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.