Adoption Update

Through the craziness of the holiday season, Tim being off of work for 5 weeks (really 4 because he’s an extremely hardworker), tons of traveling, tons of hosting, and lots of rest, I have managed to not post in 2 months. Two months!??! Not okay. Now it is time to get back into the swing of things!

I am currently working on my “2017 Blogging Master List” so we do not run into the problem of a 2 month hiatus again. I have some funs things in store including guest writers and product/entertainment reviews to go along with my usual adoption, foster care, parenting posts. Though I have a smorgasbord of ideas I would love to entertain ideas from my readers. Comment on my Facebook page { Lindsey Mills Kennedy }, Instagram { lindseyakennedy }, or shoot me an e-mail at lindseyakennedy@outlook.com if there are any topic(s) you would like me to cover. They can be more of what I already focus on or they can be totally new and different.

Without further ado…IT IS UPDATE TIME!

Tim and my adoption profile “went live” the week of Thanksgiving. This means 2 things…

One: Our entire profile {Letter to the Birth Mom, Family Photo Book, Autobiographies, and Spiritual Testimonies} are ready to be handed to any birth mom who meets our criteria. Yay Yay Yay!

Two: Our photo, Letter to the Birth Mom, and our internet profile are now on Christian Homes’ website. The online profile is available for women who are interested in placing their child in an adoptive home but have not yet made the decision…and for all of you to look at. Please feel free to share our profile with anyone!

http://christianhomes.com/tim-and-lindsey/

So now…we wait. I have quickly come to find out that the waiting is not the hardest part but the not knowing how long we will be waiting is the hardest part. A lot of adoptive families have mere weeks or even days between the time they are matched and the baby comes home. That means we {most likely} will not find out about our baby until it is "go time". That part is exciting to me but this abyss of not knowing is what can be difficult.

To be totally transparent, Tim and I have assumed that we would be chosen quickly. I think this is in part due to us feeling very led by the Holy Spirit to adopt now instead of adopting our 3rd child like we had talked about for so long, in part because of encouragement we have received from others in professional and personal settings, and because we think we are awesome {insert rollie-eyed face!}.

Reality says that 2 months is a short amount of time and this could still happen relatively quickly. However, my new reality is… “What if it takes months and months? What if it takes a year or more?” This was actually a very new reality to me a couple of weekends ago. It hit me like a freight train and I was struggling to come out of the pit.

After 48 hours of off and on tears, Tim spoke some truth to me. He said, “We have chosen to trust God, and I believe that He has it all worked out. Even if Luke is 4 before we get our baby, it is because that is the time that God says it is best for our family.” These words of trust and faith were life giving. Since Luke was born, Tim has been championing the idea that our children should be 2 years a part because of what a great experience that has been for him. To hear him say that He trusts God even when reality is different from what we want and have always imagined, was a balm to my anxious spirit.

A few hours after this conversation, I laid in bed alone {because football} and cried out to the Lord. I felt a very gentle rebuke from the Lord in that I was struggling so because I was feeling out of control and I wanted to regain the feeling of control. I acknowledged this truth, asked for forgiveness, and asked the Lord to increase my faith in His beautifully, orchestrated plan. I felt a great calm and have not felt panicky since. That is not to say that it won’t happen again because I am pretty confident that it will. But, I am also confident that I have a God that will meet me in the struggle time and time again, and I have a husband who will speak truth into my life. For these things, I am thankful!

Photo courtesy of wix.com photo gallery.