Wednesday, March 31, 2010

SO very behind!!!

This is the longest I have gone without posting in THREE solid years!  Yikes!  We have had a whirlwind of activity around here...a birthday, a cruise, continuing the homestudy process, and a veritable mountain of laundry that keeps shouting bad words at me when I try to sneak past the laundry room.

But I wanted to let you all know that we are still on the adoption road.  The Ethiopian government has temporarily put the ruling for new travel requirements on hold, so we are moving forward until either God stops/redirects us or we bring children home from Africa.  I pray the Ethiopian government stays steady with this latest decision as it will make adoption so much less complicated for all families in the process.

Will blog more soon, I promise!  There is so much to share!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Watching and Waiting

We received an email yesterday from our agency with some disheartening news.  Ethiopia has decided to make it mandatory for both adoptive parents to travel to the country for the first court hearing and to meet their children, then we have to LEAVE THEM THERE and go back THREE MONTHS LATER to bring them home.

We are processing this.  We don't know what to do.  Not only is there MAJOR added cost, but the trauma created by weeks away from home, and the trauma to those poor kids who finally meet Mommy and Daddy then don't see them for three months is just wrong.  I am just sick over this. 

When we decided to adopt from Ethiopia, it was not because of any noble calling to that specific country.  We love AFRICA, as a whole.  We feel drawn there.  But we chose Ethiopia because it would allow us to adopt with four children already in our home and it had very reasonable travel requirements that would make the transition as smooth as possible for ALL of our children.

Now, it is just like the European countries that require to major trips.  This will ONLY result in less families pursuing adoption and more orphans remaining fatherless.  I know God is God and His resources are limitless, but He also calls us to be good stewards and, the fact is, people choose their adoption route most often based on the country's requirements.  That is just a fact. 

I cannot see any good that will come from this.  Children are going to suffer as a result of the adoption process, once again, being made ridiculously complicated.

So we are praying for direction.  Do we continue on despite this major obstacle?  The cost alone of travel would feed and clothe an orphan in Uganda through ADULTHOOD.  What is the best use of our resources and gifts that God has given us?  Do we bring home one or two children or do we provide for many?  Do we reconsider the possibility of another domestic adoption so we can still provide a home for a child and redirect these added expenses to care for orphans who cannot be adopted? 

We don't know, yet.  We are watching and waiting to see how the details of this news are worked out.  God knows where our children are.  He is faithful and I know He will lead us straight to them.