Approval

We have been waiting to hear this news.  We received an email from the Philippine government that we have been approved to adopt from the Philippines.

Approval.  What a stressful word.  Standing in judgment.  To be assessed as to our worth.

Some people that we tell about waiting on approval balk.  How is it that it can be so difficult to approve people who want to bring kids into their home and provide a family and love?  We are glad that there are precautions in place when it comes to the lives of kids.  It's hard when you are in the midst of the waiting.  We were told that it would take a month for approval.... 6 months later we have been approved.

What does this mean?
Our packet has now been put in the pile that can begin looking for kids that will match our request: 2 siblings ages 2-6.

What does our time look like?
Um.  If you are getting the idea, international adoption is not a cookie cutter easy formula. Could it be 6 months?  Sure.  Could it be 3 years? YUP and this is the more likely option.  And so we move into the next stage...

More waiting.

So for now we are SUPER excited.  And we will enjoy all of our everyday moments while we wait.

The other side of the story (JB's):

Well I had been planning to write an update anyway so this news came at a perfect time.  As I write that sentence, I am struck once again at how so many things in this process have come at just the right time.  The income from our garage sale was the perfect amount to cover the next bill.  A month or so later we received another gift just in time to pay another bill.  We have always believed that God is guiding this process but seeing these things makes that even more evident.  I think it also calms some of my fears.

You see, everybody else wants to bring the kids home as soon as possible.  Don't get me wrong I do to but the planner/financial organizer in me sees a few things that need to get done first.  A three year horizon would allow for many things to naturally fall into place.  It would also provide a reasonable amount of time to continue our fundraising efforts.

So yes we have been approved by ICAB and "placed on the list of acceptable adoptive parents."  Reading that brought tears to my eyes.  In fact when I called Jenn to let her know and she didn't answer, I had to make sure in the message to tell her everything was ok, you see I could barely talk because I was so excited. Well, it only partially worked and she was still scared that something bad had happened.  Then she read her email.  She quickly gave me a call and we shed another tear of joy together.  So begins the long wait.

This process has already taught us a lot of patience.  I am sure we are going to continue to need to be patient and trust God.  I am excited to see what lies ahead.