After saying "never again" to adoption after Violet's adoption plan dissolved.....we learned (again) the one universal rule of being a parent, which is "NEVER say never"! We have not regretted our choice to take a chance on adoption again, and are so blessed to have a great support system of family & friends who also took a chance on having their hearts broken again, too.
And now, we are full circle. Last fall was the worst, as we mourned the loss of our baby Violet. And this fall we look forward to Jude's court date to finalize his adoption in November. And speaking of Violet, did I happen to mention that I got to see her again? Yes, that's right....I AM part of some sort of soap opera story line, either that or Ashton Kutcher is ready to jump out from behind a bush and tell me I am being "Punk'd".
So here is how it went down.
She was 14 months old when I got to see her again with her grandmother, on the very same date (one year later) that I had to put her in a social worker's car and say goodbye. Seeing her again was the healing closure that I needed and it was a relief for me to see how she is thriving and how God's hand of protection has been on her little life as a result of all the people we know who still pray for her regularly. Its not the way I had hoped God would work things out, but I can say that I am at peace with it all now. So that would be the "full circle" part of our story. If you want the full story, you can scroll back on my old blog entries (but seriously, its not super interesting).
And now to finalization, the day we never thought would be in our near future. On trend with "crap you just can't make up" our home study almost met its tragic end due to a computer fail at our agency. We almost had to start from scratch and have a new home study written. (and I almost had a heart attack at the ripe old age of 30). But again, we were rescued and tech support found the digital copy of our home study and all was right in the world again. We have applied for a court date and a rushing to apply for grants to help pay off some of our adoption loans.
That brings us to fundraisers. Originally we had the "no handouts" mentality to our adoption. I mean, why in the world would I ask someone to pay for my kid to join my family. Biological parents do not ask their friends to pay off their labor & delivery costs. Well, in applying for grants...we realized that most grants required that we show that we asked our church for support money, fund raise on our own before we ask for grants, and drain all of our savings before receiving a grant. We have only fulfilled one of those three requirements....I will let you guess which one. So we are biting the bullet. We have reached a much more
If you are a coffee lover and like to pay a little more for free-trade coffee, and choose which country you prefer to get your coffee from, then please consider getting your caffeine fix in honor of Jude becoming a Smith forever. Here is the link to our fundraising page:
https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/juderbugadoption/
If I could sum up the years 2010-2012, I would say it like Joseph did (after his brothers sold him into slavery but he landed himself in a position of power and honor)
"You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good" Genesis 50:20
Yup, its been quite a wild ride, and we are SUPER excited to say "peace out" to the adoption process and say "hello" to raising our Jude in an open adoption and facing all of the adventures that will come our way over his lifetime.
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