And...... We have a MATCH!!

It's really amazing how nearly two months of your life can pass so quickly and so slowly at the same time. So much has happened in the time since my last post and I can't wait to share with you what all the Lord has done!! So, here goes! :-D

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, our *wonderful* adoption consultant sent me the photo of a beautiful young girl and said she thought we would be interested in getting more information about her.  I mentioned it to Spencer, and we both thought she was adorable.  But, she was older than our home study was originally written for and after becoming so easily attached to the last little girl we saw a picture of, we were trying hard to guard our hearts. I messaged our consultant and told her that she didn't quite meet the parameters that we had specified, but thanked her for thinking of us. She replied by saying that she knew the girl was older than we had requested, but she decided to send us her file anyway. (Right here I will say that I thank the Lord for the people He's let us work with during this process!!) That encouraged us to really, really pray about pursuing her and making her a part of our family. After a couple of days, we both KNEW that THIS little girl needed to be ours! 

So, off went an e-mail to our consultant and we got back her complete medical file along with more information about her. We also knew that we needed to work quickly, because there were more people who would want her if we didn't.  

In a whirlwind few weeks, we had completed and notarized the necessary application paperwork and sent pictures to Bulgaria of us and our home. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more, for what seemed like an eternity we waited. In reality it wasn't quite that long and in the mean time, we were able to take her file to a pediatrician in town that has dealt with other internationally adopted children. We got a good prognosis based on what he could tell by her report and then we waited some more.   If you've never experienced anything like this, you probably won't understand the agony that comes with knowing that one person, a government official on the other side of the world (who doesn't know a thing about you besides the few pages of information they have before them) is making a decision that will impact your life F O R E V E R.  The wait is exhausting. It's draining. And nerve wrecking. Even though we had a peace that it was in the Lord's hands, it still really does a toll on your emotions.  

We went out of town for Christmas thinking that we wouldn't hear any results until after the New Year, and tried to put it out of our minds as much as we could. Finally, on Friday morning, we opened up the e-mail that we had waited to see for so many weeks!! It began with "I have wonderful news for your family!" and that was that! Our application for our little girl had been accepted and she was officially "put on hold" for us to adopt!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

We now have 6 months to complete the necessary paperwork for our dossier and submit that to the MOJ in Bulgaria, but we should make it well before the 6 month deadline. All we are really waiting on is our I-800a which is an application to immigration, and that will, Lord willing, come within 60 days of submitting. (It can take more or less depending on a lot of factors.) If all goes well, we will be travelling to bring our little girl home by Fall of this year! We, naturally, are praying that it all happens as quickly as possible and that she won't have to spend one more day without her parents than is absolutely necessary. 

Please, help us pray that the rest of this process will go smoothly and quickly and that God will use our story to encourage and inspire other people to adopt. 

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers!! They are not taken for granted! 

xoxo, 

Steff <3