Things may be changing... ??

Well, things may be changing around our household. Those of you who followed the trip to China know that I was paired with a boy named Billy for a week (Lu is his Chinese name). I was able to make a special bond with him and at the end of camp he made a statement to me that has not left my mind (or Debbie's) which was "Why has no one adopted me?" This has not left either one of our hearts and minds ever since he said it. 

We thought we would dig into his situation a little more and found out that he is new to the system (not sure why) and that they are getting paperwork ready for him to be put onto a list. Thank you Rosa for helping with this. We found out that he is actually 12 years old contrary to what I was told in China. He just celebrated his 12th birthday in July. Debbie and I have been talking, debating, or whatever you want to call it about whether or not we could try to adopt this boy and if we should. We know for certain that God has put him on our hearts but we just are not 100% sure for what purpose. I told Debbie the other day that we should first find out his situation before racking our brains on what we should or shouldn't do. Then pray really hard and hope for a fast answer, that is if we do not already have it and are just not open to hearing it.

Now we are at that point. There are still some questions out there but we do know that it is at least "possible" that we could adopt him. I really miss being over in China without all of the distractions and "spoiledness" (not really a word) that I have here in the States. This question would not have been nearly as hard over there but for some reason I get home and things become difficult again. God clearly calls out that we are to take care of the "widows and orphans". Why is this so hard? I am so worried about what this would do to our family structure and the room/bathroom situations. It's funny, I shared a bathroom with 8 people in China and I am worried about Abby and Jadyn having to share a bathroom with just one. Plus there is the fact that Abby would have to move into Jadyn's room. Growing up there were times when we four boys would share a room but the room was never as small as they make bedrooms these days. Just another part of the "spoiledness".

I guess I am just writing this all now, because I have not posted in a while and wanted you to know why. This has consumed a lot of our conversations, along with watching the AWESOME Phelps win all those medals. I would ask for your prayers at this time while we go through the emotions and decisions that will have to be made. Also about how this will all play out physically, mentally, monetarily, etc... One thing that hasn't changed is the cost of going through an adoption - correction - it has changed, it's more now and takes quite a bit longer. At 12 years old he will not have much time left to either be adopted or finish his growing years in an orphanage. He is a very bright boy with dreams for the future. I do believe whatever happens God will watch over him.

Bill