Celebration Weekend

We took this picture right before we told Nathan's parents the news.

The weekend after we got a "yes" to the twins, our dear parents and precious friends made the trip to Birmingham to celebrate with us! Nathans parents are also in tax season so it was a huge sacrifice for them to make the trip. Since we've heard about the girls, we've been so humbled by how boldly and authentically people have loved on us! It has brought us to tears...well maybe just me, Nathan just had something in his eye. :) many times over peoples' goodness to us....sweet gifts and cards in the mail, sweet treats for celebration at discipleship, showers planned ...we're just blown away! Back to Birmingham- We got to spend Friday night with Kendall, Lindsay and their twins. Have I mentioned that our girls will have first cousin twins just 10 weeks older? Such a blessing! They are so super fun...we loved getting to catch up.

Kendall, Maddie Grace, Makenzie and Lindsay

Then Saturday my parents arrived around 9:30...so sweet considering they live almost 3 hours from Kendall and Lindsay. Then Nathan's parents weren't far behind (also about a 3 hour drive) We had a great time talking about the girls, then we had lunch at Edgar's Bakery. My parents had these shirts made for us to wear that day. Can you tell they were excited?! :)

Mama's sweet friend Dawn made the shirts for us!

We then made our first trip to Buy Buy Baby to look around and went to the hotel. Around 5:00 my friends, Liz, Tammi, Jennifer and Alicia arrived!! Liz and Tammi from Tupelo/Booneville; Jennifer and Alicia from Jackson...how great are they to make the trip to celebrate! We had dinner at Surin 280 and they showered us with gifts for the girls!

I had to "disguise" the picture of the girls since we can't post them on social media yet...that caused the picture to stretch for some reason...you get the idea. :)

Think the front of the table didn't get the memo we were taking a picture. :)

It was such a blessing to get to celebrate with the people we love. Baby Girls, you're already so loved by so many!

I-800 A Supplement 3 Sent

So this is for the sake of records. Friday, February 15th, the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) received our Supplement 3 application. This is a request for them to approve us to adopt two children instead of one!

WE'RE "HAVING" TWINS!!!

This post has been a long time coming. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to write. Possibly because I’ve been overwhelmed by putting so many emotions into words. I’m not a gifted writer so this is a challenge. Might as well begin…

GOD IS LETTING US PARENT THE TWINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terribly blurry picture of us right after we heard "Yes!"

Here's the story: After hearing that the CCCWA was deciding between us and one other family, I was a total basket-case. Sunday night was the most intense with me waking around 3:00 a.m., laying prostrate before the Lord in desperation and surrender. Fast forward to Monday, January 21st, around 10:00 pm, I checked my email hoping I’d received something from Tiffany. (The January upload happened on January 21^st [22nd in China] so we were really hoping they would put the twins’ files on AGCI’s individual list at the same time.) There was no email and with it already being 11:00 a.m. in Beijing, we went to bed assuming we would hear no news that evening. We were just drifting off to sleep when my phone rang around 11:30. I was a bit disoriented but when I saw Tiffany’s name, there was a glimmer of hope. She told me that they chose us!!!! I was completely stunned! I did manage to jump up on the bed, scream, and hug Nathan; then we just sat in total shock on speaker phone talking through things with Tiffany. Even after we got off the phone, it was incredibly surreal. We immediately pulled up all the girls' pictures on the blog to try to make this dream we longed for seem real. Were we really going to be parents? Were we really going to be able to parent these precious twins we’d prayed for so long? Were we dreaming? On Sunday, I had completely convinced myself we were not going to be chosen and pretty much was begging God to equip me with all I needed to walk through the grief with faith and joy in Him. Did He ever blow me away!!! I believe the news was even sweeter after the surrender. After we got off the phone Nathan turned to me and said, “Kim, you’re going to be a mom!”. Such sweet joyous news to my ears! How wonderful is my husband?? We  talked details (finally!), I looked up double BOBs on craigslist, we schemed how we wanted to break the news to our parents and just kept saying over and over, “we’re getting twins!”. 

BOB double jogging stroller I've been wanting since we first heard of the possibility of twins in July!

