Here We Go Again!!

Can you guess what we are doing?

This is a dossier. Looking all official with its fancy apostilles.

That's right - we are in the process of adopting!!!

That stack of paperwork has been sent to Bulgaria!!! If you aren't familiar with Bulgaria it is a small country in Eastern Europe. Bulgaria sits on the west coast of the Black Sea with Romania to the north and Greece and Turkey to the south.

As many of you are aware, Russia banned international adoptions to the U.S. just as we brought Karina home. We left a big part of our hearts in Russia. As we boarded that plane leaving Moscow with Karina we completely intended to go back someday and adopt again. But apparently God had different plans. For whatever His reasons, Russia was no longer an option for us. We wrestled with what to do. God slowly softened my heart and reminded me that He cares for the fatherless and He loves the orphans left behind more than I ever can. I can trust Him even though I don't understand the details of what He is doing. He is totally capable of loving these precious ones He created as He carries out His perfectly orchestrated plan. He's really got this all under control. As we prayed more about adopting we felt our hearts begin to let go of Russian adoption (definitely NOT the people of Russia though  - more on that in an upcoming blog post!!) and we were free to pursue other adventures that God has for us.

As we researched our options for adopting, Bulgaria was just an obvious choice for us. We preferred to stay in Eastern Europe for many reasons. And everything just seemed to line up; it is always so interesting to see the details and people that God places in our paths. We found an adoption agency that has been working in Bulgaria for many years. So as spring turned to summer we began the process of home study visits, gathering documents, and preparing paperwork.

Our dossier is currently in Bulgaria being translated. We just received our NBC approval (U.S. immigration pre-approval) and it has been sent to join the rest of our dossier. Once everything is finished being translated into Bulgarian, our complete dossier can be officially submitted to the Bulgarian government!

And then we will wait to be matched. We will have quite the wait ahead of us - probably a couple of years until we get to meet our child. It's not that there isn't a need in Bulgaria for people to adopt; the process just takes time. So we will spend that time the best way we know how. By now I am learning that there is plenty to learn . . . and to do in the waiting. I am becoming a little more patient with each season of waiting in our lives. We will attempt to treasure the moments we have as a family of 5 and all the blessings along the way.

We have requested a boy younger than Karina. As you may remember we thought we were asking for a boy last time around and were surprised with our beautiful little girl. Braden is so hoping for a brother, but we will leave this in God's hands again and wait to see what amazing surprises He has in store for us this time! Although the process in Bulgaria seems to be much more straightforward. But we shall see!! I should be able to share more information with this adoption so hopefully we can keep you a little more updated throughout our journey!