Friday, March 30, 2012

A Year {and an Update}

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I wrote THIS post. A year since God moved in our hearts and we announced our hopes to adopt from Uganda. A year of paper work, fundraising, prayers and waiting. We have definitely gained patience. It's hard waiting and it's hard not being in control {or not having the illusion of it}. I admit, I had high hopes that things would go more quickly than it has but I see Gods hand through it all so far and trust His timing.


 I have learned a lot, and can I just tell you that so far God has steamrolled over every "limit" we have tried to set on this thing. We started about a year and a half ago getting ready to re-start the process of U.S infant adoption. We were open to other races but most types of special needs were definitely off the table. International adoption was way too scary but instead of admitting that, we chocked it up to it just not being for us. The adoption agency told us they wouldn't place a child older than our youngest so we felt a little forced..... Fast forward a few months and God put SixtyFeet in our line of sight and our world was turned upside down. We saw the need and fell in love with the country despite the fact we had never been there. We wanted to bring home a child who truly needed a home and who would otherwise not be adopted. We envisioned 1 or 2 little toddler aged children possibly with some sort of health concerns. In September we had the amazing opportunity to go to Uganda with SixtyFeet to serve and learn more about the beautiful country. While we were there God once again wrecked our hearts for those children who desperately needed a loving family but what we soon discovered was that the majority of those truly waiting were older children and children with various types of Special Needs. I see now how vital going and visiting can be before making a commitment to adopt. For us it allowed for these beautiful children to become more than just an age or a list of "special needs" on a bio. We met children who just longed for love, for security, and hope. 
Josh and I in Uganda, Lake Victoria in the background aka paradise.
I haven't written an update in awhile mostly because we are stuck in the waiting game. We finally received our USCIS approval but are now in the process of updating our Home Study to increase the age parameters and re-word our openness to all special needs. We will then need to re-send our Home Study to USCIS and wait for our clearances to be updated. I cant say much since we are still waiting to be "officially matched" and approved from the home we hope to work with but since September we have been praying for a certain little guy we met with a smile that would melt your heart. If it's God's will we hope to be privileged to be his forever family but like I said we are in waiting. 


I just laugh when I look at how far God has brought us in a year. It's been amazing to watch the process unfold.  He has provided every step with the funds we have needed so far and we trust He will continue to provide. 


Here at home I feel like I am in some sort of crazy nesting phase where I have so many projects going it's hard to keep them all straight. I swear it's like the final months of pregnancy but boy it's nice doing stuff without a big ol' belly!