We are getting more excited as time passes. Each day that goes by means that we're one step closer to our journey, our journey to our adopted daughter-to-be.

Our new daughter-to-be is waiting for us in Guatemala, in Guatemala City. She is currently in an orphanage, where she has been for most of her brief three years of life; yet we are more than ready to take her, love her, raise her as our daughter, show her what being in a family is truly like.

Little Lucinda Rosalia was born unwanted by parents who were still in their teens; she was then placed in an orphanage, where caretakers have raised her; yet she doesn't have the love of family; and this is something we would love to see change.

Lucinda Rosalia was born seemingly healthy, but she does have some health problems that warrent attention from time to time. She has seizures, and she may be developmentally delayed. At the age of three, she is not walking, nor is she talking; yet we are determined to help her in any way we can.

We applied to adopt a child with special needs over a year ago. We thought we'd never hear from the adoption agency; yet when The Call came, the call that was to give us the news that our adoption application had been accepted, that we were to get a little girl from Guatemala, well, you can imagine how we reacted. Our hearts soared. Our spirits flew to the sky. Our eyes welled, filled with tears. We cried like there was no tomorrow.

However, the agency said that we wouldn't get her right away. Medical tests, they told us. They wanted to make sure she was fit to travel, make sure that she was as healthy as possible; hence, the reason for the delay. We also had to wait for the "all-clear" given by the medical doctors who examined her.

That "all-clear" came just last week. The adoption agency said we could go to Guatemala soon to pick her up. Needless to say, we had to make some quick, last-minute arrangements. To get time off our jobs, to ensure that our other kids (Tyson, eight, Harmoni, six, and four-year-old Grogan) would be watched over by competent babysitters (in this case, their mamaw and papaw in Kentucky), make travel arrangements to and from Guatemala, amongst other things.

Even with all that we have already done, we are still not even close to being finished. We still have to make an appointment with our pediatrician once Lucinda is here, with us. We still have to finish her little-princess-girl's dream room. We still have to get more in the way of clothes, toys. We have so much to do, yet so little time to do it all.

We will be leaving for Guatemala next Saturday. That's only eight days away from now. Not nearly enough time to get all that we have to get done; and now we are suddenly getting nervous. What if our new daughter-to-be rejects us? What if she doesn't like us? How is she going to react to her new surroundings? What would we do if she cried all the time? What foods does she like? What things does she like to do, what things hold her interest? What if she happens to get sick, and (God forbid) end up in the hospital, fighting for life? What would we do then??

All in good time, these questions will be answered. Until then, however, our minds are full of so many emotions: worry, joy, fear, confusion, elation, excitement, uncertainty. We sseem to laugh one minute, cry in each other's arms the next as we agonize over our new daughter's health needs. How are we going to handle a handicapped child?? We don't have any experience in parenting children with special needs!!

I will be writing once again as the day gets closer to where we journey to Guatemala to pick Lucinda Rosalia up, then take her home, with us, to her new home here in America. Our new daughter. Even the sound of the words makes me glad!!

God is indeed good! :) We are on the breakthrough for a miracle!!

~Written by Lucinda Rosalia's new mommy-to-be, Gretel Shea Bjornquist, Elmira, New York. :)