Thursday, July 21, 2011

Back on the Merry-Go-Round

Our first adoption was a bit of a merry-go-round. It took a while and there was a lot of uncertainty. But the end result? We are blessed with an AMAZING little guy who is almost three and takes pride in being "a man" (he tells me this often).

So deciding to do this again has taken us a while. I still feel torn - part of me doesn't want to share Josh - we've got a good thing going here, and brining another child into the mix changes things. But we also don't want him to be an only child - and we're not getting any younger!

Last week, we attended an orientation at an agency in Madison. Their domestic adoption program runs on a lottery system - every 6 months, they draw 3 - 4 names of families that may enter the program and start the home study process. There are usually around 20 entries in the lottery. If your name doesn't get drawn, then you can wait until the next lottery in 6 months or look into their other programs.

Chris & I were initially both drawn to the idea of a Russia adoption. The price tag was steep - $40,000 including all the travel, etc. We don't believe that money is an obstacle for God, and didn't want to immediately turn our backs on this because of finances. So we asked our families to pray for us, put our names in the domestic lottery, and waited. While waiting, we decided to contact our previous agency, which is not in Madison, and slightly more expensive, but would let us enter the program right away.

Our names were not drawn in the lottery. Rather than wait 6 months, or pursue a Russia adoption, we've decided to go with Bethany Christian Services again for our next adoption. We'll be working with the Fond du Lac office, which is convenient, since Chris's parents live there. The first step is filling out the application and collecting the application fee. The nice thing about working with Bethany again is that there are some steps we can skip over since we've done them before. This also reduces our fee a bit.

So - life is not any less crazy than it was before. Chris started a new job last month and he loves it. The hours are much better for our family. I continue teaching 4th grade, and am taking on more responsibilities with my MOPS group in Portage. Josh is almost potty trained, and will be back in daycare 3 days a week this fall. We are content for now - but look forward to a sibling for Josh. Trusting in God's timing, and knowing we'll stay busy as we wait.

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