Clay & Laura's Big Adventure!

Time is flying by, but a month or so ago it stood still. We were told about the opportunity to adopt a baby with a significant medical condition. We prayed and considered, but we ultimately determined we were not financially and emotionally equipped to take this child. I expected to be chosen to consider a child, but saying no to one never really entered my thoughts. And it is harder than I thought it would be. Even now, it's hard. But I trust and pray for this sweet baby. That he will land safely in the arms of a loving home. I think of the birth mom, and her overwhelm. I think of my own. And trust that her prayers and mine will be answered for this child.

Image by mattvest from Pixabay I really laugh when I read my last post . I meant things were getting real in terms of our adoption feeling more real. But, little did I know the very next day, things would get real in a "life is a struggle" kind of way. The short version is that lots of people were in the hospital for a number of months, and Clay and I faced and are still facing some big decisions that have yet to play out. So, we're in a bit of a limbo in more ways than one; adoption being the number one realm of limbo. Our home study was completed in August, but it took us some time to get the funding together to be all the way in the matching phase. The great news is that we were awarded a grant and received some very generous donations which allowed us to move forward without pausing our adoption process.  We created a profile book for a birth mother to see. It could be shown tomorrow, six months from now, or a year from now. It all depends on how many peop...

Hello friends, It has been way longer than I anticipated before sending an update. The last time I posted was after our first home study visit. Since then, we have fit in a lot of living: sick puppy, family trips, dinner with neighbors, our first dinner at the renowned "Babe's Chicken" with Clay's uncle, and two more home study visits. As with any adventure, the plot thickens. Clay and I asked for prayer for an unspoken prayer request recently. This request involves some tremendous decision-making on our part. We are so thankful for all of you who have been praying, and we ask that you continue to do so. I have been uncharacteristically unanxious, and I know that can only be because of your prayers. So, please keep them up :-) I cannot tell you how good it feels to be through the home study process. Our caseworker was very nice, and I never felt uncomfortable or nervous around her, but the whole process is a bit overwhelming. To have your life, decisions, and fina...

A few years ago, Clay and I embarked on an adventure of a lifetime. We moved to the beautiful Central Coast of California! We loved and cherished our time there, but family brought us back to Texas. Our families and our desire to grow our own family through adoption. We first considered adoption in California after Clay's cancer diagnosis. But, as you will read from this post ( http://clayandlaurasbigadventure.blogspot.com/2015/09/part-3-we-are-really-grown-ups.html ), we weren't quite ready at that time to begin the adoption process. We were overwhelmed and far from home. A few years have passed. We're back in Texas, and we're finally on our way to adopting a child. I feel like we need to pinch ourselves, we're so excited! And so begins a new adventure! I'm so thankful for the time we've had to find a very good adoption agency. The thing that is hard to accept about adoption is that someone else's family is broken so that ours can be complete. I hav...

It was sometime in November 2015 when the fall leaves started to drop their leaves, preparing for changes to come. In my heart, I felt the imprint and significance of this season. I felt the leaves falling in my life. And the coming dormancy before big and new things. I had it in my mind to write more about California, but in winter of 2016, I stopped writing for this blog. Some friends asked me about it, and I told them it was because I was in a waiting place. I could have written about anecdotal things or posted gorgeous pictures of my surroundings. But it would have felt empty and shallow. I had no interest in writing about the surface of things or appearances. I did not want to show only the beautiful or funny or clever. I wanted to authentically represent the ebbs and flows of life. The victories, the challenges, and beauty and the heartbreak. But I did not have words for any of it then. I was just trying to understand it. I knew changes were coming but the when and how were a...

Somewhere along the way, November came and went. So did December, and now January is more than halfway there herself. My mind has been filled with many blog posts along the way, but distraction or adventuring won out and my blog was neglected once again. I do and do not regret it. There were some things on my heart to share, but sometimes you just have to be and cherish those around you. That's a tension I need to figure out to be a more consistent writer. We were spoiled in November & December with family visits, and holiday adventuring. My iPhone is filled with pictures and memories. I love the ease in which smart phones have allowed us to capture a moment. Such a long way we've come from point and shoot cameras of yesteryear. But living here, I've longed for some time for a much nicer camera. What this move taught me, if anything, is that you never know where you'll end up in life.  Less than 6 months before we moved, I had no idea where my town was on the...

Fall is here. And it's an El Nino year. This is our rainy season, and we've had more rain that usual. Not anything like Houston rain...but for California it's dramatic.  5+ feet of mud in mudslides dramatic.  And so we've had big fluffy clouds and lots of fog. Yesterday, I think I swallowed a cloud when I woke up.  And it stayed with me all day. I started in a foggy, sleepy, haze and I came down with a case of the Mondays that lasted the entire day. My routine: Each day, I wake up first. I feed the puppies, take a shower, and then have some time for coffee and meditation. Then I blow dry my hair. About halfway through, I stop and text Clay from downstairs to wake up and take his shower. Yesterday, I followed these same steps, except, I didn't text Clay. I texted Holly. Thankfully, I realized my error quickly and explained my mistake...but that really set the tone for the entire day. Later, I unearthed an email. A very important email. One that determines wheth...