Those of you who know me well know how much I love to journal. I’ve been journaling since high school and have acquired quite a few books over the years. Reading old journals is one of my favorite things to do – being taken back in time to revisit life in my own words is nothing less than thrilling! I usually walk away from reading one with tears in my eyes because of God’s perfect provision that unfolds as the pages turn.

Five years ago when I was pregnant with Eden, a dear friend of mine showed me her journal that was written by her mother and given to her as a gift when she was a teenager. Her mother, in her own words and handwriting, wrote to her as a baby, and as a toddler, and as snot-nosed kid. She told her about her milestones, her first haircut and day of school, but most importantly she told her how much God loves her. What an amazing gift and treasure!

With this genius idea in mind, I couldn’t wait to get started on my own journal to Eden. And two years later, to Weston. And now, as I’m sure you can imagine, I am beginning my journal to our third-born. I want to make sure that this baby knows that even though they aren’t growing in my belly like their sister and brother did, that they are every bit as wanted, prayed for, and loved by us and our amazing Creator. I’m excited to add another journal to my stack of precious possessions and can’t wait for the day that I can write his or her name on the cover to treasure forever!

This week has been eventful! Our puzzle fundraiser is almost complete having raised $9,925 of the $10,000 that the puzzle requires. We have had 56 of you donate from your hearts and we are eternally grateful. This amazing statistic leaves us nearly $5,000 shy of our optimum goal. God is so GOOD!

Another progression in our journey happened this week: we were presented with two potential adoptions, and although God made it clear that these babies were not meant to be a part of our family, we learned a lot about the process and how these next few months could be. Once we feel called to a particular adoption, we will make it known to their agency, and they will present our profile to that mother and family.  She can say “no” and in which case we will rest-assured knowing that this wasn’t meant to be, and try again with the next situation we are presented with. What I LOVE about this process is that the biological mother never knows that they are being presented and rejected (like the two situations we faced this week). She is only shown our profile when she knows that her child is a potential match. I think it’s great that she doesn’t face the rejection like we could if we said “yes” to her and she said “no” to us.

We are 100% relying on God to show us who He has predestined to be in our lives forever. I don’t just say the baby, because his/her biological mother will most-likely be in our lives forever too as our desire is to raise our child as a part of an open adoption. This does not give the biological family any rights over us, and they cannot take the child back at any time, but it does give us an opportunity to have a relationship with them if they want, and vice-versa. I will never forget the names of the two pregnant women we were presented with this week, and even though the timing of their births and situations surrounding their children weren’t a good fit for our family, we will continue to pray for them and their journey. There is a tremendous need for families to help through adoption, and we are honored and privileged to be given an opportunity to do this.

Please pray for us as we face these serious decisions – that God would continue to give us confidence and peace with every situation we are presented with and also that He would reveal His love to these two women as well as our child’s biological mother – wherever she may be!

Love & Blessings,

Hayes & Kara