Still no news for us....but we know of someone leaving for India very soon!

No news yet on our NOC - but there is some great news for another family. A "blog-girlfriend" is leaving very soon and will spend Thanksgiving in India to pick up their daughter! This is so exciting, we can't wait to hear about it and see pictures.

We did get to meet our agency face to face at the adoption event recently. That was great fun meeting and talking about India. She just spent most of October in India. We got updated pictures of Lauren. She looks so good and healthy. She wasn't smiling in the pictures, and I'm wondering what she is thinking, is she scared to get her picture taken... what is going on in that little mind? She looked so sweet in both pictures - they had two very cute little dresses on her - and even with a slight frown on her face...she is absolutely beautiful :)

I'm trying to keep my emotion in check -- because if I allow it, they would be spinning out of control wondering when we will pass the next stage. After NOC, is court, then travel! So it feels close, but I'm preparing my heart for spring of 2012. Adoption wait is hard, that's for sure. We can handle that wait in several ways... we can ignore it and live our life as if it's not there (NOT possible for me), we can share in adoption community with friends (this helps a lot and I love it), we can prepare (but at some point, it becomes all consuming and unnecessary fear seems to creep in), or we can talk to God (settle in with Him) - allow him to lead, ask for his mercies in controlling our mind, anxiety, fears, and sense of time (I go for this option as often as I can - when I'm reminded, often when prompted from the Holy Spirit). Oh, and I forgot one more thing, we can share adoption with people we know in hopes that more children can one day find a home. This gives us great pleasure in knowing we are on a mission - one God honors - that hopefully will draw more people to adoption. We LOVE telling our adoption story, sharing what we've learned, and learning from others. It's a special kind of community, that until you are in it -- it's hard to understand. For all our adoption friends -- we are blessed to know you -- for those we discussed adoption with, remain in prayer for God's confirmation and guidance on next steps :) -- and call us anytime!
Renae.