The Waiting Place

"...The Waiting Place...for people just waiting.
       Waiting for a train to go
       Or a bus to come, or a plane to go
       Or the mail to come, or the rain to go
       Or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
       Or waiting around for a Yes or No
       Or waiting for their hair to grow.
       Everyone is just waiting.
  Waiting for the fish to bite
  or waiting for wind to fly a kite
  or waiting around for Friday night
  or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
  or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
  or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
  or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
  Everyone is just waiting." Dr. Seuss

We are somewhat in the waiting place.
Our documents are in Ethiopia. I'm not sure what's happening to them now.
I don't know if they are being processed or if they are just sitting on someone's desk.
Regardless, we are in the waiting place.
Sometimes it's hard--as waiting is usually hard, especially when we're waiting for something
AWESOME!

Our time frame changed yesterday---it went from an expected 12 month wait for a referral to a
10 month wait.
This is really exciting! This means that if we have to wait the entire ten months, we will have a referral by June of 2012 and that's not too far away!

You may wonder, "Why is the wait so long? Aren't there like over 4 million orphans in Ethiopia?"
Well, yes, yes there are.
BUT and it's a big but, lots of things have happened in the world of inter-country adoption.

1. Child trafficking and exploitation. (You may or may not be familiar with this, but it's a serious problem in our world and sadly, many children adopted from other countries weren't brought home to loving families; they were used as sex slaves or just house slaves.)

2. How do you determine if a child is truly an Orphan? (Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on this. UNICEF (You know they come around with little boxes at Halloween) has a say in this process, as do the individual countries.
Specifically in Ethiopia there are many children who have not been cleared by government officials to be adopted. This has slowed the process in Ethiopia.

3. The closing of Orphanages. (UNICEF went in to Ethiopia and closed many, many orphanages and those children were sent to other orphanages, which are now overcrowded. Those children's documents have to be looked closely before they are released for referral or their already in process adoption is completed.

These things have contributed to the slowing of adoptions and referrals in Ethiopia.

We must be mindful and faithful to pray for orphans everywhere and to support countries as they work hard to protect children from exploitation.

My heart grieves to think of the many children who are now in slavery to someone or the sex trade.

I know that God will give us a referral when the time is right.

While we're in the Waiting Place, we'll be faithful to pray and prepare for our new son!

Adoption is war. Satan doesn't want these children placed in loving homes.
But God is more powerful and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we (as believers) can make a difference in the world of the fatherless.