Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day celebrating the birth of our savior. We enjoyed the company of our family, delicious food, and giving gifts.

We find ourselves eagerly awaiting the changes that the next three weeks could bring, and looking forward to having a baby in our home.

May God bless you all and give you peace and joy this holiday season!

~Stephen, Jill, and Grant

Friday

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for all your prayers on Friday. We had a really good meeting with the birthparents in the afternoon before the snow hit. They were very open and honest with us, and we felt confident that they understand the adoption process and are making a mature and informed decision. We are moving forward with much prayer. At this point, it looks like the baby will be born sometime between January 10-13, although it could be earlier. They have requested a direct placement, meaning that the baby will come home from the hospital and be with us in the 10 days the birthparents have to legally change their mind. This is opposed to interem care, in which the baby goes home with a foster family until the 10 days are up.

After going through what we did with Carver, we feel a mix of emotions. We are excited and hopeful, but at the same time we do struggle with fears. God is so good to remind us of his faithfulness through his word, friends, and family. Philipians 4: 6-7 says:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We continue to trust in God's sovereignty and his goodness.

~Stephen and Jill

Meeting

Hi Friends,

We just wanted to ask you all to please pray for us as we are going to be meeting with the birthparents tomorrow afternoon. We are excited to get to know them a little and talk with them, but we're also just a little nervous...

We know they have some questions for us about our marriage commitment, financial stability, etc. We're glad they are concerned about these things, and will answer them honestly and to the best of our abilities. However, we are also viewing this time as an opportunity for us to ask any questions we have. Since this isn't the first time we've met with a birthmother, we feel a bit more prepared than we were before, and we realize that this is a time for us as well as for them. Please pray that we will have wisdom and "be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."

As before, we want God's will in this situation, but we do hope that this adoption will go through. However, if that is not his plan, we are praying for clarity even as we go meet with the birthparents. Would you join with us in praying for this, as well as for continued financial provision? Thank you, friends! We will update again over the weekend.

~Stephen and Jill

Chosen Again!

Friends,

We really didn't expect to have this news to share again so soon, but our social worker called yesterday and said that our profile has again been chosen. We are excited, but still feel a bit sad after losing Carver and still missing him. However, we feel at peace to move forward with this adoption possibility.

This baby is also a little boy, and he will likely be born at the beginning of January, only a few weeks away! We plan to meet with the birthparents at the end of next week, as both the birthmother and birthfather are involved in this process.

Please continue to pray for us. Specifically, we have applied for a loan to cover the remaining adoption expenses, and it would be wonderful if we could know whether or not it will come through before this baby could potentially be placed with us. Also, if we do proceed with this adoption, there is an additional amount we will need to raise to compensate for some unique circumstances in the life of the birthmother.

Grant is excited about the possibility of having a brother. When we first learned that Carver would be coming home with us, he was quite upset because he said he wanted a sister. However, Grant enjoyed Carver so much that he is now convinced he wants a brother, and he prays often for one. He was infatuated with Carver's curly, soft hair, and the first thing he asked when told of this possibility was, "Will his hair be the same as Carver's was?" We will see if this little boy is the answer to his prayers and hopes :).

Thank you for your prayers and for reading our blog. It is encouraging for us to know that so many care and are lifting us up in prayer. We will update with more news when we receive it.

~Stephen and Jill

Back in the Running

Friends,

First of all, we cannot thank you enough for all the prayers and encouragement we have received over the past week. Although it has been a difficult week, God has been so gracious to us. We have had so much peace and joy in the midst of this trial, and we know that God has good things in store for us, Carver, and for his mom.

At this point, we are back in the "pot", so to speak, of families who want to adopt. Our profile will be shown to birthmothers, and we are working on getting our online profile up on Bethany's website--it should be there in the next few days. We don't know if we will get a call tomorrow, next week, or three months from now. In some ways, it is a comfortable place to be. Although we can't wait for God to bring our little one to us, we are enjoying the time we have with each other, and spending lots of time with our extended families. We also feel more prepared for a baby--all the baby things are washed, set up, and waiting. The only thing is--we don't know if we'll be getting a boy or a girl, and all we have are boy clothes. So if we get a girl, she may be a little tomboy for the first few days :)

Some of you have asked how Grant has done with having to send the baby back. At first he was understandably very sad and shed many tears. Quickly, though, he accepted the fact that the baby was not ours to keep, and he said to me, "So Mommy, we were just babysitting him?" He seemed content with my affirmative answer, and has been amazingly resilient.

We will update when we receive any new information.

~Jill and Stephen