Well, the roller coaster ride in this process continues. We were informed on Thursday evening that the birth mother of our referred child has changed her mind. Apparently, she has some extended family that did not know she had given him up for adoption. When the extended family was told, they decided to provide the financial support to help her keep him. We will now be placed back on the top of the waiting list, so we will be offered the next referral that comes to the orphanage.
As you can imagine, this news was difficult to hear. On one hand, it’s good to see a family come together to support one another. It’s also good to see family members stay together rather than be separated. On the other hand, it’s amazing how attached we can become to a few pictures over such a short period of time. We know that this is not the end of the process and that another referral will come very soon, but it’s still not easy to let go of this child, who was ours for the last two weeks. We believe that God’s plan is better than ours, but we don’t understand it at times.
So, please continue to pray for our son, who we have yet to meet. He has probably already been born at this point, so pray that all of his physical needs will be met. I would also ask you to pray that God will provide for the needs of Mauro Jose and his mother.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
Casey and Stephanie
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
It's a Boy!
Well, he's here! Stephanie and I are excited to let you all know that we have received and accepted a referral! I’ll just go ahead and give you what you want, his stats.
Birthdate: March 24, 2007
Weight at birth: 7lb 8oz
Given Name: Mauro Jose Lopez Martinez
Name: Joseph Cooper Allums
Here is how it happened. We received the call on Thursday, June 7th and all of his information that evening. After talking and praying, we began telling our family over the weekend. I apologize that we were not able to tell you sooner, but we thought it might be a good idea to tell our parents and family prior to making the announcement. We officially accepted the referral on following Monday.
Now let me attempt to answer some of your likely questions.
From this point, it will likely be between 6 to 8 months before we can bring him home. We will receive monthly updates which include weight and length measurements along with new pictures. Speaking of pictures, you are probably wandering why we haven't posted any. Well, let me try to explain. Until we received his pictures with his referral, we assumed we would be posting pictures as soon as we received them. After we accepted the referral, however, we both began to feel differently. I know this is probably irrational and difficult to understand, but since he's not here with us, the closest thing we can do is show our pictures of him to people in person. This seems to be rather therapeutic, because we get very excited when we can show off his pictures to people. And we will need all of the thearpy we can get to make it through the next 6 - 8 months. As the process continues, we may change our mind, but for now I hope that you all understand or at least respect our decision to not post his picture. Now, when you see us in person, you will be forced to look at every one of his pictures!
Many of you are probably wandering about his name. Stephanie and I have always liked the name Cooper, so we decided to incorporate part of his given name, Jose, which is Spanish for Joseph.
Activity in the process seems to move in waves and this was a big one. Now we will move back into a period of waiting for the process to move forward in Guatemala.
God has been so good to us, so please join us in thanking and praising Him for his blessings and faithfulness. Also, please continue to pray for our son and that the process will move swiftly and without delay. Everyday the process is delayed is another day we will not be able to spend with him and watch him grow up.
Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and support you have provided throughout this process. You do not know how much that has encouraged and lifted our spirits.
Casey and Stephanie
Birthdate: March 24, 2007
Weight at birth: 7lb 8oz
Given Name: Mauro Jose Lopez Martinez
Name: Joseph Cooper Allums
Here is how it happened. We received the call on Thursday, June 7th and all of his information that evening. After talking and praying, we began telling our family over the weekend. I apologize that we were not able to tell you sooner, but we thought it might be a good idea to tell our parents and family prior to making the announcement. We officially accepted the referral on following Monday.
Now let me attempt to answer some of your likely questions.
From this point, it will likely be between 6 to 8 months before we can bring him home. We will receive monthly updates which include weight and length measurements along with new pictures. Speaking of pictures, you are probably wandering why we haven't posted any. Well, let me try to explain. Until we received his pictures with his referral, we assumed we would be posting pictures as soon as we received them. After we accepted the referral, however, we both began to feel differently. I know this is probably irrational and difficult to understand, but since he's not here with us, the closest thing we can do is show our pictures of him to people in person. This seems to be rather therapeutic, because we get very excited when we can show off his pictures to people. And we will need all of the thearpy we can get to make it through the next 6 - 8 months. As the process continues, we may change our mind, but for now I hope that you all understand or at least respect our decision to not post his picture. Now, when you see us in person, you will be forced to look at every one of his pictures!
Many of you are probably wandering about his name. Stephanie and I have always liked the name Cooper, so we decided to incorporate part of his given name, Jose, which is Spanish for Joseph.
Activity in the process seems to move in waves and this was a big one. Now we will move back into a period of waiting for the process to move forward in Guatemala.
God has been so good to us, so please join us in thanking and praising Him for his blessings and faithfulness. Also, please continue to pray for our son and that the process will move swiftly and without delay. Everyday the process is delayed is another day we will not be able to spend with him and watch him grow up.
Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and support you have provided throughout this process. You do not know how much that has encouraged and lifted our spirits.
Casey and Stephanie
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