Over the past few weeks, my heart has longed to see and hold and snuggle with the baby boy that the Lord has sovereignly picked out for our family. The questions come easily - is he born yet? is he healthy? is he happy or hurting? when will we bring him home?
The questions with our first two children were similar - is she healthy? what will she look like? when will she arrive?
For Lee and I, and even Addie and Ellee, our baby boy is already so much a part of our family. Addie and Ellee refer to their brother all the time and they each pray for him daily. (Lee and I steal a glance at each other and smile when one of them prays, "Lord, please keep Baby K safe and healthy until we can bring him home and please help the people of Korea learn about Jesus.") As a matter of fact, my sweet mom called the other day because she had found a sale and was buying clothes for the grandchildren. She wanted to know what size I thought they would need next year and Baby K was included in that! We all want him home!
I find that I have to pray for the Lord to guard my heart and protect my thoughts because the road before us with the adoption is still a long and winding one. I understand there are no guarantees until we have him home and there are many opportunities for disappointment. We are, however, confident that the desire to adopt is one placed in our hearts by our Father and we trust that He will bring it to pass in His perfect timing!
Speaking of timing, here's an update on where we are:
We are closer to just waiting, instead of waiting to wait. (You can read here to find out more about "waiting to wait.") Last week we received the paperwork we've been waiting on since the beginning of June. It was filled out and returned to the agency in Michigan the following day! As soon as that agency sends a confirmation that the paperwork is filled out correctly, we should then officially be placed on the referral waiting list! From that point, referrals are taking 4-6 months and travel to pick up your child (after accepting the referral) is taking 2-3 months. So...best case scenerio would be to have our baby boy home sometime in March; the latest would be mid summer. Again, we are trusting God to provide everything according to His perfect plan!
In the past few months, we have also applied for several grants that provide financial assistance with adoptions. We are hopeful as we wait to hear from them. The financial aspect of adoption is extremely overwhelming and we are continuing to pursue fund-raising opportunities and are praying for provision!
I am hopeful that soon I will be able to provide more exciting news as we press forward in this amazing journey!
If Baby K knew the family he would be coming home to, he would want that day to get here real fast also!! I will continue to pray that Baby K comes home to your family as planned. God Bless you all. Love you, AJ
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