NOT WHAT WE WANTED TO HEAR...

We wanted to hear a "YES!"

We are grateful we didn't hear a "NO."

What we heard was a "WAIT."

Ryan's government decided they will make us wait until my 5 year cancer mark of 2-25-16 to make our match official.  So any court date will not be applied for until after that date.  That means for now, our dossier is on hold.  Cathy at Open Door is anticipating a summer travel date for us.

In the scope of forever with a family, these 4 months will just be a small blip in our life with Ryan, but right now they feel like eternity.  We are heartbroken that Ryan has to wait even longer for his mom and dad to come for him.

We got the news last Friday.  It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was still hard to hear.  

I am working through trying to trust in the Lord's timing and providence for this precious little boy.

My anger at cancer came back when I heard the news- just another thing it has affected in my life.  

This isn't the most uplifting post.  I trust with the Lord's help and through prayer, I will get there, but right now I am still just processing through my disappointment and frustration with this setback in the process.

The reassuring news is that the government has promised to keep Ryan in the baby home and not transfer him out.  Praise the Lord for that.  A fellow adoptive mom who visited Ryan's home says it is a nice place with good care.  I will cling to that as we wait these extra months.

God told us to try and adopt Ryan.  That is what we have done.  The door hasn't closed completely on us so we will continue to move forward and WAIT.

WE ARE MATCHED BUT...

Good news today:  Ryan's government said they will match us with Ryan!  

However the bad news is they want more information about my cancer diagnosis in 2011.  Cathy thinks they may be leaning towards making us wait until I am 5 years out from diagnosis (February 2016) instead of proceeding forward right now.  

This is frustrating to me.   Poor Ryan is wanting a family NOW.  I feel like I am putting his well-being into jeopardy.  

Silva is going to meet with the matching committee tomorrow at 3 (in-country time so during the night here) to discuss the matter.

We are praying for wisdom and discernment.

Silva told Cathy that when she visited the orphanage recently, Ryan came up to her and said "Mama?"  She didn't know if he was wondering when it would be his turn for Silva to bring a family.  That absolutely breaks my heart...

Please Dear Lord, let his dream come true!

BABY IN THE HOUSE!

We do interim foster care for Bethany Christian Services.  Placements happen when there is a little baby who needs a place to stay while the birth mom decides whether to parent or adopt.

Two weeks ago, little Baby M came to stay at our house until October 9th when she goes to her forever family.

We just love having a baby in the house even though it does make life a bit hectic!  

Due to confidentiality reasons, we cannot publish a picture of the little sweetheart, but trust us, she is absolutely ADORABLE!

JONAH TURNS FIVE!

Hard to believe that our baby is five years old already! 

Interestingly enough he will still be our baby even after Ryan arrives.  Ryan's birthday is 6-21-10 and Jonah's is 9-14-10.  

We can't wait to have a party for Ryan on his 6th birthday!

BLESSED BY OTHERS

Last night we were able to attend the season opener for an adoption support group at church in Sheboygan.  Friends of ours, who have adopted two children, invited us to the group.  

What a blessing to be able to talk adoption with a group of people who get "it".  Sometimes I feel like our family lives on the planet Mars while some around us are still inhabiting Planet Earth.  People don't always understand why we chose to adopt a baby with Down syndrome when we were almost 40.  People are even less likely to understand why we would adopt a 5 year old with Down syndrome when we are in our mid-40's.  I mean according to the way our culture/society tells us to live in total comfort and ease, we were so close to residing on Easy Street USA, and now we are on the other side of the tracks :).  

So to be in a group that truly believes in God's calling for us to care for the orphan was refreshing and encouraging.  

What a blessing to be blessed by others last night.  Thank you Lord for giving us that support.  

We look forward to the monthly meetings.  Unless they de-invite us because of Jonah- hee, hee.  We had to pull him off the drum set 3x and off the sound system computer 1x.  Our little guy is quite the Curious George...how fitting he was wearing his George shirt last night.

AND NOW WE WAIT...

At this point, our part is done.  This morning the True Copy document came back from our Secretary of State.  I expressed mailed that to Cathy at OD so that she can get it overseas to Silva.  That was the last piece of our dossier.  

So now we have nothing to do except wait...and pray.  Silva is busy translating our documents.  Then they will go to the central authority in Ryan's country, and hopefully we will be matched with him and get a court date.  

But for now, wait. 

Be patient, Ryan- we are working as hard and fast as we can!

GOOD BYE SUMMER

Even though the 3 older kids started school last week, I feel like today, Labor Day, really marks the end of our summer.  We will close up our pool this week, Jonah starts his 3K class on Thursday, and slowly but surely the warm weather will go away.

Don't get me wrong- I love fall, but it is bittersweet that another super fun summer is over and done.

Abigail is a senior this year so lots of changes coming up for her (and us).

Stephen is a sophomore- will be getting his driver's license in early winter.

Lydia is a 7th grader- in the process of saying goodbye to little girl world (i.e. she has her 1st cell phone for pete's sake- what a different world we live in than when I was in 7th grade...)

Jonah, who will be turning 5 next week, will try some time in the 4K classroom.  If it goes well, he will transition to full time 4K hopefully as the year progresses.

Ryan is living across the ocean in an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  Hopefully, he will be in our home sooner rather than later.

Good bye summer and Hello to lots of new things!