18 months!

We have reached the 18 month mark, but no news yet! We have been busy doing more work on the house, doing the hallway, stairs, landing and main bedroom. Most of the work should be finished this weekend. It will be nice to get some carpet on the floors and paint on the walls!

Luke has not been well and continues to be off work. He is undergoing many tests to find out what's causing him to feel unwell, and we really appreciate your prayers x

We are busy and looking forward to spending time together during half term, and will post pictures soon. Short and sweet this month!

Lots of love

xx

An extra post this month!

As we feel we are going through such a significant time in our Journey with God, I was drawn to this song. We are sensing God calling us into new things, and change can be scary. It also means that he is clearing away wrong beliefs that may prevent us from following His leading. We are being shown the importance of trusting Him and leaning on the truth of His love even when faith is tested and prayers are not answered. True faith is surely trusting God and his goodness when you feel full of questions , saying You are Faithful when you are in the dark.

xx

17 months.

The summer is definitely over! It has felt cold and blustery here for a few days. I am back at work but Luke is not. He had his surgery and the healing is taking time. This is again a steep learning curve.

I feel it is important to stay positive and hopeful, but sometimes God leads you to rely on Him above all else. A place where He becomes our cry and we learn what the phrase He is all we need really means. We have prayed more for this Journey this week than before, and in God's unique way, this Journey is becoming so much more than seeing His plan for our family come to pass. (I find he rarely teaches one thing at a time!) We are being shown His heart, our own weakness and wrong beliefs, our need for spiritual healing and, how walking through pain is going to help us be parents in the future to a child who will know emotional pain. It is hard, and one day we hope to be able to share all the lessons we are learning from a place of strength. For now we are looking to God to increase our understanding and to reveal Himself to us again. We prayed when we were first married, God- whatever it takes, we want to know you more. He took us at our word!

We are so grateful to be walking this Journey together and to have people around us who love us through it! xxx

No news from Peru, and we are trusting His timing. A very interesting programme on BBC2 this week called Adopting Abroad: Saira's Story. A two part documentary following a family adopting through the same agency as us. Not exactly the same process overseas but the same UK part was the same. Might still be online if you get to watch it!

16 months!

Summer break is great! We have been able to catch up with friends and family and keep working on the house. We have stripped the wall paper from the hall, stairs and landing as well as our bedroom. We are in the process of getting some electrics and plastering done, then the painting can begin. After this the kitchen and conservatory are the only rooms left to do. The kitchen counts as about 2 rooms though as it is sooo expensive and a lot of work!

We have been blessed to have chance to relax and unwind. We have spent time just us. We are learning so much about God's guidance, direction and purposes. He is teaching us as usual! Luke has an operation at the end of the month (24th) to correct some problems in his sinuses and throat. Not a nice procedure and we would really value your prayers. We would like his recovery to be smooth and it to solve the issues he has had with his breathing and voice. Thank you!

Pictures of the rooms soon (hopefully!). No news from Peru. We have not had a reply to our letters which is a little frustrating, but TRUST is the lesson here! We are approaching a year and a half approved, and would love to know how close we are, but this is notoriously difficult to measure. We are keen to hear, but the right time will come. Keep you posted, love

10th Wedding Anniversary!

10 years ago today we were married and began this whole journey together. We have spent a few days by the beach, relaxing and resting after a very busy term. Even back then we believed that God had a plan for us that would involve adoption, and we have been holding onto the hope that it is in His hands.

Child-to-be,

We wanted to let you know, that way back at the beginning and today you are in our thoughts. We continue to try and listen to God and His plan for us. You have been long expected and waited for. Your arrival has been planned for and anticipated for many years. Know that you are loved. We love each other and we can't wait to show you the love of a family. xx

Thankful for each other, our network of support, and the hope of things to come x

28~07~01

15 months!

We have needed a few strong coffees this month!

The waiting continues, and we have been trying to find out how we are progressing over in the offices in Peru. We have finally been able to send a letter from the right people to the right people to request an update. We are hoping that this will keep our names fresh in the minds of the department responsible for allocating, and may also give us an idea of where our paperwork is in the process, but any word would be good at the moment!

It is a very anonymous process, with e-mails and phone calls to unseen people. It can feel a little removed and impersonal. Trying to get things done can feel like a battle, and this is a common experience for most people in this process. They sure don't make it easy! So many hoops and so much red tape, but we persevere because we believe this is His plan for our family. We cling on to hope. The hope that will be a LIGHT at the end!

You are constantly in our thoughts. Who will you be? What will you be like? We try to imagine our lives with you around, but it feels so far off in the future.
We are waiting, because we know God will prepare us and you to meet at just the right time, and He has you safe for now. We are waiting because you are waiting too. We wait because there is a far off light, and all the longing will end with us finding you! It is amazing to think that our paths are already set to meet, and that you are already part of our lives. God has a plan, and we will learn to wait patiently until we see things as He does xx

And so we wait ... and we are belssed to know that we don't wait alone x

14 months!

We have had another annual review with our social worker and all went well. We received our renewed approval. so we are allowed to wait for another year! Our medicals had to be renewed too, and they seemed fine.

