God at Work

So you know the story.  Generally speaking, you know our adoption process so far.  What has brought us to this point.  And you've heard me say "God is working this out" and "God is in charge" and "God had brought Selah to us." 

You've heard me say that.  But now I'm going to prove it.

When we first made the commitment to adopt our 3rd child seven thousand years ago in August 2011, that was really God pressing on our hearts then.  Why? 

I was 6 months pregnant. 

I wanted to adopt since forever and Daniel and I had talked about it as something we might do 'down the road' but when I started to feel more of a calling, more of an urgency to get the ball rolling, I was months away from delivering Eli.  Not really what you imagine will be the circumstances surrounding your decision to add another child to your family.  And if we would have been in charge, probably wouldn't have been the case. 

God called us to commit at that time because He was starting the process of leading us to Selah.

We commited to adopt.  But not from Congo.  We were going to adopt on the other side of the world in Taiwan. 

His Hands baby

Why did we choose Taiwan?  In a nutshell, we are passionately against abortion and in Taiwan the abortion rate is exceedingly high.  Mothers that choose life for their children need an alternative, like adoption.  Also, our cousin Kate adopted 2 of her children from His Hands Taiwan (now Taiwan Xi En) and we felt very confident and comfortable with them.  No having to do pesky researching into agencies!  Also, we'd be able to get a very tee tiny baby and since Eli wasn't born yet, that was kinda important to us. 

We requested to get on the His Hands waiting list...for an application.  This was going to be a wait of probably several years, but Eli would be probably 3 or 4 by the time Emma (our Taiwanese baby) came home and it would all work out great. 

(Hee Hee...God has other plans)

We were placed on the waiting list for an application in January 2012.  Woohoo!  So excited.  But wait.

True to international adoption nature, the Taiwanese adoption landscape changed.  I won't bore you with the details, but new legislation was passed that made it much much harder to adopt.  We weren't even sure it would be possible for us. 

We decided to hold our place on the HH waitlist, but look into other Asian countries.  Because we WERE going to adopt from an Asian country.  It would be easier culturally, blah blah blah, the boys could travel with us, and all the adoptive parents I knew had gone thru Taiwan, China, Korea.

Korea!  We started researching South Korea.  Just when we thought we had it all figured out, we were going to apply with an agency for an adoption from S Korea when Eli turned 1 (their rule).  Cool.  Eli would be around 2 at time of referral, still around 3 when little Emma came home. 

God says, hold on!

Just as we knew this was going to work out, S Korea changed and started slowing down adoptions in an goal to completly phase out international adoptions.  Looks like this was going to be impossible too.

So I..we...started thinking.  Why are we so fixed on an Asian country?  Let's broaden our scope.  There's millions of orphans in the world, God will lead us.

We looked into Colombia, Haiti, Russia, Kazakstan, America, and basically any other country that had a program.

Good grief.

We know we're supposed to adopt, but where?  Nothing felt right.  We didn't feel pulled one way or the other.

God says, keep looking.

Africa?  Really?  But culturally, things would be so much harder.  And I've always heard child trafficking is so bad there.  And we couldn't travel with the boys.  And I just have so many doubts. 

But we looked and researched.  We looked into Uganda.  And Ethiopia.  And Rwanda.  And Congo.

Finally...and I'm ashamed to admit it...we decided to hand it over to God.  You'd think we would've turned to this option much much sooner, but I'm a little stubborn and think I can do things on my own and I tried and failed miserably.  Over and over and over.

So after prayer and going back and looking at the countries in Africa open to adoption again, I read about Congo. 

I heard a quiet voice in my head saying, "this is it."

I never will forget it.  I told Daniel.  We were scared.  Congo is one of the most dangerous places in the world.  What about travel?  What agency would we use?  What about Ethiopia?  It's be safer to travel and cost-wise about the same? 

God said, Congo.  That's where your daughter is. 

After much prayer and discussion and meditation, we decided to pursue an adoption from Congo.  We decided in March 2012. 

We now know our Selah was conceived the very next month. 

Sidenote:  Why Selah and not Emma?  We just decided Emma didn't fit anymore.  We were on a new journey in a completly different part of the world.  Emma was the name we had chosen when we were doing it ourselves and working it out ourselves.  Not to mention I didn't like the thought of a little black girl named Emma.  No offense if you know any.  It's just that Selah's the daughter God led us to.

So for the next THREE months we I researched adoption agencies.  I would discuss everything with Daniel but I was doing the leg work.  And it's hard and stressful.  Especially in a place like Congo.  You have to be careful and go with someone you believe is working there ethically and in the best interest of the children. 

In late June we were miraculously granted a phone interview with the director of Our Family in Africa.  And we were accepted!  One of the happiest days of my life.  You can read more about that in the June post entitled "Oh What the Lord Can Do."

So God had led us to the Congo and then to the amazing group that will bring her home to us.  No question. 

We entered the waiting list for an infant girl at #2!!  That.is.crazy.  That never happens.  Two months after we entered the waitlist second in line, there were about 18 other families that fell in line behind us, wanting an infant girl.  Now OFA doesn't even accept applicants unless they are requesting a toddler.  Good thing we didn't go with our plan and wait to apply when Eli turned one, huh?

We immediately started the homestudy process.  My whole theory of 'let's take this slow, and take our time, and whatever' went out the window. 

God said, you don't worry about the timing.  I'll take care of that.  You do your part and I'll do mine.

So we got our homestudy done and USCIS approval in November.  Time to wait for the referral. 

And of course you know that we got the referral on January 28, 2013.

What  you don't know is that we were still second in line for an infant girl.  What about the family in front of us?  They didn't have their USCIS approval yet, so the process would take longer, and OFA wanted that little vunerable infant girl home with a family ASAP.  So after some deliberation, they decided to go to the family next in line.  Us.

You see?

God started the process for us earlier than expected...had us make the change to Congo the month before Selah was conceived...get accepted into OFA and start our homestudy and get approval..just in time to be ready to receive the referral of a 3 day old baby born on the other side of the world.

This picture still leaves me speechless.


I have NO.DOUBT. in my mind that this little girl is who God has been leading us to. 

Yes life will be crazy.  Eli and Selah are a mere 13 months apart.  Daniel and I started thinking and when Noah is 18, Eli will be 16 and Selah will be 15.  Yeah, life will be crazy. 

But oh so good.  Because it's the life God has planned for us.

I know she will come home.  I believe it because God has been working this out from the beginning.  Now you can understand where I'm coming from when I say, "this is who God has led us to" and "He's working it out." 

Glory be to God.