Polk...party of 5!!!

That's right! We have a referral :) We actually had recieved his information and pictures when I wrote the last post but we had not "officially" accepted him yet...although that was just a formality I didn't want to post the good news until we were certain!

I am not allowed to share many, well actually pretty much any, details about our little guy yet. But trust me when I say HE'S PERFECT...and I'm not just saying that as his mommy! He is a beautiful baby boy and BIG! God has protected our sweet 'little man' as he waits for us BUT now it's time for him to come home! He has two big sisters that are ready to love on him...well, he has one that is definitely ready for him to be home. Sara Kate is still not sure if she's ready to give up her position as baby of the family :) We could not be more happy and are so excited to move one more step forward in this process. We will have to travel to Russia three times before the adoption is complete and we are able to share more specifics about our sweet baby boy but I promise as soon as we can, WE WILL! It's killing me not to be able to show everyone his picture. I'm so excited I want to put it on a billboard and shout the good news everywhere :) It's the EXACT same feeling I had when my girls were born...I love how with every stage of this journey God has shown me the love of a parent really does grow from the heart, and not in the womb. Adoption is such a special gift. Such a beautiful picture of God's love and grace over us, HIS adopted children. This "walk" is so much more than just bringing a baby into our home...it's "the walk" we all begin when we call Him Father. Love Christ and love others...

There are probably some questions you have that we can't answer...not because we aren't allowed but because WE don't have the answer yet. The most common...when will we get to bring him home? We don't know! When will we travel for the first time? We don't know :) but hope to know in the next few weeks! I'll update the blog as things happen and post as much information as I can. If you have questions, send me an email. I can share a lot more on a personal level than I can "publicly." Please keep praying for us. An adoption is never final until it's FINAL! Please pray for no surprises or delays in the process. We do know God's timing is perfect but we also know we are to ask Him for the desire's of our heart...so please pray with us for our baby to be home as soon as possible. (I've selfishly chosen the date of Nov. 17th. and although I know that is almost impossible, I also know ALL THINGS are possible for God.) I trust His timing, even if it's not mine :) Please continue to pray for His provision of funds and His protection over our baby boy.

We are so blessed! Even though it wasn't always easy, I praised God as I was "throwing fits of disappointment" earlier in this journey. So I'm completely humbled to praise Him tonight in the joy of knowing our son is just a few more steps away! God is sovereign and His plan is perfect...as soon as I saw his face I knew God created this precious boy to be my son. Thank you God for your gift once again...thank you with all my heart!

UPDATE...finally:)

I just wanted to give everyone a quick "adoption related" update...it's been a while, i know.

I apologize for not keeping everyone informed but as with all adoptions our information changes constantly and I'm very restricted (legally) by what I'm allowed to share publicly.  As everyone that has followed our journey from the beginning (April) already knows we were told about a set of twin brothers almost immediately. While it wasn't our intention to adopt two we decided we weren't going to limit what God had planned for us. We prayed A LOT and felt a strange peace about adopting two, even though the expense was more than we ever could've planned for. We committed to "walk until we can't walk anymore." We believed if these brothers were meant to be our sons, God would provide a way. Even though we have not "raised" all of the money we needed, we have been offered "last resort" alternative financial options that gave us access to adopting two. We saw God open several doors for us that seemed it was apparent we were following His plan. We opened up our hearts and lives to many, many people through this blog and in our community. We were able to share the love of Christ with strangers that we never would have met if we had not known about the twins in the beginning. However, for about two months now we have been on a roller coaster of not knowing exactly what was going to happen. We always thought money would be the barrier to us adopting two but it turns out circumstances beyond our control will be keeping us from the two baby brothers we thought would be our children.  Without sharing too many details, I'll just say due to medical reasons, the journey to our twin boys is over. 

This sounds sad...but we are totally at peace with it. (of course, we've had our moments but we are good now:)) Our agency offered to find us another set of brothers (twins or young enough to fit our family dynamic).  But after much prayer and discussion, we decided to ask them to re-submit our paperwork for one sweet baby boy who will soon be our son:) It was never "our" plan to adopt two and as Dustin said "I don't want to try to make this happen now. We felt God leading us in that direction but the door has now been closed. If He wants us to adopt two, it'll happen regardless of how many our paperwork says." So going back to our commitment in the beginning "to walk to the twins," we can't walk anymore. The door was not shut, it was slammed:) We both feel a peace about adopting one. As a very sweet friend told me last week... God is sovereign. When this is all over we'll look at our son and know it all happened exactly at it was suppose to and it'll be good! (And she knows what she's talking about! :))

SO...that is the update. We are super excited to be moving forward and can not wait to bring our baby boy home...praying sooner rather than later. And we are still fundraising. I think at last count we are in need of about $10, 000. If you'd like to purchase a Southern Belle shirt we still have a few left. You can also make a fun donation to www.ironbowladoption.com or you can send a "tax deductible" donation to Fellowship Church (put "adoption" in the "for" line). For more information about our fundraising, you can send me a note at polkadoption@gmail.com. We are so thankful for everything you have all done for us. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and prayer we've received. We are so blessed! Thank you from the bottom of my heart...