The Terrific 2s: Pre-Birth

I'll be highlighting 2 memories/stories throughout the 2 years Katylynn entered our life.

Before Katylynn was born.

1. Fort Wayne Restaurant: We met a17 year old girl named Emily and her mom Candy. It was the first of two meetings prior to Katylynn's birth. Walking into the restaurant, I was tempted to treat it like an "interview" where we needed to sell ourselves to this gal and her mother. At the same time, Janelle and I both knew that we simply had to bring ourselves, share our story, get to know them, and see what God wanted to do.
   I had a lot of questions about what we were doing. The whole possibility of this adoption came to us so quickly and the birth was nearly 2 months away. We walked into that restaurant unsure if we were going to pursue it. We walked out certain that we needed to go through the application process. With what could only be God's direction, we had made our choice.
   
   
2. The Phone Call: It was October 23, just 5 days after the tornado had touched down in Nappanee. I had a nasty flu bug that just wasn't going away. I had hugged the porcelein 20 minutes prior to the phone ringing. I heard Janelle:
   "Hello"
   (pause)
   "O, Hi Gina"
   I knew this was it, we were about to receive the news. Gina is the adoption coordinator we worked with. In the midst of exhaustion from disaster relief work and a sickness that I was about to hear news that would change everything for us from that point forward. Janelle screamed with delight, ran back to the bedroom and said, "Derry, we're going to have a baby!"
   My less than enthusiastic post-puky response was "That's great!" My internal joy was unmatched!