Matched!!!!
OH MY GOODNESS, I am so excited to announce that we have been matched with a precious little boy!!!
It has taken a little time to be able to sit down and try to put into words what I'm feeling and thinking right now. God is so good! And He has really been showing me that, these past couple of weeks. I got the call from our case worker on a Monday, that we had received our initial approval from CARA. She said we could now be matched with a child, but that it could take a few weeks. She said that if we didn't have a match in a month, we could review things and see if we needed to make any changes.
Then Tuesday, the very next day, she called me about a match!!! I was in shock for the first couple of days. Just in unbelief that it happened so fast. Another awesome thing is that he is a 6 month old baby! Our family has had a desire for a baby, but really thought it more likely we would be adopting a little brother, maybe around 2 years old. Our case worker said it is less common to see an adoptable baby. I am overwhelmed at God's goodness. He is not only giving us a little boy, but He is doing it so fast, and He is giving us a baby. The desire of our hearts. It is such a sweet reminder of how God loves and cares for us that He is even in the details of our lives. He has carried us so much throughout this process and we have seen Him provide over and over again. From paperwork being processed quickly, to Him meeting financial needs we have faced as we pay for the adoption. He is such a big God, as He orchestrates so much. But He also loves us enough to reach down and give us the desires of our hearts.
So the big question everyone is asking now is, "When will you go get him?!" The answer... it's still gonna be a while, probably another 6-8 months. There is still a lot of paperwork that has to be filed with both the US and Indian government, each of which typically takes a few weeks to a few months to process. The biggest hurdle we face is the final approval, which comes from the state our little guy lives in. This will come from the judge in his district, and the amount of time that takes can vary greatly.
So, here is where I ask you to pray. I would ask that you please pray for the judge that will be reviewing our case. That God will soften our judge's heart to adoption and be willing to not only approve it, but review and approve it quickly. Statistically for every year a child is in an orphanage there is likely a 6 month delay developmentally. Right now our baby boy has only been in the orphanage for 6 months. So not only are we longing to hold him, but we also want his time in the orphanage to be at a minimum. Now I will say, from what we can tell, he is in a pretty good orphanage and is receiving better care than we expected. When you read lots of books and hear lots of adoption stories, you tend to prepare yourself for the worst situations. His orphanage has been very good to communicate with our agency and share information on our little buddy, which we are very grateful for. We do have a lot of medical information and some cute pictures and videos. However, these are not things that will be shared on any social media at this time.
I have read some about the importance of protecting your adopted child's "story", which is something I had not previously given much thought to. But when I think about it, I don't want the whole world knowing all the hard parts of my past. Only people I'm closest to. And even then, I'm still discreet. There are going to be some hard questions our little man will one day wrestle with and ask us, and I want to have as many answers for him as I can. When I stop to consider this part, it breaks my heart. I've had many people tell me what a wonderful thing we are doing by adopting, and that our little guy is so lucky to be a part of our family. And while I know those things are said out of love and with good intentions to encourage us, I can't help but think about the unfortunate events that led to our little guy's need to be adopted. Those things do not make him lucky at all. Adoption is sometimes viewed as a type of rescuing, and while to some extent it is, it also comes with a void that will be carried by that child his entire life. The many "whys" that will haunt him, that I can not answer or fix, really hurt my heart. But, again, this is where I lean on my heavenly Father who adopted me. I was lost and on my own and He came to not only rescue me, but to fill the void as well. I know He can fill the voids for all of my children, especially the ones I can't.
Through our adoption, as I think about the picture of the Gospel, I think about the fact that we know who our little man is and we are pursuing him and want him even though he doesn't have a clue who we are yet. We want to change his life for the good and will be there for him through it all. That is what God does for us. He pursues and knows us before we ever experience Him ourselves and He calls us to Himself, adopting us as His sons and daughters through Jesus and changing our lives for the better, forever. He not only saves us from Hell, but He also gives us Himself. That is the part that is better than what we are doing. Our family will never be enough for our little guy, I will never be everything that any of my children need. But God is. He is more than enough. He can fill every void, heal every wound. Only He can give us eternity in Heaven and also an abundant life here on Earth, with joy everlasting. We will walk with our baby boy through the highs and lows that come from adoption and life in general, but my greatest comfort and joy is that God will be the One who does the saving, not me. Because lets be honest, I would totally mess that up. The picture of God's adoption of us is beautiful, because it is complete. Christ did not stand up from His throne and yell directions at us. He left His holy dwelling place with God and came down to us. He walked with man through the filth of life; healing, restoring, and forgiving, and continues to do so today through the Holy Spirit. He came to us so we could come to Him. So I will forever praise the One who is worthy of all praise.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever!
