Success Stories Please

The Davis' are working on papers for their appeal and you can help! If you or someone you know has adopted a child with Down's Syndrome from Eastern Europe, please let me know. She needs as many success stories she can get to share with the judge. They need to prove to the judge that K is better off in a home with a family than in an institution.

Pray for "K"

"K" is a 4 year old boy, born in Russia with Down's Syndrome. In Russia, children with Down's Syndrome, or other severe special needs have no value. If they are not adopted as small children they are placed in institutions with no hope in ever finding a family who can help them thrive. "K" is from a region in Russia from which no one has ever adopted a child with Down's Syndrome.

The Davis' found "K" on a waiting list called "Reece's Rainbow." They traveled to Russia in July to meet him. They returned to the U.S. to await a court date where the judge would decide if they could be his parents. Months came and months went by as they waited for a court date. Finally, at the beginning of this year they were granted one.

A few days ago, they boarded the plane back to Russia. They got to visit "K" before heading to court. The hearing lasted 5 hours. Everyone thought it went well despite issues that surfaced while they were there, of which I do not know the details. Hopes were high, but the judge told them, "No."

Obviously their hearts are broken. They are back in the States working on an appeal. Should they be granted the appeal they will face the same judge once again. They are asking prayers for "K" and especially the judge. She can't fathom why the Davis' would want him. She also believes he is better of in an institution. Pray for God to soften her heart. God was able to use Pharaoh's hard heart to display His power among the Israelites and He can do the same here.

"K" we love you and want to see you reach your potential in the loving arms of the Davis', who, I'm sure already consider themselves as your mom and dad.

Update

A lot has gone on since my last post. I think it was good that we finally made a "decision" because it didn't take long for us to realize it was the wrong one. All I can say at this point is that we aren't adopting from Poland. But we have applied to have our homestudy done!

Here We Go!

We have decided to start the home study process! We will be using Lifeline as our home study provider. For now, we have chosen Poland as our country of choice. We have until the end of our home study to change countries. If, by God's will, we obtain a substantial amount of money by then, we will go with Russia. There is also one other country we are considering. Things aren't going good there right now, but it is our hope and prayer that things will change...soon.

You may be thinking, "Poland? Why Poland?"

We asked ourselves that each time we considered it. See, if you don't know, since the beginning of this journey last summer our countries of choice have gone something like this:
Ukraine
Russia
Ukraine
Russia
Bulgaria
Russia
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Russia
Then over the past two weeks alone we've considered at least 5 countries.

At the beginning of those two weeks I emailed my 3 closest friends. My heart was crying out, "I have never been able to say, 'God told me to do ...... How do you get to that point?'"

My friend Leslie loaned me the book, "Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will or How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing In the Sky, Etc." Yes that's a long book title." But it all comes down to the last few paragraphs of the book

The will of God isn't a special direction here or a bit of secret knowledge there. God doesn't put us in a maze, turn out the lights, and tell us, "Get out and good luck." In one sense, we trust in the will of God as His sovereign plan for our future. In another sense, we obey the will of God as His good word for our lives.....

.... because there are no secrets we must discover.... God commands what He wills and grants what He commands... In other words, God gives His children the will to walk in His ways - not by revealing a series of next steps cloaked in shadows, but by giving us a heart to delight in His law.

So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God.

Now back to, "Why Poland?" Well, a ton of factors led us there. Adopting 1 child from Russia can run up to almost $50,000! That in itself is hard to swallow. Our true dream is to adopt from Russia. But God tells us to be good stewards of our money. And this isn't just our money we are talking about. There are those of you who have purchased tutus, monsters, ornaments, t-shirts, even donated for nothing in return. It is difficult to spend $50K on one child knowing we could possibly adopt 2 from a certain other country for $30, then receive $26K back at tax time!

Two weeks ago we started researching all over again. We wanted to pursue this certain other country. Then, that certain other country had to make changes in their adoption procedures. Door closed.

We began looking into Ukraine AGAIN. All during the past 8 months, we have heard varying stories about Ukraine. Things that just didn't settle right with us. Once again, we eliminated it.

Other countries were eliminated for various reasons such as: long wait for referral, long time in country, no other children in the home, oldest parent must be at least 35, etc.

So Poland was left. The main reason Poland was our last resort is that we never came across any information that led us to believe there is a great need there. The statistics in Russia and Ukraine are awful. Obviously there's a great need in African countries as well as places like Haiti. But the fact still remains: there are children there living in orphanages waiting for a family. We can't help it if the other countries didn't work out for us.

Yes, I know, your next question probably is, "Why not adopt from America?"

Domestic infant adoption is still just as expensive as international adoption.

"What about Foster to Adopt through DHR?"

American orphans aren't forced to live in orphanages. They already have an advantage over the orphans in most other countries simply by being born here. We didn't choose to be born here. It is a blessing from God.

After reading that book.. you know, the one with the long title, I know that as long as we make the best decision we can, God will work out the rest. Not that I believe "God helps those who help themselves." That verse is found nowhere in the Bible. But God is not going to show us the future. Often times we are to take a leap of faith and trust in His sovereignty.

Rethinking

We have been rethinking adopting from Russia. Not because we don't believe God can provide the funds. We know He can if it's His will. We simply aren't sure that His will is for us to spend 50 grand on adopting a child. Don't get me wrong, the child (whoever he/she is) is totally worth it. But there are plenty of other orphans in other countries. The money we have earned, saved and that has been graciously given to us could be used more wisely in Bulgaria or Poland. We still have a long way to go before we have all the funds. Keep us in your prayers.