Thursday, January 31, 2008

Just Another Ordinary Day...????

It's been almost a year since we announced on our blog that we were in the process of adopting a little girl named Sara. (See Feb 13th 2007 post.)



Sweet Sara... she touched our hearts the first time we saw her face.
What very few of you know is that our paperwork had already been started for Sara several months before... and for us... we had already committed our hearts to her in September of 2006 right before she turned 7 years old.


We knew that starting another adoption, especially so soon after bringing McCaleb home, would be taxing and emotional. But then again... I think that is just the nature of adoption. Looking back on it, I can honestly say that we really expected her home long before now. However, God always has a plan - and we trust that His way is always perfect.

My own personal goal in this entire process was just to do my best to bring honor to Him throughout the process, not to get too stressed-out or overly anxious... and to trust in Him and His perfect timing. I hope that I have done this. I know that I have had a few tense moments... and I readily admit that the passing of the Ortega Law stressed me out, especially intially... but I really want to praise Him for giving me such a sense of peace about the entire process. I have been confident that Sara would come home... but the factor of "WHEN" was something that I haven't been able to determine. Still... keeping with the "tone" of my favorite movie FACING THE GIANTS... I hope that I have been able to Praise Him in the good times - and Praise Him in the bad times. (Like I said in my "Adoption: The Death Crawl" post... GO BUY THIS MOVIE AND WATCH IT OVER AND OVER!)


So today... I want to Praise Him some more. I am truly blessed. I have a family that loves and supports me. I am blessed with a husband that loves me completely and unconditionally. I have four amazing children - that have taught me so much... and blessed me more than you can imagine! I am blessed with good friends... some are here close by... and some live far away. Some I have known my whole life... and others I have met through the wonderful process of adoption. Mostly I am blessed by a God that gave His life for me...a sinner...and so unworthy of that gift. I truly hope that I can bring honor and glory to Him.


We are about to have a huge weekend with our family.
It will be the 4-Year Anniversary of our Forever Family Day with the girls.
It only seems appropriate that tonight, as I was getting ready to LOG OFF and go to bed ... that I get the email that we have been waiting for.
That's right... THE EMAIL... it was finally the BIG ONE.


It read something like this:


Just received word you have PGN Approval.

Congratulations!

Sue


OK. It wasn't lengthy, it didn't go into details... but it gave us that message that we have been waiting for: SARA IS COMING HOME!


God is so GOOD!




We still have hurdles to clear. We have a 2nd DNA test, then we wait for our PINK SLIP. (Remember the US Embassy Fiasco with McCaleb's paperwork???) So it will still be several weeks.

But tonight, we are praising God for His faithfulness to us and our committment to Sara and bringing her home.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praise God!

Sara will be coming HOME soon!

Blessings!

Meerkat said...

Yay, yay, yay,
PRAISE TO THE LORD,
HE IS HOLY AND JUST,
BY HIS POWER WE TRUST
IN HIS LOVE

Those lines just came to me. Believe me, I am almost in tears after reading the wonderful news. I've been "blog stalking" here for a while now, and I was so much hoping that Sara could come home soon...

Love from Germany

Dagmar

Kim said...

Ok - that was almost unfair!!!

I'm just reading along - admiring your faith - and then - there it is!!

Praise God!!!!!! I'm so happy for you guys - but I'm especially happy for Sara!!!!

HAPPY DANCE!!!!

Katie said...

Wow -- you are almost done now !!!!

Cynthia said...

YEAH!!!! God is SO good!!! I can't wait to see her with the rest of the "Hanks Gang"!!!

I love you guys!

Krystal said...

I'm not sure why I am crying all over again this morning, but I am. Little Dulce is coming home!!!!! I cannot wait to see her sweet smile again :) Thank you, God!!!!

Kelli said...

Awesome!!!! I can't wait until all of our kids are home and we can have one HUGE get together. Praise the Lord. That deserves a WOO HOO!!!!!

Jenn said...

Congratulations!!!I will be praying the the rest of the process goes smoothly for you guys!

Angie said...

Yea!!! I am so happy and so relieved! It's all downhill from here. I hope everything is quick from here on out.--Angie

Kelli said...

I hope that you don't mind, but tag your it. Go to my blog to read what to do.

Sarah said...

Woohoo Jenn!! Sara is coming home!!! Another beautiful KY girl!!!

Sara said...

Hooray!!! You have waited so long to hear you were out of PGN. Now you can really enjoy the next few weeks as you prepare for Sara to join her forever family:)

jajbs said...

I am sobbing tears of joy for your family tonight! You have been on my heart alot this weekand I am SO glad to hear this! Sara is such a gift from God and I am so glad that I got a chance to meet her at the hogar. She LOVED my Bella and I know she helped take care of her during her time there! Jenn, I am SO happy for you!

Praise HIM!!!

amanda

Anonymous said...

We are so happy to hear your wonderful news! Another beautiful child to add to your gorgeous group! We can't wait to meet Sara.

Ruth said...

Oh Jennifer....I am so excited for you and your family ...I am crying like a big baby.....Your strength is such an inspiration....I will continue to pray for a smooth ending to this adoption and a wonderful beginning of a new life with your family together.
Love,
Ruth

Corey said...

amen amen amen!!!
Congratulations

Cherri said...

Praise the Lord!! That is so awesome!! Prayers are being answered. I can't wait to meet her!!

Angie said...

WOW amazing news! Congratulations!!!!! I hope PINK comes in record time!

Karen D. said...

Congrats!!!!!

We love you guys!!!!

Always,
Karen and Abbie

Sig said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is THE BEST news I have heard all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Candy said...

YIPEEEE DOING THE HAPPY DANCE...FOR YOUR FAMILY...I got goose bumbs....GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

Krystal said...

I hope you guys have a happy day today!!!

Sara said...

you've been tagged...see my blog

Greta Jo said...

Praise God, he is so faithful.

Sara is coming home!

Jodi said...

IT is awesome to see the comments and see the people that God brings to read your post and to celebrate in the PRAISE with us all. I am so glad that the PGN approval came through and we will continue to pray as the other hurdles continue to be "lept" over--
Love to you all-
Jo/Dolly