Part 9-Huh?!!? I Guess It's True-I Love to Blab!!!

After we returned home, we settled into our new life, & re-established our relationships in the family (you know how it is when a new baby joins the family!).

Ana enjoyed being a big sister & showing her off.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, Ruthie’s birthmama struggled once again with an agonizing decision.

(looking back on it, while we were IN Guatemala on Ruth’s Pick Up Trip, Mama Norma was probably just finding out she was pregnant.)

In late July/early August of 2007, we took our usual family vacation

& showed Ruth off everywhere we went.

We spent a few days in the mountains of North Carolina,

visiting Dave’s grandparents.

Incidentally, out of cell phone range.

Several days later, we left the mountains & headed to PA to see Dave’s parents.

As we left the mountains, we got a voicemail notification-& as I began to check it, I realized it was from our adoption coordinator on Ruth’s adoption.

(let me back up & tell you-for those of you who don’t know-a call from your coordinator ALWAYS produces emotion in your life-either “top of the world” emotions or “depths of despair” emotions. After completing one adoption, I was dreading & anticipating what this voicemail might contain).

However, we were still traveling in & out of coverage

& I had to wait a bit longer to hear what she had to say.

While Dave navigated the curvy road,

I listened to a message that would change our lives forever!

She said something like, “Hi, Kim & David (she always called him that!) I now you’re probably still on vacation, but we are calling you with some information we think you might want. Ruthie’s birthmom has given birth last week to a baby boy. We wanted to offer him to your family before anyone else. Please call me back & let us know if you are interested!”

I started shaking-& I told Dave we needed to find a place to pull off the road-that now seemed closer to a roller coaster than a road-ha!!! ha!!!

While he was looking for somewhere, I told him the basic gist of the phone call.

We then called our coordinator back, & got as much info as she had:

A baby boy had been born prematurely Aug. 2.
He weighed 3 pounds 2 oz.
Seemed healthy & was already in foster care-

this was about a week later by the time we heard about him.

BUT……we had to have some time to think/pray about this decision, & Kelly, our coordinator, didn’t want us to accept his referral until a US EMBASSY approved dr had evaluated his condition-being born as small as he was.

As soon as we got off the phone with her, though, I knew.

I just knew he belonged in our family.

We spent the next few days with Dave’s parents-

& sent out a ton of prayer requests for wisdom.

She asked us if we would like pictures of him sent to us, just for Ruth’s sake-even if we decided not to adopt him. She thought it might be good for Ruth to have pics of a sibling. We said sure.

Sitting in a friend’s office, on our way home from our trip,

we opened the file that would change our life for the rest of our days:

How could you say no to this picture?

The picture just confirmed it-I had no doubt…..he was supposed to be ours!

We prayed & prayed-begging God to give us a confirmation one way or another-& you know what? He DID!! In miraculous ways that would take waaaay to long to tell here!

Before we even had the doctor in Guatemala’s official report,

Dave & I were sure that God was saying,

“This is the way. Walk ye in it!” Isaiah 30:21

Most of the rest of our story is at the beginning of this blog, so in the next few weeks,

I’ll go through old entries & link them up for you!

(Here's the link to Part 8, if you want/need to catch up!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, here's the link to FFF-the theme is "Spooky,"

but we haven't dressed up for anything yet-that's tomorrow for us!