Connecting Some Dots

One of the biggest things that happened after this "turning point" (see last post) was/is that Jeff & I are now dialoging about this whole possibility more. In the past, as I shared, it had all been about what I could read, research and learn. Every now and then, I'd ask Jeff to read this or look at that but, for the most part, I was the one in waist-high and I tried not to impose my convictions on him.

But the door has now cracked open and, unlike any other time before, some things started to happen that I believe is God at work in our lives.

One of the things was that my neighbor (Kristen) posted on Facebook one day that her friend, Gina, was having an adoption yard sale. As it turned out, on that very day, my friend Gina (different Gina, of course) were going.....(you guessed it)...yard sale-ing. This was on a Friday and the yard sale was also on Saturday. Well, Gina and I didn't make it by there on Friday but, on Saturday, Jeff had class and I headed out to the grocery store. I really had no intentions of going to the yard sale alone but, somehow, it was as if my car drove me there anyway. As weird as that sounds, it did really feel like some sort of out of body experience. I got out at the yard sale (which actually was at 3 or 4 different consecutive homes....Gina has great neighbors) and looked around. Really, I didn't need one single thing so I determined who the adoptive Mom was and I introduced myself. I can remember almost being in tears as I gave her a donation and told her that God had been working on my heart. Gina was so warm and eager to share her story. She asked that I send her a Facebook friend request so that we could talk some more which I did.

I shared with her our "story" via a Facebook message and she, in turn, shared more of her own story. Her husband, Phillip, had not been onboard immediately and, in July of 2010 she went on a mission trip to Ethiopia with Ordinary Hero (another story for another time.....another dot connected) with her son Robbie. It was there, on the very last day, that she met and fell in love with their son, Daniel Mamo. (Daniel Mamo is now home....has been here just a few weeks....you can meet the Payne's at www.paynefamilyblessings.blogspot.com).

Gina had suggested that we meet sometime for a face-to-face talk so I mentioned this to Jeff who was all for it. I scheduled a Saturday morning Starbuck's visit with Gina one week while Jeff was in class. We were under some time constraints as Gina needed to pick her daughter up from school but, in the end, Gina shared with me that she believed in her heart that we were going to adopt. In fact, I mentioned to her that I was considering going on the Ordinary Hero trip in July of 2011 and with a smile on her face, she said, "Oh, I think you'll be in Ethiopia before July".