A year ago today....

One year ago today, January 21, 2006, Tony and I pulled into St. Luke's church in Indianapolis with nervous hearts and minds. We were taking a leap of faith and following what we though was God's nudge to investigate international adoption. It turns out, it WAS God's nudge. We were going to an informational meeting offered by Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA) to find out if we would add to our family through adoption. Just a week before this, I had conversations with my family about the possibility of adoption and read a front page spread about it. (God's messages are SO clear at times). We finished reading the article in the paper, looked up the informational seminar schedule, and committed to at least researching it.

Back to the parking lot...as we pulled in, I saw several other nervous-looking couples walk toward the entrance. At this point, I was getting excited and Tony just looked sick. The ever-practical side of him was saying, "We don't have the money to do this." When I drug that comment out of him, I broke down in tears. I couldn't go to this meeting without hope of where it might take us. After a brief conversation about reality vs. God's plan for us, we ventured in and navigated the maze of halls in the church we would soon come to know well.

The meeting held all the answers Tony was seeking, and the children I was longing to see. We had the opportunity to speak with a family that had recently come home and received some encouragement. Did I mention the children were from a variety of countries and simply beautiful?

Following the meeting, we met Robby and Allyson for lunch and lightly discussed what we had learned. I was brimming with anticipation to see Tony's real reaction, and he was using every ounce of reservation he could muster. Not two minutes into lunch, a family walked in with a child of Asian decent. Nudges and glances were being secretly passed. Others streamed in and remarkably, more adoptive families. Was it a sign?

Fast forward to the end of lunch...although Tony was still using his head, I was all heart. We were moving forward. We'd take it step-by-step and start with the application to FTIA and see what happened.

Alas, it is January 21, 2007 and we are (not so) patiently waiting on our Abby-girl. God was obviously moving in our lives a year ago. He has opened doors, fulfilled promises, blessed us with new friends, and challenged us beyond our wildest imaginations. I cannot wait to experience that same nervousness we had in the church parking lot when we see her picture for the first time and when we wait in that chaotic room for her to be placed in our arms. We'll look back and say, "God is good, all the time...and all the time, God is good."