Zoning in

Thanks for checking in on us again. Please contine to pray for us to know the direction that God has for us in this adoption pursuit.

Our latest thoughts...we could pass on the baby stages (adopting an infant), but we'd also certainly accept one if that's what God sends us) as we are now finding ourselves considering a sibling set (a young one). Ideally, we'd like to have an 18 month old-2 year old and a 3-4 year old. There is such a need for families to adopt sibling sets...they are harder to find homes for!

It gets crazier...we're finding ourselves pretty interested in Eithiopia!

Some facts:
*Eithiopia is twice the size of the state of Texas, yet it has 4.3 million orphans! The children are primarily orphaned due to poverty, and live in both government-run and privately established orphanages. 
*Ethiopia is a country beset by years of war, severe drought, and epidemics, and crippled economically and socially.
*With a population of nearly 75 million people, there is an assorted collection of food, languages, customs and people groups. Ethiopia also contains a diverse landscape, including parts of the Nile River and the Great Rift Valley.
*As an East African landlocked country, Ethiopia is bordered by Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.
*Ethiopia, an ancient Christian nation, has deep-rooted Ethiopian Orthodox customs and practices. The Judaic-Christian roots of Ethiopia can be found in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
*Today, about half the population of Ethiopia is Christian.
*Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world, Ethiopia is Africa's second most populous nation.

So... Eithiopia is what we are eagerly soaking up information on!

Caleb, Caroline, Joshua, & Elisa are all actively participating in our family discussions about adopting and they are on board with our exploration of all the adoption options.

We're also learning about the various International Adoption Agencies that exsist and we're asking around to feel them out.
Right now our top choices are: All God's Children International- http://www.allgodschildren.org/adoption/
Celebrate Children International- http://celebratechildren.org/
and America World Adoption- http://www.awaa.org/

We'll keep you posted on any developments!

Just waiting...

Hi again-
Sorry for the delay on an update. We were waiting on a response from the State. You can imagine the process of waiting for answers when it come to the government. Anyway, the little boy was "on hold, " but now it appears he has a new family in Florida. We are glad for him!
In the meantime, we have still been researching where to turn to seek out a child. There really are LOTS choices! From other States in the US, Internationally, an infant, a toddler, a 4-5 year old, a single child, a sibling group....
As it stands now though, we are still waiting for a child through our local agency. We could get a call any day from them with a waiting child. In this case, the child is likely to be a newborn. Please continue to pray for wisdom for us. Physically & materially speaking, we are ready. We continue to wait on God's timing and want to seek His plan....whatever that may be.
It is hard knowing just what to do. Our adoption agency says all of the choices are open to us, we just need to narrow in on which way we want to head.
I could write a lot more specifics, but I'll end for now.
Thank you for thinking of us and for praying for God's direction & provisions along with us. We are grateful!