I may have found our agency! I'm still researching the reputation and reviews, but it's looking pretty good. I know, I keep saying that... and it keeps falling through. But you can't afford not to hope a little in this process. Especially now that I have been obsessed with searching for the agency that can take it over from here... I'm feeling overwhelmed and tired of research! My heart needs some peace!
The organization I mentioned in my last post did give us some agency options... but none of them were for us. People just don't trust a 21 year old to adopt! I spoke with an agency this morning that I found on my own... they are willing to make an exception in our case because of these reasons: 1) Stephen is over 25. 2) We've been married long enough to be considered a stable family. 3) Our reason for adopting. All of those things persuaded the Ethiopian representative to make an exception! (It's the country's desire that says both parents should be over 25) And yes!.. Ethiopia is the country we feel tugged towards the strongest!
This is a crazy time filled with wondering what path God will lead us down, and trying to have the patience to know it is happening in HIS time. In this regard, I have gained inspiration from Katie.
I have been so inspired by Katie Davis and her willingness to let God lead her life, that I have been collecting quotes from her. I think I will start adding a Katie Quote to the end of all my blog posts. Maybe you will find her words as inspiring as I have.
Katie Quotes
The powerless, broken, dependent place was actually the place where the Lord was closest to me.
I feel powerless, broken and dependent right about now, but 2 Cor 12:9-10 covers this area pretty well. :)
Every morning, as I wake up with some impossible task in front of me, I know that God will meet it with impossible strength and love.
The task of finding an ethical agency is an impossible task... but God will provide.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
A Little Hope!
A lot has happened in the past few days! I will rewind a little bit...
A few days ago I thought we had found our agency. I had done a bunch of research, which all turned up very positively. We were about ready to decide to send in our application when I had a thought... have I been praying enough? The answer? No. I know you cannot adopt a child without praying every step of the way and expect to come up with good results. I don't know what was keeping me from it. I guess it was just the excitement and obsessiveness of it all that I got distracted from the point. The point of our adoption is to glorify God... so why wasn't He being consulted more?
The next morning before I even opened my eyes, I prayed. "Stephen and I have decided to start the process with this agency. If it is not your will, then please block it." And guess what happened?
I contacted my coordinator with our decision, and she threw a blockade into the mix. The information we were given about the age of the children available was wrong. There are only older children available now. God gave us His opinion. Pretty loudly. LOL
As soon as we realized we could no longer move forward with this agency, we prayed that God lead us to the right one. I called my mom today to tell her about the sad news, and she mentioned I should look at Katie Davis' ministry Amazima to see if the website had any adoption resources. Great idea!
From there it lead me to a website of a not-for-profit Christian adoption organization helping families at the beginning stages of adoption. Their program saves time, money, and headaches for couples interested in adoption – all at no cost. They provide a list of agencies that are ethical, experienced and financially stable for the specific adoption program we choose. They can provide a list of home study providers around our area. They provide resources on how to fund adoptions. They basically make the adoption process less complicated and overwhelming. This made me feel SO MUCH better! There is soooo much information to weed through and it was all overwhelming me tremendously... and then depressing me when something fell through. I believe this program will help us so much. I've just kept saying, "Why can't someone just tell us to use THIS agency???" Hopefully this organization will help us weed through all the ridiculous stuff! I'm so thankful God showed it to us!
So I will keep you all posted on how this goes! Thanks for reading and keeping up with our journey! (and the prayers, too!)
Side note:
It's possible that our baby has already been conceived and is growing in his mother's belly right now. Please pray for our baby's health and the health of the birth mother! I pray God blesses the two of them immensely.
A few days ago I thought we had found our agency. I had done a bunch of research, which all turned up very positively. We were about ready to decide to send in our application when I had a thought... have I been praying enough? The answer? No. I know you cannot adopt a child without praying every step of the way and expect to come up with good results. I don't know what was keeping me from it. I guess it was just the excitement and obsessiveness of it all that I got distracted from the point. The point of our adoption is to glorify God... so why wasn't He being consulted more?
The next morning before I even opened my eyes, I prayed. "Stephen and I have decided to start the process with this agency. If it is not your will, then please block it." And guess what happened?
I contacted my coordinator with our decision, and she threw a blockade into the mix. The information we were given about the age of the children available was wrong. There are only older children available now. God gave us His opinion. Pretty loudly. LOL
As soon as we realized we could no longer move forward with this agency, we prayed that God lead us to the right one. I called my mom today to tell her about the sad news, and she mentioned I should look at Katie Davis' ministry Amazima to see if the website had any adoption resources. Great idea!
From there it lead me to a website of a not-for-profit Christian adoption organization helping families at the beginning stages of adoption. Their program saves time, money, and headaches for couples interested in adoption – all at no cost. They provide a list of agencies that are ethical, experienced and financially stable for the specific adoption program we choose. They can provide a list of home study providers around our area. They provide resources on how to fund adoptions. They basically make the adoption process less complicated and overwhelming. This made me feel SO MUCH better! There is soooo much information to weed through and it was all overwhelming me tremendously... and then depressing me when something fell through. I believe this program will help us so much. I've just kept saying, "Why can't someone just tell us to use THIS agency???" Hopefully this organization will help us weed through all the ridiculous stuff! I'm so thankful God showed it to us!
So I will keep you all posted on how this goes! Thanks for reading and keeping up with our journey! (and the prayers, too!)
Side note:
It's possible that our baby has already been conceived and is growing in his mother's belly right now. Please pray for our baby's health and the health of the birth mother! I pray God blesses the two of them immensely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)