Going for a visit!

I'm bursting with excitement!! It's official! We are going to visit Stevenson!

Tom and I have been LABORING over the decision whether we should go along with the mission team in a few weeks to visit Stevenson. I haven't seen him in a year and a half! and Tom a year! We never dreamed he wouldn't be home by now and it has been so hard on us - we can't imagine how hard it has been on our son.

We know that the kids get so excited when a mission team shows up - we also know that friends of ours have visited in the past year and when they give him the gift we sent along and aren't there in person, he gets very sad and quiet - understandably disappointed. This breaks our hearts. We also really want Dakota to have the chance to see where Stevenson has lived the first 8 or 9 years of his life.

Well, seems like it's a no brainer that we go right? Wrong. All common sense and wisdom told us it would not be wise to spend the money to go - money we didn't have in a good economy much less the one we are in currently and with such uncertainty in the near future.

So this added to our struggle-could we bring the cost down somehow? Should just one of us go? Or one of us take Dakota? While the team takes great precautions to be safe, I didn't feel comfortable going alone nor taking Dakota with me. So then we talked about Tom going again either alone or with Dakota. I just couldn't bear the thought of my sons meeting each other for the first time and I would miss it! I was coming to terms with Tom going alone and me not seeing him again when.....

Along came thanksgiving and our prayers were answered. We were given the most amazing gift that has allowed all three of us to go to Haiti with the mission team in a few weeks! We've booked our flights and arranged for friends and family to take good care of Iris while we are gone. It's been a whirlwind. It still hasn't sunk in.

For so long my prayer has been for him to be home for Christmas, but this is the second best thing for us to get to see him for Christmas. I cannot express how grateful we are right now.... the only thing that will be better is the day we get to bring him home to his forever family.....