Adoption NEWS!!!

Well...I have news. (hee hee)

As most of you know, I posted awhile back that we would be pursuing the adoption of a baby boy from Rwanda. We have been working on lots of paperwork!!! Before we mailed the 1st big group in, I began thinking that we should perhaps adopt 2 instead of 1? ha. I brought it up to Nick, gave him a great speech...articulated all of my fabulous reasons for this crazy idea and waited for a response. ha. Guess what, he was excited at the idea as well. I was thinking maybe a sibling group, both being under 2. Nick was thinking more like boy/girl twins!!! Yes, you heard me right folks! He reminded me that he has always wanted twins...OH my...He is right. He has told me that several times over our 5 years of marriage, and I would think "yeh right, probably never will happen...what are the chances" every time he would say it. Well...moral of that story is we just never knew how God would fulfill that dream of his.

What I am TRYING to say is that we sent our ppw off this week and are now going to pursue adopting boy/girl twins from Ethiopia.

We have come to this conclusion for several reasons:

I think it would be great for our son to have someone that looks like him within our own family,

I think it would be extra great for them to have the security and legacy of one another,

we could impact 2 lives instead of 1, (WOW)

we feel like God has made room in our home, car, budget and hearts for 2 not just 1, really believe God has blessed/prepared us lately to do something radical for HIM,

Nick and I can see ourselves wanting to adopt again in the future (even though we have never even adopted one) and it is wiser financially to adopt 2 at one time instead of doing 2 different adoptions,

why not? The way I see it, we only have 1 life to live. If God doesn't want this for our family, He will shut the doors and we will be ok with that. We are going to pursue it and trust God for the outcome. Ps 68:6 says that "God sets the lonely in families". As I was thinking and praying about this decision, I believe God showed me through this verse that He is the one in control. He will work it out as He desires.

We know that orphans are the heart of God, we will pursue this in this way.

Wow, this has been a journey and it just started. People say adoption is a journey, I believe them now. Nick and I started with the idea to adopt from Ethiopia, changed to Rwanda after Ethiopia changed to 2 trips, and have landed back in Ethiopia. From what I have found out, it seems that it will be much easier to get 2 from Ethiopia as opposed to Rwanda. Rwanda only has 1 orphange you can adopt out of, this orphange runs about 130 kids. It only accepts abandonment cases, unlike Ethiopia which take abandoned and kids who's parents have reliquished rights at many ages. Also, our agency will only place siblings. They will not place 2 unrelated kids. Our chances of getting siblings or twins were much less from what I understand in Rwanda. We could be waiting for awhile. That is why have ended up back with Ethiopia. There are many more kids up for adoption and many sibling groups at different ages to adopt. We are ok with this b/c while we felt a strong call to adoption, we were ok with either country. If we were going to still just try to adopt 1, we would have just stayed with Rwanda. I think both countries would be great for different reasons. Timeline will be a little longer now. 18 months, is average. Not sure.

Several mornings ago I read:

"In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Prov. 16:9

I feel like this verse sums up what Nick and I have walked through over the past few months. We have been planning and seeking the Lord, and have ended up in a direction we could have never imagined last year or even months ago, or weeks ago. Trusting.

"He who calls you is faithful, and He will bring it to pass." 1 thess 5:24

So...that is the news sweet friends. My prayer now is that God would make me the woman, wife and mom that I need to be and desire to be. To continue to refine me and make me more like Himself. Patience, selflessness. To be able to smoothly bring these 2 precious children into our family when the time comes. I pray that He would equip me and make me what I am not. I am trusting Him to allow me to thrive in this season of mommyhood, not just survive.

He is faithful. This much I know...