God - his way is perfect

“God - his way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is pure.

He is a shield to all who take refuge in him. 

For who is God beside the Lord?

And who is a rock? Only our God.

God - clothes me with strength.”

Psalm 18: 30-32

We apologize for the silence on our blog. We confess this has been a long, hard season as COVID-19 has brought our adoption process to a standstill. Our paperwork is currently sitting on a judge’s desk waiting to be processed. Our daughter’s orphanage submitted our adoption petition March 7, 2020, and the Indian government initiated a country wide lock-down which began on March 24 and extended to June 30, 2020. India is now in the process of reopening, but it is a slow, gradual and cautious process, and it looks different in each state and city. Based on the information we have received from our agency, the courts are not currently processing adoption cases, and our wait will continue to be extended for an unknown amount of time. 

We believe, as David did, that God’s way is perfect and his Word is pure, but at times it is hard to remember. The wait and uncertainty have caused pain, grief and anger. We are encouraged by the psalms, like the one mentioned above, because while David is proclaiming God’s perfection, he is also acknowledging his own weakness. Psalm 18 was pinned as a praise to God who rescued him from the hand of Saul. David was powerless to defend himself, and it was God himself who protected him (a refuge), sustained him (a rock) and ultimately gave him the strength to continue. The uncertainty of our process has forced us to recognize and acknowledge our own weaknesses. We cannot complete this process on our own. However, we take comfort in knowing that the God who sustained David is the same God who sustains us. He has clothed us with strength to wait another day. He daily protects us, and our daughter, and he remains our rock on which we place our hope. We can trust that “his way is perfect.”

We long for the day she is home with us, but until that day please continue to pray with us. 

• Pray we will find hope and rest in Jesus Christ.
• Pray for our daughter that she will continue to be well, and that God will be preparing her heart for our family and ultimately to know him.
• Pray for our daughter’s caregivers as they are working longer hours. 
• Pray the judge who is reviewing our petition will have an urgency to process adoption cases, and we will see many children with their forever families.
• Pray for the American and Indian governments as they are seeking ways to finalize adoptions in the midst of a pandemic.
• Pray for our agency as they seek to advocate for our family and many others.

We received NOC!!!

We are happy to announce that after five months of waiting, we received our No Objection Certificate (NOC) on January 2, 2020! This certificate marks a significant milestone in the Indian adoption process. Once our daughter’s orphanage (SAA) receives this certificate in the mail, they will be able to submit it and our dossier (paperwork we have prepared) to the local courts for an “adoption petition.”

The most common question we have received over the last three days has been, “What’s next?” Our answer is typically, “We now move on to the court process”. This is followed by the question of “How long will the court process take?” Which is always the million dollar question of adoption. “It could be six weeks or up to eight months. We simply continue to wait.” This will be the first time our adoption agency has worked in our daughter's city, so we will both be learning how the local courts operate and if there are pro-adoption judges within the city. Each family’s court case is unique, and it is hard to estimate a time of finalization.

Adoption is tough. We reach new milestones and celebrate each, but the celebration is soon quieted as we consider the next period of waiting we have to enter. We humbly admit that the waiting is getting harder, and it seems each step opens the way for more waiting. Please pray that God will give us patience as we wait. Pray we will look to Him for our strength and hope.

Specific ways to pray:
Pray the rest of our process will go smoothly and that we will be able to welcome our daughter home soon.
Pray God will bless us with a judge who is pro-adoption and seeks to place children into homes quickly.
Pray for our daughter’s caregivers.
Pray for our daughter’s health and that God will be preparing her heart for adoption.
Pray for our caseworker and the other Lifeline staff who have worked tirelessly to advocate for our family.