May's Update: You Might Want to Read This One . . . .

About mid month, we received an e-mail telling of an opportunity of a baby that had just been born. We put in a request to have our profile shown to this birth mother. She picked another family, which just meant, to us, that the Lord had another baby for us. This wasn't our child. During the conversation where our caseworker told us that this particular mother had made an alternate choice, she said something to the effect of, 'if your ears have been burning, then there's a reason. I'll be in touch.'

I quickly had forgotten about this conversation, surprisingly. I have been warned how fast things can change on the adoption path, so I just tucked into the hope that this last presentation had re-ignited and moved on.

Daniel and I were in the middle of making big decisions, like whether or not I should continue my employment with the only job that I have ever enjoyed so much. We approached this with a lot of prayer, conversation and seeking of wisdom from others. Finally, I typed up my notice and turned it in to my boss on May 24th. I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest as I handed her the envelope around 445/500pm. It was an emotional moment for us both.

After she left, it took me a moment to refocus and get back to work. When my phone rang moments later, I was going to let it go to voicemail, since that is what I typically do at work. I thought the number was from my auto insurance company since we had just changed our direct deposit.
But for some reason, I answered it. And this is the gist of the conversation:
Melinda: Hi Vanessa, this is Melinda from Bethany.
Me: Oh, hi. How are you?
Melinda: Great! I was trying to reach Daniel. Are you at home?
Me: No, I am at work.
Melinda: Still?
Me: Yes. I close this place down at 6pm.
Melinda: Well, I was hoping to get you and Daniel on a conference call tonight. Can you get a hold of him?
Me: (my heart is back to beating out of my chest, yet i am trying to maintain composure) Yea, I can try. I'll have him call you and you guys can call me. I'll keep my phone close by.
Melinda: ok, I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Ok, so I couldn't get her singing tone into that typed dialogue, but you get the gist. . .

I had to call Daniel a few times to get him to pick up. He must've thought I was psycho or close to death but I wasn't going to stop until he picked up that phone! We quickly got onto a conference call with Melinda and listened as she told us about the birth mother and birth father with whom we had been matched.

That was May 24th, when we received that call. We met with the birth mother and birth father this past Thursday, the 27th at Bethany. We talked with them for about 2 hours. Melinda, after the meeting, stated that she doesn't think that she laughed that hard in one of those meetings. So, I would like to think that it went well. We will be working on building a relationship with them, as the due date draws near. I wish I could share the details that have made this so incredible but also so scary - but there are just so many. I mean, if this continues down an adoption path the situation is almost too perfect. Maybe that's why it's so scary . . .

This side of the story makes me think - why would she have made an adoption plan? While the other side of the story says, I could see where this could really happen . . . this could be our daughter!
It's like walking a tightrope, as we continue to put our trust in our Heavenly Father and just step out. One step at a time - not focusing too hard on this side or that. . . just the Cross.

I must admit that I feel like I am trying to maintain a 'safe distance' since things can change so incredibly fast. The gift that this young woman and young man have given is beyond enormous - it is a love sacrifice. This is one of the biggest decisions that a person would have to make - to parent or to make an adoption plan.

We will be meeting with the both of them again this Thursday, the 27th. We really like them both and hope that they can become more like an extended family. Please pray for them, as he travels frequently and as she is carrying what could potentially be our baby girl. Please pray for this little one growing in her. And please pray for us.

I hope this is enough details for now. I will try and report a little more, as time allows. We do have quite a bit to do to get ready for our worlds to be turned inside out and upside down. And we're looking forward to it. . .

March 2010

Despite the changes and discomfort that the body goes through while a woman is pregnant, there seems to be a security in having a 'due date'. I am envious of that 'security' as of lately. It really seems like we're somewhere in between forever and never and it's only been four months since the paperwork was completed. Truly it's been over a year since we started this adventure in adoption.

