Our day of rejoicing

First, let me apologize for the silence since August 23rd. I know just how difficult it is to tolerate "silence". We have been waiting, without any word from the courts since our paperwork all arrived in their hands months ago. But, today we received our referral!!!! For those of you who have not adopted, you may not know what this is or what it means. So, let me explain...
Today we received a referral from the Orphan Court "introducing" us to our future daughter. We were given information regarding who she is and her history and asked if we would "accept" this referral?! YES, YES, a million times YES!!! This is nearly the last step in the waiting part of this process. Now, we wait (for a shorter period of time) for an invitation to travel to her country and meet with the court officials.
As I responded to that e-mail this morning, the reality of what we are doing hit me. We have committed to loving, teaching, raising this child as though she were "born to us"! I said it before, and I believe it's worth repeating again, I love ALL of my children. Whether I have physically birthed them or God has birthed them in my heart, they are mine! I talked to Bob about this today when he stopped by the house for lunch. I asked him what he would do if we got there, met with the courts, found out that there were things we did not know about her? What if???? And do you know what my beautiful husband who has the most amazing heart for God said? He said "It would make no difference to me!" You see, we cannot take lightly this gift of another child being added to our hearts and our home. We cannot assume that all will be perfect, that there will not be struggles and heartaches. What we must do is love Lilie "as though she were born to us"!!! And she was, she was born into our hearts. Placed there by a loving God who knew before we did that she was ours. And so, come what may, we will love her. We will accept her and we will do all that is necessary to teach her about the love of her Savior.
Today is a good day! In the midst of our rejoicing however we must remember those who still wait. We must remember those children who are still orphans, waiting for a family to love them, accept them and teach them about the love of their Savior! I have spent a great deal of time today rejoicing and praising God for his goodness, and I have also spent a great deal of time today praying for those families and children who still WAIT!