questions

It is incredibly encouraging to see the outpouring of excitement after sharing our adoption news. Thank you for sharing in this time with us!

Many of you have lots of questions for us, and I would like to share some of the answers. Our adoption agency has rules about what I can share in a public forum, so I want to be so careful about that. Please feel free to leave any other questions in the comments section. I can always email you if I can't specifically answer you here.

Where are we adopting from? we've requested a specific Asian country - but not China due to medication I take. China has a ton of rules about adopting parents, including a body mass index requirement! There are many, many Chinese children awaiting adoption, but unfortunately, we won't be bringing one of them home.

How many are you adopting? What age? We have requested one child for this first adoption but hope to adopt more. We'd love to get a child younger than Buddy, but we will see what is in store for us as the process moves along.

Do your kids know about this? Well, we have talked about it with Peanut for a good while, and she has already decided we should name the child Africa or Karabee. She doesn't have a good grasp on it, but that's okay. I don't think she knew what was coming when Buddy arrived either!

How soon will you get a child? The best guess is about a year and a few months from now, but of course we will do everything in our control to get paperwork done quickly to speed anything up that can be sped up. From everything we know and have heard, adoption is for the flexible and the patient. I am not gifted in either area, so I'm expecting the Lord has some big growing for me to do. At least there is joy and great blessing at the end of the growing!

This is only the beginning. Next we'll be waiting for our contract to sign and then the dossier (big fancy word for HUGE packet of paperwork about us and our homestudy) that goes to our child's country. Then the long wait while the country processes us, then we get to fly to pick him or her up. Come quickly, sweet day!


Today I spent time on the phone trying to get my own questions answered. They seem to be endless. It's going to be worth all the work, but it's not a quick journey. Then I looked around our dinner table tonight and thought about what it will be like to have another seat filled by someone who will share our last name. I'm so ready to find out, but for now we wait.

Give me joy in the waiting, my Lord.

Blessings, angela