Oops...

I guess I forgot to update my blog about Kapend. Here was my post from Facebook that about it:

Hello friends. I wanted to share with you the latest on our adoption. A couple of days ago we received some disappointing- for our family- news. Kapend is no longer available for adoption. He has had a relative come forward to claim him. This is why I wanted to clarify that the news is only disappointing for us, because this is AMAZING news for him. Honestly, the disappointment for us lasted... about 2.2 seconds until we realized what great news this is for Kapend. He is no longer an orphan. He has been wrapped in the embrace of family. Someone, and given the close-knit relationships of families in Ethiopia, more than likely someone he knows very well, has claimed him as their own. Praise God! What better resolution could there be- aside from that of him being with his parents? As much as I love my sweet Aidan and couldn’t imagine life without him, and as much as I would fight anyone who dared try to take him now, if this had been an option for Aidan 2-3 years ago, I would have wanted this for him also. Adoption is hard. We often talk about the struggle it is for the adoptive parents and the birth parents, but truth be told it’s a hundred times harder for the child. Even more so with international adoption, because not only is the child losing his/her first connection to the world- his birth family- but he’s also losing his culture, traditions, language- everything that comes with being torn apart from one’s original community. If I could have protected Aidan from that, I would have, in a heartbeat. Anyone that truly cares for orphans will tell you that family reunification- when it is an option and IF it is in the best interest of the child- should always be the first priority. But for Aidan, there was no other option and all of the things that I mentioned before do not come close to the love and support of family. Kapend has all of that now. My heart is overjoyed. He is not our son, but that doesn’t diminish the extreme importance he has played in our lives- and the lives of our small community. Who would have thought that a little boy halfway across the world would have made a lasting impact on so many of us? Because of Kapend, we committed to beginning the joyous and chaotic roller-coaster ride of adoption for a second time. Because of Kapend, you came out and supported our efforts to bring him home. Because of Kapend, you gave of your time and money. And hopefully because of Kapend, you left with a bit more awareness of the plight of orphans around the world and the dire conditions for those living in sub-Sahara Africa. Maybe this was God’s purpose all along.

So, where do we go from here? Forward.

We’re still adopting, we just need to step back and decide our next move and this will only come after first consulting with God. He has already chosen our child and with an estimated 163 million orphans worldwide, the need for families is critical. We have the opportunity to move forward with an adoption from the DRC, or we can change course and move forward with an adoption from Ethiopia (or elsewhere). For countless reasons, this is what we are leaning towards at the moment. As always, though, we want to make sure that this is where God is calling us. If we proceed with an Ethiopian adoption, then the process will be very similar to the process with Aidan’s adoption. After we have an approved homestudy and our dossier has been received by the Ethiopian government, then we will be put on a waitlist. When we are close to the top, we’ll be matched with a child and then receive an email with pictures and that child’s medical and personal history. What an exciting day! Please continue to pray for our family and for Kapend. I told Liam that there was no way that I could have left him to be raised in an institution; that I would have always been haunted by what became of this little boy with the sad eyes. God knew my heart and answered my prayer. I know now. He’s with his family and I believe that that look of sadness that galvanized our family and so many others into action, has been replaced by supreme happiness. *One last thing, we received this news on the celebration of our FAMILY day- the day we were finally united with Aidan two years ago. How very fitting! God used what He knew would be disappointing news to remind us, yet again, how important family is and to steel our resolve for His purpose- adoption.

My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.  Psalms 145:21
 

Long Overdue Update

I have been really remiss in keeping up with this blog. So, here's a quick update on where we are in the process to adopt our second child. Whew! A lot has happened, but then again very little has happened. As I previously wrote about, we were notified that the child we were considering for adoption had family come forward who wanted to raise him. Praise God! This was amazing news for him- actually it proved to be good news for both of us as there are currently several complications arising with adoptions from the DRC. So, after much diliberation and prayer we decided to switch adoption agencies. We are now back with Holt International whom we used for Aidan's adoption. We are also really excited to be in the Ethiopian program- Aidan's brother or sister will be Ethiopian too! Our homestudy was approved in September. We paid all of our initial agency fees and have mailed in the I600A Immigration form (request for permission to bring an orphan from another country into the United States). Next, we await news of our appointment to get fingerprinted. From there, we await approval (171H) and then we can mail our dossier to Holt. From there Holt will proofread it and then forward it to Ethiopia for approval. After that, we wait for a referral. At this time, we've been told that more than likely that won't happen for another year. We will still travel to Ethiopia twice (once for court and then for the Embassy appointment and to bring our child home). So all in all, the process will probably take between a year and a half and two years. Oh, we also found out that we're number 41 on the wait list for a referral. This may change a bit once we have our dossier in. Well, basically that brings us up to date on where we're at. On the fundraising front, we haven't really done much since the zumbathon in June. I've been busy with school, work, and also with filling out grant paperwork for the adoption. There will be more fundraising events (and merchandise to sell) within the next few months though. :)