The Waiting

I haven’t written in a while, mostly because not too much has been happening, but this is the latest.

-- I turned in all our documents over a month ago, but then found out we had to have at least half of our training done before the home study could start (we need to have 10 hours of training – can be books and/or online courses). The agency recommended two online courses at a site called AdoptionLearningPartners.org – one called “With Eyes Wide Open” about international adoption, and one called “Conspicuous Families” about adopting a child of a different ethnicity. You read information online, and then do homework that you send in to the adoption agency & social worker, mostly lots of questions helping you to think through various issues you will or might deal with in adoption. I think they were very helpful, especially since we have no experience with adoption at all. They also gave us a book list, and I got a few of the books, which I’ve started to read – Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families by Natalie Gillespie, Adopting the Older Child by Claudia Jewett, and Adopted for Life by Russell Moore.

-- In the course of going through the training, I read that it’s not usually recommended for families to adopt two children at the same time who are not siblings, unless they are from the same orphanage and are close there. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but it just made me think about Rogers and Fred, from Royal Orphanage, who aren’t brothers. So I emailed Jalia to ask her about them, if they are close to one another, and if she thought they would do well being adopted together. She didn’t really answer my question, but she replied:

Yes, Rogers has a young brother!!!

I asked Rogers to get his pic to me, but he has been in school he is boarding. But today they got their holiday, so I will be able to see him on Monday. I will send his brothers pic too.

This is all she said, and I haven’t heard back since, so I’m waiting to find out more – how old his brother is, if they have any other siblings or if it’s just the two of them, etc. The Tuckers were planning to go to Uganda to pick up their children at the end of November, and they were going to get more information and pictures for us, but that didn’t work out; now they are going in January. So, we’ll just have to be patient.

-- But meanwhile, my friend Eileen sent me information about two brothers in Ethiopia that she really wants to find a family for here:

These two brothers are my #1 recommendation for adoption. My cousin Georgie fell in love with them when we were in Ethiopia and he asked me to please ask you to adopt them. He has been keeping in touch with them and they asked him to please find them a family.

(they are the two on the left)

I think they are like 10 & 12 I forgot but I will ask Solomon. My cousin is praying so hard to get these boys adopted here so he can be a big brother to them. He is single and cannot adopt himself but he is asking me to get them here. The director of Ethiopia for Gladney told me if I get anyone interested in any of the Kolfe boys to let him know and he will help us get them adopted. They won't get any of their paperwork started unless someone is specifically interested in them. He said because no one is really interested in these boys, they don't even give them hope so they do nothing to get them adoptable in advance. They told me I can start advocating for them on my blog and see if anything happens. I pray these two would the first in line to be adopted and start a mass adoption from the Kolfe orphanage! This could be the start of something wonderful!! I know Uganda also needs help and I a sure the boys there are just as sweet. So, please just pray and ask the LORD for HIS direction. I am praying for you too!! It would be great to start a Kolfe boys community here in NC!!

-- We did get a call from the social worker finally, and have our first home study appointment with her this coming Wednesday, so that will be interesting, I’m sure.

Going through all of this, I have to say that it still doesn’t seem really real, that we are planning to actually add two more children to our family. I have been more focused on just following what I believe God is saying to us, with a heart to open our family to orphans who don’t have one, trusting that He will work out the details and provide all we need as we move down this path. But there are so many details to work on in the process, that it’s easy to focus on those instead of the reality of what you’re actually planning to do. Darren and I have been talking through this more recently, really trying to let it all sink in a bit more, to think through it all and make sure we are both on the same page and in full agreement – which is obviously so important - before we move farther ahead. Pray for both of us that God will make his will very clear, and that we will have a peace and confidence in our hearts about it.