What will 2012 bring?

2011 did not end the way we had hoped. Still no referral and tax season is quickly approaching. We have been waiting for close to four months now which is much longer than we had anticipated. We had some frustrations with our agency in the past month as the agency told me we would receive a referral much more quickly if we were open to a boy. Well, this was news to us since we have been open to a boy form the beginning. I think for this reason, they felt we would have a much better chance of receiving a girl in Khabarovsk so about a month and a half ago we submitted our dossier to this new region. The wait we are told is about two months and our social worker is convinced this is where our child will be. She feels certain we will receive our referral this month and make our first trip in February.

Waiting is far more challenging than we had anticipated. Some days we wake up filled with hope and excitement for what is to come. Other days we are burdened with discouragement and find our faith weak. It is difficult to plan for anything right now. Our travel will happen quickly so the thought of packing on such short notice brings anxiety. We are trying to prepare what we can without knowing what we are preparing for, but we find this brings feelings of excitement and expectations which leads to disappointment when the weeks go by with no referral. This is truly the biggest test of surrender to God's will we have ever experienced. While growing pains are ultimately good, they still hurt.

We hope to have good news soon and would be so thankful for continued prayers that God's will would be our priority.