Leaving the Pity Party....

The past few weeks have been filled with many emotions. As seen in the adoption timeline at the top of our blog, it has been nearly five years since we started our adoption journey. Five years!!! That's a long time to be expecting and waiting. Talk about "What to expect when you're expecting!" We have recently begun to question our adoption path, especially in light of some recent heart breaks as well as changes in our adoption program. Needless to say, we have become extremely frustrated with ongoing challenges and delays. That's why I decided to plan my own party. My pity party.

However, after weeks of prayer, journalling and intense conversations with close friends, family and colleagues, we have decided to leave the pity party and march forward. We have become willing to increase the age of a child at the time of referral (the paperwork which matches a child with their forever family) and have made the required changes in our home study. Our Korea adoption program director believes that our family could receive a referral soon and does not feel that Mike's age is an issue. One of the Korean adoption policies is that neither parent can be older than 45, and Mike is nearing his 44th birthday. Once again, we have no other choice than to release our worries and fears and fully trust God's perfect timing. And that's a great place to be. I prefer to party at God's throne... a much better place than my own pity party!

So, what does this mean for our family? It is very possible that we could be matched with a little girl some time in the next few months. In the meantime, we continue to apply for grants and trust God with the financial requirements needed for a Korean adoption. We still need close to $15,000 in order to accept a referral from Korea. The required fees are $18,040 to Korea and $3,700 for adoption agency costs. We are extremely grateful for the $2,000 grant that we received from Show Hope last fall. We also received some significant donations from friends over the holidays, which deeply encouraged our hearts.

If you feel led to partner with our family in helping to meet these financial needs, contributions can be made through Lifesong for Orphans. We are beginning to feel more and more excitement building in our hearts as we consider the fact that our family may actually be adopting in the near future. We trust God's perfect timing and are amazed at all that He has done in our lives in the last five years. We recognize that His plan for us goes way beyond one adoption. It involves advocating for adoption, foster care and orphan care, supporting adopting families and leading teams to serve orphans overseas. It has been an unbelievable journey. Thank you for standing with us in our amazing adoption adventures! And thank you to those of you who briefly attended the pity party and encouraged our hearts!