What Now???

Well, Josh and I attended what we thought would be a very enlightening orientation tonight on foster care and adoption. We were both hoping to get some direction, get some questions answered, and maybe, possibly, hear God's voice audibly tell us exactly what He wanted us to do. Yeah, that didn't happen...

The only thing we came away with this evening is that we are definitely NOT being called to foster at this point in our lives. God bless those who are though.  It breaks my heart thinking of how many children and teens are left without a place to stay in such a time of need. I think this is something Josh and I just might be called to do down the road at some point, but we both feel like this is not that time.

I walked out of there feeling pretty discouraged actually. I was having an internal discussion with God that went something like: "Okay. Maybe I heard you wrong. I mean, I felt pretty confident that you wanted us to pursue adoption...but this is just not feeling right. A little help? Please?"

As soon as we got in the car and Josh headed for In & Out, I checked my email and lo and behold, my dear sweet cousin, Lisa, who I can honestly say is probably the kindest person I know (who also took the beautiful pictures of Lily you see on this blog) had emailed me a response to some questions I sent her a few days back.

Lisa has been blessed with six children, two of whom she adopted from China. Her email was incredibly encouraging and answered a lot of my questions. I felt like it gave me some much needed optimism and also led me and Josh to really consider international adoption.

We have not by any means made a decision, but we aren't in any hurry and are feeling like God still wants us to keep our minds open to our many options and see what happens.

Right now we are trying to talk to people who have adopted and ask questions about their experience and why they chose it. Why did you choose domestic? Why did you choose international? Why did you choose the agency you chose, and how did they support you during the process? How did you cover the cost or raise money for your adoption?

SO...if you are reading this and you have answers to my questions or know someone who has answers to my questions, I would be so grateful for any input or advice or resources you might have.

Lots of big decisions. Lots of research to do. But most of all Josh and I are really praying and staying in the Word and just seeing where God leads us.

Thank you for your prayers and your support, it means a lot to our family. We will keep you posted!