I have been neglecting writing out my detailed thoughts on this adoption process. The whole adoption process has gone so fast my mind is left reeling. We were officially accepted into the Ethiopia program at our agency as of March 2012. From there we hit the ground running knowing that there was a little girl we were hoping for. We expedited our home study so she could be officially referred to us and as of May 26th we accepted the referral for our precious daughter. We expedited the process to finish up our dossier and sent that in as of the first week in June and then we were fingerprinted for the United States Immigration and Customs Office to receive approval for Sunshines visa. So from start until now it has been 4 months to begin waiting on a court date. Just to give you a time frame, it is supposed to take 4-6 months to even complete your dossier. Add in to the mix a military move across country and placing a home for sale and you have a recipe for extreme business. God has brought us through each thing faithfully and we are grateful to at least be a little bit more settled. However, I would like to backtrack and take a little time to tell you what I can about why we picked our Sunshine.
It was the end of March and I was speaking with our coordinator about the waiting children program and explaining that Pete and I were very interested to look at the children. She was a bit concerned because she did not want us to pick a child off of the waiting list just so the process would be much quicker, which at times it is not. The wait for an ethically placed young infant or toddler adoption is ranging from about 24-36 months at this point. We assured her that our hearts have always been open to adopting an older child with special needs. She gave us the password and that we could go from there.
It was a warm and humid day when I first went and looked at the waiting
child list for our agency. My mind drifted back to the warm and humid
days that I spent in Kenya and I wondered what it felt like in Ethiopia.
My stomach was fluttering with excitement as I thought about one of my
dreams coming true and being able to return to Africa. I was also
excited that God was beginning to fulfill a God-filled desire of
bringing home an orphan from Ethiopia. My eyes scanned over the four
children that were on that page, all of them so beautifully created, all
of them with the heavy weight of grief in their eyes. You could tell
that this world has been cruel and that they had more hurt than most
people had in a lifetime. My heart ached for each but as I scrolled to
one particular girl my eyes stopped. I looked into those deep, brown
eyes and looked at the most incredible smile I have ever seen. It was so
bright and beautiful I could not help but smile. Her eyes told me of a
little girl that has seen too much, lived too much and longed for a
family. It was at that moment I knew God was telling me this was the
one, she was our gift from God and we were His family for her. I told
Pete to go and look at the page without telling him which one stopped me
in my tracks. He did and his mind and thoughts were drawn back to her.
Come to find out a few days later when we shared with our family coordinator which child we were strongly praying for, she told us that was the little girl she thought would jump out to us. God is good! All the time!We could do nothing but wait because we had not completed our homestudy
and to look at a waiting child you must have that completed. We trusted
that God's timing was perfect and we waited. We prayed that if we were not
her family that God would bring her family to her very soon. Sure enough
we finished our homestudy and we received the referral a short week
later.
I wish I could reveal more but so much is Sunshine's story to
tell, not ours. It will be her testimony of God's faithfulness and not
ours to share, except for the parts that make up our testimony. What I can say is, God has brought her through much and we
are looking forward to watching Him move in her life and being able to
watch His faithfulness as she grows. We are so very humbled that we
have been given the honor of becoming this precious child's parents. We
are so non-deserving. We are not perfect. We are trying to be obedient
to that which He has called us. God is the one that will receive all the
glory and praise. He is the one that opened two hard hearts to be
softened to the things of His calling. His grace abounds and I am
grateful to not only be LOVED in abundance but to be USED in abundance.
So here we are, waiting for a court date. They have already opened her case without us so there is a chance that we will be going by the end of this month or beginning of next month. Court usually closes for two months due to the rainy season but they have yet to announce when that will be. No matter what, we trust God's timing. He has faithfully and graciously placed that truth deep inside my heart. That is one truth that Shai's life and death has taught me. God is good and so is His timing. He is sovereign and we have nothing to worry about. This is just another chance to be further refined. It's funny but I am beginning to believe not just know the truth spoken of in James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Even when we walk through the hardest of times, like the death of a loved one or the waiting of something without a set time frame, you can trust that God is refining and producing something beautiful within you. That is the only reason I can count anything that seems overwhelming, ugly, hard and terrible as joy. Those are the moments in life that forever change you into something far greater than yourself, if you allow.
Please pray for us as we are tired, overwhelmed a bit and trying to prepare for the future arrival of our daughter. Pray that she would be watched over and that God would be preparing her heart for us and for Him. Pray that the rest of our finances would come in. We need about $5,000 more to get us to the end. Pray for the other kiddos over there that have not found families and are in need. Consider supporting ministries that try to make it possible for orphans to be adopted in country, which is a far better option. Or, consider opening your heart and mind to adoption. It is not what everyone is called to, no, but we are called to take care of those who are in need. I encourage you to take time to find out what avenue that is for you and your family. Thank you for your kindness and support!
