Sunday, October 21, 2007

Back to waiting on Russia

So sorry to those of you who have been anxiously awaiting news of the local adoption opportunity we told you about. It is with total peace that we tell you God clearly closed that door and led us back to waiting on our referral from Russia.

Once the little boy here in Gainesville was put into the foster care system, we knew it would be a long shot. And the more we found out about the situation, the more uncomfortable we became. It would have a been a long wait to finalize the adoption and there were many unknowns about some important details. After another week of hearing nothing, we both felt a confirmation from the Lord that even if we did hear something, we were supposed to say no. This decision was met with complete peace in both of our hearts.

And so, we are back to waiting for a referral from Russia. Our adoption agency continues to see movement within several regions of Russia, but our dossier has yet to be registered in a specific region. This is the next step that will need to happen. Because we have been waiting so long, some of our paperwork will begin expiring in the next few months. It will actually be nice to have some "hands on" work we can do related to the adoption again while we wait to hear more.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Riding an actual roller coaster would be much easier!

God continues to amaze and surprise us during this journey of adoption. I have never been more reminded of His overarching sovereignty, and my own inability to make things happen in my own strength. What precious lessons to be learning and growing in, though the process has been so difficult at times.

About two weeks ago, we were contacted by a lawyer in town who knew of a baby born locally needing to be placed for adoption. While we had not been considering domestic adoption, after praying about it, we felt that God had opened this door and wanted us to proceed and see what would happen. We hesitantly moved forward, and waited to hear more. It was quite an emotional roller coaster! We would get our hopes up, wait nervously for the phone to ring, and then see our hopes dashed when we heard nothing.

By Monday of this week, we hadn't heard anything in almost a week, and it seemed to all involved that God was closing the door on this opportunity. Then, we got a phone call last night letting us know that it was still possible, and might happen very quickly.

Today, we found out that this baby has been released from the hospital and is now under the authority of DCFS. The birthmom is living on the streets, and her friend has been unable to find her (partly due to bad weather) in order to get her to sign papers terminating her rights. We were hoping to be appointed guardians, but now it's unclear if that's even a possibility with DCFS in the picture.

Would you join us in praying that this birthmom could be found, that she would make the best decision for her son, that we would be patient in waiting to see what God has planned, and that He would move mountains to make this possible for us, if this is the child He has chosen for our family? Would you also pray that our hearts would have the right mixture of hopeful expectation and preparation to receive sad news?

If we do move in this direction, we will need to pull out of the Russian adoption program, which brings with it another flood of mixed emotions. We have no idea what the future holds, but we rest secure, knowing that God's purposes will prevail, and that none of this is surprising or overwhelming for Him. In His perfect timing, He will bring us the child He has chosen to join our family. Oh, how we long for that day!