Thursday, May 6, 2010

Choosing

I have had dreams of sitting at the SDA flipping through files of children wondering which one we should choose. Each face looking into my eyes begging for me to choose them. Looking over at John who is of no help whatsoever because he too can't decide how to choose our next child. Just when I think I have finally chosen the right child for our family-- I hear a little voice coming from one of the boys' pictures that we didn't choose, crying and asking, "Why didn't you choose me? Why? I am a good boy. I promise."

Sounds more like a nightmare to me.

And that is why I really had no desire to travel to Ukraine for a blind referral.

I know for many people this is just part of the process in finding their child, and that is fine, but for me, I had absolutely no desire of living out my bad dream. No desire at all.

And what would you know? Without even having to really ask, people began telling us about children. And as soon as we found a match to our homestudy specifications we pretty much committed and prepared to submit a petition to adopt.

However, God had different plans because we got ready to submit a petition two times prior to this last time only to find out it wasn't meant to be.

So who were we supposed to adopt? Who did God have chosen for our family? Was it a boy? Was it a girl?

Or was it both?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

The suspense is killing us! Can't wait to "meet" your next child(ren).

:)De said...

Ooooohhhh the suspence!

Praying,

:)De

Lyndi said...

Now that was just mean, LOL. I can't wait to see who God has picked out for your family!!

Kelli said...

that is a nightmare and this is killing me, I cant wait to see another little/or bigger face in your family photo

Annie said...

I agree with Lyndie - you are being very mean. You should be charging money for the next installment! I think this was what made Dickens' fame - the cliffhanger!

Joni said...

Oooohhh, you're making this so exciting! Just can't wait to hear the news!!

Taylor said...

OH man me neither!!! I am so excited to see who the next Reed is going to be!!

MyLinda said...

Can't wait to find out who will be joining the Reed family!

The McEacherns said...

I'm on the edge of my seat! Can't wait!

Cath said...

aaahh..I agree with everyone else! The suspense is just too much. I can't wait to see who you're on your way to meet. I hope you'll give us more info soon...just can't wait!
:)
Catherine

Mary said...

Oh, the suspense! Like everyone else, I'm eager to know more :-)

tigerdeus said...

Aww c'mon don't leave us hanging like this! LOL! My bet is on "both" because of how you said that last part. Can't wait to meet them!

Sarah

Goodness and Mercy Mom said...

The suspense is killing me, too! I keep wondering if you can adopt Miss O. She looked so happy with your family.

We've been there--looking at photos of precious faces trying to choose. May God give you clarity and peace as He leads you to your next child (or children).

God Bless,
Kathie

Mary said...

I was talking to one of my college friends today, and this subject (word-of-mouth adoption referrals) came up. My friend has 9 siblings (8 of whom are adopted domestically) and most of her adopted siblings quite literally fell into her parents' laps!

Her parents went through the traditional decide-to-adopt, look-through-photolistings, talk-to-case-worker process for their first adoption only. The other 7 children came into their family without any of that! The parents were often called by a social worker who had a child they thought they might be interested in or the child was referred by a child's foster parent who thought they might be a good match. On one notable occasion, a mother called my friend's parents directly (they're still not sure how she got their number) and told them that she was disrupting her adoption, would they like to adopt her daughter? My friend's parents said yes, and are currently finalizing the adoption.