Which two kids?

Hi all,

It's been an interesting few days--but a good few days. You all know that we are going through a pilot program for Ghana. There is no established expectation about what children are available, how long, etc. It's all a guessing game and we knew that going in.

It's become more clear recently that adopting an infant from Ghana may be a very long process. I mentioned before that Ghana has an active domestic adoption program where families usually want baby girls. It appears as though international families would have to be on the same waiting list as domestic Ghanaian families--which can be a wait of many months to a few years!

Since learning that information I've felt a bit uncomfortable. I believe that it's best for a child to be adopted within their home country if at all possible. Do I really want to "take" a baby girl away from a loving Ghanaian family? Hmmm.... That thought, coupled with the possibility that it could take a LONG time for a baby referral, has caused me to re-evaluate what our purpose really is in this adoption. I say "me" because you all know Eric--he's easy going and will be happy with whatever two kids we bring home!

All this to say, we're becoming more and more open to children that may not have originally been within our "requested" criteria. Our purpose is to adopt two children who need us as much as we need them. Does one of them have to be a baby girl for us to love that child? No! Does one of them even have to be a girl? No!

We've asked our agency (who happily agreed) to present us with all children they receive information on that are under 5 years old. If the Lord wants us to have a baby girl, we'll have a baby girl. If He doesn't, we won't. We feel perfectly comfortable allowing HIM to speak to us when we see our children's faces. Eric and I both have confidence that we will know our children when we see them.

A few more things...

Our agency director will be going to Ghana in July and has assured me that she WILL come home for referrals for us if we don't have them by then. Sounds good to me! I told her our prayer is that both children are home by Christmas and she said, "Oh my yes!" =-)

Finally, we heard of a baby girl born in Texas that is in need of an adoptive family. She is 8 weeks old and of Asian/African decent. They have no interested families for her, or the birthmom hasn't liked the profiles she has seen (not sure which). Anyway, we have left a message with the agency inquiring about this baby girl. Chances are nothing will come to this because her fees are too high or because we aren't the type of family the birthmom desires for her daughter, but Eric and I are open to whatever the Lord has in store. Why not check into it?!