Travel Plans On the Horizon

Courts re-open in just 2 weeks!!!! We are so excited for the ball to start rolling again. There is a group of families before us who have their court dates scheduled for Oct. 8. (About 6-8 families I believe.) They have also been given tentative travel dates of Oct 25th. I'm thrilled for them, and saddened at the same time, as I was holding out hope of them traveling sooner than the 25th, and my travel group traveling at the end of October. However, it appears that we will wait until our turn in November. Perhaps November 1st???? A mom can hope, right? Besides, little Woody and Jessie (AKA Sam & Eden) may not be happy if we aren't here to see them parading around on the 31st dressed as these characters. :)

Anyway, if you could please remember us and all the other waiting families over the next month. (I believe our court date is sometime mid-October.) Pray for the courts to run smooth, and quick. Pray for families to get through their court dates ON their allotted dates. And one last HUGE request for us, is please remember our flights in your prayers. We moved forward in faith to try and use Frequent Flier Miles for our flights. (One blessed family has plenty for our roundtrip airfair!) Pray this can happen. With the condition that airlines are in, this is one of those shady areas. I can't stress enough though how we need that to be our means of travel.

So, I'll keep you posted these next couple of weeks! We're almost there!!!! Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we wait.

2 Months and Counting

Well, today is the 2 month mark of meeting Malachi. I must say, it's gone quick ... no it hasn't ... yes it has .... no it hasn't. Ugh...... How do you judge time when you are waiting for a piece of yourself to come home??? Hmmmm.... Well, hopefully we only have about 1 1/2 to 2 months left. So, I guess I'm at least half way there. Hohum....

In other news... how do you like my new blog layout??? Pertty, huh???? Thanks to a good friend - Lindsay Boyle - my blog got a facelift. I love it!! I can't wait until those pictures up top can show the real star of this particular blog!

Beautiful Song that IS my heart!

Sara Groves has an album out entitled "Station Wagons". It is a favorite at the Britton household, and the babes often fall asleep listening to it. And although I've heard this CD a MILLION times over, a song jumped out to me just last night that is exactly my heart toward Malachi these last several months. (It is a wonderful song for any mom toward their child, adopted or not ... so you should listen regardless of where your babies come from!) The video is sadly some lame video someone posted on YouTube...so just listen on a different window while reading the words on this page. In case you don't feel like doing that, you can just read the words below if you'd rather ... but you should listen to it. :)

Oh, and we got an update on Malachi today along with some more pictures from the Director of the home he is in. We can't wait! 1 month and 2 days until courts re-open!!!

Prayers for This Child
by Sara Groves

I do not know how I am to pray for this child
as a mother I don't want my baby denied
but in the waiting in the waiting
I learned

every instinct in me wants to shield him from pain
take the arrows of misery heartache and blame
but in the sorrow in the sorrow
I learned to hold on

I only have two eyes - be all seeing
I only have two hands - be everywhere
I do not know enough - to be all knowing
I give this baby up into your care

I do not know how, how to pray for this child
I want to guard her from everything wicked and wild
but in the trial in the trial
I learned to hold on
And in the trial, in the trial
I learned to hold on to the heart of God

A Mother's Heart

Someone asked me at church this morning if I already loved Malachi like he was mine. It didn't even take him finishing his question for me to blurt out "YES" !!! He replied with a "wow, cool .... really?" Haha. I went on to try to explain it.

There is some poem out there that talks about an adopted child stating something along the lines of ... while my other children grew UNDER my heart, you grew IN my heart. (Funny how the part of the poem that says "you grew under my heart" doesn't say anything about heartburn!) I've never posted that poem, because it's a little too high on the cheese scale for my liking (no offense to those of you who've posted that poem). Before we entered the adoption process, I had wondered if I would or could love an adopted child as much as my biological children. And to be honest, I had that same fear with every biological child I had .... how could I love her as much as Provi. Then it was how can I love him as much as Eden. Guess what?? I love Eden as much as Provi, and Sam as much as Eden. God began this adoption process by opening a corner of my heart to love yet another child.... as much as Provi, Eden and Sam. As we continued to walk in the process, I began to fall more and more in love with this child of my heart. To the point where now, as I wait for him, I feel like part of me is missing because he isn't here. Part of our family is missing because he isn't here. I don't have to hold him, or know him to know I love him. It's my mother's heart. Malachi's mom at that!

