Roadblock #1

One of the main reasons that we chose to adopt from Ethiopia was because I am so young. Most countries will not allow a family to adopt unless the parents are 25 or even older, so that really limited our options. Ethiopia required only one parent to be 25, but different adoption agencies put their own requirements on top of the country requirements. A lot of agencies won't allow a family to adopt through their Ethiopia program unless you are both 25+, so that limited our agency choices, too. I knew that the agency we decided to work with had an age requirement, so I had called the agency to find out whether they required one or both of us to be 25 before we sent our application in. Thomas is twenty six, and they said that it would be fine since one of us met the age requirement. So, we applied to this adoption agency.

Well, the agency called and left me a message yesterday. Not good news! They said that they had to deny our application because I am only 23 and they required both parents to be at least 25. I was super confused! Isn't that what I had called about and discussed with them before we sent our application in?

When I listened to the message I started tearing up thinking that we would have to wait years before Bear would be home. I was instantly discouraged... it doesn't take a whole lot to discourage me. :) But I got to thinking, this doesn't mean anything! It doesn't mean we can't adopt! It just means we may have to apply to some other agencies. It was a roadblock, but it certainly wasn't one that we couldn't conquer! If we want to adopt, we will make it happen!

I called the agency today and left a message for the Ethiopia program director. About an hour later a woman called me back saying that she was the one who left me the voicemail yesterday. She said that she thought that she had to deny our application because of my age, but she had talked with the other staff and found out that they had given us special permission! I was beaming from ear to ear!

So, needless to say, we are back on with our original adoption agency. I am so excited, and I think that maybe God was just throwing me a little curve ball to teach me a thing or two. If He wants to bring this little boy into our family (and I firmly believe that He does), then He will make it happen, no matter what obstacles we may encounter! He is so powerful, so awesome!!! Like you said, Leanne, I just have to trust that His timing is perfect. It always is!