I can not believe today is Mercy's 1st birthday. Cody and I debated on how we should mark the occcasion. We finally decided on just a family night. I also planned to make a cake, but with the garage sale the past 3 days and the fact that we'd attended two birthday parties and one wedding in the last 24 hours, we opted for frozen custard instead. We ate dinner at Freddy's Frozen Custard... the burgers are yummy and the new berry crunch concrete was delish! Avery prayed for our dinner and added at the end, "And Happy Birthday to Mercy, and send her here now. Yes, now! Amen."
After dinner, we rolled (we had to roll b/c our tummies were so full!) over to Target and bought Mercy a few gifts. We decided on a couple of little outfits and a teddy bear. Also, two sweet friends bought Mercy some birthday gifts. We are so blessed by our fabulous friends who are forever encouraging us. We love the beautiful frame and the adorable album!
When we started pursuing this adoption there was no doubt in my mind that she would be home by now. I remember my mom saying, "Well, maybe you'll have her home by her birthday." And me thinking, "Of course!!". But obviously, God had a different plan. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I like to be in control of things. I like to know what's going to happen and when. I like to have a schedule and a calendar mapped out, so I can keep everything running smoothly. Anytime I've been waiting on a big event, I like to "keep track" or have small milestones to conquer in the meantime. Now, these are not necessarily things I share with people because I do want to people to realize how truly neurotic I am. These range from everything from "the next time I have to buy makeup we will have moved" to "by the time this coupon expires the new baby will be here". Or "I probably won't make my next allergy shot in 3 weeks" to one of my favorites, "we will be on vacation by the time this milk expires". These are just little things I keep before me as reminders of how we are progressing towards any goal. Here's the problem with this neurotic behavior as it relates to adoption- many of my milestones have come and gone... ok, pretty much all of them. Her birthday was the biggest one of these for me. I kept telling myself that she would be here for her birthday. But she is not, and that's ok. Why? Because, thank God, we are working on His timetable and not mine. He knew everything that's gone in the past few months before it happened. Nothing surprises Him. Why would I want my timeline, when he's the one that created time? So I'm moving forward, trusting the Lord, and continually reminding myself that God is in charge-- not me.
A side note to Mercy: "Some day, I will print all of these blog posts off for you and put them in a scrapbook (or I'll bribe one of my friends into doing it, since I'm very un-scrapbooky). I want you to read this and know how much we love you on this day. I doubt you did much today to celebrate this milestone, but I want you to know that we did. We woke up thinking about you, we prayed for you, we wore our Mercy t-shirts, and we told all of our friends and family that today you turned 1. People all around the country thought of you today, sent special message to us, and prayed for you. And I promise that when you do get home we are going to throw a huge party. You are loved baby girl."
I know in the grand scheme of things our adoption is really not taking that long. There are people that wait years to bring their children home. So, today for Mercy's birthday, I will count my blessings and pray that one day soon I will hold her in my arms. But God, our milk expires on the 28th, my next allergy shot is on the 1st, and the Libraries of Love team leaves on the 5th!
**I did get an e-mail from my attorney today. He said that he is working on our case this weekend and may be filing our application with the courts early next week. Now realistically, that could mean weeks from now, but I am encouraged! Please pray for us to get a favorable judge and a quick court date.
