Waiting

So, I had sort of planned to not update the blog until we actually had news (meaning a referral), but we still have so many people asking (and because it's been almost 5 months) how things are going. I thought it was only fair.

We are still waiting for a referral. We did update a bunch of our paperwork a few weeks ago. Here is a picture of the sweet women at the Boyle County courthouse who helped authenticate the updated documents from our home study agency (Adoption Assistance in Danville). The updates came from three factors. First, the home study agency license expired in September (annually renewed). Second, and most positive, our agency opened up two new regions (orphanages) from which to accept referrals for children. Third, a couple of the documents prepared early in the process (homestudy and psychological evaluation) had my name listed as Dana Creech Waldroup, when it needs to match my passport that reads Dana Elizabeth Waldroup. The Russian level of detail never ceases to amaze me! All in all, we had to redo 37 of the 60 original dossier documents. Now, it is much easier to make a quick change (add a region to a list, change a name, etc.) and reprint than to prepare the documents the first time. Since we did have to have all those apostilled at the Kentucky Secretary of State's office, it did mean we are getting very close to the unofficial record that their office told me was 120 documents (also for Russia) for an adoption (60+37=97 and we still have "Dossier Part 2" to complete after our first trip to Russia...we may break it).

We also received the quarterly update from our agency. They do not give waiting list "numbers" like some agencies, but they send out a list of how many families are in which stage of the process. There are three families waiting to make their first trip, so three referrals went out in the last couple of weeks. There are 5 families (including us) waiting for referrals. This still doesn't give us much timing detail, but there are referrals going out. We'll see when God has ours ready.

The good news was that our agency has already placed 22 children in 2011. They had been averaging around 15 a year when we began the process, so we're thankful to hear more children are finding forever families.

As far as our feelings about the wait, I think it was harder for me when we finished all our paperwork than it is today. After working hard to finish everything, it was an adjustment to be just waiting with nothing we could do. Now, I feel like we've settled into the season. Also, I think God has made me realize that having one fairly compliant 2-year-old means life is pretty easy. And, we know that as we make all these trips, bring this new son home and help him adjust to a wildly different life as part of a family and living in America, there will be plenty of challenges on the horizon. We certainly will be thankful to add our second son, for the challenges will more than be worth it. But, it will not be an "easy" season.

Another help in the waiting came as I was able to attend the Lifeway .mom conference in Birmingham last month. There were around 50 breakout sessions to choose from (and only 4 times to attend...talk about decisions!). One of those I chose was a panel discussion on infertility, adoption, and miscarriage. They had an amazing group of six women on the panel including, Chris Adams (matriarch of Lifeway Women's Ministry) and Heather Platt (David Platt's wife). The discussion was varied but much of the session was simply each woman sharing her family's infertility and adoption story. The unanimous opinion of all the women and their final encouragement was that God's timing is perfect in sending children, even if that means years of infertility, birth mothers who chose to keep a child they'd planned to adopt, or a host of international adoption delays or closings. When you heard it from someone on the other side, it made waiting seem like a gift from God. We are so thankful that our trust is in a Sovereign God who knew His plan for our family before time began. We thank Him for peace and patience that we know is only from Him.

(Might I also add that per Chris Adams one of the planned panel breakouts for .mom 2012 will be a group of adult adoptees--including her twin daughters--called, "I'm adopted. Ask me anything." I'm planning to be there for that and the rest of the conference if any mom friends wants to join me.)

Please continue to pray for our son, wherever he may be. Continue to pray for us to trust God and open our hearts to His peace as we wait to begin our travels. We are so thankful for all of your support and prayer for us through the adoption process.

Also, for those who have not spoken with us the last few months, Andy has responded to God's call into full-time ministry. He'd had felt pulled at different times over the past few years but this summer, God made it abundantly clear to both of us that God wanted this for his life. He enrolled at Southern Seminary in Louisville this semester, driving up for one night class a week and taking one class online. He has kept his engineering job at UK for now and will work there at least through next semester. Please be in prayer for God's direction for him and for our family as he determines what God has for him after that. Thank you so much!

