Friday, October 25, 2013

Please join us. . . . .


. . . .for one LAST journey across the sea!

Yes, my friends, we are heading back to Bulgaria one last time.

This journey began over three years ago while we were in Bulgaria visiting Lily and Alexis. It was a beautiful summer day and, as Alexis and I were laughing and playing together in the courtyard, I noticed two little boys watching us longingly from the window. I asked Alexis if she knew who the little boys were. She responded that they were her best friends and with a big grin, waived to them enthusiastically.

I would later learn just how close these three children really were; that they were not simply the best of friends, but more like siblings without actually sharing genetics.

On several occasions during our visits with the girls, one of these boys would run to the front door of the orphanage to hold the door for us as we were leaving. With a smile, he would always wish us a good day and tell us to come again soon. He absolutely captured my heart.

After returning home with the girls, I would often find myself browsing the lists of waiting children in Bulgaria hoping for a glimpse of their sweet faces, or better yet, to learn that they had been adopted. But no such news ever came and more than two years later, I had never seen them listed anywhere.

Alexis spoke of these boys daily, sharing stories and memories and asking me often if they had found families. She missed her friends, her "brothers," dearly and I wished that I could reconnect them somehow.

In the summer of 2012, my good friend returned from Bulgaria with her daughter from the same orphanage. This little girl had also been good friends with Alexis and with these boys. It was through them that we learned that both of these boys had been transferred to the orphanage for older children in the same city and that both of them were still awaiting families. 

It was at this point that a quiet voice whispered to my heart, "These are YOUR children."

But the timing wasn't right.

We soon learned that neither of these boys had ever been registered for adoption. Fortunately, they had many loving, dedicated and passionate warriors fighting for them on both sides of the ocean; willing to climb any mountain and weather any storm to make adoption possible for them.

And that is what it took.

After a year of scaling impossible mountains and weathering some ugly storms, the boys were finally registered and available for international adoption.

And the timing was right!

This week our commitment paperwork was filed with the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria.

We are bringing these boys home!

And we hope that, by this time next year, they will be reunited with their "sister" and friend FOREVER!

We are also blessed to be bringing a third little boy home.

That's right friends! Our adoption journey will end with THREE wonderful additions to our family, bringing us to lucky number 13!

We look forward to sharing this journey with you and hope to share more information about our boys once our commitment paperwork has been officially accepted and approved by the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria.

In the meantime, we hope that you will celebrate this incredible blessing with us. . . . because it really is INCREDIBLE!

8 comments:

Yvonne said...

I am so happy for you guys!! This is so exciting!!! :)

Sally-Girl! said...

Can't wait to see who!!

BiblioPlan said...

Wow. THAT IS SO COOL. Wow! Rob and I will be praying for you! Julia Nalle

Purdon's Pink Army said...

Congrats guys! That's amazing!

Mamapierce said...

It IS incredible. And so are YOU, Valerie!!!

Hevel said...

You do everything in threes, right? :D Enjoy the journey and yay for your family!

Viviane said...

Wow, that's wonderful news. Here's hoping that the boys will be home soon.

BrendaB said...

Wonderful news! So happy for ALL of you.