Waiting

So here is where I stand as of today. I mailed my application and it was received by Mary (she is in Texas and reviews all applications) on Friday, March 13. She then spoke to "The Board" (don't know exactly who they are) and Danyne (Director of the orphanage in Uganda). On Monday I received an e-mail from her which said,
"Danyne told me today to tell you that at this time, we don't have a little girl. We will be watching and praying. So sorry that this is not the time. Blessings, Mary"

I wasn't sure exactly what that meant. Am I now on a waiting list? Or since there is no match for me, is my application discarded? I e-mailed back and asked Mary to clarify for me.

Yesterday, I got this message from Mary:
"Hello Melissa,
I need to talk with Danyne early in the morning. She was at a special dinner when I called this morning. So, I will ask her directly your questions and get back to you as soon as I have some info. Can you tell me what age a little girl you would like? Is an older ie 3 or 4 ok? Let me know tonight if you can. Thanks,
Blessings,
Mary"

I wrote Mary back with a definite, "YES!" on the idea of accepting a 4-year old. I did not hear from her today as I had hoped. So I wait, and rejoice in God's goodness to keep me "peace-filled." Yes, I am peace-filled. Not peace-ful, because to me that implies that the peace is flowing out from me. No, it's just the opposite--the Lord is pouring His peace into me. It is a constant filling, every moment of the day. I can honestly say I have peace. When I started this journey, the Lord gave me Isaiah 55:12 which says, "You will go out with joy and be led forth in peace..." And He is faithful to all His promises!

I have heard from so many adoptive parents that adoption is not for the faint of heart. I am so thankful that the Lord has been teaching me patience for so many years prior to this journey.

Application Mailed!

Today I mailed my application to the Amani Baby Cottage. I can't believe it! I have been thinking of and praying for this day for years. It's crazy!

The office that reviews the applications is actually in Texas, so the paperwork doesn't have far to go. I have no idea yet how quickly I will hear a response, but I welcome your prayers. I am pleading with the Lord to make His Will known to me through the answer to this application. If I am off the path He has for me, I pray He pulls me back now. If I'm hearing clearly from Him, I pray that I receive a favorable response from the orphanage and can proceed in confidence.

Would you join with me in prayer as I await a response?

There Is No Me Without You

There Is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene, chronicles an Ethiopian woman's efforts to save one orphan at a time.

After reading an article in the New York Times that reported 12 million orphans in Sub-Sahara Africa (with predictions that the number could grow to 18-25 million by 2010), the author was completely baffled:

"Who was going to raise 12 million children? That's what I suddenly wanted to know...Who was teaching 12 million children how to swim? Who was signing 12 million permission slips for school field trips? Who packed 12 million school lunches? Who cheered at 12 million soccer games?...Who was going to buy 12 million pairs of sneakers that light up when you jump? Backpacks? Toothbrushes? Twelve million pairs of socks? Who will tell 12 million bedtime stories? Who will quiz 12 million children on Thursday nights for their Friday-morning spelling tests? Twelve million trips to the dentist? Twelve million birthday parties?
Who will wake in the night in response to 18 million nightmares?
Who will offer grief counseling to 12, 15, 18, 36 million children? Who will help them avoid lives of servitude or prostitution? Who will pass on to them the traditions of culture and religion, of history and government, of craft and profession? Who will help them grow up, choose the right person to marry, find work, and learn how to parent their own children?
Well, as it turns out, no one. Or very few. There aren't enough adults to go around."

I may not be able to do all of that for 12 million, but I can do it for one.

The journey begins...

My Prayer for All Children

by Dawn Davenport, author of The Complete Book of International Adoption

I pray that all children will be loved for who they are, for no reason other than that they are.
I pray that all children will be loved as first best, not second best;
that they will be loved with an intensity that can move mountains,
because life will present plenty of mountains that will need to be moved.

I pray that all children will have someone who will...
...seek them, and only them, out of the crowd on the stage;
...push them to reach for their goals and discover their unique gifts;
...hold them accountable for their actions with love and dignity;
...advocate for them through this maze called life;
...explain the unexplainable; and
...smile when they walk into the room, just because they did.

But mostly I pray that all children will have someone who knows them well enough and loves them deeply enough to see the divine spark that is unique in them.

I pray that this be the birthright of all children throughout the world. And since this birthright can only be fulfilled by parents, I pray that each child, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, finds their parent and each parent finds their child.

Thanks, God. Amen.