So I figured it's been awhile since I've updated you all on what's been going on with us lately...and I actually have brand new, never been heard information! If that doesn't perk your curiosity, you may as well just quit reading now!
We are STILL waiting on hearing about Aviannah's citizenship. As most of you probably know who follow me on Facebook, we just squeezed under the deadline of getting her birth certificate in to Immigration. That was at the beginning of March. As far as we know, that was the last piece of information they needed to finish processing her application. We have heard nothing since then, but we have learned that they never contact us unless they need something or it's done. We are really hoping to hear something soon! Especially because...
We are planning to take a family trip to Texas over Christmas this year! My grandparents go down south every year from October to March. I've been 3 times to visit them in years past and since we've been married John and I have talked about going down one winter to visit and have decided to do it this year! Of course this can only happen if Avi is a Canadian by then. Until her citizenship is completed, she could technically leave the country but she wouldn't be allowed back into Canada. As fun as it sounds, we don't want to go live in Texas, just visit. So we are praying hard that things will be all finalized by then. It's a good 8 months away so I don't see that being a problem. We are so excited to take the girls on an airplane for their first time and get a break from winter for a week!
Switching gears...a lot of people have been asking if we are planning to expand our family. I do not mind that question at all but I never quite know how to answer. If only it were that easy, to just plan to do it and then make it happen. Unfortunately it is not. I was really feeling the baby fever a few months ago, when my baby was all of a sudden very much not a baby anymore. John was not nearly as enthusiastic about the idea as I was. I told him I was going to start praying about it and he was welcome to join if he wanted. After a few weeks he came home from work one day and said "Today was the first day I didn't have negative thoughts about a 3rd child!" Ha! It was a step in the right direction at least.
I'm about to divulge something that nobody knows about. Not even our families. So sorry if I offend you for having to hear about it on here, but hopefully you'll understand as I explain. Around the end of 2015, a friend of ours mentioned that she knew a baby boy that was potentially going to be put up for adoption. She asked if she could give her our names. I responded with a very emphatic YES. She then texted me pictures of him. I was a mess. I immediately got my hopes up really really high, then gave myself a reality check. It was a long shot that any of this would actually work out and I knew that. I reminded myself that this meant nothing and I shouldn't let myself get excited. So we started to pray for this little boy. We prayed for him every night. We didn't hear anything for about a month, then our friend informed us that he had gone to live with his biological grandparents, and I felt complete peace. I told John later that night that it felt like such a privilege to have had the opportunity to pray for this little boy, and I still pray for him when I remember. We didn't tell anybody anything when this was going on, the reason being that we figured if it did work out and by some miracle we did adopt him it would be an AMAZING surprise! I always have been a fan of really cute pregnancy announcements and I've seen some amazing videos where people adopt a baby and completely surprise their parents. That's what we wanted to do. I was envisioning inviting my family over and bringing out their new grandson! And when it didn't work out that way, we figured there was no point in telling anybody about it because it was a closed chapter.
So why I am telling this story now then? Well, it kind of leads into our other news...so after all that, something changed. I felt complete peace about the size of our family for the first time ever. And I still do. That doesn't mean that I would turn down another opportunity to adopt, because I sure would not if it seemed like it was right. But we both really strongly feel that we are not meant to pursue another adoption right now. We love having two girls and it's nice not to be outnumbered, especially in public, although our girls are both really easy to take places. So we put adoption on the back burner and had another conversation...about fostering. Being a foster parent is something that I have always been very reluctant about, and this is why. I was scared of getting attached. I get attached to things, especially people, very easily and it terrified me to think about having a child in our home, to fall completely in love with this child, and then have to say goodbye, and to do that over and over again. I thought that fostering wasn't for me. Over the past year God has really been working on my heart and through testimonies of other foster parents, and reading articles about fostering, I've realized that the fear that is holding me back is actually the reason that I would be a great foster parent. I realized that that is exactly what those children need. They need love, fierce and without abandon, for as long or short as we can give that to them. I realized that if I can love them like that, even if it's just a week, a month, or a year, that it can have a lasting impact on their life.
John has always been more open to fostering then me. He actually first brought it up shortly after we adopted Cassidy and I shut it down. But I'm ready now. We have decided that we are going to wait until Aviannah's citizenship is completed, because we don't want to overwhelm ourselves, then we are going to start the process to become foster parents. We recently bought a bigger vehicle to accommodate an extra child or two and we are extremely excited and nervous about this new journey! Please pray for us, for Avi to receive her citizenship soon and for us as a family as we start looking into foster parenting, for guidance and wisdom and for us to be willing to do whatever God asks of us. I can't stress enough how your prayers have impacted my life, especially in the past 4 years. We are so thankful for your support and love!