It has taken a little time to be able to sit down and try to put into words what I'm feeling and thinking right now. God is so good! And He has really been showing me that, these past couple of weeks. I got the call from our case worker on a Monday, that we had received our initial approval from CARA. She said we could now be matched with a child, but that it could take a few weeks. She said that if we didn't have a match in a month, we could review things and see if we needed to make any changes.
Then Tuesday, the very next day, she called me about a match!!! I was in shock for the first couple of days. Just in unbelief that it happened so fast. Another awesome thing is that he is a 6 month old baby! Our family has had a desire for a baby, but really thought it more likely we would be adopting a little brother, maybe around 2 years old. Our case worker said it is less common to see an adoptable baby. I am overwhelmed at God's goodness. He is not only giving us a little boy, but He is doing it so fast, and He is giving us a baby. The desire of our hearts. It is such a sweet reminder of how God loves and cares for us that He is even in the details of our lives. He has carried us so much throughout this process and we have seen Him provide over and over again. From paperwork being processed quickly, to Him meeting financial needs we have faced as we pay for the adoption. He is such a big God, as He orchestrates so much. But He also loves us enough to reach down and give us the desires of our hearts.
So the big question everyone is asking now is, "When will you go get him?!" The answer... it's still gonna be a while, probably another 6-8 months. There is still a lot of paperwork that has to be filed with both the US and Indian government, each of which typically takes a few weeks to a few months to process. The biggest hurdle we face is the final approval, which comes from the state our little guy lives in. This will come from the judge in his district, and the amount of time that takes can vary greatly.
So, here is where I ask you to pray. I would ask that you please pray for the judge that will be reviewing our case. That God will soften our judge's heart to adoption and be willing to not only approve it, but review and approve it quickly. Statistically for every year a child is in an orphanage there is likely a 6 month delay developmentally. Right now our baby boy has only been in the orphanage for 6 months. So not only are we longing to hold him, but we also want his time in the orphanage to be at a minimum. Now I will say, from what we can tell, he is in a pretty good orphanage and is receiving better care than we expected. When you read lots of books and hear lots of adoption stories, you tend to prepare yourself for the worst situations. His orphanage has been very good to communicate with our agency and share information on our little buddy, which we are very grateful for. We do have a lot of medical information and some cute pictures and videos. However, these are not things that will be shared on any social media at this time.
I have read some about the importance of protecting your adopted child's "story", which is something I had not previously given much thought to. But when I think about it, I don't want the whole world knowing all the hard parts of my past. Only people I'm closest to. And even then, I'm still discreet. There are going to be some hard questions our little man will one day wrestle with and ask us, and I want to have as many answers for him as I can. When I stop to consider this part, it breaks my heart. I've had many people tell me what a wonderful thing we are doing by adopting, and that our little guy is so lucky to be a part of our family. And while I know those things are said out of love and with good intentions to encourage us, I can't help but think about the unfortunate events that led to our little guy's need to be adopted. Those things do not make him lucky at all. Adoption is sometimes viewed as a type of rescuing, and while to some extent it is, it also comes with a void that will be carried by that child his entire life. The many "whys" that will haunt him, that I can not answer or fix, really hurt my heart. But, again, this is where I lean on my heavenly Father who adopted me. I was lost and on my own and He came to not only rescue me, but to fill the void as well. I know He can fill the voids for all of my children, especially the ones I can't.
Through our adoption, as I think about the picture of the Gospel, I think about the fact that we know who our little man is and we are pursuing him and want him even though he doesn't have a clue who we are yet. We want to change his life for the good and will be there for him through it all. That is what God does for us. He pursues and knows us before we ever experience Him ourselves and He calls us to Himself, adopting us as His sons and daughters through Jesus and changing our lives for the better, forever. He not only saves us from Hell, but He also gives us Himself. That is the part that is better than what we are doing. Our family will never be enough for our little guy, I will never be everything that any of my children need. But God is. He is more than enough. He can fill every void, heal every wound. Only He can give us eternity in Heaven and also an abundant life here on Earth, with joy everlasting. We will walk with our baby boy through the highs and lows that come from adoption and life in general, but my greatest comfort and joy is that God will be the One who does the saving, not me. Because lets be honest, I would totally mess that up. The picture of God's adoption of us is beautiful, because it is complete. Christ did not stand up from His throne and yell directions at us. He left His holy dwelling place with God and came down to us. He walked with man through the filth of life; healing, restoring, and forgiving, and continues to do so today through the Holy Spirit. He came to us so we could come to Him. So I will forever praise the One who is worthy of all praise.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever!
I will not leave you as orphans;
I will come to you.
-John 14:18
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