I have recently taken up a hobby - baking. It's a little different because a good friend of mine has let me borrow her grain mill and I have purchased some grain. It takes a little extra time to get all of the ingredients together - but really, while the grain mills into flour, you can have everything pre-measured and ready to pour and double check to make sure that you don't forget anything important like flax (or yeast!). Since I don't have the fancy mixer that I want - only a hand mixer (that works wonderfully for what I need) I still have to work the dough by hand for a few minutes. After that, you have different options for the rising of the bread. You can rest if for 10 minutes and then bake it, which I haven't tried yet but I can imagine that it would make the bread denser and less enjoyable but still edible. Or you can let it rise up to three times. I usually let it rise once or twice. But it does make a slight difference in the taste in texture if you let it rise a third time. The first rise takes the longest but the subsequent risings take a little less time. Finally, you set the alarm for the bread to bake and *ding* the timer goes off and it's ready.

I truly enjoy making bread. It has made me appreciate being in the kitchen and cooking good food for my family.

Lessons learned from bread making. . .

You really can't force this process to go any faster. A lot goes into it. And I think that it is worth the work. It's way more fun with a joyful spirit.

Lessons learned from adoption adventures thus far . . .

You really can't force this process to go any faster. A lot goes into it. And I think that it is worth the work. It's way more fun with a joyful spirit

I could parallel breadmaking and adoption more. I could also parallel adoption with several other things recently but this is all the typing I want to do.

May the Lord bless you.

Puzzle Website

FYI: We now have a PayPal button on our Puzzle Website . . .

Watch the Puzzle!

Here we go with fundraising efforts!!

Please check out the website below and become an intricate part of our family's history.

http://vadanielwowens.weebly.com/index.html

Check us out! Movin' right along . . .

Daniel and I have done a gift registry at http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=baby.

Most of what we put on the registry, you can probably find at stores like Babies R Us, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. Since we're doing cloth diapers and opting out of certain types of toys, we just wanted to give you a better idea of our intended 'parenting style'.
To be honest - and it's perfectly ok - some people seem a little intimidated by the idea of cloth diapers. And, again with the honesty, I am extremely nervous about it myself. But I know that the overall benefits for our child and for our finances will be worth it.

Please,please keep us in your prayers as we work on grant applications and continue to wait on the Lord's timing!!

Also - be on the lookout for a new website from us!!

It's currently under construction (and prayer) and *hopefully* the site will be ready before January 29th - which is National Puzzle Day!

(Yes, a silly holiday but a great launch day for this website!)

Nesting . . .

As a family, we all got together to celebrate Papa's 88th birthday yesterday. It is such a blessing to be a part of this family. We get together with no agenda and just be. While we were there, Papa wanted us to update the family on our adoption process. And we did. And afterwards, Papa prayed for us and for the rest of the family. It really touched my heart.

It's an interesting dynamic to think that we could get a call any day now about a birth mother who is pregnant or even a call saying that there's a baby for us. Or, we could be here this time next year still waiting. I don't know which one I am more nervous about to tell you the truth.

Well, these past few weeks have been a sort of purging and reorganizing of the house. Daniel says that I am nesting and upon talking to my mom-friends I think that I can agree. It just seems strange to be nesting and NOT be pregnant. Although, I don't know what that's like either :-)

I have gotten a lot of the big stuff done but there is quite a bit of little things that have been procrastinated on over the years that I am either letting go of or mounting an attack on. A lot of this is coming down to details and the focus is starting to narrow some. And frankly, I just can't live without lists, so I am working on a better way to organize my tasks and my time.

This nesting has been therapeutic in many ways. I haven't purchased anything for organizing as of yet. I have been trying to see how creative on can be in doing the best I can with what I have. Once I dig more into the details, I will probably be buying some items for filing, shelf and drawer organizers , etc. I have also let go of a lot of junk and time-wasters so maybe I can do better managing time? Two truck loads have gone to Good Will. (No, I am not ready for another yard sale!)

I thank the Lord for this inspiration and motivation.

Please remember Daniel, me our birth mother and our baby in your prayers.

And thank you for all of your love and support.

Paperwork

Well, the week of Thanksgiving, that final piece of paperwork made it into the Bethany office. We are waiting to have everything approved and then they will post our profile on their website and start presenting us to birth mothers. I wish I could genuinely say 'YAY!' but I am just lacking enthusiasm lately - to be perfectly honest.

I think that working out these feelings in writing for public view would be grossly inappropriate.

Thank you for your prayer support, and please continue to pray.