"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is knowing that something is more important than the fear."               (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

 "You make me brave

You make me brave

You call me out beyond the shore into the waves

You make me brave

You make me brave

No fear can hinder now the promises you made."

This Christmas we have been waiting 3.5 years for our adoption from Ethiopia. 4 years since starting the application process.  We would have never imagined it taking this long, never imagined the plan the Lord had for our family, never imagined the "roller coaster" of emotions we would go through that so many told us about.  

The one promise we have held to is Psalm 27:13-14. "I would have despaired unless I HAD BELIEVED that I would see the GOODNESS OF THE LORD in the land of the living. WAIT for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, WAIT for the Lord."   We have definitely learned that our timing is not the Lord's timing and it is a continual journey of trusting in God's timing and His plan for our family.  

So an update - Ethiopia is still very close in our hearts.  We ache for the amount of orphans in Ethiopia and the poverty and wish we could be a part of the Lord's plan for bringing a family to a child in need there.  Unfortunately, Ethiopia is going through a lot in their system for adoption right now.  It has been for the past few years dealing with ugly areas in the adoption world.  There has been unethical agencies that have come to light and unethical adoptions of children that have been discovered.  Many agencies have been closed down and Ethiopia has been trying to take steps to make sure all adoptions are ethical and in the best interest of the children in need.  We praise God that we now know why it took us so long to choose an agency to go with - as making sure our adoption was ethical was and is a extremely high value for us.  WACAP (who we are with) has never had any problems and is one of the best in the country there with a high reputation.  Because of all of the corruption that has been discovered Ethiopia is not moving or moving extremely slow in processing paperwork and approving adoptions.  

So we are almost to 3.5 years of waiting.

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail, Though it tarries, WAIT FOR IT; For it will certainly come, it will not delay."         Habakkuk 2:3

In the midst of the heartache of Ethiopia the Lord has continued to move in our hearts.  He has shown our family His heart for all orphans and has led us to trust HIM in His leading.  We recently made the decision to open our adoption up to the country of India as well.  There are over 25 million orphans in India and our hearts have been opened greatly to the children there.  We are able to stay on the waiting list for Ethiopia as well as have India as an option.  It was a huge decision for us as the Lord worked in our hearts, answered prayers and began to show us that this was His desire for our family.  So - now we are on the list for both countries, to adopt from whichever one the Lord opens us to our family first.   During our times of seeking Him the song above "You Make Me Brave" was the cry of our hearts.  Change is hard, adjusting the picture we may have had in our heads for this adoption is difficult, but He Makes us Brave... He Calls us out beyond the shore into the waves.... but we KNOW that no fear can hinder the promises He has made...

Thank you for reading this update.  Thank you for praying for our family as we continue to wait upon the Lord and walk in faith in this road of adoption He has called us to.