Information Meetings

So this is like 2 months late, but I'm just now getting around to it. go figure.

Bubba and I have both known since before we even knew each other that adoption would be a part of our lives. And I feel that is part of the reason that God brought us together. It makes me smile just thinking about it. :)

So we had both known after we were married that there would be a day that we would adopt. Well, after having Rowan and knowing that we loved being parents. And rowan endlessly asking for a brother or sister, haha, we officially decided that we would explore our options and had decided to start the process. Exploring agencies.

Then. Doomsday. Stupid army. He got orders for a deployment. It devastated me. I felt that our life was going so well. our marriage. our daughter. our house. family. everything. we had it all.

There was a lot of debating on what to do. Hoping he wouldn't have to go or that he would break his leg. or fall off the roof. ha.

But no. He went. He left. And we decided to just go on with the process anyways. determined. So we did and are.

I attended two different agency's informational meetings for adoption. alone. But of course that's only because Bubba is gone, deployed to Afghanistan. So I went to Agency A first. The agency that we had our eye on.. the one that we thought could be a good match.

I was alone. There was one other person there who was also alone. Everyone else had their significant other. And I was confident to go by myself, but I was aching for Bubba to be there, to share our first major step in our decision.

I signed in, grabbed my packet and found a chair. The room was packed and people looked happy, eager, excited. However some did look a bit worried or concerned. Very informative meeting with a slideshow and handouts and a wonderful lady who just seemed like she believed in the whole process. And she was HONEST. that is something that I think is so important during this process.

I enjoyed the meeting. It gave me a sense of inspiration, dare I say? It was this feeling overcame me, more than I've ever experienced during the whole thought process of deciding to adopt. They brought in a guest speaker, someone who had adopted through the agency. She was great. She was everyday. She was real.

After that meeting if there was any doubt left in my mind about adoption, it was gone. I knew that this is what we are meant to do. I only wish that Bubba could have shared that with me.

But it wasn't just me. As I drove back from Seattle I was thinking the whole way " Why doesn't everyone do this??" Imagine if everyone adopted just ONE child.

Then I went to another agency's meeting, Agency B. A LOT different than the first meeting. This meeting was much smaller. In a library room with about 8-10 people. The representative from the agency just sat at a small table and talked. No hand outs, no slideshow, no guest speakers. I didn't feel comfortable with the way that everything was presented. She often forgot what she was talking about or would forget something and go back to the topice that had been discussed 10 minutes before.

I was surprised because Agency B was the agency that I originally wanted to go with. I was certain it would be the agency for us. But for financial reasons we knew that we couldn't afford it.

After going to both I knew right away that there was no question. Agency A was the one for us. The one that made us feel comfortable, didn't discriminate and just felt right.

So that's what we decided. Agency A.