Hey, everyone! Since November is Adoption Month and many people have been asking about our India adoption, I decided to give everyone a quick update.
It’s actually been almost six months since my last update but not much has changed. I had mentioned in my previous adoption post that we had recently been approved by CARA (the Indian centralized adoption organization) and we were waiting on pre-approval from immigration. Well, our pre-approval happened shortly after I posted, which was very encouraging.
So basically, we’ve been waiting to be matched with a child for the past 5-1/2 months. Although it isn’t super unusual to wait a few months on a match, things seem to be moving extremely slowly at CARA these days. Supposedly there has been a lot of turnover in staffing so they are having to train new people and just aren’t adding new kids to the website. I’m not exactly sure what is going on. But I am assured that God knows.
Honestly, until recently, I haven’t been too stressed about this adoption. I know in my heart that we will receive a child in God’s perfect time. But lately it feels like things are at a standstill, an impasse that we can’t maneuver. If I allow myself to dwell on it, I can become frantic with the possibilities that might occur.
The one truth I need to keep reminding myself of is this:
God can build a family in a better way than we can.
Many years ago before we had Brienne, Peter and I discussed adoption. He was adamantly against it. Eventually we got pregnant with Brienne then began pursuing an international adoption when she was around the age of 3. After 2 failed adoptions, which you can read about here, we ended up adopting Jonah, and 19 months later, Vivienne was born. All those years ago, we never dreamed we would have three kids and be in the process of adopting a fourth.
I keep reminding myself that God has a plan for our family. He knows my fear of this adoption falling through. He knows my fear that we will miss the child He has for us. He knows my fear that CARA just won’t get their act together. But He has worked it all out ahead of time and knows exactly how our family will look. And I’m choosing to trust Him.
As we wait for the child God has prepared for us, we would love your prayers for our family.
- Pray that we would begin to see movement at CARA and that they would begin adding younger children with mild special needs to the website
- Pray that our adoption agency would remain diligent in working to match us with a child
- Pray that our hearts would not be discouraged in this time of waiting
- Pray that we would see the hand of Jesus through each step of the journey
Thank you, friends, for supporting us in this adventure!