So when did this journey begin? With a conversation my husband and I had when we were considering marriage. I remember we discussed if we would both be interested in adoption. This was our second marriage and we both already had our own lovely children. Bringing a blended family together of 4 children whose ages ranged from 7 - 18, at the time, was going to have challenges of it's own. However, we had both wanted more children. So, as we were asking all those serious pre-marriage questions, like who will take out the trash and who will cook the meals, the question of considering adoption also availed itself. I remember my husband said without hesitation "absolutely". For me, I had always dreamed of adoption even before high school. For him, he always wanted a big family. So, 1 year later, we began filling out all the paperwork to adopt from China.

If you have already been though the adoption process, you will understand my next statement. Adoption is not an "easy" process. If you are considering adoption don't let that stop you! Because something miraculous happens during the adoption process. Through the struggles you learn alot about yourself. You learned that if you "think" you trust God, you must learn to trust him more. You find out that despite the struggles, you want a child that you know nothing about. You find out that regardless of what you have to go through you will "put up the good fight" until you receive from God what He has planned all along for you. You become stronger and your faith increases. You also learn that nothing you go through as waiting parents would ever be as hard as what an orphan has already experienced in their short lifetime.

So we were excited! And then the balloon burst. One year later, we found out that the money we had paid, the paperwork we had filled out and the waiting we had endured to receive a child from China, was for not. China changed their requirements! Adoptive parents had to be married a minimum of 5 years. So the door closed. At least that is what we thought.

Because we thought that our "adoption journey" had ended, we decided to help orphans even if we couldn't adopt one. So we contacted the ministry "Orphans Hope", just to see how we could help out. It was then that our journey resumed. It has been over a year since the first conversation about adoption with Orphans Hope. This week our paperwork arrived in the Ukraine! Now, we are waiting again! They say the chances are slim, but we know God says, "Watch what I can do!" So we are waiting for a child. Oh, yes! I forgot to mention one thing...we are eligible to adopt 3 children if we are accepted by the Ukraine government!

So in the next few weeks we may be receiving news of our "date to travel". I'll keep you posted!