March and April Waitlist Numbers and Update

It's been a while! Quite a while, in fact, but we're back with our updates and with some news as well. And no. We don't have a referral yet (boo!).

But first, the numbers...

Girl:
November - 26
December - 26
January - 22
February - 21
March - 19
April - 18

Boy:

November - 19
December - 16
January - 15
February - 15
March - 14
April - 13

Siblings:

November - 7
December - 4
January - 4
February - 4
March - 4
April - 4

We've been slow going for a while now, as you can see. I suppose that's why I haven't been motivated to post an update lately. But honestly, though both Travis and I have gone through our moments of doubt and moments of great faith throughout our adoption journey (which we've been pursuing for close to three years now), I know we are where we're intended to be. 

God's timing is alway perfect. And while we can only guess at the reasons our adoption is taking so long, we can rest assured that our family (including our new little ones) are in God's capable and loving hands. 

Now for the news: Each year, we need to update and renew our homestudy. We usually begin the process each November, and each time we renew, we revisit our referral parameters. 

Last November, we went through the usual process, but for the first time, Travis mentioned that he thought we should expand our referral parameters to 36 months for all lists, which would mean that we would be open to being referred a girl or boy 0-36 months old at the time of referral or a set of two siblings up to 36 months old. 

My response? No.

I wasn't for it. I had always imagined bringing a baby home, and there was just so much more to think about with older children (It sounds so calloused when I say it out loud!). 

So, we kept our parameters as they were: 0-12 months for a girl or boy and 0-24 months for siblings. 

Recently, however, Travis began a new job (which is a huge blessing from God), which requires us to do an addendum to our homestudy. I contacted our social worker, got the ball rolling, and passed it along to Travis who would have to discuss his new job with our social worker. 

Once the draft of the addendum was complete, our agency emailed it to me for review. I read through the document, and it all looked fine. But as I read the words, "There are no changes to the referral parameters," something inside of me happened.

Still, I tried to respond to our agency, telling them to proceed, but I couldn't send the email. Travis and I need to talk, I thought. What's interesting, however, is that I still didn't want to change our parameters. I was still fighting it.

Travis came home, we discussed our parameters, but still, I told him I didn't want to change them. Why, then, Travis asked, was I bringing it up again? I knew his position. He wanted to expand them, and I didn't. Yet, I couldn't send this email keeping them as they were.

As I'm sure you can imagine, it's been a long road for us, and we really would like our children to be home with us, but I didn't want this to be motivation to expend our parameters. I didn't want impatience to motivate our decision. But after talking with Travis, he assured me this had no baring on his desire to make this change.

Travis and I continued to talk. We prayed. I sought counsel from close friends. And at the end of it all, it became so clear. 

We were being called to change our parameters.

And so this is where we currently find ourselves. It's quite a change, but both Travis and I believe we may be called to adopt an older child. 

This means we may be bringing home a three year old (or two for that matter)! 

And here's what we've been up to since our last update in February:

"Toothless" - Ella lost two teeth in two days!

Easter!

 Things that make a mommy's heart melt: 

"I'm happy that you are my  mom." - Avery

I am so blessed!

 I have a dream... "that I can teach people about Jesus to help make the world better." - Ella

My prayer and dream as well! 

Mommy and Ella "special time"

Last Ski Day of the Year

 Avery and "Wolfie"

Spring has sprung.

Exploring and Park Days with Friends 

Our Tulip Bed

The Sacramento Zoo

Our Trip to the Wine Country

Okay. We're going to try to be better at posting each month! Until next month...

February Waitlist Numbers

Hello Blogosphere! This is Travis again with your monthly Coombs family adoption status update. Part of me enjoys writing these posts because I get to use cool terms like “blogosphere” while the other part of me feels bad for you readers, because I am no where near as eloquent and “good” (how’s that for eloquent?) at this as my wonderful bride Laurie is.

I am stepping out on a limb here and introducing a term that has been foreign to this blog thus far... 

Transition - Noun. Defined as “movement, passage, or change from one position, state, subject, concept, etc., to another.”

Over the past 8 - 12 months I have settled into a state of numbness with our adoption where I became emotionally indifferent to the process, our status on the wait list, and even the concept of welcoming another child into our family. The high points of being so excited to bring our little one home contrasted with the low points of thinking that it was never going to happen started to take a toll on my psyche. As such, I built a cozy little cocoon (Remember that movie with Steve Guttenberg? 80’s movies are rad!) around myself to insulate my heart from excessive amounts of disappointment. 

Well... this is the first time that I have felt as though we are transitioning from the monotonous waiting period into a time when the reality of our adoption IS going to come to fruition! The closest thing I can liken it to is the “nesting period” that pregnant women experience shortly before their delivery. 

