Letters to Jacob

Well today was an exciting day around here.  We finished up the very last piece of the paperwork needed to bring Jacob home.  We are praying that everything is filled in correctly with all the signatures in place.  There is nothing quite like filling out government papers.  It can really give you a headache.

The paperwork was not nearly as fun as what came next - each of us writing letters to Jacob so that he can begin to get to know our family.  It was so fun watching the kids sit down and write, draw pictures and put stickers all over their paper that will soon be in the hands of our little boy.  All of the children had something special to say in their own way.  Joshua wrote about being over in the Philippines and eating all the good food that we are going to experience while there.  Noah wrote about sharing a room with Jacob and Jacob sleeping on the top bunk.  You know how special top bunks are!  Hannah spelled out "I love you and I am your big sister" with letter stickers.  And, Naomi, that little one, wrote the words " you have a mom and a dad - I miss you and can't wait to see you."

All of the letters were so special to me as a mom.  Special because I get to watch our children be part of this journey.  You see, the journey is theirs as well. So often we are asked why we need to spend "so much money" on airfare for all of us to go get Jacob. We must.  There is no option.  This journey is all of ours.  Jacob is all of ours.  There is no way we could ever pick or choose which children get the joy of going over and meeting their own brother for the first time.  So, we have chosen to step out on faith and trust that the Lord, who is over all things, will provide for us.

We have had some set backs with that decision.  One being, we were told by a pilot that you really don't want to fly on "buddy" passes or on stand-by when you have so many in one group and when you are traveling internationally.  It isn't like flying across America on stand-by, which in itself, can be very frustrating.  We also found out that you can't depend on miles.  Our original thought was that people could donate some airline miles to our family. There are so many people who fly often and have tons of extra miles. Well, the airlines make that nearly impossible as well.  We found out that you can only donate up to so many miles to one person at a time.  And, it cost up to $100.00 for the transfer!  Seriously? That put a damper on things.

We continue to put our trust in God who knows all of us by name and knows all of our needs before they are even spoken.  We (our family) have needs.  God knows them and you know them as well.  You have been following our journey, seen the pictures and prayed fervently for Jacob.  Will you continue praying and getting the word out?  Our family will be traveling in an airplane soon and will be able to hand deliver the other letters that will be written in the future.  Thanks to you.

I wanted to leave you with a picture of the Christmas ornament we bought for Jacob this year.  A plane -how fitting.

Jacob - we are coming soon..by air!

Lorrie