After I filed my taxes I had to wait three to four weeks for the check. The baby was due in four weeks but in God's great plan while I was heading to the store to buy some baby things to take with me to Florida I received a phone call. The baby was still very small and they wanted to change her due date by one week. Now she is due March 7th. That one week gave me a little more time to try to figure how I was going to work out my travel plans and the care of our four boys.
Jason's parents began making plans to drive from Colorado to Washington so they could stay with the boys. I printed up a daily schedule for the boys and directions to every place they could possibly go for the time I would be gone. Yes, I probably went a little over board with the micro managing! While they made their plans for travel, I also began making mine. I booked a one way flight for February 28th and began asking people from church if they knew anyone in Gainesville, Florida that I might be able to stay with. Within just a few days wonderful Miss Ella Mae came to me with fantastic news. He daughter lives in Tampa and had recently been at a work event where she met someone from Gainesville. She had put in a call and the people she met said they would take me in. What are the chances! I dare to say it wasn't "chance". It was the power of God! God was paving the way for this incredible journey.
I spent the next two weeks preparing my home for company as any good wife and mother would do. I suppose instead of saying preparing I could say frantically "death cleaning"! I also purchased the basic necessities that I would need for a new baby. I was still a little hesitant about whether or not I would really get to bring her home so I only bought enough stuff to last about 2 weeks and I left the tags on everything. Looking back on it now it really shows my state of mind and the emotions that I was feeling. I could see how God was working in my life and I trusted in his plan for me to be there for Victoria (the birth mom). That being said I wasn't so sure that his plan was for me to bring home this baby. I was so sure that I needed to be there for Victoria that I made the decision to be there a week before her delivery. Jerry, our adoption counselor was very hesitant about my plans to get there early and spend the week getting to know Victoria. He had simply said, "most adoptive parents meet once just before delivery and then will be there at the hospital." Later he told me that he was really unsure of how things would work out but that he was overwhelmed with feeling like he shouldn't get in the way of God's will.
True to God's plan and his ability to pave my path for me, three days before I left for Gainesville our tax refund arrived. The amount we received would pay for my plane ticket and the adoption in full. At that time I had also received a call from Ella Mae. She told me that the people that I was supposed to stay with had to leave town but another couple named Linda and Marvin had offered to help me out. I packed two bags, one for me and one for the baby. On February 26th I said goodbye to my boys and a friend drove me to the airport at 6 AM. I traveled for the next eighteen hours. By the time I got to Florida I was exhausted. I stepped off the plane and there waiting for me was Linda and her friend Linda (yes, they were the two Linda's). They greeted me with big smiles and even bigger hugs! I stood in a place that was completely foreign to me with people I had never met before. I was totally unprepared for what was to come.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
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