Moving

We're seeing some action over here these days. 

First, I can report we officially got our orders!  Thank goodness they came through fine and we now have a plan about what comes next.  We'll be reporting to Fort Carson in July.  That's nine more months here, which really isn't long, if you think about it.  It's so bittersweet for me.  We really have loved living here.  Our church, Fort Monroe, the ocean, the climate....it's going to be hard for us to feel like we're "moving up" in the world leaving this place.  Even so, we've heard so many great things about Fort Carson and the band there, not to mention Colorado Springs and Colorado in general.  Also, Daniel's best friend from our Ft. Jackson days has orders to be report to Ft. Carson in September of next year, too, so he's very much looking forward to working with his buddy again. 

And then, obviously, there's the anxiety (which I fight to give to God on a minute to minute basis) about the adoption.  We have almost exactly nine months before we leave here.  And we have to start over completely if we don't bring our baby home by then.  But, honestly, I don't think we'll have to wait until then.

Things are moving.  I know of one situation that we are going to be considered for, probably this week.  We found out about another one yesterday that we had to say no to, but another one came in today that we are still thinking about.  I'm not going to put a whole lot of details on the blog yet, partly because it's exhausting to keep up with all of the emotions of it right now, and partly because we're still discussing one, and partly because I'm not sure how much detail I want to keep putting up here.  Believe me, when we're matched it will DEFINITELY be going up on the blog.  But for now, just know that I feel hopeful that something will be happening, at least as far as us getting a match, maybe even before Christmas. 

A big concern for us right now is the financial piece of the puzzle.  There seem to be several situations (we also had two last week while I was away) that are coming in from other states/agencies.  There is much more cost involved if we decide to go with any situation that is out of state, and significantly more cost involved if we decide to go outside of our agency for placement.  Without going into too much detail, it's a tricky thing to balance the wisdom/discernment/stewardship of saying no to something because we only have so much saved up for the adoption, while balancing the faith/sanctity of life to say that there is no price too great to pay for bringing our baby home.  (I know that none of my friends or family would think this, but if you don't know me and you somehow found my blog and are reading this post and you are thinking something snarky about how we're just trying to "buy a baby" or something like that, you need to stop reading my blog and go somewhere else.  That's simply not the case.)  If we just stick with Bethany we would have to pay less, because they can offer reduced fees for lower income families like us because of all the support they get. (At least, I assume this is true. As the largest adoption agency in America, and as a Christian organization, they have a lot of sponsorship from churches, etc., and I assume that is how they're able to offer lower fees for lower income individuals.)  So, we're carefully trying to weigh out the balance of those issues and do what we feel honors God most.  What a hard thing to discern!

Anyway, as I've said, things are moving, and I have been getting a sense that our baby is not too far off.  I can't say why, but I've just been getting this feeling like something is going to happen soon.  I can't wait to write the post when it actually does!