We Have A Referral!

Well, we do, but not for Olivia. We are still in the process of adopting from China, but we also are adopting another little girl as well. God has brought us Patricia (pronounced Pa-tree-see-a) who is from Haiti. Because of the long wait for China, the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) has now opened it up for waiting families to pursue concurrent adoptions. We weren't looking for another child, but God had something else planned for us!

Her adoption will take place after Olivia comes home from China, as the Haitian courts process paperwork very slowly. But as with all things, and in this hurry-up-and-wait world of adoption, it is in God's hands and His timing.

I found her on the internet on December 5, and we received her referral on January 24. Above is the first picture we ever saw of Patricia, and below are photos that another adoptive mom sent us.



My favorite quote during our journey to parenthood is, "Out of difficulties grow miracles" (Jean de la Bruyere, 1645-1696).

A couple of verses my brother Paul shared with us to help us on this journey are Hebrews 10:38-11:1: "But my righteous one shall live by faith,and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

There is a devotional by Os Hillman that I printed out and put on our fridge entitled "God-Inspired Delays". In it he refers to John 11:6: "Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." The main message is that sometimes God makes us wait to accomplish His purpose, and in the case of Lazarus, he waited for him to pass so he could raise him from the dead for the miracle to have it's full effect. God also did this with Abraham and Sarah with their long-awaited child, Isaac. Read the rest of the article here.

Lee said to me recently, "If we had the kids we thought we'd have in our 20's, we probably wouldn't be on this adoption path in our 30’s." My mom, in a completely different conversation, said, "If it wasn't taking so long for Olivia to come home, you may not have found Patricia, and she needs to come home!"

And so our adoption adventures continue...