Monday, February 13, 2006

The Long Journey

wow, where do I begin...our journey started over two years ago. a journey we couldn't wait to begin...a journey that we knew would be rough at times, but would lead us to the child God had chosen for us. what an interesting and amazing journey it has been so far.
we decided to adopt from india in the fall of 2003. after much study and research, we found dillon international, an adoption agency in tulsa, ok. we anxiously started the process and were deep into paperwork by january 2004. after doctor's visits, home-studies, several adoption classes and paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, we were put on the waiting list in july of 2004. wow, when i sum everything up it sounds so fast! not so, believe me! once on the waiting list, we quickly moved from #9 in july, to #3 in november. i was positive we would have a referral by christmas.
okay, the one thing i know for sure about adoption is that nothing is for sure!
in december, we found out that the facility in india (where our little girl would be born), was trying to get recertified by the indian government. it's just a standard thing that every facility has to go through in india. well, we quickly found out that things don't work the same in india as they do here. our adoption was basically on hold for 9 months. this was an excruciating time in the tucker household! we had been presented with other opportunities to adopt other children or even switch to adopt from another country, but we KNEW that a baby in india was waiting for us. it's the kind of feeling when you know something to be absolute truth and you would bet your life on it. sometimes it's hard to understand why God does what He does. we struggled and prayed and struggled and prayed, and come to find out...God knows what He's doing! i know you're shocked!
on october 21st, we received a referral of a baby girl named supritha. she was born on may 20th, 2005. she's the most beautiful thing i've ever seen! she has the biggest eyes, the prettiest complexion and the cutest dimples! we received a video of her in december 2005 and she seemed so happy. that really put my mind at ease. God has truly blessed us with the perfect child for our family.
we are now waiting for the indian government to grant us guardianship and then we can file for her passport. when we receive her passport, we will finally be on our way to india. hopefully, we will travel in late march to early april.
thank you to all who have prayed for us and cried with us during this time. you will never know how much we love and appreciate you.

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