Just a little update ...

Well, we have been waiting almomst 23 months now and are well into the window of time when a referral can be expected. Typically it is taking 20-26 months for the referral for a girl, so we should hear something any day!

For those of you unfamiliar with the international adoption process, a referral is when an agency matches what they know about you and your family with what they have learned about a child from an orphanage and the caregivers. Most regions in Russia do not give out referrals, rather, they invite you to visit an orphanage where a referral is given to you in person. You have the opportunity to meet the child and send information back to your international doctor in the U.S. for review and then make a petition with the court to adopt while you are in Russia (if you accept the referral you are given).

So, we are waiting for our invitation! In the meantime, we have been having a fun spring of baseball and finishing up the school year, which ended last week. We are going to help with a weekly Bible camp over the summer and are looking forward to a trip to Washington D.C. in June! Lots to keep us busy while we wait.

Chapman Family Leads Push To Adopt

I absolutely love this family and their story. They have inspired and encouraged me in so many ways through my own journey of grief, loss and adoption. We were blessed with a Show Hope grant in 2009 and I got to meet and thank Mary Beth in person at a women's banquet in 2010. She is such a precious woman of God. This video stirred my heart so much, I had to share it. I hope you are as inspired by the Chapman family as we have been ...

Wonderful News Story

Adopted US twins visit Russian orphanage where they lived as babies

Bilateral agreement to be signed in May!

As reported by the JCICS (via RIA Novosti) in April ...

Russia may next month sign an agreement with the United States to ensure the safety of Russian children adopted by U.S. families, Russia’s ombudsman for child rights said on Friday.

“This issue is under the personal control of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Pavel Astakhov said a news conference on Friday.

Russia suspended the adoptions last year after a Tennessee woman sent her 7-year-old adoptive son back to Russia. He was put on a plane on his own with a note from the woman saying she did not want him as he was “psychotic.”

Astakhov said in January that 17 Russian children have died in the United States as a result of child abuse since the adoptions started more than 15 years ago.

The latest official figures show that about 60,000 children born in Russia have been adopted by families in the United States.

The Passing of a Hero

Yesterday we lost a true hero of the faith. David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, where Chad has ministered for the past 8 years, died in a car crash in Texas. Here is is final blog entry, posted just hours before his death:

http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

In his own words, without knowing he would soon face death himself, he comforts those who will mourn him.

Remembering David Wilkerson today as he enters the Father's House and finally hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Great news!

The bill that threatened to put a halt to international adoptions in Russia has been withdrawn from the Russian State Duma! Here's the latest ...

http://blog.russianadoptionhelp.com/2011/03/in-like-lion-out-like-lamb.html

Finally, An Update!

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life!"
~ Proverbs 13:12
Finally! Our friends are safely back from Russia with their newly adopted daughter, so we can finally post an update without jeopardizing their adoption process. After three long years and many obstacles, we are so happy to be able to say ...

Congratulations Angie & Doug!!
We apologize for not updating until now, but we were instructed by our agency not to share an update on the internet until the remaining family from our region was home and had completed their adoption successfully. Now, we are finally free to update you on what has taken place in the last few months ...

After moving to the #1 position on the waiting list in our region and believing we would travel at any time, we got a call in January of this year to let us know that we had lost our region assignment due to an "incident" that occurred with a family that traveled on their first trip at the end of December, which cost not just us, but our entire agency, any future activity in the region. While we are not at liberty to share the details of what happened, we can tell you how this will affect us and our adoption process. It means that we are no longer assigned to any specific region in the country and are back to waiting in a general pool with several other families who do not have a region assignment. Once we have been accepted into a new region, we will wait in line behind whoever has already received their region assignment ahead of us. Think of it like this: You have waited in a very (very!) long line at the bank and, just as it is about to finally be your turn, the bank closes and tells you that you will have to go to another bank to complete your transaction. So, first you have to choose a new bank (or, in our case, wait to have it chosen for you), and then wait in line behind anyone who was already there before you arrived. We were told in January that this could take 3-6 months. It has been almost two.

Of course, at first, we were bitterly disappointed, especially as it seems this was completely preventable (and we were so close). But as it turns out, we have been told that the region where we were assigned has been moving extremely slow and, even though things started moving again at the end of last year, they were not planning on accepting more than 1-2 adoptions per year per agency. Regardless, we are not going to "over-spiritualize" this. It is simply an obstacle that will be overcome, just like the many obstacles we have already faced along the way, and will ultimately lead us to the little girl that God has for our family. Sometimes "free will" just gets in the way of things happening the way they should ...

Today I received a (very timely) encouragement card from a dear friend who has walked very closely with us over the last four years: through the death of Abby, secondary infertility and our subsequent miscarriage, to our decision to adopt and, now, waiting for Hope. She writes from the perspective of someone who has seen firsthand the desires of our hearts and the longing as we have waited for those desires to be fulfilled. She writes:

"It's March now, of course, and the last time we talked you were optimistic about traveling this month. I know you said there has been *another* delay -- making this the longest adoption process ever! So I just wanted to send you a note of encouragement and to let you know that you are never far from my prayers and thoughts. Also, to let you know that I am definately NOT praying for patience for you! I think you've already been granted that chore! All my prayers are for fulfillment. For this dream to be brought to fruition. For a toddling blonde beauty to be brought into your lives now -- no more delays! In the meantime, I am, as always, impressed with your strength and inspired by your faith. God has asked so much from your family that at the very least I believe that you have a huge stockpile of treasures stored up in Heaven! But I do believe that He put the desire in your heart for a reason, and He will be faithful to that promise. Be strong, Emily. She is coming, and we will all fall to our knees in praise on the day she becomes yours."