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An Unexpected Delay

Our expectation was to receive a referral and then travel to Ethiopia fairly soon to begin the court process. If all went well, we were hoping to have our little boy home by the new year. That being said, we were not expecting the news that came out of Ethiopia yesterday.

The Ethiopian government has made a decision which requires adoptive families to complete a Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR). Completing an international adoption through Ethiopia requires legal actions by both the Ethiopian and the American governments. Sadly, on a few occasions, adoptive children were cleared by the Ethiopian court (thus granting the adoptive family official parental rights) only to have difficulty being approved for immigration by the United States Embassy. From the best I can understand, the soon-to-be implemented PAIR process adds a pre-approval step to the process of US immigration, which practically guarantees for the Ethiopian government that once an American couple is declared by them to be the legal parents of an Ethiopian child, that the adoption will indeed be completed from an American perspective as well.

The bottom line is that we were informed by our adoption agency that this new policy will certainly delay our adoption plans at least 3-4 months. Naturally, we are disappointed. Nevertheless, I had just preached 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 to our church this past Sunday morning (recording here). During this sermon, I told our congregation: "If you are a Christian, there is nothing that can happen in your life that does not flow from and is not attached to the good purpose of God." But living according to that truth requires that we walk by faith, not by sight –– focusing our attention on the truth that God has revealed and not on the circumstances before us. The same faith that we are trying, albeit imperfectly, to put into action by adopting a child — this faith is now being tested by God as our adoption plans have been substantially delayed. We want to maintain a big view of God's sovereignty in the midst of this delay. It is a joy, then, for Emiley and me to consider the following:

• God has graciously seen fit to keep Ethiopia open for international adoption. As far as we know, our plans have been delayed for a few months, not cancelled altogether. 

• God is for us. He proved that when He gave up His own Son for our forgiveness of sins and adoption into His family (Romans 8:31-32). 

• God is for orphans and for adoption. He cares more about the fatherless than we ever could! So we rest in the care that He has for our little one, even if we cannot personally care for him as quickly as we would like to (Psalm 68:5). 

• God's timing is always better than ours, so we rejoice that this situation is in God's complete control and is intended by God for our good. This delay, then, is intended at least in part to draw us closer to our God and to deepen our trust in Him (Romans 8:28-29). 

• This delay allows us the opportunity to keep the topics of physical and spiritual adoption at the forefront of our conversations with others –– perhaps in a direct answer to our prayers that God would use us to encourage other Christians to adopt as well as to communicate the gospel to those non-Christians who have not yet been adopted into God's family. 

• From a practical perspective, this delay will allow us more time to get our adoption finances in order. 

And these are just the things that can we see God doing in the midst of this disappointing circumstance. But as John Piper has often said, "When God is doing one thing, he is doing a million things." In many situations we do not see even one thing that God is accomplishing, so by the same faith, we must trust that He is working a countless billion things for our good and for His glory. However, in this situation, we can see several things that God is working for our good; it only thrills our hearts further to consider by faith that He is always doing so much more! 

Just Jump!

During this season of waiting, we are keeping ourselves busy with life  raising the funds needed to bring our boy home. I am completely overwhelmed by God's gracious provision to this point. Over and over and over again, He has provided the needed finances to proceed with each step of this journey. No, we have not had the money up front--but just enough for us to keep walking by faith. Often, this is just how God works. Because the point is that He wants us to walk by faith.

There have been a few points along the way where we have thought that we might have to freeze our progress and take a few months off to save up money. Other adoptive families and friends have encouraged us to just keep walking...to only stop when the door slams shut. The worst that could happen is that we'd move through the process more slowly. We've continued forward by faith, and guess what, God has provided each time--just in time.

Ok-I just want to give a shameless plug. Maybe you've been reading this blog because you are interested in adoption too. Maybe you would love to adopt a child, but the financial hurdle seems insurmountable. I want to encourage you, friend. God owns it all. He has promised to care for the fatherless. He has promised to care for you. Now, I am not trying to encourage reckless abandon. Be wise with your finances. You should not bring a child into your home unless you have the sufficient finances to feed, clothe and care for him.

BUT-If the finances are the only thing stopping you-the financial cost of international adoption-then just jump! 

It might take a while. Your timeline might move slowly. There will surely be roadblocks along the way. But there are countless grants, low/no-interest loans, and creative fundraisers that you can do to make this possible. If God is working in your heart to adopt a child, and you have the ability and means to care for that child once he's home--Jump! :)

You see, adoption is a picture of something far greater than even adding an orphan into a family. It is a picture of the Gospel. Our adoption as sons. You want to talk about great cost? Let's look at how much our adoption into God's family cost.

While it costs us a lot to adopt children, it cost God the blood of His own Son. It cost Christ to give up His whole life, in obedience to the Father. Christ, the One who 'endured the cross' came to redeem us and make us part of the family. Orphanology

Be moved by that. Because that was the cost of your adoption. But as Christians, we are no longer orphans. We are sons. We have been gloriously adopted into God's family, giving us a part of His inheritance and a seat at His table.

So back to the picture/shadow of our adoption. There are 147 million orphans in this world, over 5 million in Ethiopia alone. God has commanded believers to care for the fatherless. How are you obeying that command? The command doesn't mean that every family is supposed to adopt, but it does mean that some of us are. Let's be a Christian community known for our love and care for one another and the least of these. Let's make it popular. Let's do it. Because we, of all people, have a great motivation.

"The deepest and strongest foundation for adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world; it is at the heart of the Gospel." John Piper, Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel