I'm gonna be honest... I don't really even know where to begin with this blog. I feel like there is so much to talk about with you all, but yet the words are a little hard to come by at this moment! I also don't want to leave you feeling overwhelmed with information when you get to the end of this post.
So, bear with me people, and here we go!
Our family began the journey of adoption in 2012. We were officially placed on the waiting list to adopt from Ethiopia on March 1st, 2013. Which means that we just passed the 4 year mark of waiting. This is just as brutal and painful as it sounds.
We never dreamed that we would still be in this stage, and we knew that with the current adoption trends in Ethiopia as they are we could be looking at another 3 maybe even 4 years! This is just almost too much to take. We were prepared for waiting. We knew that this was a big part of the journey, but about a year ago we began to really pray about what the Lord wanted us to do....
Should we have another biological baby while we wait?
Should we adopt domestically?
Should we look into being a foster family?
We wrestled with all these questions and many more, but with each scenario there never seemed to be a peace. Our heart was still beating for international adoption. This is the path we knew the Lord was calling us. To be honest, I wanted an easier road. I needed something more than this unknown journey and with an unknown destination from the Lord. I want a step by step plan and boxes of achievement that I can check off all along the way. This is not how international adoption works.
But, I had to be ok with that. I had to trust.
Then, about a week ago we received an email. It was from our adoption agency. They were opening up a transfer opportunity to all the families in the Ethiopia program. They encouraged everyone to pray about the possibility of transferring to either the China or India waiting child program. They expressed the great need for families in these programs, and as soon as I opened this particular email I knew.
Now, this isn't the first time that I have received this type of email, but I've never felt the way I felt this time around. So, when Bodie got home from work we discussed what this would mean, I shed tears, and we prayed for guidance.
This would mean starting over. All new paperwork. New home study. New country. Won't people think we are nuts? Are we giving up on our Ethiopian baby, or is this the road we had to go down in order to get here?
It was a roller coaster of emotions, but deep down we both felt peace and we knew we were supposed to transfer to India.
There are children waiting there with no families to take them, and with the current time frames as they are, we could bring home our child sometime in 2018 (God willing!)
Once the decision was made, the excitement settled in. With all the waiting, you lose the excitement. You have to almost put the whole process in the back of your mind, otherwise it's just too painful. This whole week has been a refresher on why our hearts are so stirred for adoption. I needed that so badly.
So... we are starting over (with a little help)
Our agency has given us a special transfer opportunity so the majority of the money we have already put in will be covered! Praise the Lord! All we have to do is cover all the paperwork/home study costs (which isn't cheap by any means, but it's much better than starting from scratch!) and we will be back to where we were before in the Ethiopia program.
If everything goes as planned, we will need to raise our money much faster with this program so we are hard at work and in prayer about what to do for that.
I love many things about international adoption, but this is one of my favorite... it's WAY too big for Bodie and I to accomplish on our own. It takes a village to bring this child home and what a beautiful story to tell him one day. He will be so loved and cared for by so many people before we even know his name or see his face. It's such a huge leap of faith and it has litterally stretched us and our family with each step.
Well, there it is guys... it's just a little detour in the journey.
There are still many unknowns, lots of unanswered questions, and more bumps and bruises to come, I'm sure, but this is where we are. This is where God has us, and even though we can't see the whole journey ahead, we trust Him to see us through to the end.
So, bear with me people, and here we go!
Our family began the journey of adoption in 2012. We were officially placed on the waiting list to adopt from Ethiopia on March 1st, 2013. Which means that we just passed the 4 year mark of waiting. This is just as brutal and painful as it sounds.
We never dreamed that we would still be in this stage, and we knew that with the current adoption trends in Ethiopia as they are we could be looking at another 3 maybe even 4 years! This is just almost too much to take. We were prepared for waiting. We knew that this was a big part of the journey, but about a year ago we began to really pray about what the Lord wanted us to do....
Should we have another biological baby while we wait?
Should we adopt domestically?
Should we look into being a foster family?
We wrestled with all these questions and many more, but with each scenario there never seemed to be a peace. Our heart was still beating for international adoption. This is the path we knew the Lord was calling us. To be honest, I wanted an easier road. I needed something more than this unknown journey and with an unknown destination from the Lord. I want a step by step plan and boxes of achievement that I can check off all along the way. This is not how international adoption works.
But, I had to be ok with that. I had to trust.
Then, about a week ago we received an email. It was from our adoption agency. They were opening up a transfer opportunity to all the families in the Ethiopia program. They encouraged everyone to pray about the possibility of transferring to either the China or India waiting child program. They expressed the great need for families in these programs, and as soon as I opened this particular email I knew.
Now, this isn't the first time that I have received this type of email, but I've never felt the way I felt this time around. So, when Bodie got home from work we discussed what this would mean, I shed tears, and we prayed for guidance.
This would mean starting over. All new paperwork. New home study. New country. Won't people think we are nuts? Are we giving up on our Ethiopian baby, or is this the road we had to go down in order to get here?
It was a roller coaster of emotions, but deep down we both felt peace and we knew we were supposed to transfer to India.
There are children waiting there with no families to take them, and with the current time frames as they are, we could bring home our child sometime in 2018 (God willing!)
Once the decision was made, the excitement settled in. With all the waiting, you lose the excitement. You have to almost put the whole process in the back of your mind, otherwise it's just too painful. This whole week has been a refresher on why our hearts are so stirred for adoption. I needed that so badly.
So... we are starting over (with a little help)
Our agency has given us a special transfer opportunity so the majority of the money we have already put in will be covered! Praise the Lord! All we have to do is cover all the paperwork/home study costs (which isn't cheap by any means, but it's much better than starting from scratch!) and we will be back to where we were before in the Ethiopia program.
If everything goes as planned, we will need to raise our money much faster with this program so we are hard at work and in prayer about what to do for that.
I love many things about international adoption, but this is one of my favorite... it's WAY too big for Bodie and I to accomplish on our own. It takes a village to bring this child home and what a beautiful story to tell him one day. He will be so loved and cared for by so many people before we even know his name or see his face. It's such a huge leap of faith and it has litterally stretched us and our family with each step.
Well, there it is guys... it's just a little detour in the journey.
There are still many unknowns, lots of unanswered questions, and more bumps and bruises to come, I'm sure, but this is where we are. This is where God has us, and even though we can't see the whole journey ahead, we trust Him to see us through to the end.
Love you guys!!! I have never stopped praying for your adoption. im so happy to here there is some forward motion in your plans. God always moves us in ways we never expected. I will keep praying for a speedy process!
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