We knew long ago we wanted to expand our family through adoption. Type of adoption (international or domestic?), age of child (newborn, toddler, school age?), agency (local, out of state, Christian?), and the timing of it all have weighed heavily on our minds for several months.
We knew the time to start the process was now and so we began to research all of the many options. Friends from church willingly shared their stories. We attended info meetings at local adoption agencies. And we prayed, and prayed, and prayed for guidance and clarity.
This week we thought we had arrived at the "right" answers. We were going to use an out of state agency that had been recommended to us, founded/run by a Christian couple, and we were going to adopt an infant girl internationally from Ethiopia. We had kept the details fairly quiet until we had made our decision....but we finally moved forward, mailed in our applications, and began to share our news just 24 short hours ago.
Then God made things very clear. And we realized we had chosen incorrectly!
Adoptive parents are required to travel to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, for a court appearance where a judge determines whether or not you're worthy of adopting one of those precious children. Andy and I are looking forward to sharing this part of the experience. However last night, in looking at some blogs and videos of others who have already adopted from Ethiopia, I just happened to notice a particular picture. It showed the family posing on some mountain top and the caption mentioned Addis Ababa.
Now, I can be dense sometimes and frankly, it's quite annoying, but it has never, not once, occurred to me that Addis Ababa would/could have mountains. I mean, it's in the flat, safari-like lands of Africa right? You can see for miles and miles and spot that one, lone tree right? Wrong!
Addis Ababa sits at an elevation of over 7000 feet. My pulmonary hypertension is well managed and I'm doing very well, but 5 days at 7000 feet would spell major trouble. And besides...can you imagine me showing up to court wearing oxygen (I don't use it daily, but I'd need it there), and riding a scooter...asking the judge to please determine that I'm worthy and ready to be a mom again?
Sooo, that was late last night when we had that realization. We spoke with the agency this morning, and the local agency (who is doing our Home Study) and explained our problem. Andy and I had almost chosen to adopt from China so when Ethiopia was out of the question, it was easy to change our course. It's as if God gave us a little thump and now we're on the right path. What a blessing that we got this information now and not 6 months from now.
I figure this was God's little redirection for us and so we'll take it and run full force into our adoption from China. I prayed for clarity and guidance...and He answered in a very direct way. God is just so amazing! Our goal has always been to parent another child and this little hiccup doesn't really matter in the big picture. It will be a long process, but so very worth it in the end!
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