Did We Change Countries?

It may appear from our site that we have changed countries. Well, we think we might have! However it is not set in stone (James just wanted to know what the time and weather were like in Poland). We are still comparing programs and agencies, but are seriously considering Poland. We are still in prayer about this decision and will keep you updated about what we decide!

Thank you to all of you who have given us feed back. We really appreciate it and have checked out all the agencies.

Making Decisions

Of course things can't go smoothly, that would be to simple! God is definitely trying to teach us patience and how to put all our trust in Him! We are facing a big decision which has really been stressing us out. We found out a week ago that Kazakhstan gives only blind referrals, which means you don't know anything about your child until you get there and meet them. Our organization said that many people have traveled there and have found their child to have some severe medical problems. Therefore, the couple has to get matched with another available child while their there, or they go home without a referral. This usually means that they wait some more and the waiting time is already up to 12-15 months. Frustrated we asked what they (CHI) recommended, they said we should switch to Russia. However, that is a 2 plus year wait and we should put that we will accept a 24 month old. We of course were hoping for a child under 18 months (or infant). Needless to say, we were very upset. We couldn't imagine waiting another 2 years! So, we decided to look around at other organizations to compare programs and wait times. What we found is that many programs are moving much faster (as per web site). I plan to make some calls on Monday to talk to these other organizations. If times are shorter, we may end up switching agencies and possibly countries too. I am disappointed however, because I really like CHI. I feel that they do an excellent job and I believe that is why their wait times are so long. Their are a lot of families adopting through them!

So next time you read this, hopefully we'll have our minds made up about where were adopting from and who our agency will be. Any ideas or advice for us, please let us know! Pray that God will give us insight, patience and trust! God Bless you all!

Home Study Update 2

Good News! Thanks to an angel named Susan at Lutheran Social Services, we already have a home study scheduled! And it's in two weeks! Thank goodness! How we found her is a long story, but she is out of Moline, IL. I told her our dilemma and she said that all I have to do is get all our things together (CHI is sending us back all our papers) and she will accept them as they are! We only have to fill out a registration form for Lutheran Social Services and were set. As long as everything is in (fingerprints, DCFS documents, etc.), it shouldn't take long to complete our home study! I'm so relieved. Thanks for all your prayers and support! It looks like things will finally get under way!

I also want to thank everyone who has left us such kind and thoughtful messages! I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to visit your sites, but I plan to soon! It's nice to know we're not alone in this "very long" journey! God Bless!

Home Study Update

Well, we finally have some news to share with you. Unfortunately, it isn't that great, but at least it's news. I was beginning to think we were going to be stuck in the same spot forever. As some of you know, our agency (CHI) had some problems with some of their employees this past summer. The employees were doing some illegal things (don't know specifics) with home study paper work and pretty much got our agency in trouble with DCFS (yes, the employees were let go). Therefore, CHI has been under investigation the last 7 months. They were supposed to have been cleared by the new year, so that they could continue with the home studies! This is what we've been waiting for since October! However, if you know anything about DCFS, nothing ever goes fast. So, today I found out that CHI will not be able to do any home studies until after June 1. So now, we need to find a social worker here in town, or close, to give us our home study. This is a problem only because we had everything done for CHI. Which means, we might have to do several things over again. I'm not looking forward to that at all. However, CHI was very kind and are returning all our documents to us, including our money. So the only thing we really lost was precious time.

On a brighter note! Children's Hope International is still fine to do our adoption and I am still pleased with them. Also, we are remembering that everything is in the Lord's timing. And as James said, "Maybe the children we are meant to adopt, aren't ready to be adopted yet. And this time that we're waiting, is meant to match us with "our" children created just for us!" Thanks again for all your prayer and encouragement. God Bless!