When I stop to think of the moment our life changed I can see everything so clearly like it was just moments ago. I remember the feeling of excitement, awe, wonder, and overwhelming sense of love....
For those of you who have never heard our referral story... here is a tiny bit of one of the most amazing days...
Ryan was home sick for the day and received a phone call from Social Services in Saskatchewan. They asked him a few cryptic questions and then finally announced that we had received a referral for a little girl. They gave him a few details and said that they would be sending the email with the referral right then along with a few forms that we needed to fill out etc... Ryan then proceeds to call me at work, it was a crazy busy morning, and I actually missed the first phone call, but when the phone rang right away again I jumped to grab it... and the compassionate wife that I am when I heard his voice I asked if I could call him back when I had a few minutes, but he said no, he then told me the great news and told me to go to the computer to read the referral. I dropped everything ran to the back office and closed the door, put the phone on speaker and started sobbing as I waited for the email to load on the slowest computer system in the world. Needless to say, my coworker saw the commotion and came to check on me, and then was incredibly worried as she saw me on the floor sobbing, and laughing!!!! I quickly explained the situation and she sent me home for the day ( I do have incredible coworkers and workplace that were extremely flexible with all the appointments required for the adoption). I raced home to celebrate with Ryan, I asked a million questions about the phone call, we re read the referral a million times and we stopped and prayed. We thanked God for His amazing plan, for this beautiful life He created, for peace and love to wrap around this situation for the birth family, and then we asked for wisdom and for God's will. We spent the rest of the day contacting family and friends, filling out forms, picking out names, and crying and laughing.
I remember the feeling, of seeing this little life, and knowing that she was my daughter. There were so many emotions that day!
Many people ask how much of a surprise the referral was, if we knew we were going to receive the referral soon, if we knew the gender of the child etc. ???? We were completely surprised by everything. We had waited a long time for a referral, but I have learned when you are waiting every day seems like forever, we were trusting in God's timing and we were very aware that the wait could be a lot longer. We did have the option of stating on our application forms wether we wanted a boy or a girl but we both felt very strongly when we first started this process that God would place the child he intended to be in our family in our home in his timing, so we were completely surprised by the beautiful picture of the little girl who was born a few days earlier.
It seems like a lifetime ago that our world was changed, but the memory is still so clear. We are so blessed to be celebrating our referral day at home WITH Grace this year. I am excited to celebrate for years to come with Grace and take the time to remember this amazing day!
What a year it has been!
Blessings!