Most of you probably can’t understand what I mean here, but... earlier in this post, I said “I am stepping out on a limb...”. What I mean by that is that I truly feel as though I am exposing my heart to the possibility of another let down. If I could, I’d ask you all to pray that this is indeed the home stretch for Laurie, Ella, Avery and I; and that we will indeed bring our child home soon. I pray that Ella and Avery can stop starting their bedtime prayers with “Dear God, please bring our baby home soon”, and they can start with “Dear God, thank you for bringing our baby brother/sister into our family.”

Lastly before we get to our current wait list numbers, I want to express a sincere THANK YOU! from Laurie, the girls, and I for everyone’s support, prayers and encouragement. Believe it or not, we will have been on the waiting list for two years this coming April. We wouldn’t have made it this far without the wonderful support network we have around us.

So.... drum roll please... February wait list numbers are:

Girl:

September - 29

October - 28

November - 26

December - 26

January - 22

February - 21

Boy:

September - 22

October - 22

November - 19

December - 16

January - 15

February - 15

Siblings:

September - 8

October - 8

November - 7

December - 4

January - 4

February - 4

I know... a little anti-climactic eh? Still a ways to go, but we’re getting there. 

Here’s what we’ve been up to the past couple months (since we skipped last month's update):

New Year's

Avery began Kindergarten! (Apparently we don't do things the "normal" way)

Sledding with friends...

The "Condo"

Special Daddy, Ella Day

Our Family

 Happy Girl

 The Girls

Ella's Assignment From School

Seaweed!

Ella, Mommy Time

Until next time...

December Waitlist Numbers

We just got our waitlist numbers, and I'm too excited to write anything before I share them with you, so here they are:  

Girl:

July - 33

August - 30

September - 29

October - 28

November - 26

December - 26

Boy:

July - 24

August - 22

September - 22

October - 22

November - 19

December - 16

Siblings:

July - 8

August - 8

September - 8

October - 8

November - 7

December - 4

We're getting so close! Please keep us in your prayers. I pray for God's perfect timing, but as I'm sure you all know by now, I sure do hope His timing is soon!! Though I know I must, I just cannot wait to hold our new little one(s) in my arms for the first time and to FINALLY bring them home! 

Still, we continue to wait with patience (as much as we still have on reserve) and trust that the providence of God will prevail.

...

A little story.

Last week, our girls watched an old Christmas cartoon. In it, orphan children opened Christmas gifts, but the quality of the gifts were poor, and after a short time of play, all were broken. The children cried as their hopes dashed just as quickly as they rose. 

After watching the show, I noticed a dramatic change in our five year old daughter's countenance. She was close to tears as I asked her why she was so sad.

"Mommy, why did God make orphans?" she asked. 

"Honey, God didn't make orphans," I said, as I began to explain why bad things are in the world, "There are orphans because sin is in the world," I concluded. 

"Well, then, why doesn't God tell everyone to help the orphans?" She asked. 

"He does. He tells each of us to care for both the widow and the orphan. Not everyone is called to adopt, but all are called to participate in one way or another to help orphans," I said.

"What can we do to help?"

"Well, we're adopting. When we bring our babies home, they won't be orphans anymore. They'll be ours. They'll have a mommy and a daddy. They'll have two amazing sisters. And there will be two less orphans in the world!"

"But what else can we do?" she asked with a tear streaming down her cheek. 

Watching my five year old wrestle with the question we're all intended to ask ourselves has been a beautiful experience. The question tough to face, but we all must.

What can we do? 

How do we solve the worldwide orphan tragedy? How can we share the love of Christ with these beautiful children? How can we show them (not just tell them) that they matter, that their life was not a mistake, that they are loved by not only the one and only true God, but by us? 

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do know this. When looking at the sheer number of orphans throughout the world, the problem can seem daunting. So much so, in fact, that we simply give up before we even begin, erroneously thinking, any effort we take won't make a dent in the problem. But let's take a moment to look at the issue at hand.


UNICEF estimates there are 143-210 MILLION orphans worldwide. This number doesn't include trafficked or enslaved children or those in countries who don't report to UNICEF, so in my mind, this is a low number. 

Still, there are an estimated 7 billion people living in the world today, 4.2 billion of which claim to be Christians. 

So, if each Christian played their part and answered God's call to care for the orphan, the problem would, theoretically, be solved. As we've mentioned before, not all people are called to adopt, but I know several people who would adopt if it weren't for the high cost. They simply cannot afford to adopt. So, perhaps, if you're not called to adopt, you are called to supply financial assistance to a family who has the desire to supply the love and care to an orphaned child by becoming their "forever family." 

Honestly, I cannot tell you what role you're intended to play, but I do know each of us are called to act in one way or another. Alone, we do make a difference. Together, we can achieve the unimaginable. If each of us do something, no matter how small, there will be change. Change we can see! 

All I ask is that you begin to pray about what role God would have you play in orphan care. 

Here's what we've been up to since our last update:

Avery's Christmas Program

Christmas!

Pearler Beads

Skiing!

Thank you, once again, for the continued support and prayers!!! We hope and pray you had a very merry Christmas and had fun bringing in the new year!

Happy 2013!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! We pray for blessings and joy this Christmas season for all of you!

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