Dossier Complete!

After around 5 months of paperwork, we have finally completed our applications and dossier. We had 59 original documents which all had to be individually notarized, authenticated and apostilled. This was far more than some of our other friends who have adopted internationally, but apparently this is typical for Russian adoption. The woman at the KY secretary of state's office (in the capital building) said she had one family that had 120 documents, which is sad for them, but made me feel a little better :).

I spoke to our program director this afternoon, and our dossier has been received and approved, so we are officially on the waiting list. Our paperwork will be in Russia early next week where it will begin translation. She reconfirmed the time line of referral for a little boy at 3-8 months. From our referral, it will take us at least a couple more months to travel and have our child home. So, as I've told several of you, we are looking at the end of this year at the earliest, but more likely, we won't bring our new son home till the first half of 2012.

Only the Lord really knows our time line, so now it's up to us to rely on His sovereignty for patience and peace through the waiting. We will also finish up our education materials, get all of our shots for travel, and get our home ready. We should have plenty of time for all of this.

We continue to appreciate everyone's prayers for us. Here are some of our ongoing requests:

• Pray for our child in Russia, wherever he is. Pray that God will provide for his needs and provide love from his caregivers.


• Pray for patience and peace for us as we wait.


• Pray that we will fully trust God's sovereign plan and timing for our adoption.


• Pray for us as we prepare for the adjustment of caring for our new child with his specific needs and challenges.


• Pray for us as we continue to parent Joshua and hopefully, in small ways, prepare him for his new brother.

Happy 2nd Birthday Joshua

Our two year old is one of God's greatest blessings to us, and we love him more than tongue (or keyboard) can tell! He talks constantly, loves to sing (ABC's, Jesus Loves the Little Children, the B-I-B-L-E, and a dozen other songs), runs most of the time, and can count to 20 (usually skipping 15 :). He loves to "read" his Bible and other books with us of by himself, which often involves pulling most of the books out of his bookcase. He also loves to play outside and see his friends at Mom's Day Out, Sunday School, and other church events (I can almost always get him in the car if I start naming the people he is going to see when we get there :). He loves his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members and friends and wants to know the name of everyone he sees in person, in pictures or in his book ("Who's that?" is probably his favorite phrase). He loves to "help" mommy in the kitchen by taking pitchers and containers out of the lower cabinets while I cook, but he is getting better at putting things back. He is eating well and growing more independent in that area among others. He does love to say, "No", whether or not he really means it. He is relatively compliant for a 2 year old. When he does go to the tantrum, it doesn't usually involve screaming; he simply lays down, leans his head back, and says, "Fit". He loves to color and play with stickers...and I'm sure he'd love markers or paints if his mom had the courage to brave the mess :). He knows all his letters and can usually name one or more things that start with each one, and he's beginning to understand counting (which is so dear to mommy's heart :). He loves to watch Elmo, anything Sesame Street, and his "Bible Movies" which we usually watch when he wakes up so mommy can finish reading her Bible. While there are challenges every day, we know more and more why God tells us that children are a blessing. Joshua certainly is that in our lives!

Exciting News

We want to share some exciting news - Andy and I have begun the process of adopting a child from Russia!

This has been a work in progress for about a year now, but we firmly believe this is what God is calling us to at this time. About a year ago, Andy began thinking about the possibility of adopting, but I was not in favor of it at the time. Andy dropped it for the time being. However, a few months later, God began to impress upon me that this was what He wanted us to do. However, by that time, we had begun taking some fertility medication to enhance our chances of becoming pregnant, so we opted to continue with those plans for the time being, knowing that God was still in control, as He always is. As you know, we experienced a miscarriage in November. Since that time, God has continued working on our hearts and has clearly shown us that He wants us to adopt at this time. Looking back over the last year, He has used friends who have adopted, books we have read, speakers we have heard, and circumstances to bring us to this point. We have seen God more clearly throughout the journey, and we know He has good things in store for our family, even though the road may be challenging.

