After A Long Period of Quietness...

That sound you hear is the door creaking and the dust being blown off of the Arvin Adoption Chronicles. If memory serves the last entry came around August of 2008. That is quite a gap. The reason for the gap? There was not really anything to report. There was a lot of waiting. And while there is nothing really wrong with waiting, there is nothing really noteworthy about it either. At least not in the day-to-day accounting. Not for blogging.

During all of that time, Melanie and I held firm to one thing- when the right child was available at the right time, then God would make a way for things to proceed.

It appears that the time has come.

How to tell the story? Like a Star Trek "Captain's Log"? Naa. Christian will call me a nerd. Again.

Like a childrens' story? Hmm... Not sure I have that much creative juice right now.

I've got it!!!

Here we go...

It was a Friday. I was alone in the kitchen. Winter had arrived like Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation. Annoying. Unwanted. Harsh.

My partner and I had been walking the Adoption beat for over a year. To say things were slow would be an understatement. Aside from the occasional update and a phone call here and there, nobody was hiring. Yea. Things were slow. Government Health Care was changing faster.

Then it happened. I was slicing apples for a pie. My partner was getting things for the office Christmas Party. The phone rang. I answered. The voice on the other end asked for my partner. I said she wasn't around, who wanted to know? They said they would talk to me.

"Sure, go ahead" I said. The voice said, " We have a birth mother who has chosen you."

It took what seemed like an eternity for the words to sink in. My head began to swim with questions. Are they sure they have the right number? Are they sure they knew who they were talking to? Was this really serious? Did they really rebuild Hardees?

Ok. Enough of the film noir. Let me fill you in...

A birth mother here in Indiana chose us as her "first choice" about mid December. The birth mother counselor who made the initial call told me that she was pretty firm in her decision to move toward adoption, and she had looked at several profiles and kept coming back to ours. These are all encouraging things! Oh... and she is due on January 28! Yikes!

The birth mother wanted to meet and talk with us and so a meeting was arranged for December 18. To begin with I thought it was going to be the scariest meeting ever. It was the whole thought of saying the wrong thing without knowing it. I mean, you never know what someone might not like. But, as the day drew closer, we became more confident and calm. Hmm. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The meeting really could not have gone better. She seemed very at ease with us and we were comfortable talking with her as well. We talked about a lot of things and we were together for about an hour and a half.

On our way home my cell phone rang and it was the birth mother counselor. She was there with us at the meeting and was calling to say that she, (the birth mother), loved us and wondered if we would be willing to come and go on the hospital tour with her in January. Now I am about as sharp as a marble, but I think that is a good sign.

So here is where things are now. The hospital tour is set up for January 6 and all is progressing in a positive direction. We have begun to prepare- purchased nursery furniture, registered for an upcoming shower- but we are trying to be wise in the things we do. We have heard the stories and know that adoption can change directions suddenly and drastically. There is nothing we have encountered so far to make us think that it will, but we just want to be reasonably cautious with our emotions.

We are grateful for the prayers of faithful friends. We want to give a child a good home and we want to do it all in accordance with God's plan and timing.

More to come!

Jon and Melanie