The circumstances of adoption are unpredictable. Every story is different. No timeline is the same, and often it seems there is no method to the madness of waiting. I understand the necessity for paperwork, background checks, fingerprinting, notarization, authentications, etc. The most important thing in adoption is the safety of the child. We want each child to go to a secure, loving, well-screened home.
Guess what, though? All...and I mean ALL...of this paperwork has an expiration date. This is understandable to a certain extent, but most of the paperwork expires before the adoption process is complete...meaning home studies have to be redone, fingerprints have to be retaken (US fingerprints are good for only 18 months after which they are "kicked out" of the system because there is no room for them in the data base...hmm), and papers have to be notarized all over again.
We started our adoption process in August of 2011 and have begun the first steps of updating. Meanwhile Jordan waits. Updates on our process are few and far between, and we wait eagerly for any morsel of good news...from anyone adopting...ANY movement is good whether it's our child or not...but deep down, each of us wants it to be our own process moving along.
I wait with mixed emotions...I understand that there needs to be a process, and a good one, but it's aggravating that the process cannot complete itself before everything expires; I understand that paperwork processing in-country and out-of-country takes time, but it's heart wrenching that paperwork "stands still"(literally sits on desks) while children grow; I understand that good things come to those who wait, but it's painful to know that my child is waiting. He doesn't understand; I understand, and wholeheartedly believe, that God has a plan...a perfect one, but I grieve when hard hearts stall progress, red tape tangles processes and selfishness stands in the way of children going to forever families in a timely manner; I understand that to every season there is a purpose, but the children don't understand. Jordan turns 3 next month. How much can he possibly understand? Whether the child is 3 days, 3 months, 3 years or 13, there is no true, understandable explanation for waiting.
Waiting is part of the human condition. Waiting will always exist on this earth. I often think of Moses and his calling to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land. The children of Israel had to wait while Pharaoh's heart hardened time and again. Plagues tangled the way; destruction and death barricaded their path to freedom. Sin stands in the way of everything that is good. We live in a fallen world, but it is a world that God created to accomplish His purposes, and He will bring to pass the good work that He has begun.
One of His purposes is for us to care for the orphans, defending the cause of the fatherless. I cling to the promise that He will bring to fruition the calling that He has placed on our lives to bring Jordan home. I sit at His feet and beg for His mercy. I pray that He will soften hearts, move paperwork along and bring my child home.
We are blessed that Jordan waits in a creche where he is fed, clothed, nurtured and loved. He has a bed. He has friends. He is taught his ABC's and sings the name of Jesus. He is safe...for now.
I pray for Jordan's little heart and ask God to prepare him for his forever family...to give him a sense of belonging in spite of his circumstances...to allow him to feel an overwhelming love from across the "big blue sky."
Please come to the Father on behalf of Jordan and all of the children who are waiting across the world. Please ask Jesus to melt hard hearts...destroying motives that stand in the way of justice. Beg Him to move paperwork like lightening and release the floodgates...ushering our children home. We need an army, and God has promised that if we ask anything in His name, He will bring it to pass according to His will and plan for our lives.
Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours...I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you...(I will) defend the cause of the fatherless...You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you...And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished...
Mark 11:24, John 14:18, Deuteronomy 10:18, John 15:16, Philippians 1:6
