When we first looked into China, we met all of the qualifications, so we didn't think anything about the possibility of it not working out. We went to meetings and talked to several social workers with a couple of different agencies, and we found out one thing that would change our process from that moment forward. I take a medication that China will not let you adopt if you take. They gave us the option to get a letter from my doctor to explain everything, and we did. It was sent to China, and we were so excited to see that they were giving us a waiver! The only kicker was that we had to adopt from their Special Focus list. We prayed, educated ourselves, and prayed a whole lot more. We started looking into other options as far as countries go, and we had one door after another close. We kept praying that The Lord would make it clear, close the doors we shouldn't walk through, and open wide the one we should. After trying close to fifteen countries, we came to the conclusion that this window of an opportunity to China must be where we were suppose to go.
I never could get peace. The more we learned, the more not at ease I was. (Wayne was honestly handling this part better than I was.) You see, the Special Focus list is a severe special needs list in China. Don't get me wrong, Wayne and I are open to certain special needs, and are very open to the possibility of a cataract baby, but we also need to greatly consider our boys and our finances. Neither one would really allow us to have a child that would have to be hospitalized frequently. We KNOW if The Lord leads us to something like that, He is the ultimate provider and will always provide the resources, but that is just where we were at the time.
One night, about a month after we started this process, Wayne was filling out a preap online with an agency to see what possibilities it might would give us. It came back with one country. Bulgaria. We both shrugged it off. It was a country that requires two trips, which was not what we wanted.
Ha. Ever tried to tell God your plans?
We continue this journey for about two additional months, and I was in complete turmoil. It was literally consuming me. We kept trying and trying to find some sort of loop whole with China, or some child on the Special Focus list that was a good fit with our family.
One night, after a full week of sleepless nights, my phone beeps with an email coming through at 11:00. I grab it and Wayne rolls over and is reading over my shoulder. It was the adoption agency from two months before trying to give us more information on their Bulgaria program. I knew at that moment we should start praying.
The Lord got me out of the bed at 4:30 that morning, and I prayed, read scripture, and prayed some more. I knew we set out for an Asian country, and I knew that it would have to be from Him to change Wayne's mind on that. I prayed for guidance, assurance, and the changing of Wayne's heart if necessary.
A few hours later I sat and called the social worker who had emailed me the night before. I tell her our entire story, all the closed doors, etc. I tell her we wanted a girl (that had been a problem in some countries), we wanted to keep birth order (that had been a big problem in lots of countries), and I explained the medication I was on. Her response to everything? "That's not a problem." After grilling her for nearly an hour, she told me we were the perfect fit. I started crying. It was a cry of pure relief. I knew God was answering our prayers, and every closed door was starting to make sense. Our daughter is obviously in Bulgaria. One problem. I knew Wayne would say, "but it's not Asia."
I prayed for his heart throughout the day, and I told him a little about it while he was at work. When he got home, he came straight to me and told me he really thought The Lord was making it clear where we were suppose to go. He told me it might not feel comfortable for us, and it might not be what we had in mind, but it's not about us. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We were about to start a journey to Bulgaria.
For those of you, like us in the beginning, who aren't quite for sure where Bulgaria is, it's in Eastern Europe. From what we've been told by our agency, Eastern Europe has some of the worst orphanages in the world. Those are stories for another day, but it will break your heart.
And if you are wondering what these little angels look like, here you go. They typically have dark hair and dark brown eyes.
As far as the agency goes, All God's Children International was the agency that contacted us. We were going with them, but financially it makes more sense to use Lifeline here in Birmingham. We have been talking with them the last couple of weeks, and we are really enjoying getting to know the ones who are going to help us find our daughter. We are also in the process of moving to a different house, so for about the next month everything is kind of on hold. I will definitely keep you updated as our home study starts.
Please continue to pray. God has already shown up so big throughout this process, and we are trusting He will continue to do the same. All the glory belongs to Him. The Peoples family is very excited about this journey!
Amen
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