Tough Day

Just before 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, our phone rang.  Our friends/neighbors of 30+ years died in a house fire.  Their grown kids, also our friends/neighbors, lost both of their parents along with countless family photos, memories, and heirlooms when the house burned early this morning.  Our tiny community is grieving the loss of two wonderful, loving, Godly people.    Please pray for peace and comfort for the family left behind.

As we were trying to get our hearts and minds around this tragedy, I received a call from our adoption agency.  Apparently, none of the seven families in our travel group have a confirmed appointment with the U.S. Embassy.  If the Embassy does not confirm our appointment by Thursday, our trip to bring Isabella home will be cancelled for at least two weeks.  This possibility never occurred to me.  My emotions have been all over the board. 

In the midst of all of this, Jon is working crazy long hours (he is working even as I type this at 12:30 a.m.) but took a break to meet friends in Portland for dinner.  We had not had a proper visit with them for years, but they are the kind of friends (the best kind of friends) who stay in your life forever, you just pick up where you left off.  They were passing through town this one night, and as tough as the day was, we had to make it work.  We had so much fun catching up, which felt strange in contrast to the rest of the day.

Jon and I are both physically and emotionally exhausted.  I cannot stand the thought of waiting two more weeks to give Isabella one-on-one love and care.  Hannah's Hope is incredible, but it is still an institution.  Isabella is not thriving.  At five months old, she weighed less than 13 pounds.  She did not sit independently or roll over.  She suffers from GERD that is going largely untreated. 

Isabella needs us now.  We need her now.  

All that we can do tonight is pray.