To start this post I need to take you back
about 2 ½ months. Our adoption agency called about a new country program in Africa.
We would be good candidates for the program because of our family size and
years of marriage. Our agency told us a little about the country, that there
where children available, and that there were not any children on the horizon
in Uganda.
Mark and I briefly discussed and prayed about the call, but decided that we
wanted to stay in Uganda.
We were OK with waiting.
Fast forward about 2 weeks. We received an
email from our agency that left us feeling defeated. For reasons (which we
completely agree with) our agency needed to be more selective in the children
who they were willing to accept into their Ugandan program. This decision would
cause the number of children available for adoption to drastically decrease. AND
in addition to this (here is the big one), they were uncertain about the
stability of the program.
We had a hard time with this. We already switched countries from Ethiopia
to Uganda. We
did not want to switch again. But we also did not want to stay in a program
that we felt would ultimately be a dead end.
For weeks, we prayed about a decision. We spoke
numerous times with our adoption agency about the specifics of the new program
and what it would mean for our adoption.
I am not one to “hear” God, but I really wanted
a clear answer on this one. I needed to know that whatever decision we made
was completely His.
Over these weeks, I began to lean towards
switching programs. I could not shake the idea that Uganda
was going to be a long road with no end in sight. I was beginning to feel a
strong desire for our third child. So, I made my decision, I wanted to switch.
BUT Mark was not ready yet. He felt that we
would ultimately switch, but was sort of dragging his feet. So, I waited (and
waited, and waited) on him to make a final decision.
The time finally came where Mark had made his
choice. The night before he was going to tell me he was ready to switch
countries, we found out I was pregnant. Wait, stop the bus. What? Yep,
I am pregnant!
I know, we were shocked too (and super
excited!). I chart my cycle and (this may be TMI)
I can feel when I ovulate. I have NO idea how I am pregnant. Well, that’s a
lie; I do understand how it happens. But based on when I ovulated and when we,
well you know, it just seems impossible.
God gave me my answer. It was not what I
thought it would be, but it is an answer. He wants us to wait.
What does this mean for our adoption? We are
going to stay in the Uganda
program and reevaluate what it looks like in about 6 months. Only God knows
what this program holds and for now, we are going to wait (some more).
Baby Elliott is due on January 11th, 2013, which puts me at
about 10 weeks pregnant! Praising the Lord for this precious child!
