The waiting and what's to come...

Well, we have been on the waiting list for over a week now and I'm starting to remember how much I hated it the first time. ha! Not really! We are just moving on with life... Just the 5 of us... waiting for that perfect timing when our phone rings and says "we want to talk to you about a little..." WOW! I remember it like it was yesterday for E... and I am SO DANG BLESSED to be here again so soon. My plan? not a chance. His plan? certainly. Ya'll only God through me and the Mr can raise these children in His love.

So we wait with excited, yet peaceful hearts, knowing that our day will come and it will be the one He chose for us. For the meantime, we are enjoying being our family of 5... the way things are today. I'm really trying not to get caught up in the future and just enjoying each and every day with my little 3 guys and doll right now. I don't want to miss one day!!

But, we've gotten some questions about our adoption that I thought I would try to answer the best I can.

1. How long will you have to wait?

We aren't sure. It could be weeks or months. Thus... we feel like we are waiting at #1 ALL THE TIME! AHHH... it could be anytime!

2. Why do you have to wait for a special needs child... aren't there plenty waiting?

We chose our agency based on their incredible ethical standards. We have NOT been looking on their waiting children's list because they know what we are open to and will notify us if there is a child that comes into care that matches our parameters. That may sound silly to you, but that is the way we have chosen to do it, unless God drops a child in our inbox... which has been done before (remember Dimples?)

Also, another wait is how the paper trail works in Ethiopia. Gladney will notify the government orphanages that they have a family open to XYZ, if Gladney doesn't have a child already in care that fits our parameters. At this time, then a child that was "waiting" in the government orphanage will be moved into the Gladney home. Before this happens, Gladney has it's own team of investigators and staff ensuring the paperwork and story of that child is accurate. After all the appropriate paperwork has been completed, they will transfer the child to Gladney. At this point, there is more paperwork that has to take place in country with Gladney staff BEFORE we EVER KNOW about the child! After the appropriate steps have been taken, then Gladneys in country staff will notify my case worker who will then call us! That's the deal... pickle!

3. "I'm worried about you adopting a child with special needs."

Don't be. We have spent the last 2 years praying about this and you have to trust God that He knows what He is doing! Don't worry about us, pray for us. Pray for our family. Pray for the transitions that are coming. Pray for our financial support. We would NEVER CHOOSE this road if we didn't know 100% we were called.

4. What kind of special needs?

We obviously haven't gotten the call, so we don't really know the entire extent of our child's medical needs. However, we can tell you what we are not ready for. We are not approved for any major neurological problems or long term care situations. We believe that in the future God may call us to that, but for now, we believe that the ages of our children limit our time and energy to take that on currently. We have found this lays to rest many people's fears who love us, but only know a little bit about our adoption journey currently. I appreciate people's concern, and desire to pray. We believe that we will be in a situation that will require dire need of medications and medical care, yet most of our life will be lived normal day to day. If you have more questions, you can ask us!


We hope this helps you understand the process we are in right now. I know it helped me to type it out! ha.