Skip to main content

Latest progress in "the decision"

As many of you know, in the last few weeks we had been discussing leaving the Ethiopia adoption program. There has been a lot of change in the program that could ultimately turn into the program completely shutting down. Due to this concern, our agency has offered for their Ethiopia clients to change programs. This is not something our agency has done before, so one can only imagine there would be some area of this process that could be miscommunicated  - as happened with us.

We were under the impression that we could transfer our Ethiopia Agency Fees into our Philippines Adoption. It took us a long time to come to the conclusion that we wanted to completely end our journey in Ethiopia and currently only be involved in our Philippines adoption. We made the decision though and all felt right, UNTIL we got an email the next day saying that our plan would not work. So on to plan B... but what was plan B!?!? It took us almost two weeks of talking to at least three different people in our agency and we are just finally getting some clear answers. We kept thinking we knew what we were working with and then the next day get a new email or phone call saying something was said incorrectly, or we interpreted something incorrectly. Among all the craziness though, one of the higher employees on the chain was eventually involved and had a nice hour long chat with Jon yesterday! Finally we were getting straight answers from someone who could call the shots and not talk to yet a different adviser!

You would be bored to hear all of the details, so here is the ultimate decision now to be made...

We will adopt our Little C from the Philippines. Then, do we....???

        A. Stay on the Ethiopia waiting list and pray that the country does not close International adoptions and also pray that the adoption process is still not on a 3-5 year timeline? My heart and mind still think and pray for the children in this country. And there are definitely children who need a home!!! But, there is no guarantee that their government will let their homes be in America.

        B. Transfer our agency fees to the Bulgaria program? The wait time is often around 2 years, which would be just about the time that we "could" adopt again since Little C would have been home for at least a year at that point. This option would cost us a little extra money, but overall the extra cost seems like a drop in the bucket compared to if we loose it all if the Ethiopia program closes.

Once again, there is no distinct answer to be made. We are praying and mulling it over... and over... and over again. We will need to make a decision soon, but have been granted a little time. It's funny how I thought our adoption process stuff would feel so much more care free for a couple months since the Philippines dossier had been completed and sent. LOL! I should know better than to sit back and breathe! There seems to always be another something around the corner that keeps us on our toes!

We will let you know when we have reached a decision. Please be praying that we make the best choice for ourselves and for our children.

Ok... back to an Owie Owl I was working on! :)
Night Friends!

In Christ,
Mara


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Four years.

Four years. Four years ago today, our second blessing jumped into our arms for the first time. Four years ago today, these two became brothers and best friends. Four years ago today, all our worlds changed. And yet, how can it have only been four years? Feels like he has been our son from day one. The Lord blessed us ten-fold the day we met you, my son, our Tope. My world is better with you in it.

Love & attachment

As I hug and kiss my son goodnight (for at least the third time, 2 hours past his bedtime!) I can't help but think about my other children. How I long to hold them in my arms, kiss them goodnight, show them how much they are loved, let them know that I will always be their mother. Yesterday Jon and I attended our first education meeting. This was put on by our local agency conducting our homestudy. The focus of this meeting was to talk about what to expect once our children are home. We learned a lot about "triggers" for our children - when life could be more difficult, we also learned more about attachment issues, and we learned/discussed what it will be like for our children to live in a "white privileged" family & neighborhood. Since this education, my mind has been swarming with many different thoughts. Many I'd like to try to convey into my writing, although this may take a few blogs. Tonight, as I work on getting my son to go to bed - and Stay ...

Davao Day 3 - Our Forever Family!!!

We would like to announce our newest son to the world! Christopher Andrew  Christopher, aka Tope (Toe-pay), is a delight to behold. We are incredibly blessed to have him in our lives. If his smile doesn't melt your heart, then his big dark brown eyes will.  He is a five year old that has a Great sense of humor and is already quickly melding into the family. His laugh takes my breath away. His hugs are like a warm blanket. And we are so thankful to call him our son. We hadn't even made it into the opening of the gate before Tope ran over to meet us. He quickly jumped into Jon's lap and there he stayed, looking almost shocked and yet content to be with his Daddy. He almost looked like he was going to cry. He clung to Jon for a very long time. What a blessing! One of the caretakers had him put on his shoes, of which he tied himself! He is already such a big boy!  We made our way to the office to sign papers and receive papers. Tope talk...