Providence!

First of all, I am thrilled to congratulate several families we know growing through adoption. Natalie & Matt Hamlin added their sweet son Korbin to their family in China this week.  He is a precious doll! We also have neighbors in our community who brought two children home from Poland just last week, the Weems. So, now they are a family of five.  Just ten days ago, I ran into someone I used to see in our community all the time who adopted a beautiful little girl from China who is Jack's age, Jennifer Babb.  We haven't crossed paths in years.  Wouldn't you know, she showed me a picture of a precious little boy her family has been matched with.  They will soon travel to bring him home to join their family. God is so good!


As we continue to move along in the adoption process, your prayers and support are greatly appreciated. When we began the adoption process this time around, we thought we wanted to take the international path.  That is how we started, even attended a couple meetings that way. All of a sudden, out of the clear, blue sky, without any understanding of why, we felt the need to change to the domestic path. This seems a bit crazy, because we are a bit older than traditional couples selected this route.  Still, we held fast. Our home study approves us for any baby born in the United States, so long as the expectant mother picks us.  We have been open-minded all along in accepting a child younger than Jack as well.  We are open to any race, ethnicity, and special needs that our social worker is already aware of.  I comb the Internet daily for opportunities. We pray for peace, patience, preparation, and for the child and family of the child we hope will join our family. We now have two possibilities for adoption, one more likely than the other.  Here is where providence has revealed itself to me.  Both of these children were born internationally, but now live in the United States making them domestically placed for adoption. Our hearts were turned the direction they were meant to go, and we listened.


The most likely one we have known about for almost two weeks and continues to progress. The placing agency likes our profile and home study.  Tomorrow we have a phone interview.  So far ,we feel confident in all that we have heard about this little boy. He is younger than Jack, born in Ethiopia, and cute as a button. He may or may not be the one God intends to be our second child, but tomorrow we will be one step closer to knowing.

Adoption Progress!

We pray daily for the child God plans to add to our family and that He will prepare us to be the best family we can be for this child. We also pray that God will comfort this child and his/her family to know that we will love this new addition without bias. Often we are asked by those who care about us how the process is going.  We explain that our home study is ready and that we are waiting, hoping, and praying for a child.  There are times when we hear about children needing a home or having just missed an opportunity to parent a child being placed with another family.  Even recently, I heard about a young girl in the Alabama community where I used to live who aborted a baby.  I was crushed and heartbroken. Still, I know that God already knows the plans he has in store for us and our child. We continue to wait and pray. 


While we are approved to adopt an infant should an expectant mother select us, I have been seeking out opportunities for older children, but younger than Jack, as well.  I search daily.  Can you imagine? Every single day I search. There have been a couple of opportunities that we did not feel were in the best interest of our family.  There were some that we were denied, because the children could not be placed out of their home state. Others we could not adopt, because their age was too close to Jack's age. There was always a reason.  Still, I know God has a plan.


There has been this one little boy whose face stood out to me each time I looked at his agency.  I never asked about him, because his age was too close to Jack's according to the agency's policy.  Still, he was beautiful to me, just beautiful.  Every single day since July 1st I have seen his face looking at mine, even while I was looking for little girls because Jack wanted a sister. Recently, I began to think maybe we should be more open. So, I started considering boys and girls. I figured, what is one more "no"? I'll just inquire about the little boy whose face smiles at me everyday when I search for Jack's sibling. This time, we were not told "no."  We are currently at a "maybe." Our bio has been accepted and we have been invited to submit our home study ASAP.  I did that today.  We are just so excited and praying that we will know and accept God's will. 


Either way it won't be easy.  If this little boy joins our family, there will be an adjustment period for us all.  If he doesn't, he still needs a family; and we keep looking for a child. Please keep us in your prayers.