7.21.2010

3+2=5

Many of you know we are adopting two children, yes two at the same time, but we’d like to share our journey to that decision. We were initially drawn to Ethiopia because it is one of the only countries from which you can adopt a sibling group, and we always knew we would adopt more than one. However, we just didn’t feel ready to parent an older child at this time, which is what we would get with a sibling group.

Although we had dismissed adopting siblings, we weren’t quite satisfied with just one child. We looked into adopting more than one “infant” from Ethiopia but were told that it wasn’t possible outside of siblings. All through our home study (the process of gathering documents and being visited by a social worker, Christina), we kept talking about the second child we wanted. Even in our conversations with Christina, we were trying to iron out details for the second adoption (how soon we could begin after finalizing the first).

Every time Christina read over our home study approval, stating that we were approved for one infant, I kept saying (silently to God): Why can’t we have two?

So, this is how God’s sovereignty and perfect timing work. We were supposed to receive our finalized home study near the end of July (one of the last steps), but because one document kept getting “lost” in Virginia, it was delayed by two months. When we tracked down this lost document, we were told it would arrive the first of October, which would put the dossier on its way to Ethiopia and us in line for “one infant.” However, another frustrating delay in God’s plan: no document, and Keith and I were headed to Tennessee for a conference on orphan care (Together for Adoption with speaker Russell Moore, author of Adopted for Life, a book recommend for ANYONE).

I’m not sure if it was the conference itself or the fact that Keith and I had over ten hours of conversation in the car, but we realized God had been telling both of us that we were to adopt two children.

Upon our return, I made two phone calls. The first was to our social worker to see if she would rewrite our home study to approve us for two children. The second was to our case worker at Christian World Adoption to check on that no-two-kids-unless-they’re-siblings rule. He reaffirmed what we had been told, but because of additional questions he called the woman who handles referrals (the placement of children). She informed me that couples CAN adopt a second child if the older child is at least two years old at the time of referral. Woo hoo!!! We got this news just in time to make necessary changes before sending everything to Ethiopia!

We are now waiting on two children, as our agency has worded it: an infant of either gender and a toddler girl. So, we might be crazy, but we know this is what God has for us. And, he will equip us for that which He has called us.

7 comments:

  1. Wow! How exciting!

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  2. Whats the latest and were do you guys stand in the process??? You guys are killin me... You know I need details...

    mc

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  3. I love you guys so much. I can't wait to meet these two lucky children that God has willed to be a part of the Kotrla family!

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  4. I love you guys! This is so wonderful!

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  5. I commend you guys so much on staying both patient and confident throughout the process...it's nice to see both good followers and good people rewarded :)

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  6. I am believing more and more that God wants to be involved in the details of our lives...more than we dare to dream. I am thrilled to hear how detailed He is making this decision for your family. I cannot wait to hold your babies. They will be loved by all!! Love Ya!

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  7. I'm excited for you guys, just hurry it up a little! I'm ready to see some pictures!

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