Ever Changing

One thing that I learned very early on in our adoption process is that things are ever changing.  The "normal" expectation for referrals, court dates, embassy - are always so unknown and completely different depending on what family you talk to.  Every family has their own story, based on their own time frame, based on God's journey that He took them on. 

Our adoption journey has been amazing so far and God has already taught us so much!  He's opened our eyes up to the world and His people.  He has shown us that if we are willing, he will take us places we never thought we would go, and I'm not just talking about going to Africa!  I'm talking about the journey that He's taking our hearts on, our lives, our family, our outlook on life.  I can honestly say that God has spoken to us so deeply and clearly that I can say with absolute faith that we will NEVER be the same again!  We will NEVER look at the world in the same way!  He had bigger plans for our family than we had for ourselves and He is slowly revealing that plan to us.

Part of God's plan for our family is to bring our daughter home from Ethiopia!  We do not know when that will be or who she even is but we DO know that God does.  He knows every hair on her head and has been there beside her to wipe away every tear she has shed.  God has been revealing and changing our hearts on this process and a couple of months ago we felt like God was asking us not to put Him in a box, not to limit His plans for our family.  We felt like God was asking us to not only adopt our daughter, but also to be open to a sibling group.  God's plans are ever changing - He waits for you to get comfortable with a new decision, only to prompt you to step out in faith once again and follow His leading.  We made the decision to be open to a sibling group back in August, even before our Dossier was sent to Ethiopia.  We were told by our family coordinator that sibling groups are not as common as an individual referral so we would more likely just receive our daughter.  We know that God knows and we are trusting Him to bring us our child or children, whatever that may look like.  We feel that God asked us to be open to sibling groups - He may have just wanted us to be obediant and we might just get our daughter - or  - He may have our children out there waiting for us and He needed us to be open to them.  Either way we will receive a 3-4 yr. old girl, either in a sibling group of 2-3 children ranging from 18 mon. to 7 yrs, or by herself - whichever is available first!

We have kept the sibling portion of our decision pretty quiet due to the fact that it most likely won't happen.  Lately, however, we felt like we should share this change that God has led us on.  We know that many of you are praying for our family and our adoption process.  You are lifting up our daughter in your prayers and praying with us that God would bring her home to us soon.  We feel like we need prayer, for whatever God has planned for our family. 

I just posted a couple of days ago under our Adoption Timeline where we are on the DTE LIST - this list is the make shift list that the families have put together to see where we are in our wait. For fun, I posted where we are on the sibling group list- just to see if anyone would notice - LOL :).  The only person who noticed was my mother-in-law and that was with some prompting on my part.  Since posting a couple of days ago, the list has already changed.  It is important to remind you (and myself) that the list is not accurate and complete.  Not ALL families are included in the list, it only has the families that have chosen to participate in the yahoo chat group.  Also, families can change their request at anytime which can rearrange where everyone is on the list.  This is what has happened in our case, so instead of moving up the list, we have taken a small step back.  We are #4 for a 3 yr old girl, #2 for a 4 yr old girl, and #6 for a sibling group.  Most all of the families ahead of us are not requesting EXACTLY what we are, so they could receive something completely different than what we are requesting.  But the families that I have down as ahead of us are eligible for a 3-4 yr old girl so we have to consider ourselves behind them in line.

Please continue to lift our family up in prayer as we walk on this path that God has layed out before us.  Please pray that we would continue to draw close to Him for strength and that we would be obediant to His calling for our family.  Pray for our biological children, that God would prepare their hearts and minds to accept the changes that are coming.  Please pray for our child/children who's lives are going to change drastically in the months to come.  Pray that God would begin preparing their hearts to join our family and pray that God will comfort and keep them safe in His arms.

God is our rock when everything around us is EVER CHANGING!

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalms 18:2