We finally got our number... #18! Do you know what that means? It means that there will be 18 fewer orphans in the world in the next year... possibly more if there are siblings adopted! Do you know how exciting that is?!?!? I mean, I'm sure you do, otherwise you wouldn't follow this blog because borrrriiiing!
Due to several different factors, it looks like we'll be waiting for our referral for about a year. It could be less, and we can certainly hope for that, but it could be more (and you can certainly pray for not-that!).
At this moment, we're really hoping to travel in November or next year. That would be really ideal for ministry and family and such.
Some of you may balk at such a long wait time, but think about the kind of time it takes to make sure that there are no relatives (immediate or extended) who are willing/able to take care of the child; that there are sworn statements from any relatives that they cannot care for the child (or documents proving that the workers made efforts over a length of time to find relatives or anyone who knows who the child's relatives are); that the child will probably not be adopted in-country, and you have a long time between bringing a child into the orphanage and having him be legally free for adoption. It's sad that children have to spend time without their parents, but it's reassuring that we won't be adopting a child whose parents are looking for him or would be able to care for him again in a short while.
Anyway, we'll update any time we move up the list. In the meantime, it's so nice to not be all hurryhurryhurry with the process. I'm not having to stalk our mailbox or check my email every 5 minutes. It's not happening anytime soon. I have a few documents I need to line up and a year to assemble them. Okay, I'll give myself 6 months, let's be honest. But still, no rush. It's nice (for now!). :)
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