Speaking of referrals...

A number of referrals went out this week to other families in the Holt International Ethiopia program. Congrats to all families and the exciting news, but our hearts are especially warmed by the news of a referral of a little girl to our friends Bethany and Micah and their son Eli. Bethanyand I have gotten to know each other through the Holt Ethiopia Yahoo Group and our blogs and emails. Their family was (until this week) always one ahead of us on the wait list (i.e. when we were 19, they were 18). Because of some interesting circumstances, they recieved a referral much earlier than expected. We are so happy for them and hope they get to travel soon to bring the newest memeber of their family home. It is my solemn prayer that they will get a quick court date and not have to wait through court closing late this summer into the fall.

I do have to admit there is a slight sadness in my heart that we are no longer neck and neck in this journey...Bethany has been a great confidant and we are so similar in so many ways in how we are processing this journey...but this sadness is washed quickly away by a few things. The first of which is the joy of a growing family and God's grace more evident than ever in the uniqueness of their referral. The second is the reality that while we are not getting our referrals on the same day, we really are only a few months at most behind...and in the larger scheme of things, that still means we are sharing the journey side by side. Regardless, we are filled with joy (have I said that already)!! God is good!

So I will check with Holt officially on Monday, but we have definitely moved up on the waitlist. I am fairly certain that the highest number we could be would be number 13, but have a feeling we are more like 12 or 11!!! Yikes! I am so caught up in the anticipation of knowing who our next child will be and meeting them, that I sometimes forget just how quickly this is all happening. We will be a family of 4 before I know it! What happened to 9 months gestation? Haha...I am sure we will still have that. Unfortunately we will probably get caught in the twilight zone of court closure meaning that once we get a referral we will have to wait FOREVER before we can bring our baby home. In any case, I guess I really need to get down to business...double strollers to buy, more books to read, pumping my happen sooner than I can imagine (sorry for the straight forwardness...but if you know me, you know how I feel about this), etc, etc... God has plans for us and they are definately on His schedule. Nothing new about that...