Six months, twenty five days, that's how long it's been since my last post! I suppose when I started this blog, intentions of posting a bit more frequently were what I had in mind, but life has a tendency to alter our plans from time to time! There's an interesting word, time, I seem to remember a time not long ago when it appeared I had all the time in the world to do the things I had on my agenda. Things like golfing, fishing, elk hunting, and updating this blog. Now there are days where I don't even have the time to blow the dust off my golf clubs, let alone attempt to use them, and I wouldn't have it any other way!!
I have often wondered who "they" are, but they say there is no greater joy in the world than being a parent. Any parent who's honest with themselves would also include words such as frustration, trial, happiness, sadness, challenge, and faith test to the list of descriptors. I believe these are all true and yet every last bit of it is worth it! As I shared with you six months and twenty five days ago, Kelli and I have jumped into the parenting game and considering the circumstance of how we became parents, we could probably add a few more words to the previously mentioned list. We became foster parents with the hopes of adopting a 9 month old little girl way back in March, now she is one day shy of becoming 17 months old and she has given us more joy than words could ever describe. Others who have gone down the foster to adopt path have told us to expect the unexpected and just hang on because it will be a roller coaster. Of course if I were to share every single detail of our journey thus far you all would be reading this post for another two hours, so instead I'll give you the short version. If you know anyone who has gone through the adoption process then don't be surprised if our story sounds very familiar, unfortunately this is the norm, or so we've been told:) Also don't be alarmed, her name isn't Simba, it's just the nickname Aunt Jill gave her that we use because we're not allowed to share her name or photos until things are official.
The day little Simba came into our home, I'll pause for you to process the visual of me holding her up high above my head for the rest of the kingdom to witness, we were told that there was a strong possibility we could be moving towards adoption soon. The birth parents had not done much to lead the state to believe they could right the ship so the state was looking at other permanent options for Simba. We found out two days later, during our first of many monthly visits with the state social worker, that things can change rather quickly. The birth parents had both done enough work for the state to "give them some more time", fast forward to June and all of a sudden we had gone from most likely going towards adoption to talk of transitioning back to birth parents in just a couple months!! Naturally by this point we were completely attached to little Simba, those of you who have been lucky enough to meet her understand how easily that can happen, so news of things going the opposite direction we were hoping for was pretty devastating at first. But the more we thought about it and the more we prayed about it, we slowly began to think that if Simba's birth mom could get things back together then maybe that was what was best for her. Just about the time we had made our peace with the fact that this little sweetheart wouldn't be with us forever things took another turn! Over the course of the first couple weeks of October we were informed that the birth parents had finally had enough second chances and the state has filed for termination! We were quite shocked at how quickly things transpired but we have been on this roller coaster long enough now to know not to put our cart too far ahead of the horses! We still take things one day at a time as we wait for the court system to run it's course, and even though everyone involved is telling us its just a matter of time before we will be adopting Simba, we aren't getting too excited until a judge gives us a reason to:)
Obviously that is the very abbreviated version of what our summer was like, but I think it gives you a good idea of why we are looking forward to fall! This journey we've gone on has definitely been a huge test of our faith as we really have no control over the outcome. Our only option is to quite literally turn it completely over to God and trust that He has a plan for this wondrous child of His. Simba has already brightened our lives more than we could have ever imagined and she has been welcomed into our family with open arms! It is very common for us humans to think that we make the choices we make in life completely for our own plans and desires, we are finding out that really everything we do is part of God's greater plan for us and those little decisions we seem to come up with on our own rarely are solely from our own design. Kelli and I would have told you the reason we moved over to Spokane was for the opportunity for a career change, we understand now that Simba was the reason all along. No matter what happens with her future our lives will never be the same again! She truly has been the greatest blessing we could ever ask for!!
Remember, don't put all of your attention into your own plans, there is always a far bigger plan in the works!
