The Long Awaited Call

A journal of a certain Monday in June.

It was an ordinary Monday. Paperwork, maybe some laundry if it got lucky, catching up on social networks, and lots of other important stuff like that. There had been several referrals from our agency the week before, so I had to go look at the “unofficial” waiting list to see what our numbers were. We were the 17^th family on the list, #11 for infant boy, #10 for infant girl, #1 for young siblings, #1 for siblings over 4 yrs, #2 for toddler boy, #2 for toddler girl, #1 for child 4 yrs or older. Because of our request (one child or siblings, either gender, 0-5 years old) we had a lot of numbers! Seeing three #1’s was exciting, but not overly; we have had at least one #1 since February. Still, I was trying to be hopeful that our time was coming soon. I took a picture of the waiting list and sent it to Dave and my family. And then carried on about my day.

 At 4:30 I called Dave to see what his plan was for the evening. He said he was in wheat harvest and would be working late. We had a Youth for Christ meeting planned so I told him I would just go without him. As we were talking, my phone beeped an incoming call. I took a quick glance and then did a major double take. It said “Caitlin E is calling”. Interrupting Dave’s sentence I said “Dave, DAVE, listen! Caitlin is calling. CAITLIN EDW*RDS! I HAVE TO GO!” I don’t know if he said anything, at that point I’m not sure I was even capable of hearing. Caitlin is our family coordinator from our agency. She is who guided us through the paperwork process, who we talk to about our request, and who we call to whine to when our wait times are only getting longer and longer. And she is the one who calls with news of a referral. Although my mind briefly computed the fact that there is always a chance she could call about something else, my heart didn’t believe it for a moment. My whole body caught an instant case of the shakes, even my voice. I shakily answered her call, and she asked if Dave was home. My reply, “No, but you can call him! He’s in wheat harvest!” (I’m sure she was glad for that important detail.) She told me she would make a 3way call. So I waited. Nervously. So very nervously. Then she came back on and said she couldn’t get a hold of him. So we disconnected so she could start it again. And I sat on the floor laugh/crying and shaking, and trying to breathe. 

The shaky laugh/cry face

 Then my phone rang again. Excitedly, I tried to turn up the volume, because I have had Caitlin’s ring tone ID set to the Hallelujah Chorus, and I have waited oh so many days to hear it sing hallelujah to me. But alas, hitting the volume button while the phone is ringing does of course silence the entire ring. But no matter, I had a phone call to take! I answered and heard Dave’s voice. She proceeded without keeping us on pins and needles to much longer. (I’m guessing she’s learned the hard way trying to make some small talk and the mom looses her grip and has a full blown hyper-ventilation attack on the phone.)  She told us she had very exciting news for our family. She said “I have a very unusual referral for you!” I’m thinking, “uhh, that’s a good thing, right? Please no quadruplets!” She then told us of a darling nearly 5 year old girl named A. (We won’t share names or photos publicly until we pass court). Then she said, “and A has a darling little sister! Only a few months old!” At this point my end went silent, and I succumbed to the sobs. Two girls!? How did this happen? For over two years we’ve been talking about our boy. The list has almost constantly been shorter for boys, and since our request was neutral, we always thought we would get a boy. And a BABY?? I haven’t day-dreamed about an infant for at least a year!  I was in shock on so many levels. She continued on with a few more details, most of which I did not hear, and then told us “congratulations, you have pictures waiting in your email inbox!”  After she disconnected, Dave and I in shaky voices asked each other, “did that really just happen? Did she say TWO GIRLS??” 

Then the bad news…Dave said he would try to get home as soon as he could, but since he was harvesting wheat he could not leave and would probably not be home until 7. Caitlin called at 4:32. I had over 2 hours to wait, if we were going to “meet” them together. So, I paced around the house for a while, intermittently praising Jesus and then asking Him if this really happened, or if it was just a really good dream!? My puppy paced after me, convinced I’d lost my mind. Finally I decided to go for a walk. I walked for several miles, until Dave drove past and picked me up. We RAN into the house and straight for the laptop. Dave got to stare at their faces first while I took pictures, then it was my turn while he manned the camera. (Though we thoroughly expected a boy, we could not be more excited about our girls. Dave is smitten by these beauties, and he stares at their photos at least as often as I do.)

We spent the rest of the evening (week, really) in shock. We sent this text to my family: “NOTICE: very important family meeting needed, who all can be at mom and dads sometime tomorrow evening? U do not want to miss this. Also do not ask questions.”  Needless to say, they all made it. We met in a central city at a park. It was a screaming, laughing, crying, praying celebration. Memories of that night will be treasured and shared with the girls when they’re home, telling of how much they were loved at first sight, bald heads and all!

We ate lunch with Dave’s family and gave another delighted grandma her first set of photos, and spent the rest of the week telling friends and family.

The emotions have been crazy. Over the top excitement. Gratitude. Love. Fear. Sadness. Anticipation. Mainly overwhelmed. And sleep deprived. How is one to sleep with everything from baby room ideas to attachment planning to international travel to becoming a parent of two swirling around in the brain?

26 months of paperwork and preparations, 18 months and 15 days of it spent simply waiting, and finally referral day has become a reality. The joy and love over these two darlings is indescribable. The gratitude to God for giving us this gift, for using the long, heavy months to draw us so close to Himself in preparation, is overflowing. The fear of losing these darlings, of them getting sick, of being able to parent them adequately and assist in their healing, is in constant need of rebuke. The sadness, that our joy and celebration is borne out of their grief and loss, is a constant awareness in our hearts. God’s work of redemption, of bringing beauty from ashes, is a marvelous thing. But it does come with a cost of pain and loss. And we do not for a minute minimize that reality.

So there you have a detailed (of course) account of how referral day unfolded. I do believe this is the first good news post this blog has seen! 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
  and all that is within me,bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
 who satisfies you with good
  so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” Psalm 103:1-5

**To answer the many questions of “Now what? When do the girls come home?” We are waiting for Ethiopia to issue us a court date. It could be as early as the first of August, but is more likely to be later fall. The courts close for August and September, as it is their rainy season and travel is extremely difficult. We could possibly squeeze in before closure, but are trying to not to get our hopes up. Once we have a court date, we will travel, meet the girls, and go before a judge. When we pass court, we then wait for the girls’ visas to be completed and to be issued an Embassy appointment, at which point we will be able to bring the girls home. This appointment will likely be several months after court. So once again, we are praying that we can be patient and trust in God’s timing, and that all plans of the enemy to hinder the girls’ homecoming would be thwarted.