adoption update...and another change!

It has been a looooong time since I have posted about adoption. One because we have made some changes that I was not ready to public. And two because we have a newborn (an two other kids) who pretty such take up all my time and energy along with my thinking skills. Seriously, I have trouble even making coherent sentences 90% of the time.

We realized in October of last year that our i-600 approval was expiring in January, and not just any day in January, but Zeke's due date. Crazy, huh? So, we began the paperwork process...again.

If you have been following our journey, you may know that before we found out we were expecting #3, we were faced with a decision on whether to stay in Uganda or switch countries.
When we found out I was pregnant, we decided to stay put in Uganda and then make the decision closer to my due date.
And then in October, when we realized that our paperwork had to be updated, we also knew that we needed to make a choice on which country was best for our family.

Well, we decided to switch. We are now adopting from Democratic Republic of Congo.

There were several factors affecting our decision, but the overriding factor was travel time. We would have had to take one 8+ week trip to Uganda. Our original plan was to take the kiddos with us. But after Zeke was born, we knew that travel with all three kids, especially a baby may not be the wisest decision. And leaving the kids in the states while we traveled was not an option! I have trouble leaving them for a weekend, there is no way I could do it for 2 months!

So here we are...once again having to start certain processes over and once again finding ourselves on the paper chase.
Our adoption journey has been one of many emotions. When country processes change, it is frustrating, but it also reminds me of who is in control...and that is NOT me. God has showed me many times that He is sovereign over this entire process. It is not mine to control, it is His. Our baby is in His hands.

Now that we are settling in to being a family of 5, our adoption is back at the forefront of my mind. With that, I am hoping to do a better job of keeping y'all updated!

Wait list!!!

Does this title sound a little familiar? But this is not the wait list for Ethiopia; this is the wait list for Uganda :) 

If you remember here, I posted about the day we got on the wait list when we were in the Ethiopian program. And then here where I posted that we switched countries from Ethiopia to Uganda. When we switched, several of our documents had to be updated.

So here we are again, on the wait list, but this time for Uganda. And let me tell you, I have such a wonderful peace about Uganda. I am thankful that this is where we are and this is where we are going to stay.

Now on to update more paperwork…

A different country. A hard choice

If you have been here before you may know that I have had doubts about our adoption from Ethiopia. You can read about this here and here.

Over the past few months, God has been doing a lot of work in our hearts. As comfortable as we were sitting on the wait list for Ethiopia, we began to see that might not be what God had for us.

Last week, we left our Ethiopia program.

Yes, we are still adopting, but God has led us in a new direction and to a different country. He is showing us truths about special needs children.

We have been praying like crazy over the past months. I have looked into many other countries in Africa and several different options for adoption. I have spoken with adoption agencies, orphanages, attorneys, and families who have adopted from Africa.

All doors seemed to be closing, all except one.

We are now pursuing adoption from Uganda! We are drawn to the country, its culture, and the children there. Our hearts have also been opened to the possibility of adopting a child with special needs. Read more about that here.

Why would God lead us to Ethiopia only to ask us to switch 6 months later? Were we just not hearing God correctly? As much as that thought runs through my head, I don’t think it is the answer. I do think God led us to Ethiopia, but for some reason He is now asking us to go in a different direction.

This has been a HARD decision. We both felt a strong pull to Ethiopia only months ago. But ultimately this is God’s decision, not ours. His plans for our adoption are much better than our own and we have to give full control to Him.