The next day was filled with a flurry of phone calls. What a joy to be given this gift and responsibility! My brother was the best! He gave up his whole morning to allow us to tell my parents over skype…such a servant! We’re now awaiting our pre-approval from the CCCWA and also our updated approval from the USCIS stating we can now adopt two children instead of one!! :)

And Then There Were Two

Well God is answering our prayers with moving the process along. Today at lunch I received a call from Tiffany that it's between us and one other family!!! Crazy!!! All God's Children partners with Gladney Center for Adoption in China. Apparently they are a huge adoption agency that has been around forever. Anyway, the director of Gladney has been in Beijing and heard about our request to be submitted to the CCCWA. He "just so happens" to be friends with some big wig at the CCCWA (Tiffany referred to him as "the director" but I'm unsure if he's the director of a certain department or the whole shebang), so he offered to personally make the request for our agency. How merciful of God to do that for us?! When he makes the request, the CCCWA director says that the girls paperwork came with a note on it stating that the files should be locked for another agency!! What!!!???? CCCWA director says that the family with the other agency has been sponsoring the twins. Gladney director tells the CCCWA director that his family (meaning me and Nathan) are also sponsoring the girls. So the director requested both families' dossiers and he'll make a decision between the two!!! Can you believe that??? I feel like we're in a soap opera. So we have a 50/50 chance at this point.

We're so grateful to know how to pray specifically! The part that is hard is that now we know another family is in the same boat as us. They are hoping to get to parent these sweet little ones too!

We know there is nothing else we could have done, our files are before the eyes of the guy with the power to make the decision. Now we just pray and wait on God to reveal to us His plan.

p.s. A good friend just mentioned Psalm 30 to me. What great Truth to cling to during this time of waiting. Just wanted to say that I'm SO THANKFUL for this excitement! God is so good to give us such a fun time in life, even if it is nerve racking. :) I don't want to forget to be grateful for this even if His plan is not for us to parent these girls. 

Psalm 130

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

Paper Chain

One of my co-workers suggested I make a paper chain with each link representing a day until the shared list. At first I honestly thought, "no need for that, we're going to hear something tomorrow. " :) After 6 days of waiting, I decided it was time.

The top white link is for January 28th, the day the shared list is released! We're so hoping we hear something before this thing gets much shorter. I joked with Nathan last night that I need a link for every hour. It's torturous to only be able to remove one link for a whole 24 hours of waiting. Over the last few days, I've been reminded twice that God isn't about the end result but about the process. This is definitely making us depend on Him so I'm going to sit in gratitude today for Him taking my eyes off of myself  to search Him!

WE'RE SO CLOSE

At the Currie/Henderson annual "fireball party".

Yesterday, January 10th, we found out the girls paperwork went from the local government to the CCCWA! It's both nice and nerve racking to get the play by play of the process at this point. Our agency is working on a request to lock their files. We are on pins and needles while waiting to hear their response. Last night I told Nathan that I feel there are very few times in life that we can so clearly anticipate knowing God's will for us in such a tangible way as we are experiencing now. I might have a heart attack while I wait. :) 

One Step Closer!!

Yay! We're one step closer to knowing God's plan for us and for the sweet twins!!! Today we found out the girls' paperwork made it to the local government!! Praise the Lord for His Mercy!!

Sweet gift from Anne Marie...Truth I need in front of my face each day!

Tiffany, our caseworker, predicts that the process should move more quickly now. Hopefully we'll know more of God's plan by the end of January.

Our handsome nephew, Rob, at Christmas lunch. Pardon the poor quality of the iPhone.

At this point our agency tracks the girls files to the CCCWA. Once there, they will submit a request to allow our agency, All God's Children International, to lock their files. If they say "yes" we know God's plan is for us to parent these girls! If they say "no" the chances of being matched with them are pretty slim.Will you join us in praying that the CCCWA would show favor to our agency?

Great BBQ place in Franklin- Trip with Nathan's family.

 Either way, we know God's plan will prevail and His plan is BEST! We can have confidence He's working all things for His Glory and our Good. - Good not necessarily being what we want - Good may mean lots of heartache on earth (us grieving that we love these girls but they aren't ours), but He is bringing us Holiness which is a Joy that cannot be matched!