Clutching Hope

We recently heard from our agency that we should have Cora's paper referral in our hands in the next couple of weeks! This is what we have been waiting on to be able to move on to the next step. Once it gets here, we'll have the medical information reviewed by a doctor. Then we'll sign every single page and send it back to our agency. The referral will then go through the court system with our dossier. We don't have an estimate on how long this part of the process will take, but it's movement!! Amazing, beautiful, forward movement! 

To celebrate this momentum, J and I decided to finally paint Cora's room! The fact that she will be coming home feels tangible for the first time. We've had a blast getting more paint on each other than on the walls and picturing the days that our sweet baby will spend in this room. Even Grandma Golly has been taking part in the fun! We painted the walls in a Disney color called I Can Fly. That makes my Peter Pan loving heart so stinkin happy! Just this simple act of painting her room makes me feel like we are taking back a little control of this journey that has so often sent us into a tailspin. 

The wall color with the colors we've picked out for accents.

The hard days of this process are far from over. We will still face delays and there is always a possibility of more setbacks, but living in the fear of these unknowns is not what God has planned for us. 

I have had the privilege of knowing and meeting some amazing moms who are currently walking or have walked this road ahead of me. One of the many things I've learned from these incredible women is that we all see the hard days. There is not a one of us who hasn't seen heartbreak, loss, and uncertainty. Giving in to the grief and the fear doesn't equip us to bring our babies home. Clutching, scrabbling onto the hope that one day we will hear those sweet voices and smell that precious baby smell keeps us going. I have been and continue to be so blessed by knowing, learning from, and leaning on these precious ladies. God amazes me all the time with how He places people in our lives for the perfect reason and at the perfect time.  

For now, we will keep walking with hopes held high and preparing for Cora to finally come home. We will be adding finishing touches to her room over the next few weeks including a tactile mural done by Grandma Golly. I'll post more pictures as we make progress!

Just a little preview of what's to come! :-)