So now I'm sure you may have a lot of questions. Let us answer a few.

First, why Russia? Well, Andy and I talked about this and explored various adoption options but through some doors being closed, the age of the child we were looking for (younger than Joshua), etc. we kept coming back to Russia. Russia currently has 750,000 orphans, so it is a huge need there. We considered adopting from America, but personally felt uneasy with some of the complications as well as felt excited about being a part of God's work in another nation.

Second, what "type" of child do we want? We would like a child as young and healthy as possible. For Russia, that means the youngest child we could bring home would be about 1 year old, though the child might be closer to 18 months by the time we bring him or her home. Also, we did not specify a gender preference on our application, but due to the high demand for Russian girls in adoption, we will probably be referred a boy.

Third, how long will it take? We have been told that it could take anywhere from about 12 to 18 months from start to finish, so it will be a long process, though not as long as many other options we looked at. We began our process in January, so we expect to travel possibly by the end of 2011 but more likely in the first half of 2012.

Fourth, what agency are we using? We were looking for a reputable, Christian adoption agency, so Andy researched and called quite a few to gathering information. We settled on Buckner International, a Baptist organization which some of our family members have ties to. They have been doing adoptions for decades and came recommended by reputable charities like Shaohannah's Hope. We have heard nothing but good things and have been impressed with this organization thus far.



Fifth, what are the steps in the process? While we can't say for sure exactly what the process will look like (since we've never done this before :), this is how we presently understand it. We finished "Application Part 1" for our agency in January. This was a relatively short, introductory set of documents to make sure there were no red flags before we really dove into the paperwork. We will mail our extensive "Application Part 2" tomorrow. This has taken us about a month to complete. It contains many of the background information and documents that our agency will need for the US and Russian governments. We are also working on our Home Study, which is part of the process for acceptance with US immigration. After Application Part 2 is approved, we will begin working on our dossier for Russia. I'm sure there is other paperwork and steps, so we'll keep you posted. After all paperwork is completed, we will wait for a referral (recommendation for a specific child) from Russia to come from our agency.

Sixth, what will our travel plans include? Currently for Russian adoptions, most parents will make 3 trips. Once we receive and tentatively accept our referral, we will travel to Russia, meet that child, have a secondary medical evaluation of that child done, and set a court date. Then we will return to Russia in one to two months to attend our court date. After court, there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period before we can take the child home. We could simply stay in Russia, but with Joshua at home and Andy's work, a 3 week trip would not be feasible. Finally, we would travel to Russia to bring our child home! Both of us would not have to go on this trip, but bringing a young child we have just gotten to know and who may never have been outside a Russian orphanage on very long plane rides just seems like a 2 man job :).


Andy and I would certainly appreciate your prayers as we go through this long process that I'm sure will be filled with challenges. Here are some of our current prayer requests:

• Pray for our child in Russia, wherever he or she may be (most likely in utero or in an orphanage) that God would provide loving caregivers and resources to provide for his or her needs, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, until we are able to care for him or her ourselves.


• Pray that God will draw Andy and I closer together through the process.


• Pray for us through this spring as we are adding the adoption tasks to already busy schedules (2 year old, my busy Women's Ministry calendar, and Andy's Professional Engineering exam in a few weeks to name a few). Pray God would show us how He would want us to prioritize our time to best glorify Him.


• Praise God for the encouragement of friends and family as we continue to share with others.


• Pray for us as we answer questions and respond to the concerns of others when we share our news. Pray that these discussions will open doors for us to share what God has done and is doing in our lives and share the gospel.

• Pray for us as we make financial decisions, that God would show us how He wants to provide the funds for the adoption.


• Pray that our "Application Part 2" will be processed smoothly in the next few weeks and that our Home Study will continue to progress.

We look forward to sharing more with you as we move along in the process. And, yes, this does mean the blog is back in operation :).









Love,
Andy and Dana (and future big brother, Joshua)