I once flew to Maine in early fall. The plan was to fly out super early from Rapid. I would be in Maine by lunch and after a short drive, I would arrive at the coast in time to watch the sun settle over a little coastal town. With ticket in hand that morning, I had waited in line. Conquered security and I was set to wait. Waiting for the all call to load the plane. Instead, the flight was delayed. Changes were needed. People needed to get involved. The mechanic needed to be flown in from Denver. The plan was changing, it was going to take a lot longer and there I sat. My well laid plan seemed to have had fallen apart. With everything beyond my control... my sacred 3 days with just myself, God and his beautiful handiwork. Instead of sunsets and scenery my day involved a flight from Rapid to Denver then to Chicago. But, between Denver and Chicago I discovered the flight would be stopping in Dallas first then on to Chicago. After Chicago, to Portland, ME. I landed in the dark at like 11pm. The sunset was long gone and to say the least...I got there. Just not quite how and when I had envisioned. The next morning, I found much of God's beauty. I watched the tide and soaked up God's goodness. In the end, it was a beautiful place and opportunity. The journey didn't go how I had envisioned however, the destination was incredibly blessed.
Our journey to build our family looks somewhat the same at the moment. Last spring, we started the journey of bringing home another little Ethiopian to be welcomed into our family. We had a plan, jumped through the hoops, packed a dossier and passed the 'security' check points. Ready and waiting. Waiting for what we knew would be a long wait but prayerfully trusting that all would come together in due time. If you've traveled much... you know the signs that there will be 'flight issues'. Frantic typing, lack of eye contact, more people gather. These past few months have been starting to fill with the signs of 'adoption issues' in Ethiopia. Meetings, discussions, lack of referrals, ever slowing wait times, revisions, re-evaluations, talks of 'changes'. The uncertainties begin to mount.
We love the country of Ethiopia. An incredibly beautiful country both in its people and God's natural handiwork. Kaleb is our greatest blessing and we are profoundly and humbly grateful to have him in our family. We are also incredibly grateful and blessed that he came home when he did. How easily it could have been that he did not go to Addis when just weeks old. Had he not- there is a real possibility that he would still be there. The thought truly breaks my heart. My heart wants to deny the fact that quite possibly, some of those little tiny ones we met in Awassa... are still there.
These past few weeks, we have learned even more of the uncertainties in Ethiopia. God has opened our eyes to the possibility that our journey to His destination may go a little differently than we envisioned at first. Our version of the perfectly laid plan may not turn out to be the journey we anticipated. Perhaps Ethiopia was a layover instead of a final destination.
For our family, we know that God has called us to add another little one to our family. With much prayer, discussion, prayer, prayer and researching... we are hopeful and excited that God has revealed our next steps. It is with great, great excitement coupled with confidant peace in our hearts that God has led us to a new direction for our adoption.
God has opened our eyes to...
Oh, and we're excited!!!
With God's leading and what we believe to be His provision-
our decision to change countries comes without anxiety.
It comes with confidence in a relatively 'stable' program that now fits so very well for our family.
Trust us- we thought this over big time! God knows our needs for maintaining birth order, our desire that our children be relatively close in age, for the switch to this program to be within our fundraising reach and that there is tremendous need for children facing minor and correctable medical needs. We have been continually reminded that God calls us to our children...no matter where they may be.
Another little one just waiting for a family for life. A family to snuggle with, love on and be loved by. A little one yet to be known. Yet God knows who she is :)
A little one to round out our family.
A sweet baby girl to round out our little family.
Our family, assembled by God.
A few nights ago, we sat around the dinner table discussing if we are to make this huge switch. Kaleb was crawling around and trying to be 'part' of the conversation. Wes and I knew we were confidant and on the same page. The following conversation unraveled and it was precious :)
Mama Me: "Do you think your sister is in China?"
Kaleb: "China! Sister, China! Let's do it!"
Oh, my what a sweet boy...who will in fact be an incredibly sweet big brother to his little sister.
Kaleb: "China, China, China, China, Let's do it!! Go there!! Sister China, Sister China, Sister China"
We love our sweet little boy and how we look forward to the day when our sweet little girl is home as well.
What happens next? We are currently very, very, very quickly working on updating our home study then we'll tackle the dossier. The home study must be complete before we can complete our I-800 approval. Once our I-800 approval is received, we'll submit our dossier (paperwork) to China. Then, we'll wait to be matched.
We anticipate a referral in about a year (or possibly less??) from the time our dossier goes to China. I'm praying for less- will you do the same? After the referral we can expect to travel to pick her up about 4-8 months later. We will only travel once to China for about 2-3 weeks.
We are incredibly excited to see how God has laid forth this next leg of our journey in building a family. We know that God knows precisely the child He has chosen for us. Maybe she is born already maybe not quite yet. We're hopeful to have found her and have her home in the next 12-18 months...if that's God's plan ;) We all know how He tends to do His own thing. Thanks goodness He does-it always turns out in the most marvelous way.
God sets our paths. Sometimes, He adds layovers and stop-overs and cancellations that from our perspective seem cumbersome and wrong. However, we know that His plan is the best! Please be praying for us!! Thank you for following our story and God's never boring take on how we are to build our family. We realize this is a big change and is likely a lot to take in. Please don't be afraid to ask questions...give us a call, we'd love to talk and discuss this new direction.
God Bless!
