We were hoping to get to meet you soon, but they told us today that it may be longer than we thought. Your orphanage is making some changes in their property to make your current home safer, and we cannot meet you until they have been approved again by your country leaders. We have no clue how long that will take, but we pray that we get to meet you sooner rather than later.
We are not going to lie. We have been waiting for the "bump" in the road. But the only reason that we have peace is because we know God is working through this. He is behind this! God has been with us our entire process. We know that He is with us now. We know that He is with you right now too.
Maybe you know God. Maybe you don't yet. But I know that even though we don't know who you are, God does. And He is pursuing you every day.
We are waiting for you. No matter how long we have to wait.
Love,
Mom & Dad
We got this news on Wednesday, but I wasn't ready to share until now. I wrote this letter as soon as I found out, but I haven't really let the news sink in until this morning when I broke down during worship. We were so anticipating the end of January because we were finally going to get our referral. But now January will turn into February, and into March and we will have to go about our daily lives just anxiously waiting to hear good news.
We know that our children are already at the orphanage…our agency knows who they are placing us with, but they can't tell us until our orphanage is accredited again, and they have no control over that process. My heart is most broken because I know that my children are there, without Joe and I.
I know that this "bump" is small compared to many other families in the middle of adopting. My heart is broken for the families who are now in year 2, 3, 4 of waiting….for the families who already met their children, the children now "stuck" in the birth countries. I know that our situation pales in comparison to other families' situations. I pray that our "bump" stays small and minor. When I think about third-world countries, I think "slow" or "laid back". They don't follow the same rigid timing and schedules that we are used to in America. Our agency thinks that this will just set us back "months", but I hate to think that the same timing in our children's birth country could take "years".
Right now, we ask that you just pray. Pray for us as we sort through this and what it means for our family and our future. Pray for our children. Pray that they are taken care of…that they are fed, clothed, and LOVED. Pray that God will continue to pursue their hearts so that they are ready to be a part of our family. Pray that the orphanage directors are speedy in the pursuit to get reaccredited, and pray that the government officials can hastily provide all of the approvals for this reaccreditation process. We know in our hearts that there is a reason for this. We don't know what the reason is, but we are so thankful to trust in a God that gives us hope that everything will still be perfect.
