If you know me, you know I don't blog. Sharing personal details of my life with groups of people is not typical behavior for me. But, I have a feeling these next few months are going to prove to be anything but typical, so let me catch you up to speed.
We are adopting! Hopefully this is not completely new information to many of you (see previous comment about being bad at sharing), but I can't be sure, so hence this blog :).
Our journey to adoption began over two years ago. We felt called to add to our family and started the paperwork to adopt from a Latin American country (one that shall not be named due to country restrictions on social media--kinda like Voldemort) only to have the country close down within weeks of our paperwork being sent off.
This development was heart-breaking to us and put the entire process on hold for a few months while we processed the news. We spent the next several months discerning what our next steps should be--and whether there should even be next steps. By the end of summer of 2013 we made the decision to move forward with adoption from the waiting child list from China. Fast forward to Fall of 2014 and we are happy to announce that we have been matched with a five-year old girl from China!
Back to the untypical nature of this blog, I am so not one of those impressive adoption moms who has recorded every date, document and development. There will be no timeline here. I am just a mom of three (almost four) who is doing her best to keep up with all the paperwork requirements, filing deadlines and fingerprint updates. Basically, if you are looking to this blog to find out how to go about the process, you are in the wrong place. That being said, we do hope to be an encouragement to anyone who might be considering welcoming a child into their home.
Here is what I can tell you: we are in the final stages of filing all of our paperwork, we are waiting on travel authorization from China, and are hoping to travel in the beginning of 2015.
This process has been (and will continue to be) one of stepping out in faith, being surrounded by amazing and supportive family and friends, and one of great-learning and patience.
I read Jeremiah 29:11 this morning, and the promise of God knowing His plans for us, that they are good and full of hope, really spoke to me, and to our new daughter's situation. As far as we know, she does not yet know that she is being adopted, but very soon she will be given that life-changing information. The prospect of no future, as many older kids in orphanages in China face, is being replaced with plans for good.
We would love for you to pray for our family, our new daughter, the rest of the process, patience and provision. (oh, and that we will settle on a name!) God has been so faithful! We will use this blog to keep y'all up-to-date on our progress/plans/trip.
We welcome any questions or comments!
