When the home study update was completed for the change to the India adoption program, we were told to prepare for a wait of up to a year for a referral. It sure seemed like a long time, but we know God’s timing is perfect and prepared ourselves to wait a long time to hear anything. Then suddenly, WAY sooner than expected, we received a call telling us to check our email for information about a 4 year old little boy! We have sort of been in shock ever since. It’s such a surreal thing, to read a big medical/behavioral report and see pictures of a little guy and think (unless something goes horribly wrong in the process) “That’s my child…”

We have accepted the referral, and I wish we could post pictures here, but we can’t do that until he is legally ours. He looks like a happy, sweet boy. We pray he is happy and has had lots of love an attention at the orphanage. We’ve found several accounts of parents adopting from the orphanage he is in, and from all reports, it is a great place. He is in far, southwestern India, in the Kerala region, which is one of the more beautiful parts of India to visit, and has been the center of spice trade for thousands of years.

The next steps involve completing our dossier, which involved getting notarized letters from doctors, bank, references, police, etc. and sending those all off to the Secretary of State to be “apostilled”. This means the Secretary of State’s office is authenticating the documents for use in a foreign country. We also have several rounds of documents with the US government to be found officially eligible to adopt, and to adopt this specific child. Then more paperwork, applications, court in India, etc., all of which will put us at the earliest going to get him in late fall, but more likely early in 2015. Right now it looks like it will be only one trip, which we are VERY thankful for. It seems such a long time and much to wade through until we can get him, but we will be patient and trust God’s timing.