Counting For Caleb {2}

On December 2, 2013, a wooden gavel slammed against a podium followed by a loud firm voice which quickly proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen of the court...let me be the first to introduce Jaxson Scott H.....!"  In that moment, Scott and I both knew that we would one day in the distant future find ourselves in another court room holding another beautiful baby and rejoicing over a second finalized adoption.

In early February of 2015, we excitedly started the adoption process for the second time and committed to one year which is the life of an updated home study.  Scott and I are not spring chickens and having a newborn after turning 40 was not something we had ever considered.  So..there was an issue of time, but we were both pretty confident that the wait would be short.  

However, God had a different plan.  Eleven months after becoming an official waiting family, our profile hadn't been shown a single time.  Waiting is hard, and discouragement quickly raised it's ugly head.  We both began to question if we had actually followed God's plan for our family.  Preparing our hearts for the year to pass without adding a sixth member became a real priority.

Our homestudy officially expired on March 24.  The update packet had been sitting on my desk for several weeks when on February 4 (3 days after my 39th birthday) we received an email asking us to consider a specific situation.  It only took us a few minutes to read through the information before confidently responding, "You betcha!"

Looking back, I can honestly share that I am so thankful for the wait.  Ashley, Jaxson's lovely birthmother, lost her battle with stage 4 colon cancer that May, and my grieving heart desperately needed that time to heal and prepare for the adventure ahead.  God definintely knows me better than I know myself.  

(Last photo taken as a family of 5)