One Year Ago...

We realized that it was time.

It was one year ago today that I began e-mailing agencies so we could begin this adoption process. After almost seven years of hoping to adopt from Haiti and one false start in 2006 (we requested brochures and DVD's from a few agencies but, for some unknown reason, just stopped pursuing it) I'm not really sure what prompted us on January 29th, 2007. But I do know it was more than our own desires or understanding.

I was walking through our foyer with a basket of laundry when I just felt compelled to gather all the information I could and really begin to move forward with a Haitian adoption. So I yelled to Jim who was working upstairs in his office: "I'm going online to research some adoption agencies...."

Honestly, it had been months since we had talked about it and a full year since we had given it serious consideration. So I expected his response to be a little more surprised or negative but he said something like "Okay, let me know what you find out..."

And so began this blog a little over one week later. :o)

We've seen God's hand on this adoption from the beginning. If we had begun the previous year, we would have never found the absolutely amazing orphanage with which we're working. It wasn't being run by the current organization and I don't think our agency even dealt with them at that point. We definitely would not have found our Asa - he was a newborn and still with his birth family. If we had waited another year and started the process now, our agency wouldn't even work with us since we have three biological children and they're only accepting applications from those with two. It's very possible that, with the new laws being proposed, our dream of adopting from Haiti would have never come true had we waited much longer.

So today, I'm just feeling incredibly grateful that I got that little nudge one year ago. This is why: