Contracts Received - Estimated Referral Dates

Isaiah 43:5

Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will gather you and your children from east and west.

I checked with Adoption Options today and they have received our contracts. I expect us to be "on the list" on Monday. We will begin an intense process of dossier document gathering. I also had a LONG conversation with someone with our other agency today -- someone from the headquarters. She assures me that by the end of January we will be allowed to proceed with our concurrent adoption (although we were with or without them) and that we are the first family on the list to start the process. She hopes that we will be able to begin some things in the process even before that. The policies will be ready, however, by the end of January and we can have them update our home study, provide post placement reviews and, mostly importantly, not have to spend any more money since we already have a credit balance with them. Granted, I fully expect, when the policy comes out, they will expect us to pay a hefty sum for these services.

I looked at the calendar, and from what we have been told by Adoption Options, we should expect a referral between the dates of MARCH 10 and MAY 5. I am anxious to see how close we come to that time frame.

Many of you have asked me, "What exactly is a referral?"

When the government of Kyrgyzstan selects a child for us, they will prepare a document of information concerning her birth, medical and social records, along with a photo. This will be sent to us and is called our "REFERRAL". We have the option to accept or decline this referral. We have a bit of time to make this decision. If we accept it, then we will be required to pay the balance of our agency fee, some additional travel related fees, purchase airline tickets, make hotel reservations and plan to travel to Kyrgyzstan to spend 14 days meeting, bonding and determining if we truly do want to accept this referral. We will then return to the States and the process will begin to have our case heard in court, have the adoption finalized and obtain her passport. When this is complete (between 6-8 weeks), I [Maria] will return to pick her up and bring her home. This trip will last approximately 7-10 days.

I had an interesting conversation with an adoption friend today. She lives in Texas and will laugh when she reads this and how it moved me. She and I have talked at length through the past few months about the finances for our adoption. She and her husband are DTV to Vietnam and hopefully will receive their referral soon. Anyway, I distinctly remember a conversation she and I recently. She was just distraught that they could gt their referral any day and they were $5,000 short. We were brainstorming ideas for her. We didn't come up with any. When she called today, she said that they had worked out a way to pay the rest of their fees -- through a way they would have never thought. Then she said the most amazing thing. Something to the effect that she had been reading my blog and from what I was writing, she figured I had something in the works in the background because I seemed so confident
about the money coming. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Kevin and I talked just tonight about how there is no "Plan B". We always have a Plan B -- a backup, just in case things fall through. This time, God is Plan A, B, C and D. Without Him this just won't happen. There is no way we can make it happen. We have exhausted all our resources with this and the China adoption. So, if I sound confident, it is in Him, but certainly not due to a backup plan, because I can't fathom one. My backup plan is just trust that He will not call me to something without equipping me. This time the equipment required will be money. I still remember Beth Moore talking about how He has cattle on a thousand hills and how He would just have to sell some cows. So, I will wait for the auction. And when He chooses to act, all the glory will be to Him and hopefully others will see His faithfulness and be blessed by it as well.

Do these verses not point beautifully to what God expects of me?

Psalm 40:1

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,

and he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 27:14

Wait patiently for the Lord.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Isaiah 30:18

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him

so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the Lord is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help.

Micah 7:7
As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
I wait confidently for God to save me,
and my God will certainly hear me.

Psalm 5:3

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.

Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.