Russia it is!

When you look at this photo, what feelings, emotions does it bring up?
This is one of those photos that has gripped my heart from the moment I saw this girl.
Seeing photos, and getting stats are what we at present base our thoughts and feelings on. We are so grateful that the Lord is above all of it, and is guiding every step of the way.

We got good news yesterday from our Adgency that said we should be able to have a child (children) in our home and finalized by this time next year. While this is super exciting its also super scary.
What type of parent will we be. What things are we going to have to experience with this child.
What things from the orphanage are we going to have to struggle with?

tears

I am overwhelmed! What will it be like.....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxZieCT5YgM&feature=related

We Have Direction!

Russian Children in a school!

Children from Columbia!

Our heart was to adopt from Bethany Christian and we have been trying to get in touch with them for a year. We finally got info from our case worker that she worked with a family that went thru Bethany and they live here in Germany. So we got really excited, and contacted the person she went with at Bethany.  This lady was amazing, and helped in lots of ways. She got in touch with the office in Il that we have residency with and finally we got some answers. Because of Illinois laws, we have to be foster parents first in order to adopt. We had been praying for direction and felt like if they came with a no, than we knew we were supposed to adopt from Columbia.  So, after a crazy email chain today, we are staying with the agency we are doing our home study with and adopting one or two children from either Russia, or Columbia. 

Its a weird thing when looking at listing of children waiting for forever homes. My heart breaks, as I think how can I look at these kids and only decided on one. There are so many that need homes. 

My heart breaks reading the profiles, and stories, but reality is we can't adopt everyone, but we can do our part. We also know that the Lord has children out there for us, waiting to call us Momma and Daddy. Even typing those words, is a strange thing thinking about the thought of that. 

I also think of the scene in the movie Facing the Giants. The main character's wife shares a statement and says, " I just keep thinking, how can I miss someone so much that I have never even met." 

This is our hearts cry as we think of our kids out there waiting for us. We pray daily for them, that they would be protected and that the Lord would draw us to them in His timing.

ITS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ITS IN!!! 

Its finally in. can it be?

We met with our social worker today, after a few reschedules due to sickness on both parts. But, its finally in.

After all the id, taxes, backgrounds and education classes we are finally on our way to finding Hope. When we went into this meeting, we were unsure of where the Lord was leading. OF course we thought about things, and the best options, but when talking with her we had all our fears and questions answered. The Lord was answering thru her, and she didn't even know it. Amazing. 

This paper chase is likened to 9 months of pregnancy as it has all the same emotions, but the added stress of not knowing time, and who the Lord will have. 

We did get some direction as to where the Lord might be leading, but we are in prayer stage at the moment. We are hoping to go with Bethany Christian Services from Virginia Beach as we met someone in a similar spot who worked with them. There adoption went quick meaning in 3 months after the homestudy they went to go get the baby. Amazing.....

So here we sit, waiting to see what the Lord will do. 

 

Haiti or not???

The day before our middle school retreat we got a call from a mom here in Wiesbaden who works with her church back home finding homes for children.  She told us about 2 sisters from Haiti who needed a new home as the one they were in now wanted to get rid of them.  They both had some issues (which we expect) but we had to weigh out some options. They were 7 and 10, and were survivors from the earthquake in Haiti. They had been adopted to a family in CO, and that family now wants to pass them along after 2 years. One girl has PTSD (duh, her life has been tramatic) and one has ADHD.

There would be no cost to us as the family wanted to have it a private thing with 2 lawyers going family to family. While this was ideal for us, we wanted the Lord's guidance and seek guidance of others. Plus, the day before a big retreat is not the ideal time of life altering choices.

After much prayer and guidance, we decided not to go forward... here is the main reason. Although our heart was to rescue them, there is a difference in being called to rescue or called to parent. Both Dan and I had some reservations, and neither of us had a peace about it. We knew the Lord was telling us, see there are kids out there, just wait for the ones I have for you.

This week we will be finalizing our homestudy finally. The next process is finding an agency. As of now, we have no calling or leading to a specific one, but we know the Lord will sort it out. We are just called to be faithful and listen to His voice.

Wanderings and education

So the other night we decided to continue our adoption education courses. This journey has been crazy already, but we know it will be worth it! 

We took a 1.5 credit class on adopting the older child. While our hearts are still open to it, it brought us to question some things as to why we indeed want to adopt an older child vs. a baby. The jury is still out as to who... but we are trusting God in the midst. It looks like our social worker is coming mid feburary to close out or home study. At that point we will need to have some decision as to where we will be going :(a.k.a- Agency). Would you please join us in praying for direction in this area. 

Answered prayer

Yesterday as we had been emailing back and forth with our social worker, she said to call the place directly. The number we had been given was a fax number. So being the witty people we are, we went on to Google (what would we do without it) and found the IL government page.  We looked thru and found the dcfs page. Then called the main number. We asked for a lady, and were switched around for about 10 minutes... but then when we finally got in touch with her she told us they had been caught up with all the background checks. Puzzled by this news we inquired further. She told us then to email to her. I (becke) began filling the form out again when I realized I already had things saved on the computer in our Hope Haas folder. 
So we emailed them last night, and this afternoon we got the email with the forms scanned and checked. 
What a blessing! So where did the forms go in August that we mailed? hm. not sure. But this phase is done, and we are scheduling an appointment with our social worker to finalize the paperwork.  


Now, we need to ask for guidance about where we are going. We will talk to her about Ethiopia still but we are unsure at this point. 


This process is crazy! Its wonderful and tiring all at the same time. How can this be. 


Thanks to everyone who has given and has been praying! We are so grateful to all of you! More than words can say. It was a rough Christmas in that everyone asked how the adoption was going and each time we shared, our hearts grew weary. We praise you Father for giving us a ray of sunshine and your promise to us during this time! Thank you Jesus!