So far

We met with Lifeline a local Christian adoption agency on Sept 12. We went not knowing if we wanted to do domestic or international adoption. The woman told us that with domestic there are families waiting on children and with international there are children waiting on families. That was all it took for us to make up our mind and go with international.

We first looked into Bulgaria because it seem like the travel time and age/marriage requirements worked for us. After talking to Sella from lifeline we learned that with Bulgaria you are looking at severe medical special needs. She told us about Taiwan. Everything looked like it would work for us. We left her office ready to start the process. I got on their website again and I noticed that it said the age requirement for Taiwan was 30. All the papers we got from Sella said 25. I emailed her and we found out that the age had recently been changed to 30. I have never in my life wanted to be 30 years old so bad! We tried really hard not to let that get us down. A friend posted on facebook...He is never early..He is never late...His timing is perfect and so is His direction. I try to keep this on my mind. We know that God has lead us here and when He is ready everything will work according to His plan.

I've been reading a couple books about adoption. Adopted for Life by Russell Moore and Orphanology by Tony Merida and Rick Morton are awesome books! Its so amazing how much God loves us. "The gospel and adoption are beautifully woven together by the gracious hand of God. In Christ, God has shown His love for us as our Father. He has reached down His hand of mercy to us in the loneliness of our sin, and He has raised us up as members of His family. Consequently, one of the clearest displays of the gospel in this life is when redeemed men and women extend a hand of mercy to children in need and bring them into their families." by David Platt (forward to Orphanology) As Christians we have been adopted. We are no longer strangers to God's family. We are now His children. Isn't that amazing!

We are now looking into Ethiopia. We meet the age/marriage requirements, the travel time works well for us.. So it looks like this is the one. I have to admit at first I thought what will people think. I was reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and he wrote "God is not a bigot: He's not a racist; He loves to reverse social-class distinctions because His love knows no boundaries." So it really doesn't matter what people may think. I live my life for God and not this world. "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." -Romans 12:2

We are trying to raise money for the application fee and for the home study. So be on the look out for fundraisers to help us bring our little one home. But for now keep us in your thoughts and prayers.