To adopt or not to adopt, that is the question...

Adoption #3 began in the strangest of ways as you might surmise from our Adoption Timeline.  We started with a concern for children in eastern European orphanages, and a desire for a little girl based on our family makeup and bedroom logistics.  We found a girl, then lost a girl and had to regroup.  We considered a different country because of concerns of travel requirements and other country restrictions.  We considered a boy since demand is so much higher for girls.  We found a little boy and began reviewing his case in detail.  When certain facts came to light about the program and additional medical conditions, we had to reconsider. 

At this point we thought, we wondered, we prayed.  Are we supposed to do this at all?  Where and when?  Our hearts were drawn  back to eastern Europe where we had begun.  But what about this two trip requirement.  Could we really get that much time off from work?  Could we afford it?  Two little girls faces came into view.  One was getting close to aging out of her orphanage and needs to be brought home soon.  The way became clearer.  We figured out a way to deal with the two trips we hadn't considered before.

We stepped forward and said "Yes, we will do this, with the Lord's help".  There is peace.  The destination seems clearer tonight then it has in a long while.  We know who our angel is, we just have to get to her, and hopefully soon.

This has been in a mother's heart for a long time.  We've been seriously engaged in searching this out for just about a month, but it seems like so much longer, like it was always the plan.  I think in fact it was - just His plan and we didn't know it yet.  We are at the beginning of this journey.  There will be crazy fingerprinting, document preparation, signing, copying, certifying, mailing again and again to get it all together, but it will get done.  Who knows, if all goes well, by Christmas we could have the best blessing ever, another child beside us in front of the manger at the feet of Jesus.  But now we are really getting ahead of ourselves.  Back to the paperwork!