Decision Day

Our daughter made her decision final today.  It is with a very sad heart I must say she decided not to be adopted into our family.  She is now aged out of possibility for an American family to adopt her.  She will most likely be leaving the orphanage at the end of the school year to a very uncertain future.  However, she has made the decision she believes to be best for her.  I respect her for thinking about it and making a choice that children should not be in a position to have to make.  My heart is broken but I rely on God for comfort.  I still know deep in my heart that God has brought me to Ukraine with the intent of adopting a child who needs and wants a family.  I am praying for that "someone" to be revealed to me and that I will know it with clarity in my spirit that it is right and fits in the path that God has called me (us) to.


So, what now?  With the help of my translator, of course, I had to write another petition to the agency in charge of all adoptions in Ukraine to request permission to visit another child.  That petition will be submitted on Monday.  The agency will have to process my petition and give me an appointment to visit another child.  My translator will tell me when to go back to Kiev for that appointment for the second referral.  I will have to meet that child and see if we get along and wish to move forward in the process.  That child will have to make the same decision our daughter made today, to be adopted or not to be adopted.    


The maximum number of times I can go to the agency and request a referral for a child is three.  I have submitted a petition for my second referral as of today.  If the next child I visit says no, then I have only one more chance.  I really hope I do not have to go back for a third and final referral.  I will be following the path that God lays before me and will seek his counsel on the next child.  Please pray with me that the child on the next referral is the child God has determined will be in our family.


Thank you all very much for the emails and comments with words of encouragement.  It is easier to travel difficult journeys with someone standing beside you to hold you up when you are at your weakest.  I feel the support of my friends and family holding me up from a distance.