For over a year now, my heart has ached for the orphan population as a whole. I expressed my desire for adoption again to Keith and just asked him to begin praying about it. His big hesitation, like many others, is and was the expense. We both have been praying about it for awhile now and in Jan. of this year, God gave us a plan. We are both on a budget and we can now see hope in this journey to our daughter.
For now, we are planning fundraisers and praying quite often that God will be glorified and hoonored through our adoption process. It will take at least 18 months once the paperwork is filed and we have to have a certain amount of $$ before we can start the paperwork. So, truthfully, we are looking at July to start the initial paperwork. This would put us traveling to China in Jan. 2014 possibly, which seems a long way off. We have a lot to do in the next 2 years... no procrastination allowed!
To think that our daughter may not even be born yet is a thought I can't seem to wrap my mind around. It is amazing to be praying for, hoping for and desiring a person that's possibly not even created yet. I know that is exactly how our Father in Heaven felt about us before we were born and how he feels about those of us who haven't been born again. Right now that desire to know her, to hold her, to bring her home and to love her like our Father in Heaven loves us, is the motivation to get busy!
To wrap up, we would covet your prayers and your encouragement as we embark on a journey through the unknown. We would ask that you pray in the following ways:
* That we would follow God's lead in every step of the process and seek Him first
* That our extended family would be a source of support and encouragement
* For our commitment to a "radical" budget not be broken and remain urgent over the 2 yrs
* For our precious jewel in China: her health, her caregivers, her nourishment, her development, her heart for Christ and her transition into her forever family!
