A Long Overdue Update

Many of you have asked us how things are going with our adoption in person, through texts, emails, and Facebook messages, so for those of you we've already talked to, this will not be any new information. However, we felt it was time to let everyone know where we are and what's going on.

On November 18th of last year, we were notified by our placing agency that they would be closing their doors effective December 30th, 2015. After a year and a half of waiting on a "waiting family" list, this was the exact opposite of the news we were expecting to receive. After all, we had been told just a month before that we could get our referral at any time.

We were devastated.
Heartbroken.
And quite honestly, we really didn't know how to cope with the news.

We immediately reached out to some friends for wisdom, guidance, and prayers. Should we stay with our main agency and change to the other placing agency they partnered with and hope (once again) for the best? Should we change country programs entirely? Should we switch to a completely different agency? Or was the Lord closing the door on adoption?

The same feelings of loss and hurt that we felt after our miscarriage eerily welled up from the deepest parts of our hearts as we tried desperately to navigate our way through the wake of this announcement. Twenty-four hours later, we found ourselves on the phone with a woman from an entirely different agency, and the Lord gave us our answer.

We began the process of updating our home study and applying to this new agency at the same time. All along the way, we have felt a steady conviction that the Lord has called us specifically to adopt from Ethiopia -- removing ourselves from the process of adopting from Ethiopia was not an option.

By the beginning of January, our home study was updated and we were ready to receive our referral, but.... yes, there always seems to be a big "but" in our story... the process slowed significantly in Ethiopia right around that same time and has remained slow since. We ended up having to completely re-do our dossier, although it's painstaking, our little one is worth it. Our dossier is done. And once again, we are waiting.

We have been encouraged, and we would like to encourage you that during this season of waiting that we would know exactly on whom we wait. Not Ethiopia. Not an agency or government officials. But -- we wait on the Lord. We know His plans are perfect. His plans are good to those who love Him and are called by Him. His purposes will not be thwarted. And not one millisecond of our waiting will be wasted.

When I share our story to someone who's never heard it before, I hear how often our plans have been changed; I hear those statements, "Things were moving, but... We were ready for our referral, but... We got our paperwork done, but..." and I think to myself, "it's been a long journey."

But...
The Lord, in His kindness reminds me of those major "but" statements in scripture on which my entire hope depends...

"And such were some of you (sinners). But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." I Cor. 6:11

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" Romans 8:15

"...But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7

The glory of God shines through each conjunction. His glory is not diminished or tainted by the conjunctions in our story either. No one, no thing, no circumstance can steal His glory, and I believe He is and will be glorified in our waiting, in our altered plans, and in our crazy "but" circumstances.

How can you help?
Pray.
Pray with us that we would faithfully, and obediently wait only on the Lord.

Us parasailing. :) Oh, the things you can see when your perspective changes...

Comments