Baby Fluhr

Today was a big day, we met the birthmom. With just a month till her due date, we finally got to see each other face to face. For her privacy we don’t want to say too much online, but the meeting went great. It is wonderful to have met the person we’ve been praying for this past year.

The baby is healthy and just one month away from his due date. We can hardly wait. Thank you for all of your sweet prayers.

Justin and Laura

So in our last post we were supposed to meet the birth mother, but later that day our meeting was cancelled. We waited for a few weeks with little information until finally the adoption agency called and said that things may not work out.

Obviously we were disappointed, but surprisingly we weren’t crushed. As we sat on the couch that evening we looked at each other without tears and said, this must be what joy is. We knew what we were supposed to feel, but instead we felt a peace we couldn’t understand and a sense of comfort that could only come from God.

We never would have chosen for our adoption to work this way, but those moments of peace and joy were life changing. I taught on joy just a few months earlier, but now I was truly living it. I always knew it was a feeling that was more than happiness, but I’d never had a moment in my life where I should have been hurting, but instead found peace. For that we are both deeply thankful.

Today we returned to the adoption agency for our yearly round of paper work. Background checks, medical evaluations and financial forms are all required to be updated every 12 months and it was time to resubmit everything again. With the wind howling outside the car we turned off the engine and prayed before we walked into the doors with our stack of paperwork.

Our adoption social worker looked over our forms and started to talk about updating our scrapbook, but said it wasn’t necessary, we’d been paired with a new birth-mom! Our jaws about hit the floor as she handed us a paper with lots of information about the young mom, her background and the tiny baby boy!

She’s due on January 17th and we should get the opportunity to meet her and her mom in just a few weeks. The flood of emotions have been amazing. As we walked through Walmart later this evening I couldn’t help but eye lego’s and nerf guns. We are so excited to have a son, but we are even more thankful for a loving father who has watched over us every step of the way. One day we may look back and think “the waiting flew by,” but I hope we don’t. I hope we always remember the waiting, the longing and the many nights of prayers. I hope that we will never forget the peace and joy we learned during this process. Even now we know that nothing in life is a sure thing, even this adoption and that’s okay, because the only sure thing we need is Jesus.

I’m sure there will be more to post in the future, but for now we are dreaming about and praying for a little boy who is just two months from being born. We’re praying for a very courageous mother making a very brave choice. And we are praying for us, that God would continue to shape and mold us to look more and more like Him.

That’s right, today’s the big day. We meet our birth mom for the first time. She’s also going to tell us the sex of the baby! It’s kind of like an ultrasound without the hospital visit. We are excited, a little nervous, but simply can’t wait for this next step. We’ve been praying for the birth mom for months. I hope that we can be a comfort to her and that meeting us would bring her some peace and reassurance. I can’t wait. Expect a post tonight with the gender and some details from the meeting!

We are scheduled to meet the birth Mom next month! At that meeting we will find out the gender of the baby. Can’t wait to meet the birth mom and learn a little bit more about the baby! We are super excited.

This morning when I walked out the door something caught my eye. Through the hallway I could see an empty crib waiting on a little one who will be here soon. I stopped, took a moment and said a little prayer for my future child. It’s getting more and more real every day!

It was a normal Friday. Breakfast with Stu, a little video game action and off to play some disc golf with some friends. Little did I know the day would take a drastic turn. I was having a decent round when Laura came strolling onto the course. She called out my name and said, “Can I talk to you for a second?” My first thought was, “uh-oh, what did I forget to do?” but she said four words, “we got the call.” It was a surreal moment on the disc golf course. I always assumed the most joy I’d find there would be a hole in one, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I picked Laura up, spun her around and begged for details.

The agency called while Laura was taking a walk and gave her the good news. The birth-mom is 15 weeks along and is due on January the 20th. We should be meeting the birth-mom in the near future and can’t wait to find out more.

The God moment in all of this actually took place a few weeks ago. Laura and her friend Tracy were at Babies R Us working on the registry. Without a due date Laura asked about how the return policy would work (she’s always planning ahead). They said they would just pick a due date a little farther down the road and we could change it if we needed to. They employee at the store change the due date to, you guessed it, January 20th. God knew the baby and the due date long before we did. He truly is in control of even the smallest details. Looking back I think it was just His way of reminding us that all things are in his hands.

We are so excited and can’t wait to learn more. Thank you so much for all the prayers. Here are a few things you could help us pray about now that we know when the little one is coming.

- Pray for a boy. (Okay, I’ll take either, but it doesn’t hurt. Girls scare me. Laura says pray for a girl, but she isn’t the one typing!)

- Pray for the birth-mom. This is a huge decision and one we are so thankful for.

- Pray that the birth-mom has insurance or that she will fill out the proper government forms to insure the birth so we don’t end up with the bill.

- Pray for us. Pray that God will continue to teach us, guide us and that we will continue to look to Him.

- Pray for me. I’m speaking in the adult service for the first time in September. I’m talking about Parenting. I can now speak as a Dad who’s child is growing!

Grace and Peace,

Justin and Laura

Laura and I have been praying a ton for the baby lately. Mostly for the little one to come soon. Here’s a list of things I’ve prayed for recently:

That he or she would know Jesus and follow Him. For good health. Wisdom. That he/she would always be comfortable talking to us. That he/she will side with me on pizza toppings.

Over the past few months several people mentioned for us to send them letters when we heard news about the grant. I think I remembered everyone and you should be receiving a letter in the mail with details. If you don’t, let us know! Thanks so much for your support.

If you would like to help us reach our financial goal of $25,000 you can send a check to:

Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St
Gridley, IL 61744

In the memo line please write, “preference Fluhr #1848 adoption.”

*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Lifesong has even made it possible to contribute to our adoption online! All you have to do is click here.

I can hardly believe it’s already been three months since our home study. We’ll be calling our adoption agency this week to find out how the process is going. From here on out it could literally be today or a year from now. We are praying that the Holy Spirit would teach us patience and peace as we wait. I have a feeling we’ll be working on the baby’s room as part of our spring cleaning. Pictures to come soon!

Today we just found out that we are going to receive a $2400 matching grant through LifeSong for Orphans. It literally turns $2400 into $4800! What a blessing. We are so thankful to the friends and family that have supported us so far in our journey. We are thankful for the people at Lifesong and those who contribute to the grant funding.

God has been so faithful to us through the entire process. We are blown away by His grace and His people’s generosity. With all of our paperwork done, we are simply waiting on His timing. This amazing moment made today’s waiting an easy one.

Since we are adopting there are several things our child now has a chance to be…

A redhead A pro athlete A singer An artist A Hoosier

Never thought about it, but I guess adopting is like a box of chocolates.