Adoption update

Last Monday, we submitted a request to Acres of Hope to return our dossier. Aaron Wilson called a couple of days ago and said that Patty (the director) would bring our dossier back from Liberia with her next week and he would return it at that time. He also said we would be refunded half of the program fee we have paid. We are very grateful for this. We were not sure that would happen. It would appear that the rumors about adoptions in Liberia may turn out to be true. The information about Liberia slowing down and possibly shutting down adoptions has been suggested by more than one other agency. We are relieved to be heading another direction.

We are about 98% sure that we will be pursuing an adoption from Ethiopia through the African Widows and Orphans Project (http://www.awop.org/). We are very impressed with Michelle Gardner and the other representatives that we have talked to. We are very comfortable with the process that they go through to try to help families in country before turning to adoption. We are pleased that they offer adoption training that is specific to Ethiopian adoptions.

As I consider what positive things have come from this wait, I love to speculate what treasure God has in store for us. Since we considered Ethiopia before Liberia, someone suggested that we had strayed from God's plan when we considered AoH. I guess we won't know for awhile. I do know that we have expanded our vision of what an orphan looks like for us, our picture of what our child might look like and how he or she might fit into our family. God is preparing our hearts to accept an older child if that is what He desires. He has worked on my heart regarding siblings, though I would be petrified!!! Scott is still not sure about that one. Pray for us as we consider the waiting child list. I love that they are waiting, rather than us waiting. I hope that makes sense. But it is scary to feel like we are picking out our child. When we were waiting for a referral it felt more like God was picking out our child. I pray that God would speak to Scott and I about the same child and that there would be no doubt in out minds.

I pray that God would work out the logistics of the training weekend so that both of our children could attend. The first training is in May and Noelle has a program at school that would be very difficult to miss especially since she has had Thailand and play absences. The next one is in July and I think Jake will be gone on his Argentina missions trip. I REALLY want Jake to go!

I am so excited to be active in our adoption journey again! Doing nothing but waiting was killing me. At least now I get to redo our papers, etc. again. OK, maybe that is weird to want to do paperwork, but at least it seems like something is being done toward forward progress.

Psalm 9:1&2,
"I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High!"