Our Last Referral??

Well folks . . . . I hope it is . . . our last referral (at least for this adoption! hee, hee. Jeremy says "Hunh? Do we have another one?"). Here's the story . . .

We got a referral of a little girl on Friday around noon!! Yeah!!! I had asked God all this last month if I could PLEASE know who my daughter was before our fundraiser yard sale last Saturday (so I could show people who we were really adopting!) . . . . even Friday morning I said - "OK God - you only have today. I know you can do it!". And He did (I hope)! But what a cool story it is!! :)

I don't know if you knew or remembered me talking about an orphanage called Casa Bernabe (House of Barnabas - or House of Comfort)? We had applied to it back in the spring when we were with A Helping Hand as they thought they would be able to find a little girl there for us. I had gone online and couldn't pull up the pics of the kids for some reason, but found a PDF file that listed some of the kids that needed sponsorship. One name stood out from the rest - Wendy Elizabeth - B-day: 4-20-2004. It probably stood out because she was 2, and her name is very American sounding - PLUS - Elizabeth is mine and Meghan's middle names (OR - it could be that God was drawing my heart to her). Anyways - about a month later the pics finally came up. I fell in love with this one little girl in the pics - and found out her name was . . . . Wendy Elizabeth. I printed her picture and even took it to MOPS to show some friends the "kind of kids" that the orphanage had and told them I would LOVE to adopt a little girl just like this! :) Wendy was never listed as available for adoption and I never even heard back from Casa Bernabe. We (along with AHH) gave up on getting a child from CB. As most of you know - in July we switched to another agency all together - Kentucky Adoption Services.

I knew that KAS worked with an orphanage - but I never knew which one. I found out that another client did some missions work at C.B. and had seen a picture recently of her with one of the kids. That made me want to go and check out the C.B. website last week - just to see who was available for adoption. Wendy wasn't listed as adoptable, so I checked to see if her picture was even still on the website. It was! :) What a cutie!

WELLL . . . On Friday - Lucy, the director of my agency, called to say that she had called C.B. (the agency they work with!!!) and was telling the director all about "this family" (us) that felt led to adopt an orphan girl (versus a recent relinquishment). When she told her our name, the director said - "I know them." Hunh? Lucy couldn't understand how she would know us or have our info (she didn't know we had applied last spring). She was then shocked to find out that the director had been praying over our info recently and whether to place a certain little girl with us . . . . . . yep! . . . you guessed it . . . . .Wendy Elizabeth! :) How cool is that?!

So - the director of C.B. called me on Friday, but didn't really have any more info for us as she didn't have Wendy's file in front of her at the time. She was going to get it on Sunday and give me a call/contact me early this week (but haven't heard from her yet). She did say that they thought that Wendy was going to originally be placed with a Guatemalan family, but that didn't work out, and that she just recently became available to be adopted.

There are pros and cons to adopting from the orphanage - one good thing is - it may actually be a bit cheaper. Haven't confirmed that yet though, but that would be a blessing.
The bad thing is - it could take a lot longer . . . 7 months to 3 years (vs 4-7 months for a relinquishment)! There can be some hang-ups with an abandoned child because the parents are not around to sign her away. The courts can sometimes get really picky and may want to double decree that she's abandoned (long story to explain) - and that can take 18months or more (ie -looking for any possible long-lost relative anywhere in the world who might want her, etc!). We are praying (and would like you to pray as well) that her paperwork gets in the right hands!! That she will be able to go through the process in a quick and timely manner - and not have it dragged out so long. Plus, there's the chance that Guatemalan adoptions to the U.S. might shut down next year sometime, so we really want to see her case move fast just in case.

So - will you please pray with us as we are hoping to be able to accept this referral this time! :) I don't even know all her info - but J and I have such a peace about her (and all the "coincidences")! Pray that things move quickly and without problems. Pray also for the lawyer who will be handling the case. We may be using a lawyer that is newer to adoptions - but is a sharp Christian man. We are also praying about whether God would want us to change her name at all. I like Kathryn (but call her Katie probably), but the kids like Kaitlyn or Wendy Woo! :) I don't know about that last one! :) (It's a character on the Disney channel - or so I've been told). Though, Meggy-Poo and Wendy-Woo kind of go together! :) hee, hee.

To see little Wendy (and all the beautiful children at Casa Bernabe) - you can go to their website at www.foce.org/gallery.html. Click on "Angelitos" in the top left - scroll the numbers over and click on #17. That's Wendy! I'll post other pics after we get some more info. Maybe God will lead you to even sponsor one of the kids there! Who knows! :) You don't have to adopt the kids to support orphans!

Thanks for all your prayers! Keep praying . . . the battle is just beginning (believe it or not)! I'll let you know when we actually sign a Power of Attorney for this little girl (and make our referral acceptance official!). I just couldn't keep in the news any longer!! :) I love this little girl!

God bless you all!

Lori :)