As of Tuesday, October 16, we are on week 9 of waiting for our adoption approval from India, a process which in normal circumstances would take 3-8 weeks. However, India is undergoing a very unusual slowdown right now due to new staff being trained. We cannot receive any files for possible matches for our daughter until we receive this approval.
This delay was not a surprise to our God or a “wrench in His plan” for our adoption. Just the same, waiting on the Lord is difficult for someone who likes to plan out every detail of my life, but waiting is necessary for the Lord to remind me to depend on HIM for every detail.
I’m.Not.God.
I don’t know His mind in this process for us…at least not to the very, specific details that He knows. Maybe our daughter hasn’t even been born yet. Maybe the Lord has another family looking over the file of our daughter and is going to have them turn it down so that we can accept it. Maybe the Lord is giving us more time to raise funds to complete the process when we need to. Maybe the Lord is simply teaching us to wait on Him.
The Lord has been busy with many other details as we wait. Here is what has happened since I last wrote:
- We were able to bring in over $200 through our Cards for a Cause fundraiser! These beautiful card boxes should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks, and we will be delivering these out to everyone who bought a box. Thank you!
- Praise the Lord! We were awarded a $3,000 price-match grant from Lifesong for Orphans. This means that every dollar given to us through our tax-deductible crowd-sourcing site will be matched by one of their sponsors, Gregory’s Gift, up to $3,000! This $6,000+ that can be raised through this avenue is HUGE toward helping us reach our large goal of over $40,000! Click HERE for more information about giving to this matching grant.
- Because of our approval through Lifesong, we will also be able to do a couple of other great fundraisers including Gobena Coffee, where you can purchase your home coffee needs online and 100% of the proceeds (thanks to our matching grant) will be given toward our adoption costs. Click HERE for more information about supporting our adoption while drinking your coffee.
- We will also be able to move forward with a Both Hands project through Lifesong(hopefully in early spring), where we will live out James 1:27 by gathering a team to help a widow with projects around her home for a day while raising money to adopt our daughter. More details will be coming soon about how you can get involved in this great project!
- And last, but certainly, not least, we were approved by the US government to adopt from India, as our I-800a approval was mailed to us, an important, necessary document in this lengthy process. We have checked that off our list!
We are almost finished with our Dossier paperwork as we have just a few more documents to get notarized and are waiting on further verification from eight…yes, you read that right…eight states. Nearly 30 documents have to be not only notarized but also apostilled (further verification) by the Secretary of State in which the document was notarized. For our adoption, this means we have to send off various documents to eight states and wait for them to respond.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for our daughter. We don’t know her name yet, but God knows every hair on her head and has an incredible plan for her life!
- Please pray for our daughter’s biological parents. The decision to give their child to someone else is never an easy choice, and there are heart wrenching times involved in this decision for them.
- Please pray with us that none of the notarized documents are lost as they are sent out for their apostille.
- Please continue to pray for patience as we wait on India to approve us for adoption. We have been told by our adoption agency that we could be waiting for up to five more weeks.
- Please pray with us as we plug ahead with more fundraising efforts!
THANK YOU for your interest in our lives & love for us in this journey!
Abounding in Steadfast Love 