Monday, October 26, 2009

Our big decision

I mentioned in the last post that we are looking towards our next adoption. We have actually been thinking and praying about our next adoption ever since we brought Andrew home, but had never planned on starting anything until after he was a year old. Well, his birthday is now in about six weeks(!!!) so we are getting very excited about possibly starting another adoption soon!

Our big decision is how to adopt this time around. The Minority Infant Adoption Program (that we adopted Andrew through) has six families on its waiting list right now; when we signed up we were one of two families. We don't feel like the need there is as great as it was (Praise God that more families are becoming open to transracial adoption!) so we have decided to look into other options.

One of the programs we are seriously considering is Bethany Christian Services Waiting Child Program. We have already filled out a preliminary application for this program, which doesn't commit us to anything but allows us to view the Waiting Children they have overseas. Children in the Waiting Child program are in because they are harder to place, usually because of a special needs issue. Some of the special needs are mild (cleft lip, crossed eyes, etc.) and some are severe (Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc.). We have thought that maybe since there is an almost four-year gap between Andrew and Caleb that we could adopt a 2- or 3-year old from this program. This adoption process usually goes very quickly; if we started the process in January we would most likely be able to bring our child home sometime next year!

I found this video yesterday of a family who adopted a Waiting Child from Korea. Their story is amazing and their little girl is precious.

Ludy Adoption Video from Lifesong on Vimeo.



God has also burdened our hearts for the orphans in Uganda, and we are also seriously considering adopting from there. We have been reading about the orphan situation in Uganda here, here and here, and have been deeply moved by what we have read. We know of two agencies that do Ugandan adoptions, and Luke has been e-mailing with a family that recently adopted from Uganda. We have had this country on our hearts, and then yesterday I found this video and was ready to jump on the next plane to Uganda!



Please be praying for us as we make this huge decision over the next few months. It is so hard to decide when the need is so great in so many places. We know God has already chosen the perfect child for our family, and we just need to trust Him (once again) as we wait upon His perfect timing. Andrew has been such a blessing, we can't wait to see what God has in store for us this time!

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