Then at the beginning of January, our adoption agency sent us the file of a little boy asking us to consider adopting him. At first we were a little hesitant because all along we believed we would be adopting 2 siblings. That's what we had been approved for and were really hoping for. If we were to wait for a referral, which could take MUCH longer, it would be for 2 siblings. But the more we thought and prayed about it, the more we saw it as God putting this little boy before us and HIM asking us to consider him. The fact that our agency thought specifically of us, we believe, is no chance and not a request to be passed over because it's not the right number. What kind of excuse is that? He is a child who needs a home, a mom and dad, a brother and sister, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, all who love him.
LOVE... something he's maybe never known in his short 3 years of life, or maybe never would know the rest of his life if we said "no." I'm not sure I could live that.
SO... we have sent in the paperwork requesting that he (we'll call him "A" for now, because we can't give out his information just yet) become our son! Once the request, basically our declaration of intent to adopt, is accepted by the powers that be over in BG they will send us the official referral for "A". Then we have to officially accept the referral before they invite us to travel for our first trip to meet him... maybe a couple months out yet.
This is happy news! We are excited! Thank you to those who have been faithfully praying for us in these months of silence. Please continue! We are not through this yet and still have much to wade through.
While all this over "A" was going on, we found out our agency was having to close unexpectedly and immediately due to the closure of US-Russian adoptions, which made up over 60% of their clients. They would not be able to financially afford continuing their other smaller programs. They quickly referred all the remaining clients to a new agency that was willing to take us and work with us for the remainder of our adoptions.
To make a very long explanation much shorter, this agency fiasco has set us back some financially as well as emotionally and logistically, but the Lord is in control, and He has been from the beginning. He was not at all surprised by the events of the past 2 months. He did not have to go to His "plan B." Even though from our perspective everything seems out of control, the reality is that everything is completely under control by our loving Father. He's not finished stretching our faith and our patience. It's all for our good and His glory. Somehow, He will be more glorified now than if none of this had happened. So we are learning to trust Him more.
Would you all continue to pray for us? --
- Pray for us to not be discouraged by setbacks, but to grow in our faith and to "not grow weary in well-doing".
- Pray for "A" as he goes about his life in the orphanage-- health, growth, protection; his 3rd birthday is in a couple weeks :) It's so much harder now that we have a face to our prayers; BTW he's pretty adorable-- sorry we can't show you his picture yet. =)
- Pray that we will get our referral for "A" soon, as parts of the government are stalled right now, waiting for an early election as much of the current gov't just resigned. We're not sure if this will affect the adoptions.
- Pray that we will see God's provision of financial needs due to some lost funds with our agency's closure
