The Collier Bunch: Wow we started a year ago

This weekend was our first road trip with Hannah since being home. She actually did much better than expected. She stays in the car seat and does not fuss about it and was overall cooperative. I worried that being in a hotel again might scare her but it did not.

This adoption has been so hard in so many ways. There is so much of her story that is not ours to tell, it is her story and she can decide what to share down the road. I want to say we know so many that have dealt with much worse than we are dealing with and we totally acknowledge that. But in any case dealing with her issues and delays has been stressful on the entire family and has drained us.

Part of the trip was visiting one of our favorite churches and it was as if the pastor was speaking directly to Robin and I. Add to it that this was the first time in a long time that the two of us were in worship with just the two of us. All of the kids were in various parts of children and youth so it was nice. After the service we walked up to visit with Pastor Ike and he asked how Hannah was doing and we told him it had been hard, he immediately wrapped his arms around us and prayed over us. Wow that was humbling and so uplifting. We both walked away in tears.

It was worth the drive just to get the words of encouragement not to mention that we got to visit with our Son, Daughter In Law and grand daughter. Such a relaxing and fulfilling weekend. We enjoyed time with the kids and some good food. Also it is always great to hold any of our grand kids.

holding our sweet grand daughter.

Hannah at dinner

On the drive back home we were talking and realized that it was right at a year ago when we first saw Hannah's file and photo. So tonight I had to look and it was on September 5th when I first viewed her file and on September 10 when we started the process to adopt her. Hard to believe that a year has passed.

So many times during the process and since we met her in July I have wondered "Why us God". Why did you pick us to adopt her? Did we miss your message? Did we make a mistake? Did we get out of your will? But I keep coming back to the clear message that we saw from God that we were supposed to adopt this little girl. I keep coming back to the fact that if God called us to adopt her then He will help us through it. On the really hard days that is all that keeps us going and I guess that is where faith really kicks in. If we can do it on our own strength then it does not take much faith.

We still don't fully understand all that is going on with Hannah but we see some progress. We continue to work through a long series of doctor appointments with one specialist after another and each step reveals a little more. As we get the full picture it will help us to give her the care she needs it will also hopefully help us understand what we can do to best help her adjust and learn.

For now we wait and we pray. For now we trust and lean on our faith and trust that we followed God's calling on our family and trust that He will provide for our needs and her needs.

Here are a few pictures from the trip to lighten up a heavy post.