Update

I have not posted anything in a while. Mostly, because I find it harder and harder to put into concise words what is always happening. The paperwork and governmental issues are confusing to say the least, but the emotions and the heart checks that come along with this journey aren't always so simple to explain either.

I was talking with a fellow international adoptive mom the other day (after they found out some fairly devastating news concerning their adoptive country) about how hard this is. And I don't say that to sound like a martyr or to be dramatic and invite sympathy. Yes, the paperwork and the cost and the waiting..and waiting...and waiting..they are difficult. But looking back over the last three years, I think the thing that has been the hardest is having the certainty that what God clearly called you to three years ago is still what He is calling you to today. Because the determination and boldness you felt at the beginning somehow gets chipped away little by little with every delay in paperwork, or governmental shutdown, or new invoice. You begin to think that maybe there was an easier way. A way less complicated. A way less expensive. Is this really what we are supposed to be doing? Did we hear right? Did we hear at all? Did we seek out international adoption for the right reasons or because it was more "exotic"? Did we stress ourselves financially because we shut the door on other ways too early? Should it be this hard and complicated if we are in God's will? I have actually heard people say that if you are obedient to God, then it will go "smoothly". So, for people like us (who have not used the word "smoothly" in..well...3 years), what does that mean? That we are not being obedient?

We have been able to be witness to a growing number of families in our community that have answered the call to foster/adopt from the foster care system. There is a HUGE need right here in our state and town that we love so much and these families are taking a big scary step in the uncertainty of fostering. And we LOVE this. We love these families and feel that someday we will be one of these families (don't call us crazy) who are choosing to love on the children in our area that desperately need a loving home. Because there are far too many who live without one.

So, why didn't God call us to this first? Why have we fundraised and fought for 3 years for this one child when there are so many here worth fighting for? (we actually have gotten asked this from lots of people, so it's natural that we would ask ourselves this and have often.)

But, time and time again, when I begin to wonder and doubt and let Satan make me question every single decision, or make me think I didn't hear right, or that we are in some way not being obedient,  God shows me stories like this one and this one and many more. And he reminds me that these are not just stories, they are real children. They are children who yes, are far away. And yes, it is costly to bring them home. And yes, the governments of both our country and theirs makes it nearly IMPOSSIBLE at times for it to happen. But these are children without a home too. And while, in a perfect world there would be the ability for them to be adopted in their own countries by local families, or better than that, there would be the assistance lined up for mothers and fathers to not have to make choices like relinquishing their children or abandoning them. {And just a side note here,  I think that needs to be a bigger goal of the church. Not building more orphanages, but long-term solutions that can be sustained in country (foster families, adoptive families, assistance programs for impoverished mothers, job training, etc).} But, in the mean time...there are children waiting. Josiah is waiting.

So, yes, my heart breaks for the children in foster care and for the young moms who are choosing to give their babies up and I want YOUR heart to break for them too, and be moved to action.

But, I don't want us to forget about the children in the world with no voice. No advocates. No government program to help them find families. Governments, who often times, specifically make it difficult, or impossible, for them to be adopted.

Because the fact is, they are all children. And they can't fight for themselves. I would encourage each of you to watch THIS FILM so that you can learn more about what is really happening in our world and with our government (they don't make this easy y'all). And to fight for ALL children to have the right to a family. Because they ALL matter. The ones here and the ones waaaayyy over there. Fight for them both.

That is what we are trying to do. While God has already started working on our hearts about the idea of someday fostering, we are still trying to get our Josiah home.

Quick update:
We are still waiting on his immigration approval (from our own government). Once we receive that, we will wait for the US embassy in Kinshasa to issue him a visa, then we wait for the government in the DRC to give him an exit letter for us to be able to travel and bring him home. Our best guess on timeline is March/April. A good year later than we thought when we received his referral on January 7, 2013.
But, even through the doubting and frustration and watching others bring their children home while our chair remains empty, we have confidence in Christ and in His authority over this situation. We have confidence that God called us to our agency and his birth country to find HIM and so we press on and wait.