Silver lining.........

A few days ago the country we planned to adopt Oleksandra from signed a law saying that children under the age of five could not be adopted by foreigners unless they had one of only a few very specific special needs.

Oleksandra's special need was not listed.  This is absolutely no way we would have made it to her before this law was passed.

This is heartbreaking news for several of our friends still in the process and we pray that they are able to be grandfathered in - although I haven't heard if this will happen.... if you enjoy prayer please pray for these families and these children.

When I heard this news I did sigh a HUGE sigh of completely selfish relief.  As terrible as it is that 'our' Oleksandra was adopted by another couple, we cannot imagine the sadness of knowing she would still be there in an orphanage & then an institution with our hands tied.  All we know is someone jumped through all the hoops we did and just got there first - AND went 'blind referral' - which is a HUGE leap of faith.  Nobody does that without investing a lot of love. 

Overall the new is bad, but in our personal case, I was so happy to know this little girl we worked so hard to bring home to our family for more than 6 months, and who we had been praying for for nearly a year IS NOT AN ORPHAN.  At the end of the day, that is all that really matters.  We are sad, but we thank God she was not left behind.

'Our' little girl was saved, but I ask everyone to keep praying for the tens of thousands of orphans in her country.  Please pray for stability, and that this law will perhaps become more open to allow other children to be adopted as well.

Kate