#7 (14 days of Praise)

#7...Praise the Lord for July 23rd, 2009!!!! OUR REFERRAL DAY!!!! It was truly an amazing day, but not how we pictured our referral day!

***We got a phone call from our agency on July 22nd. Mike (our contact) had looked over our paperwork (not the official paperwork...just a copy that we had faxed to him to approve). He said it looked great, but that we were just missing one paper. He wondered when that paper was going to come? He said to mail that in to DC as soon as it comes because they have a "surplus" of little boys just waiting for families! Nate hung up the phone and said that he thought Mike had a referral waiting for us (just the way he had talked on the phone)! So we went to bed that night...I woke the next morning a little early and checked my e-mail (like I always do for work e-mails). In the inbox was a message from CHI (our agency) and the subject line said REFERRAL!!! I opened it...shaking...and thinking there is no way!!!! Everyone that had told us adoption stories had said we would get a phone call, then we would go to our computer, and then they would send us a referral! I opened the e-mail, the first line said, "Congratulations on the referral of...." I WAS SHAKING!!! AND BY MYSELF IN A DARK KITCHEN WITH EVERYONE SLEEPING!!!! I clicked open the picture....OH MY...I can't even tell you!!! THERE IS NO WAY THIS SWEET CHILD IS MINE!!! This can't be who I am looking at... My agency didn't call...Maybe it's a little girl (He is beautiful and dressed in pink from head to toe in the picture)...Our agency probably sent this to the wrong family. SO FINALLY I RUN INTO OUR ROOM (where most of our family is sleeping...yes our kids get into our bed during the night way to much!!!) AND WAKE UP NATE BY HOLDING THE COMPUTER IN FRONT OF HIS FACE!!! He looks (with one eye open) and says "NO WAY..." WHAT???? Then we read through his sweet information. A precious little boy, almost 3 years old, perfect, healthy, beautiful, exactly what we were wanting... AND NATE'S LOGICAL SIDE SETS IN!!! "We can't call anyone until we confirm with our agency that this is right...It's probably not right Joy...and now you are excited. You need to calm down, wait 4 hours until our agency opens and we can confirm this referral! And don't tell anyone until this is confirmed!" These were Nate's thoughts...not mine! I would have run from neighbor to neighbor at 6 am with my laptop in hand ready to show off our new baby boy!
NEEDLESS TO SAY, it was the longest morning of our lives!!!! We were finally able to confirm that he was ours...And he is precious! What a day to truly be thankful for!!!