So...you wanted me to tell our story

After many requests from friends, I will attempt to tell you our adoption story, the short version. It has been quite a journey of faith and waiting...


In January 2008, I had the privilege to go to Haiti with our church on a medical mission trip. However, I have no medical experience. I didn't even realize it was a medical trip until our packing day one week before the trip. I guess God covered my ears during all the discussions of medical aspect because He knew I would decide to cancel my trip.

People seemed so afraid for me to take this journey. Haiti was SO dangerous or so people thought...never once did I feel uncomfortable or scared. Thank you Lord for your presence. Phillip wasn't sure about this trip. It was my first international trip without him and he too was concerned about the safety of me going to Haiti. But, he heard my earnest desire to go to Haiti and knew I would not go without full understanding that I was supposed to. My parents were not real thrilled with the idea but supported me fully. Anywho...

We when arrived in Haiti, on Monday, we unpacked our bags and settled in. We got everything ready for the medical clinic that was to begin on Tuesday. Then, we journeyed downstairs to the children's quarters and started loving on kids. Oh My Goodness...all they wanted was for you to wrap your arms around them and hug them. Think about your own kids and how much you love on them daily...these children have no one to love on them or tell them how special they are. I still remember the smiles and yearning in their eyes like it was yesterday...

On Tuesday, we began the medical clinic. Since I have zero medical skills, I got the privilege to work in the Pharmacy. I do know how to count...so I could be used here. However, after an hour or so, the missionary brought in a limp, lethargic little boy that was severely malnourished. She handed him to me and said I was his mommy for the week. He was completely my responsibility. My thoughts...no, not me. I don't do babies. Not me, I didn't come to babysit for the week. No, not me...I don't have a nurturing bone in my body. I don't have a lot of compassion...he doesn't speak English...he is too sick...my list went on and on in my head.

But, what's the key to being on mission?  Flexibility...so I took this boy in my arms and IMMEDIATELY fell in love. I spent the rest of the week taking care of this little boy. The aunt told us that his name was Jackenson but I called him Jack Jack and it stuck. Some of the other team members called him Peanut because all he would eat was Peanut Butter. The orphanage still calls him Jack Jack.

When Monday came back around and it was time to leave, emotions rose up in me that I had never felt before. Fear set in for the life of this little boy. How would he make it without me making sure he ate. Sadness overwhelmed me. I had fallen in love with this little Haitian boy and the thought of leaving him in a country with no food and no family caused great heartache. I've never been known to be real emotional but this day I was completely overwhelmed. It was a long ride from the orphanage in Bercy to Port Au Prince. I think I cried the whole trip.

Of course, when I arrived back home, I began to pour my heart out to Phillip about the necessity of going to get Jack Jack and make him part of our family.
However, Phillip was not even close to that. We had spoken of adoption before but God hadn't brought Phillip to that place yet. I cried out of sadness. I cried out of anger. I cried out of frustration. I cried out of fear.

Phillip and I went through some very tough times as a couple due to us being in two different places. After several months of frustration on both our parts, we agreed to pray about this separately. I promised not to bring up the subject of adoption again. We agreed to pray and come back together and discuss when we both had spent lots of time with the Lord about it. My prayer was that God would either change my heart or bring Phillip to the point where I was. But I knew that we had to come together on this decision and we had to be willing to move forward with whatever answer we received.

Well...needless to say God began to speak to both of us separately. In November (10 months later), Phillip went to the Florida Baptist Convention. All he said when he got home was that everywhere he turned, he was hit in the face with the positives of adoption. We said there were booths all over the convention dealing with adoption. All I said was, "really." I still didn't push the issue.

We also received a call one Saturday afternoon asking us if we would be interested in adopting a little Hispanic baby. The parents were both under 15 and wanted it to go to a good home. Phillip and I discussed it and to my surprise, he said for us to do the research and meet with them. Well, as you can tell, that situation never worked out but I'm convinced it was just a stepping stone for us.

Since my trip in 2008, I had a sense of urgency to get back to Haiti. I fell in love not only with Jack Jack and the other kids but also with the people of Haiti. They so much needed to hear about the only real hope. I went through many arguments with God as to why I didn't have the opportunity to return to Haiti. Our church sent three other teams during my season of waiting and the trips never worked out for me to go. Well...now I know :)

God continued to work in both Phillip and I and we came to the understanding that adoption was the way we are to expand our family. Phillip says that we did not choose adoption; God commanded us to do it and we have no choice but to follow Him in obedience.

We started the paperwork in January. I remember Phillip waking me up in the middle of the night and telling me we had to go get Jack Jack. I don't do middle of the night so I was completely out of it. I really didn't get it. But he shook me to wake me up, looked me in the eyes and said, "We have to go get our son." Tears began to fall (they are falling now) and we began to pray for God to lead us each step of the way.

There are way too many God moments to mention but an ah ha moment...
January 12, 2010--massive earthquake hit Haiti (as if you didn't know that)
January 12, 2010--Phillip turned 35
Haiti's #1 requirement on the adoption checklist is that one parent must be 35. Of course, I married an older man so Phillip just met that requirement :)
We didn't even realize this until a week or so after we filed our paperwork. Thank you Lord for one more reminder that we are taking the right steps.


Well..
In March 2010, Phillip and I both were able to lead a team to Haiti to help rebuild from the earthquake. Needless to say, this trip was full of emotion for both of us. This would be Phillip's first opportunity to meet his son and my first reunion with Jack Jack since January 2008. My prayer was that my emotions would not get in the way of what God wanted us to accomplish on this trip. The purpose of the trip was not the adoption...it was to be used by God to bring hope to a nation of hopelessness. However, Jack Jack was just an added benefit. We stayed at the orphanage where Jack Jack lives. We were able to spend every evening with him. We were able to rock him to sleep at night. I'm not sure he had been rocked to sleep since I was there in 2008. We were able to love on him and God confirmed in our hearts that we were on the right road. There was an immediate connection between the three of us and Jack Jack would look for us when we came in the gates from our day and run to us. He would reach his arms up for us to pick him up and give us a huge smile and stare into our eyes with those beautiful dark eyes of his own. Oh My goodness...I'm weeping as I write this...

We are moving on in our process. Our dossier is already in Haiti. Our facilitator is hard at work moving our paperwork through the necessary steps. We are anxiously awaiting Jack's arrival at our home. We are currently working on his room. He will have a nice "boy" room to come home too.

Thank you so much for your prayers with us through this process. Though the waiting is hard and at times frustrating, we know God's timing is perfect and we will wait on Him through all this. We know that God will watch over Jack Jack. I know that Jack Jack gets at least 2 meals a day (which is more than most in Haiti) and gets some interaction while teams are there.

We can't wait to introduce you all to our son, Jackenson Pierre Herrington. But you can call him Jack!