace, and we trust Him! God is so good, all the time; His mercies are new every single day!

Some other great quotes written in her journal a year ago...

• In His time for His glory!
• Waiting gives us fearless trust. Fearless trust only comes when our prayers aren't answered right away. It's when we must remember Who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Waiting is hard. Waiting on the Lord takes strength and courage. But someday the wait will be over, and at the end of the wait we'll receive Jesus's perfect answer.
• We don't always have the explanations for certain events and acts of God. He is sovereign. He owes us no explanation. He purposes to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight.
• The only way God can show us He's in control is to put us in situations we can't control.
• The amazing thing about God is that even a "no" has goodness written all over it.
• At Advent, we are invited to immerse ourselves in hope. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is unshakable confidence that God can be trusted. It is the belief that God is always at work for our good. It is the assurance that God's promises are true even while we wait for their fulfillment. Because our hope is certain, we wait patiently, not fretfully, trusting that God is already at work to provide the light we seek, the help we need, and the deliverance we long for. 

I have wasted a lot of time telling God what I want, and this would work great for us to go to India now, or begging to let it be done by this date or that one. I have learned to simply pray and trust. Prayer draws me closer to Christ; the One who is in control, who knows all things, knows what is best for Mary-Lynn and the rest of our family, and who is with us through all the wait and the hard giving us a peace we can't even describe to you!

Please continue to pray for our adoption, that we will pass court so we can move on to the next steps, for us as we wait, for Mary-Lynn to be prepared for all the changes that will be coming her way. I am thankful for all of the ones who are following our journey and praying along with us!


Just a few pictures from our Huntsville trip, time with family this Thanksgiving, and Christmas tree hunting (no luck yet!)...

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and Roll Tide! ; )

Praying we will have great news to post tomorrow...