Holy Nudges

On February 11th, our paperwork was officially logged in to China and we became eligible for a "referral". I expected this referral process to take 3 to 6 months, so I was shocked when I received an email stating we should stay near our phones on Feb 22nd as it was possible we might receive a referral. I was cautiously excited, but didn't expect anything. When that day came and went though, I was more disappointed than I had expected to be. I knew the chances were slim... we had to be at the bottom of the list, right? I mean, we'd only been eligible for a week and a half.

Again in March I received the same email.... March 22nd, stay near your phone, you may get a referral. I wasn't nearly as expectant this day and did not sit by the phone. Of course the day came and went with no news. I decided I had to accept what I already knew, she would come when God knew Daren and I were both ready and not a minute sooner.

Throughout this process, people kept asking if I had called the adoption agency, what was going on, how long it would be etc. I wanted to know what the process was we were going through. How big were the groups of children being released, how old were the children, how many people were in front of us, etc. But, very untrue to form for me, I had been pretty laid back about it. I wanted to call, but never got around to it. I was told earlier in the process that I needed to speak to this one lady at the agency and I just never called her.

Anyway, this past Monday I got what I like to call one of those "holy nudges." Around 11:00 our time, I just got this feeling I needed to pick up the phone and call. Finally around 11:20 I called. The wonderful Mrs. M picked up on the first ring. I gave her my spill.... "Hi M, this is Rachel Phillips, I've never called before but my husband, Daren and I are in process with Child of Promise..." I continued and gave her my little spill just saying I'd like to have more info about the process.

She says, "Ok Mrs. Philips, I see here that you have requested a child under 2?"

"Well, I 'd like her to be under 3 when we get her, but she can be somewhere in the two age range."

"So, you'd be open to a two year old child?"

"yes"

"And, you want a child with a heart condition?"

"yes"

"Can you hold on a moment please?"

"Sure", but in my mind I'm going what's going on? I was bouncing up and down in my dining room. I'll never forget it.... I was even a little panicky inside.

She comes back to the phone: "Mrs. Phillips, a little while ago another family turned down a two year old female with a heart condition b/c the mother is pregnant. Would you like to look at her referral packet?"

um, what?

"You mean, would I like to look at her to be my child?" what the heck is going on, isn't there a process here? Is this a joke? There is no way this is happening!

"Yes Mrs. Phillips. You match with this child perfectly, and if you are interested we can send you her referral packet to look over."

"Okay, well what's the process?"

She walked me through the process, and I asked her to send the info over. She was precious, and I was in love. We called the Dr. to look over her paperwork, medical stuff, etc. He saw us the next day during his lunch break and rubber stamped her. We called the agency, and accepted the referral. There was one hang up though....

Since she had originally be referred/matched to another family, they had to resubmit her to China. We had to wait for China to repost her to the adoption site and then our agency has to try to grab her again! The wait was excruciating. I kept telling myself God is in control, but saying it and turning it over are two different things! Once again though, and as always, He was faithful....