Blindsided

Here's the latest. We got a call today regarding our adoption. It was decided that it would not be possible for us to continue to persue adopting Faith and Stecia. A number of things played into this decision:

1. Our age. While we technically meet the qualifications for the program, we are quite young.
2. The girls aren't babies. Basically, the age gap between us is causing some concern with the court system.
3. We're first time parents. Self explanatory.
4. The girls have some family around. So, depending n your definition of 'orphan,' they aren't technically orphans.

All of this put together raised concers for the social worker in Uganda that had to approve our adoption before it went to court. She feels that a judge would decide that the girls would be better off in Uganda. Those who are on the ground in Uganda that work for About a Child have done everything they can to convince the social worker that Kristen and I are fit to be parents. Their requests were eventually denied.

While this feels like a kick in the gut and Kristen and I were both pretty deflated at first, we're optimistic. This particular social worker has agreed to work with us and About a Child to find another orphaned child for us. The social worker works for an Orphanage in Uganda and is very good at what she does. If nothing else, this new relationship (with the social worker) will hopefully be an avenue for more adoptions to take place (for us and other couples around the U.S.).

Also, since we already have the necessary paperwork in place, our process for adopting a different child should go quickly (relatively speaking). Lastly, About a Child has a policy which states that if a referral falls through, the adoptive parents don't lose any money that they've paid to the agency! This is a huge sigh of relief as we've sent thousands of dollars already.

Accepting the fact that we will never be parents to Faith and Stecia is hard and will take some time. However, Kristen brought up a good point soon after we got the news. She said, " What if we needed to be this far along in the adoption process in order to adopt the child that God really has in mind for us?"

Maybe? We're unsure at this point. However, we do know that God is up to something. There are too many things that are happening for it to be anything else. We're absolutely confident that he has plans for us and this was just a necessary piece in the story. We're looking forward to the next step in this whole process and we're excited about it.

God doesn't call his people to lives of ease. A life of ease is hardly synonymous with a life of fulfillment.

Your prayers and encouragement are appreciated!

Derek and Kristen