Our Forever Family

Luke and I went yesterday to Harrison to meet our little sibling group- ages 6 & 7.  We left around 8- so we were in Harrison WAY earlier than we were supposed to be.  We ended up going to Branson to eat lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  Neither one of us were very hungry- but that didn't stop us from eating.  As the time drew nearer to 2, we began to get more nervous.  We really had no idea what to expect, say, or do!

We got to the office in Harrison a little before 2.  We took time to pray with each other before we walked in.  I wanted to know right off the bat if these were our kids- and if not, for the Lord to shut this door.  We met with their adoption specialist, their attorney, the therapist, and their foster mom.  They told us a few more things about the kiddos.  We had the best time visiting.  When the kids arrived, the therapist came in the room and told us they were there.  Then, she looked at all of us and said, "What do we do now?"  "Are ya'll as nervous as I am?"  I was thinking, "Ummm....YES!"

The kids walked in with their foster Mom, and were so shy.   The moment they walked in the door, I  instantly knew they were ours.  It was like love at first sight.  They sat very close to their foster Mom.  I brought in my adoption scrapbook and they were able to see all the doggies.  Of course, the little girl looked at a picture of my Madison- and said, I really like her.  It about broke my heart!

After a few minutes of trying to get them to open up, we broke out my Old Maid cards.  These were the set of cards I played at Grandma and PaPa's house.  Since Grandma was legally blind, she had us play with a big set of cards- so she could see the characters.  I still remember to this day, Chris sticking up the old maid card higher than any of the other ones.  He would say, "Here PaPa, pick this one!" And, of course, PaPa always picked that one!  How cool to think the first game we ever played with our kids was one I loved playing with Grandma and PaPa.

The card game really seemed to break the ice.  After that, we pulled out coloring books and had a blast coloring and visiting.  The little boys favorite color is blue, or really any "boy color"  he said.  The little girl loves pink and purple.

We still have several more visits to go before they can officially come here to stay.  It is looking very hopeful, especially since the foster Mom told Luke and I that the little boy opened up more to us yesterday than she's ever seen before.

Luke and I talked all the way home.  We are so excited that the Lord led us here for a reason. We can't wait to see what the future holds!!!