Can I get a Halleluja?

Hmmm... where should I start? Should I give the quick and easy version stating the good news or should I narrate how it all went down so everyone can experience the nail biting, nervous anticipation and then overwhelming, mind boggling elation that we experienced? Well, since no one spoke up I suppose I will go with the latter and hope that you all find this as amazing as I did :)

Calls and emails to our lawyer last week didn't even get a response out of him let alone any news of word from the bfather. Luckily, on Sunday and Monday we had my wonderful mother-in-law (MIL) in town on her way home after spending the weekend with Angie (the bmom). She was headed out "Greyhound Style" (on the bus) Monday morning but first had to exchange her ticket. While waiting with my dear husband (DH) at the bus depot they decided to give the bfather a call. However, despite the notes that she had written and all the worked up anticipation, she got his voicemail and decided to hang up.

Now I'm not sure if this is his usual M.O. or not, but just minutes later he called my MIL back asking if she had just called his cell. She explained that she had and told him who she was (they knew each other from when Angie was dating him so it wasn't a first time introduction) and asked him what he was thinking about the letter he had received from our lawyer. According to him he never received the letter, though some of the legal language he used later in the conversation made my MIL think otherwise. So she explained the situation to him and laid out all of his options for him if he decided to parent the child. Her goal throughout the conversation was to him know that she was there to support him not to force his hand or judge him and according to DH she did a spectacular job! In the end he asked for a few days to think about it which in an of itself was great news to us because we'd already been waiting 2 weeks for an answer, not to mention the months prior to the letter that we had been preparing for River not knowing how the bfather would react. A few days was definitely a time frame we could work with!

My MIL and DH got her ticket exchanged and decided to head to our house to wait until the bus was scheduled to leave. As they were walking in the door my MIL got another call from the bfather. Apparently in a matter of 30 minutes something had happened to help him make up his mind and he asked that all of the paper work be sent to him so he could sign his consent to the adoption! My MIL and DH were doing cartwheels when she got off the phone and when DH contacted me at work I burst into tears of relief! The biggest hurdle that all involved were so afraid of had been overcome :)

I've got to give props to my Heavenly Father because, thanks to His love and guidence, part of me was not surprised at all. Part of me felt like I knew this is how it would go from that beautiful day in February when Angie asked us to adopt this child. The Lord has been there from day one making sure that all the right connections were made and that we all were prepared for such an awesome experience. And who even knows how far back His preparation of all those involved began? In some ways I feel like for me it was the day we found out we were going to lose our little angel last year and in other ways I feel like for me it was way back in the 80's when I first showed my independent streak and decided that the "normal" path was not the path for me whether it was in the clothes I wore, the music I listened to or the career I chose. But most likely it was back before we came to this earth and we were all hanging out together and decided that this was the life that we wanted to live. Angie, myself, DH, bfather, MIL, FIL, my parents, my siblings, DH's siblings, our friends, and of course... River!

I also want to give props to my MIL who had the guts to call the bfather and get this great news for us. We wouldn't have any news to celebrate without her help! I also want to say thanks to all of you who have supported us and kept us in you thoughts and prayers. I want to let you all know that in doing so you have taught us so much about love and we promise to pass it on to the little one :) And last but certainly not least I want to thank Angie and the bfather for the opportunity to bring River into our family. What better gift could anyone give in life?

Can I get an Amen? :)