First Visit

We've officially got a date for our first home study visit!

In order to get a date on the calendar as soon as possible, we agreed to have our first visit with the social worker about 36 hours after getting back from our week-long overseas mission trip.

Obviously, we thrive on stress and mayhem.

In all honesty though, we're excited about the visit.  We know that this brings us one step closer to meeting our child!



For those of you out of the adoption loop, I want to ask you to pray for the current situation with adoptions in Ethiopia.  Due to some unethical adoption practices by a few agencies, the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia has made the decision to drastically slow down the processing of adoptions. Where they were processing around 50 cases per day, they will be cutting it down to about 5 per day.  This impacts many families in process as well as the children in Ethiopia.

There absolutely needs to be investigations into potential child trafficking and unethical behaviors.  We are praying that it will not be at the expense of children who are truly orphaned and ready to be placed with an adopted family.

I have two friends currently in Montgomery who are now in the process.  One family has a referral for their baby daughter and are waiting for their court date,  while the other family is waiting for a referral.

This is always a possibility in the world of international adoption. You are not guaranteed a smooth process or even a happy ending.  My heart breaks for the families who are now truly faced with the possibility of not only waiting, but not having an answer of when the wait will be over.

Thankfully, we have a God who is Sovereign. And nothing, absolutely nothing, surprises Him.

Especially after all of the chaos that happened around the world today, I think this passage is such an amazing promise:

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and 

the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging."

Psalm 46: 1-3