April 2011

April 2011

I looked into another agency with a Thailand program, but it wasn't a good fit for us and after talking to a couple of people who had used Holt to adopt from Thailand, I was becoming convinced that if we were going to adopt from Thailand, Holt would be worth the wait.

On April 8, I was reading through the posts on the adoption forums and saw one that said Holt had re-opened their Thailand program! I had to read it couple of times, because it was completely unexpected. I immediately emailed the program to make sure it was true, and being impatient, called them before I got an email back. :) It was true and I was very distracted all day. Of course it didn't help that the government was preparing to shut down and I wasn't sure if I was essential or not and the entire day seemed to be in meetings about what will happen if the government shuts down. Talk about a completely wasted work day.

So, I got home, and started filling out the Holt application that I just happened to have, just in case. :) I talked to Robby when we got home and we spent the weekend mostly talking about it and praying about it and filling out the application. Finally, we decided to send in the application. It seemed like the open door we'd been waiting for. The application was put in the mail on April 12th.

I've had to mourn a bit for the loss of the opportunity to adopt from Taiwan. I had gotten attached to the idea, but honestly, if both programs had been open at the same time, I'm not sure which one I would pick. I liked them both, too bad I can't do them both simultaneously. :) It was better that God picked for us.

There have been some other indications and answers to prayer that line up with adopting from Thailand. When we first knew that the two Taiwan programs were closed, my blog friend prayed that something would open up in April, since May is going to be a very busy month. And, even though it seemed far-fetched at the time, God did open up a program in April. :)

Also, the Thailand program opened up at the perfect time. We technically don’t qualify until our wedding anniversary in June, but Holt said we can start as long as our home study isn’t done before our anniversary. With the timing, that shouldn't be a problem. Holt also requires 25 years of age to apply and my birthday isn’t for another 2 ½ weeks. But, they said since it is so close, it isn’t a problem. If the program had opened earlier than it did, we might not have been able to apply. And yet it still opened before our very busy month. God’s timing is perfect. :)

And that brings us up to the present. :)