WE HAVE TWO GIRLS - PART II

Ok, so today has been a total blur. As you saw in my last post, we got a call from Jessica at Gladney at about 7:30am our time. We wondered who could be calling us so early in the morning! I was in my PJ's grading papers on the couch (trying to get caught up) when Davis answered the phone. When he said, "Well, hello, Jessica...", I knew something good was about to happen. We spent about an hour on the phone with Jessica going over every detail of our completed referral. It was a very surreal experience - opening an email and having your life change in an instant because you are looking at your kids to whom you will now be joined forever. I couldn't help but wonder if that is what an arranged marriage feels like - to see a picture and know that you will choose to love that individual and commit your life to that person. In our case, we were thrilled to see our two little ladies and learn that are very healthy (we were amazed at how healthy they are!). One of them did have a runny nose. Heaven forbid! If that's the worst case, I think we can handle that! From what we can tell, they are also very spunky. They should fit right in in this house!

The first emotion we both experienced was surprise. When I opened the email, the first thing I said was "Oh! It's two girls!" All along we have been expecting a boy and girl but we had indicated we would consider two girls as well. It appears that God had two girls in mind! All along we have been praying that God would pick the exact kids for us in His perfect timing. It appears he has done just that. Davis is excited and still processing the fact that he is going to be outnumbered in this house! I have no doubt that he will be a great girl dad. I fear, however, that the poor man is going to have to install a few more sparkly chandeliers and ruffle-related items around here (as if this house has a shortage of those!). He'll need a "man-cation" after we get done prepping this pad for two little ladies. All I could think of this morning was "Oh goodness! Two girls...that's butterflies and tutus! Sounds good to me!" I had been praying that when we got our referral that we would know these were our kids. As we worked through the file and learned more about the family situation under which these children were put up for adoption, it was very evident that these are the kids God wants us to embrace and provide a home for. There is a great deal of peace in that.

So after crying on the phone with Jessica and calling the grandparents, we had to rush off to work. We were both very late at that point with heads in the clouds thinking about that fact that our hypothetical kids are now REAL. We have two daughters - ages 10 months and 2 1/2 years - and they are coming home soon! A verse that has been so meaningful to me during this long waiting season has been Hebrews 6:15, "After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised." I've had this on a chalkboard in our kitchen for weeks. Today, I put the girls picture next to the verse and took a picture. God is good.

On an emotional level, this day has been a TOTAl blur. We have both cried talking to so many different people today. I feel like I have been talking and typing all day. It's almost like I will remember this day more in images, like scenes from a movie, rather than as a unified whole. I will remember driving the 30 minutes to work and trying to cram in as many phone calls as I could to friends near and far. One friend even answered her phone from Mexico (not cheap!) because she knew why I had to be calling. Getting sweet emails at work from coworkers, including a guy friend who told me Davis can come over and work on cars with him and his son if he ever feels the need to escape our little kingdom of girls! One coworker even posted a message in the staff room about "Sarah's Daughters". That felt so weird! I will then remember driving home and listening to SOOOO many voicemail messages from friends I had left messages for that morning. My mailbox actually got filled up and started rejecting messages so people started calling our house instead. Most of the messages began something like "Oh my gosh!..." Many of them congratulated us for having been matched with girls because as one best friend of mine said, "Girls rock!" I was greeted at home by neighbors in the street who wanted to look at pictures and talk about what hand-me-downs they already had for our little lovelies. One neighbor family (they have five adopted kids that are now grown) gave us the most darling first gift for our girls - matching purple plaid dresses to wear to church in winter. SO CUTE and so thoughtful. Our parents are thrilled. Great-Grandma is thrilled. A cousin across the country wants to collect clothes to send to the other kids in the orphanage. Just about every girlfriend I have wants to be called "Auntie"! We have spent hours sending and receiving emails tonight and our Facebook pages (we love Facebook!) are bubbling! This has just been an all around great day.

There aren't that many events life that are truly celebratory and to feel the love, support and genuine enthusiasm that we have felt from people today has been such a special experience and one that I will never forget. Our daughters are blessed indeed. They are coming home to a group of people who are ready to embrace these little ones from the other side of the world (and probably spoil them rotten if Mommy and Daddy aren't careful!) because they are God's kids and that makes us all family. Yes, this has been a very good day.

Check back tomorrow for our video of today's referral adventure! Must sleep now. Mommy is wiped out. Please forgive the rampant overuse of the exclamation mark in this post. I gave up trying to rework these sentences. How often do you have a day like today?! (There I go again...)