It's a......

GIRL!!!!

It's been a process, but we've come to first of many steps in our new life as parents. On September 11th, we were matched with a beautiful 11 year old girl (soon to be 12). On September 20th, we attended the disclosure meeting, met with her case worker, and learned her full story. It's a JOURNEY (in miles and experiences) this young one has been on, and we are amazed at her resilence to make it through the struggles she faced. We stayed up late last night reviewing her paper work and getting to know her on paper.

Within the next few weeks, she will be introduced to us through our Family Book (scrap book of our family), and then, our first visit will be arranged. We're anxious to meet her and begin the process of becoming a family.

We've certainly seen God's hand in all of this. We now know the reason for our waiting for background checks. She was out of state and not ready for adoption until the beginning of August. God was slowing our process, so we would be ready for her just in time. We just stand in awe of how God has gone before us in the process and made His way perfect. We are honored that He chose us to be this girl's parents even before the world was ever made, He had her in mind for us. It brings tears to our eyes to even think of it.

We have a picture of her,but we'll wait to post pictures and more of her story until we've started visitation with her. We look forward to introducing her to our love and God's love for her.

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son." Ephesians 1:3-6

Where we are Now!

It's been a challenging few weeks for us. After our last post, we received a call from Jacksonville. We had been selected for a 7 year old boy. It was out of the blue. We were shocked. Within a few days, we had various email exchanges and a large conference call with his caseworkers and therapists. We were hopeful this would be it! It was an emotional week for us. Through much prayer, tears, and wise counsel, God showed us that this boy was not meant for our family.
It was a difficult realization to come to because we so desire to be a family
for hurting children. We know God has special families for each special child.

In the meantime, a hurricane blew by us and we're still waiting....

We're now in the waiting process to see if we will be matched with an 11 year old child here in Hillsborough county. The waiting in between the phone calls and emails are the most difficult. It makes it hard to plan for things like holidays or vacations because we just don't know if we'll have 1, 2, 3, or no more to add to our plans. This whole process has sure took Mallory's planning gene for a ride! We're truly living the words of the sweet song, One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus! It is our hope and prayer that we'll have big news to share in our next update, but if not, we'll just keep living one day at a time.

Love and thanks to all of our prayer warriors out there. Thank you for the sweet notes of encouragement, chats, and hugs. Words can not express our gratefulness for your support. We love all of you!!!

Kevin & Mallory

From Focus on the Family
Not every family is called to adopt.  But helping support adoptive families is nearly as important as welcoming a child into your home.  Unfortunately, many families don't receive the support from friends and family they desperately need.  The good news is that help is as easy as cooking, cleaning, childcare and prayer.

At Focus on the Family, we recognize that adoptive families need the support of those around them.  That's why we created "Wrapping around Adoptive Families," a simple resource that provides practical tips for helping families.  It's built on the idea of W.R.A.P.:
                                        W - Wrestle in prayer
                                        R - Respite care
                                        A - Acts of service
                                        P - Promises of God

If you or your church is interested in supporting the adoptive families in your community, consider downloading or ordering copies of this resource.  We've also provided bulletin inserts and posters to promote within your community.  All it takes is connecting the gifts and talents around you with families in need.  So what are you waiting for?  Start Wrapping now!
  
Download the Wrap Booklet Here

The Waiting Continues Again

I've been receiving many requests for a blog update. Unfortunately, there's not much to update. It's been a month of ups and downs. We've been presented with some child studies and all of them have not been the "match" we've been waiting for. I wish could go into all of the details, but it's not best that we share such details in a public forum like this. Hopefully, we'll be able to share all of the details some day with each of you.

Right now, all we can ask for is prayers. There are some far off potentials in the distance. We're not sure what will come of them. It's completely out of our hands and in God's hands. All that we can do is pray that the Lord will turn the hearts of the case works, supervisors, and judges that have "say-so" as to what families get what children.

We're learning how broken this system is, and our heart aches as we don't feel that there is a true advocate for us in this whole process. Ultimately, we have an almighty advocate who intercedes for us, and we know He is holding up this process for some reason.

We long for the day when we can look back at this time in our lives, smile, and say, "God meant it all for good."

Maybe and Maybe Not!

It's been a interesting 2 weeks for us. Kevin's brother and three boys came to visit in Florida (did all of the touristy things), and then, we hopped on a plane to visit family in PA for a week. In the midst of it all, we were attached to our iPhones taking calls and sending emails about potential matches.

One call came last Friday, it was our adoption specialist. She told there was a sibling group that was a potential match. She forwarded us their child studies and we fell in love with them. With a hope and prayer, we consented for our file to be presented the following Wednesday before the match committee for a match with this boy and girl. We knew we had a long shot because many other families were interested as well. The email came Wednesday afternoon that is was a "No." The little girl had requested that she be matched with a family that is the same skin color as her. Unfortunately, we didn't fit the bill. We really want to honor her request, so the match was made with another family. We happen to know this family and we are extrememly happy for them! It put our hearts at ease to know they got a wonderful family, but it was still a little sting to the soul.

In the meantime, we've still been in contact with other counties and case workers about potential matches. We've read many child studies and we cringe at the hurt the children have gone through. So many prayers have been sent up on these littles one's behalf. We're still waiting and praying for that perfect "match." God has them out somewhere waiting on us. It's a beautiful play that God is orchestrating and desigining. He sees both sides ours and our children, and He just smiles as He hears our prayers. He's has something special in store for us. The music to the soundtrack of our lives is playing in the background, and it's foreshadowing a big event in the future...a beautiful climax in our story.

While we wait, we're working on the house. We bought a new media unit for the living room to house all the additional storage that is coming out of the bedrooms to make room for the children. It needs paint! Next, is new flooring (hopefully) in the living areas to make the house a little more child-durable. :).

In preparation for meeting the child/ren, the Everitt side updated the family portraits to introduce themselves to the new family members. Next, we need to get the Alexander side updated with the addition of little Maddox.

Next Wednesday, our adoption specialist is presenting our file at the "Reverse Match" meeting where the case workers and adoption specialists all work together to match children with families. Hoping we'll get some news out of that meeting. Continued prayers are always requested.

Love to all!