My Malachi Fix

I got a Malachi fix today!!! A family that traveled a couple weeks ago were able to get me some pictures today! We made a little "care package" for him also that they so graciously packed into their already tight suitcase for us. It was hard to decide what to send my baby that lives across the ocean ... but we came up with a few things. We sent an outfit that is just for him. (They share all their clothes, toys, and blankets. So I thought I'd send him something that was just HIS.) It had guitars and drums all over it, since he is his fathers son. (However, from the pictures we got, I'm thinking I should have gone with the "love of basketball" theme as opposed to the "love of music" theme that ARE his daddy. Read on ... ) We sent a little stuffed giraffe rattle, a hat, some booties, and a blanket given by his little friend here in the US - Noah. My personal favorite though, was a teething picture book. It's a book that he can munch away on while viewing pictures we placed in it. I loaded it up with pictures of us - his new family. The pictures I received of him with this book are priceless to me. I'm DYING to post all our pictures of him. But alas, I cannot ... still.

One other thing that Aaron and I couldn't get enough of were his HUGE hands. Seriously folks ... huge. (Thus, my above reference to going with the "love of basketball". Aaron is already calling talent scouts on his behalf.) So, even though I can't post pictures of Malachi, I think I came up with something that I could post. Here is all I can "show" you of our little guy. :)

Bitter Sweet

A very tragic thing happened yesterday to another family adopting through our agency. Their precious baby girl went to be with Jesus. She was sick with pneumonia. All day yesterday my heart hurt for them. It also took me right back to my feelings thatI've been trying to ignore of not being able to be there to care for my child. I can't imagine the depths of this emotion that the Joners are now feeling. (I put their name so you can pray for them by name please.)

In my concerns, I needed to know if Malachi was okay. This is the second baby in 2 months to have pneumonia in Malachi's home. I know I haven't shared much about Malachi on here, because legally I can't. But what I can tell you, is that it would be not good for him to get such a sickness. (I know, it isn't good for anyone .... enough about that.) So I sent an email to the director of the home he is in asking if he was healthy. We woke up to a reply email from her this morning that he indeed is VERY healthy, and very very happy.

While the news of my healthy son brings me a sweet feeling, I'm left with that darn bitter taste of the loss the Joners are feeling .... and trying again to squash the feelings I have that hurt so bad of not being with him.

Anyway, pray for the Joners, pray for Malachi's continued good health (I can't even stress how big of a relief this was to us to hear he is healthy), pray for the other children in the home to continue to grow healthy. Pray for October to come yesterday. :)

Heartbreaking

That's the only word we can come up with for this part of our journey. We have been told to expect to travel in November. And while we understand that our hopeful date of mid Oct. is not that far off from Nov. .... it's still heartbreaking. You are on the other side of the world, and there is not a darn thing we can do about it.

We've received pictures and written updates regarding your health and habits. For this we are grateful ... and we are especially grateful that your health is improving, slowly but surely. And although we know that my brisket would really do the trick .... you are getting the best care you can right now. :)

We are making room for you here at home!!! We purchased a loft bed for you and Sam's room this week. Sam is so excited to get the top bunk! And he also is not really understanding that just because he's getting his new bed to share with you ... that you, in fact, are NOT coming WITH the bed. Darn..... We are about to start homeschooling your sisters too. Sam asks what he gets to do for school. I've told him he gets to be your teacher. He's pretty pumped about this. He says he will teach you how to build the train tracks, and race the cars. Hopefully he will NOT teach you how to dress up in his sisters princess gowns (which is something your sisters think is pretty funny to do to him). I've also started to pull out all the clothes that your big brother once wore (and some others we've been given) to have your drawers all ready for you. (If only I knew what size you were in....) Eden is learning to ride her bike longer distances so that you can ride in the trailer with Sam! And Providence is helping me figure this all out!! She is such a big helper, and I just know you are going to love the attention and care you receive from her.

I don't understand the phenomenon of missing someone you've never met .... but oh do I miss you!!! Every passing day brings us one day closer to bringing you home. Our hearts ache for that day. Until then ... rest in the arms of Jesus my son!