Normal, Yet Not Normal

9 days.

In 9 days, Matt & Molly will find themselves sitting in a courtroom, yet again, listening to their attorney present the reasons why their daughter, Waverley, should remain in their home.

9 days.

For the next 9 days, Matt & Molly have to continue parenting and living their lives as normal, despite the fact that, in their hearts, nothing seems normal at all.

9 days.

In 9 days, Waverley's future will rest in the hands of a panel of three judges... none of whom have ever met Waverley, her parents, or her sister.

9 days.

In 9 days, Matt & Molly's lives will enter another period of waiting. They will continue trying to live a normal life, depsite the very NOT normal circumstances that weigh so heavy on their minds and their hearts.

9 days.

It is a delicate balancing act... trying to remain optimistic and "normal" when everything inside of you feels so very NOT normal.

9 days.

We, their friends, family, and supporters, have 9 days to begin viligently praying for them as they continue to live a normal, yet not normal life, in anticipation of their court date...

in 9 days.

******

Please read further for thoughts and specific prayer requests from Molly.

From Molly

This past weekend we celebrated Halloween with our girls for the first time. We went home to the lake with some of our favorite friends for the weekend and had an absolute ball. The girls will never have another Halloween like it I'm sure!

Harper and Waverley along with their friend were The Three Little Pigs. The little boy we were with was The Big Bad Wolf. The girls trick-or-treated by hayride, had a bonfire when we got back, and spent the beautiful weekend playing outside and laughing continuously.

Matt and I waited until we were on the way home to voice the same thought -- that as amazing as the weekend was, knowing that Sunday was the first of November put a huge knot in both of our stomachs.

We have been waiting for the court of appeals to hear our case since two days after we found out we had won the original court case.

We are fighting off a growing sense of panic as that day finally approaches.

On November 17th three judges will ask questions of our lawyer and the birthfather's lawyer for a mere twenty minutes each. It is hard for me to feel good about that. I would love for them to come to our house, meet the girl whose future they are determining, and then go to the birthfather's house and sit down with him and his mother for awhile.

That is how I would like for them to make their decision.

Instead we have twenty minutes.

The other difficult part of this is waiting for the ruling. They can take months to decide. There is no time limit. I remember waiting for the original decision and how we froze every time the phone rang. To spend every day wondering if you will hear something is, well, awful.

So we are taking lots of deep breaths and reminding ourselves that God is in charge. And as hard as it is to comprehend, we know He loves Waverley infinitely more than we do.

And we know He is Good.

We would so love your prayers during this time...

Here are the prayers we are asking for:

A positive outcome above all else. That Waverley would always be with our family.

The judges. That they would hear what they need to hear to rule in our favor. Their names are McAnany, Elliott, and Leben.

Kevin Kenney (our lawyer). That God would be with him during the hearing and that his preparation would be perfect for what the judges ask him

For peace for our family during this time. Specifically, that the girls would not pick up on the stress Matt and I feel.

For timing. That we would hear a positive ruling as quickly as possible

Thank you very, very much,
Molly