A second referral...

Well, it's been a crazy few days! After the first referral, we really had a rough time (as you may have read) seeing that sweet baby's picture and not adopting her. Thankfully, the Lord really spoke to us about it and we had a total peace. Then church came on Sunday, and I just LOST it during worship (not hard to do ... worship certainly elicits tears on lots of occasions!). I was just struck with the gravity of it all. But over and over throughout the service, I just kept thinking the words to one of our favorite little children's songs:

Jesus loves me, this I know,

for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong;

they are weak but He is strong.

That just really seemed to sum it up - Jesus LOVES me - even if we can't take in every orphan. And these little ones belong to HIM!!! They are weak but HE is strong. So very true... So the whole experience of the first referral was so difficult - but so sweet too. God was really IN the whole process.

Then Monday rolls around - and we get ANOTHER referral! This was certainly unexpected and caught us off guard. Out sweet social worker, knowing the pain we'd gone through with the first referral, opted not to actually email us the child's picture and medical records. She just told me the basics over the phone: 2-and-a-half years old, shorter right leg, smaller right foot, webbed right toes... and she wasn't walking. This sort of sent me into a confused daze. I just couldn't even THINK about another child and the potential that we wouldn't take her! James is very wise in these situations, thankfully. We decided not to even look at her file - she simply is an older child than we had previously prayerfully decided we were comfortable adopting. We would get her at age 3... and she is older than Molly. Both things that don't seem to fit right now! We still feel like we'd like to keep our current birth order in our children - that the next little one should be younger than Molly. I did some research and it's all super interesting (bringing in a child the same age as one of your children is called "artificial twinning" by the way and there are lots of interesting articles on it). Anyway, suffice it to say, we turned down a second referral. I just stared at the wall most of the day and was literally unable to process. Just too much emotion, too many huge decisions, too MUCH!!! In too little time!!!

So now sweet James has stepped in. James to the rescue! Hooray ; ) He's talked to the agency and really solidified our desires - a child younger than Molly (preferably a LOT younger) and one with minor correctible surgical needs. Also, the next referral will go to James first - just because I'm not ready to see another child's face! He'll look at it and pray and then bring it to me if he feels a peace that she might be the next little Wessel ; ) I feel a burden totally lifted. James also told our agency contact not to send us any referrals for a few weeks! Just to let us rest and recover. We need a breather! So that's the update. Thanks for following us on this journey! Glad this post wasn't as long as the last one ; ) Not sure if we scared off our followers or not... if not, thanks for sticking with us!!! ; )