Where it all began...

My husband is a contractor/painter. He called me one day from a closet he was working in. He said that he really felt like we needed to adopt a child. He had been in that closet telling God all the reasons why we couldn't adopt...and God was answering all of his questions and reassuring him of His call on our lives. We had discussed adoption in the past. We knew there was a need, and we knew that God has blessed us with so much love to give...so after putting those two things together and feeling clear guidance from God, we dove in! God then chose to solidify that call through very evident signs and confirmations. I turned on the radio that very day and the Christian radio station was doing a feature on adoption and on Steven Curtis Chapman's personal experiences and his foundation, Shaohannah's Hope. This led me to Chapman's web site where he had listed several agencies that he recommended for adoption. We chose one...Children's Hope International.A couple of days after that, we were in Benton. I picked up the newspaper(I seldom read the newspaper...don't know what led me to that day:) ) and as I was reading through it I noticed a heading, "Children's Hope International Adoption Agency holds informational meeting at Benton Library." I thought, "Oh, Lord, do you really speak to me that clearly?...you published a sign for us in the paper?!" Out of the thousands of agencies, the one we were interested in was holding a meeting...in Benton, AR, of all places! We went to the meeting and were the only people there, giving us a chance to ask lots of questions. That was in September of 2003. Right then we started the long paperwork journey and in June of 2004, we turned our dossier in to Colombia. It is now February, 2006, and after 29 long months of waiting, WE ARE STILL WAITING!!!