I’m Honored!

I am sitting here feeling so honored that God has called us to adoption.  I’m so thankful that this is in His plan for us!   Seriously I’ve dreamed of adopting since 1982 when I watched the movie “Annie” which is still one of my favorites.  I was only 6 years old!  My dream was to open an orphanage (who knows what God has in store for our future?) AnnMarie and I used to beg my mom to adopt a baby.  I just can’t believe this is really happening!  Nothing new has happened since I last blogged but I’ve had some time to think about this and my heart is overflowing!  I am just amazed at the peace I feel even though so many things are uncertain.  This is truly the “peace that passes all understanding” like I’ve never experienced it before.  I don’t have an unrealistic idea about this whole experience,  I know all of the risks involved.  I do have a peace that God knows what He is doing when He is leading us down this road – whatever that may bring.  I’m so excited to see what He is going to teach us through this process and I’m praying that we will embrace those lessons and see His hand in everything.   Check out our “How you can help” page to see specific ways that you can pray for us during this adventure!
It was only a few days ago but I’m not sure how much information I shared so forgive me if I’m being repetitive.  We had a tough time deciding how to proceed with our adoption.  Jody found this precious little 8 year old girl on a website and she just touched our hearts.  We have some really good friends that have an organization that helps with international adoptions and we really wanted to use them.  But we couldn’t let this little girl go.  We have decided to go through that agency so that we can pursue this little girl specifically.  There is no guarantee that we will be able to adopt this specific child.  If we get to Ukraine and she isn't available we trust that God has another child for our family.   We know that God is using her sweet face to lead us in this direction.  It could be that we will adopt her (the plan I am in favor of) or something else (the plan I have to be open to) – maybe He could be leading us to a certain orphanage or a certain time frame.  I don’t know but I do know that He is in control of all of this.   We don’t have much information about this little girl.  We know her name and her birthdate.  We also know that she is in an orphanage because of neglect and she does not have any siblings.  She is doing good in school but because of the neglect has some speech delays.  I’m not sure what that means.  She is absolutely precious.  Email me and I will give you the link to a photo and a short video clip of her.  I don’t think I should post it on this blog but I would love for you to see her!  I hope and pray that she will be my daughter soon!  In Ukraine a child is available to Ukrainian citizens for 14 months before they become available for international adoption.  She is available for international adoption in April 2011.  There is a chance that she could be adopted before we get there but we know if this happens, it is God’s will.  We have the opportunity to start communicating with her once our application is approved.  The idea is that once we start communicating with her by sending letters and packages she would decline other families that wanted to adopt her.  We aren’t sure what to do about this.  We would not want to create any stress for her or get her hopes up and then things not work out.  Please pray that God will show us what to do and say.  Right now, I think our plan is to correspond with her in generic terms.  We will tell her how much God loves her and that we are praying for her.  If anyone has already experienced this, we would love to hear your advice.  This is one of those situations that I start over analyzing and I have to remind myself to put it all in God’s hands.  Isn’t it great that The One who holds the future is in control of all these details?
My plan was to go to bed at 9:00 tonight and here I am, still up.  I have been reading adoption blogs and other information on the internet until early morning for several weeks now.  I was falling asleep tonight while Jacob was reading to me.  By the way, I can’t believe how he can read!  He is good!  The kids are all really excited about their new sister.  Ellie watches the video clip several times a day and she is praying for her sister already!  She was so disappointed when she realized how long this process takes.  We are most likely looking at 8 – 12 months.  Pray that things go smooth and we can do it quickly.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Cherise colored my hair for the last time for a while today.  I told her we had to cut back on our budget to save money for the adoption so she gladly told me what to buy to color my own hair.  I had to go with all over color because I know I can’t do highlights by myself.  It is REALLY dark!  It’s darker than I’ve ever had it in my life.  My kids said I look like Amer.  I think it’s so dark that I look Goth.  I am hoping that it will lighten up some and I will get used to it.  It scares me every time I walk by a mirror.  Jody loves it so I guess that's all that matters, right?