Abandoned in Guatemala: The Failure of International Adoption Policies

I know a couple who had been trying to adopt from Guatemala right when it shut down, and they lost the chance to adopt their children. This explains some the process of international adoption. It is sad to think where things are heading now. For an interesting viewpoint on things, sit back and watch this 20 min video.

(Disclosure: the views expressed in the video do not necessarily represent my views. Please do not get angry at me if you do not agree)

What they mentioned about the Hague Treaty is essentially what happened with Burundi. They signed up, but weren't able to put things in place to complete international adoptions.

I fear something like this may happen in Uganda, or the DRC. We need to be in prayer for these countries! We need to be in prayer for these children!

Warm me up this season!

Okay, you non-coffee drinkers out there!  Our JustLoveCoffee Store now has Hot Cocoa for you to order!  

If you have been holding off buying anything because you are not a big coffee fan, now is your chance!  Buy your cocoa from our store and $5 from each bag goes to support our adoption!

Do you need an extra Christmas gift?

Maybe you just want to warm up on a cold winter night?

(And for those of you who like coffee, my recent favorite is the Rwandan coffee.  Yum!)

God is Good!

You guys prayed... and a miracle happened!  We received our I-600A approval from the USCIS in the mail yesterday!  Not only did we get the approval for the DRC, which we were expecting, but we also got the approval for Uganda!!

Remember, I said it usually takes two months for these to be approved, and they only started processing our Uganda application on the 25th of November, because they didn't realize they already had the fingerprints?  Well, it got approved, not two moths later, but THREE  DAYS LATER!!!!

It is amazing to see how God is working!  There may be a reason why we got these important papers back so soon.  It gives me more hope that maybe things will work out after all.

Keep praying, because there still is a lot that needs to happen.  You guys are participators in this miracle!  Be a participator in hopefully a successful adoption of our little Uganda girl!

-Pray for specific permission papers to be signed in Uganda

-Pray for the Ugandan government, the embassy, and the ministry who are thinking about implementing some changes in the system, which could significantly slow down our adoption, if not make it a not viable option for us anymore.

-Pray for us to keep faithful, and keep persevering through these trials!

It's about the Journey

Our adoption journey has certainly been nothing less than a roller coaster! The up's and down's, the hurry-up's and wait's, excitement and disappointment.  It has been tough!

This month we will have officially been on this journey of adoption for two years!

Two years ago, I believed we would have a child in our family by now.  Two years ago, we thought we would be adopting from Burundi.  Two years ago I had just a fragment of knowledge about the adoption process, and raising an adopted child.

Yes, we have grown so much in those two years.  And maybe that is all that God had intended for us.  Maybe it is not in His plans for us to be able to adopt.  But I believe it is in His character.  He has a heart for adoption.  He has a heart for orphans.

Recently hearing from our Uganda agency has left us more unsure that this adoption will go through.  Again, another up and down to our journey.  But we are hanging in there, because God hasn't told us any different.

Recently hearing about the DRC progress, it seems the wait is very long.  It may be another year before we even get a referral of a child.  And another year after that that we would even get to travel to bring that child home.  Of course, these are conservative estimates, but I can't help but feel a little weary.

Are you telling me that if this Uganda adoption doesn't go through, and we wait on the DRC adoption, that we may not be adding a child to this family until 2013 going on 2014!?  I had NO IDEA that this would be a process that would take 4+ years!

I guess that is why our blog title is about our JOURNEY.  It is not about a quick 1-year process that ends at the airport where people welcome us home.  It is a life-long, and very difficult journey.  Did we know what we were getting ourselves into?  No.  But we trusted.  We trusted that this is the plan that God had asked us to follow.  So we started the journey, and we are still trusting that He has a reason and a purpose in all of this.  We hope to be the family that a child can call 'home.'  We hope to share love with a child that needs that love and care.

And for God's reason, He picked US to go on this journey.

Even if it is a roller coaster!

A good post to go hand-in-hand with what we are going through, is found on the blog of another adoptive family in the waiting process.  Please read, because it expresses how we feel as well!  Meg and her husband are adopting from Ethiopia.