The past few months have been very frustrating. This waiting is hard, and gets harder as time goes by. But the strange thing is we know that the timing will be right for us and the family we long for, but even so we have a real sense of time lost. Time we could be a family, time we could be enjoying with a child. However, equally we treasure the time we are together, enjoying life and work (most of the time!) and growing together with God. It really is a time of paradoxes (my husband word of the week!). So many emotions and thoughts, some times we feel we make no sense! We thank God for family and friends who try to understand and stick with us!

We continue to work on the house, making the garden safe and secure with fencing and gates, and building storage in our bedroom so that things can get sorted!

Our front garden is now easy to maintain and child proof! Much better than the jungle is was before!

We had a good break from work over half term and managed to get away for a few days. A well needed rest and wind down with no responsibilities! We have a very busy few weeks with it being the last half term of school, and both being teachers means we both rush about as much as each other. Looking forward to the summer break already!

Trusting God and trying to rest in our knowledge of Him,

13 months!

As we have reached a year of waiting, I thought I would share a few songs that have helped me through this time, as we have tried to hold on to the truth and trust God for His strength and provision. The verse we chose at the top of our Blog is a key verse for us, reminding us that He knows us and has the best in mind for us, even if we don't always understand (like why we have to wait so long to be parents!) We have needed reminding a lot sometimes! These songs do that too ...

Our prayer for our child this year has been:
God, We trust you, and know that soon we shall meet the special person you have already chosen to be ours. We pray that they may know your love, that you would be their comfort and hold them until we can. We pray that they get hugs and kisses and fun times! Be present in their life and bring them peace. We hope to meet you soon! xx
This year? ...
Catherine x

One Year Today!

Today we have been on the waiting list for Peru for one year, hoping that they will match us with our child soon. The waiting makes you thoughtful, reflect, feel apprehensive, nervous: yet we have peace (most of the time!) and are OK with timing things to God's timetable, not ours. Soon would be nice but equally we don't feel sorted or ready.

Many parents get a date, a time frame, a new born to slowly get to know. We could have a very active toddler, a Spanish chattering whirlwind! Sometimes I think about the challenges that will bring. We are excited, but are we going to do a good enough job. But I am told that is the thought pattern of every parent! Maybe that means we are just where we should be!!

We are on Easter break now, a great relief and a chance to rest and prepare a few more things. The garden is at the top of our list!! Hopefully we will get the last touches on the spare room done too. I have been so busy at work (just got back from taking 40 kids away for a week!) that there are still things to do. We will get there though. Thanks to our amazing families!

We received a letter to say we need another annual review with our social and medicals soon. We wondered when we had our last one if we would need another. I guess the answer was yes! Will we see our child this year or next?

He knows.

11 months!

The time is slowing down!

11 months means nearly a year and that seems a long time to be expecting the biggest change in our lives. It is hard hearing nothing, no news, no updates, no predicted end date, no count down...only counting up. 11 and counting!

We tried to push to get some news this week. We tried calling Peru, the consulate. We called London, the Foreign Commonwealth Office. Nothing. They can't request information or an update. Rules. So we will try the DFE this week and see if we can get someone in the right rooms in Lima to mention our case, remember we are waiting and think about our family. Will let you know if this gets anywhere.

The bedroom is painted and clean, but not photograph worthy just yet! Soon though! We have some pictures, curtains etc to put up, otherwise it looks rather empty at the moment. Will post when it is just right! We are very pleased with it and feels like a positive step.

If you have the time, please pray for

• patience and trust
• that our phone calls to people would result in a positive conversation, where we are reassured that our case is in hand and we are going to be dealt with soon.

Hope we don't have to wait too many years... the stress would be too much!

God, you know our heart for the lonely, that they be placed in families. We are waiting. In your perfect time, we WILL see this come to pass!

x

10 months!

We have been waiting 10 months now, and are hopeful that this year will see our family grow. We are getting there with our child's room-to-be, having had the electrics and plastering done. We are waiting till half term to paint and decorate, with a fun trip to buy furniture planned too!

The time is going fairly quickly, but we are constantly aware of the process and the wait. Questions run through our minds all the time, as so much of the process is unknown. It was great meeting fellow adopters and chatting about the feelings, up and downs and details of the journey we are all on. A great opportunity!

Work continues to keep us very busy, Catherine having Ofsted recently and Luke working very hard. A good distraction though! Catherine had a great birthday with her parents and Luke, and received lots of very thoughtful gifts and messages! x

We remain ever grateful to our lovely friends and family who support us in prayer and a listening ear. x x Thank you! We hope to have some good news for you soon, but patiently have to give it over to God.

Photos soon!

x

9 months!

We have reached the 9 month mark- is this going to be an elephant pregnancy?! We have had a great few weeks catching up with people over the holiday. We had a double portion of snow, tons of ice and some time together, yet still the break has flown by!

Our street in the snow

We are getting ready to attack the spare bedroom, with the electrician booked! He is coming tomorrow or Tuesday to check out the project. Then wallpaper stripping and a plasterer. Then the good bit, painting and filling with lovely things!

We are meeting fellow Peruvian adopters this month too; we are excited about having another family to share with.

We continue to pray for our future family, and are wondering if this will be the year we get too see God's plan unfold. We still need patience ( a lesson God likes to teach many times!) and trust in his perfect timing. In faith we trust you God x

Winter Greetings, love from