How it all began- Part 1

We have always hoped to adopt a little girl in the future, but this opportunity fell into our lap... actually the Lord placed it there. But the story is one of faith and patience.
One Monday morning in February I recieved a phone call from a woman at a church in Washington. She was looking for help in locating Christian adoption agencies in our area. She had called our church, as they know our pastor, and our receptionist gave her my number, as I help run a foster care/ adoption ministry through the church. As I was speaking with this woman I found out that they were looking for a home for a baby to be born in May. She said that it was very important that this baby would have a good Christian family. So I asked, out of curiosity, if the baby was a boy or a girl... she answered that it is a girl. The excitement I felt was indescribable! I expressed my interest and told her our story and she was very excited to see how God led them to us. We also found out that this other church is one that John attended as a child, and this other pastor baptized him.
Our next step was to wait a week and a half, until the mama would be meeting with the pastor to talk about her options. I got the call on a Friday that she had decided that adoption was a good choice for her, and she would consider us as an adoptive family, along with another family who lived near her. The church was asking that I put together a portfolio with information and pictures in it... so I worked on it all weekend. Here is what it included:

1. A typed letter from John and I to mama.
2. About 7 pages of pictures of our family
3. One page for each of my children, with a picture of them and a letter they they wrote to mama, or a picture they colored.
4. Letters from 5 of our close friends, and my mom.
5. A sealed, hand written letter from me to mama.

They recieved our portfolio on a Wednesday, and mama got it that evening. And then.... more waiting. Our wonderful pastor called the church to give a recommendation for us, which was awesome. It was very hard to be patient but he reminded me to "Pray and Watch." The next Monday morning I got a call from the church letting us know that mama had chosen us! I made more phone calls that day then I do in an entire week. I can not describe the emotional rollercoaster I felt: excited, nervous, scared, anxious, confused... you name it.