Starting a Blog

Okay, I'm finally doing it. I have started the blog that I have been promising myself and Bo that I would start so we could share our daily life and our long....... wait for our adoption with our friends and family (and strangers:). I have no technical capability, so it may not meet the "blog standards" that some have, but I'm trying! I think this will be a work in progress and it's actually sort of fun. I do wish that I would have started it back when we first began this whole adoption journey, then I wouldn't have had to spend my time looking for all the dates to go on my adoption timeline! When you look at the timeline, it all looks so very simple. In reality, let me assure you that it is not. It consumes your time and your life. Of course, had I known that China would slow the entire adoption process down to a snail's pace, I might not have rushed so!

For those of you who don't know our story, and for those of you who might just need a reminder since it's taking so long, here's a brief run down. We always planned on 3 kids. That was our plan, and thought they would just come the natural way. Well, the first 2 did. After that, it was a different story. Infertility set in. After going thru the testing and all the fun and expense involved with that and finding out "nothing" was causing us to be unable to conceive, and attempting to do so artificially without success, we gave up. Life set in and it was decided 2 kids only. Well, at least that was my plan. If you read the timeline, you will see that it was 2005 that we decided to adopt. Sometimes it takes a while to get your act together and GOD does work it all in HIS timing. We felt our hearts stirred about China and Bo has always wanted a little girl. (I hope he feels the same way when she is 16:) God led us down this amazing journey to adopt. During it all, the wait time has increased in China from 10-12 months when we started to approx. 2.5 to 3 years now. That's for the ones of us who are on the list in early 2006. If you were filling out your paperwork today to apply for adoption, the estimated time is 5 years. I can't give you an answer why, because in all actuality, I don't think I understand it and I have been on the adoption scene for 2 years now. But I do know this, GOD has reason for us to be adopting and he has the most perfect little girl picked for our family. I don't know when we will get her, I pray that it will be soon, but I have no answers. We have seen him working during this 2 year period. When we started this process, we had no idea where the money would come from. Immediately after we filled out the paperwork, our TV blew up, we got an unexpected medical bill for over $500, and Bo's overtime stopped, and if you know me, I am a worrier. I became scared and just knew that we had made a mistake. How would we make it? GOD provided. I still don't know for sure how we are going to pay for everything. Adoption is expensive, but at least we are having more time to gather our funds. We certainly don't have an extra $25 or $30 thousand in the bank, but GOD has cattle upon a thousand hills and he provides for us all. So, if I am learning anything from this huge delay, it's to wait on the Lord and trust him. I'm not saying that I'm good at it, I'm just saying that I'm learning. He's working on me and I in turn get to share all the things about adopting that I can.

I have spent the entire day working on this blog. I am going to try to commit to writing in it daily and sharing with others. I enjoy reading several people's blogs that are listed on my favorite links lists. They are a blessing to me and I hope in return, mine can be a blessing to someone else.

Final note, Brian and Melissa Lewis (check out Life as a Lewis), left this morning for Korea to bring home their daughter Rory. Please pray for them while they travel and please pray for her as she makes this huge transition into a new life. For those who are not familiar with attachment issues in adoption, this is a major concern of every adoptive parent.