I laugh now, sometimes, at the mere thought of how I went about searching for "that" adoption program, the "one" we were meant to be a part of to bring our fourth little one into our family.  As a single, full time working, mom of three, travel was one of the biggest factors, and still is.  I just can't be gone for many, multiple, weeks or months as some programs require.  How I wish it wasn't that way, that those countries would have different travel requirements, though I completely understand why they do, or that I would have the flexibility to travel and fit my work or non work around those plans (maybe I should actually enter the lottery instead of just dreaming about winning!?).  But I admit... another thing I thought about was speed.  How quickly, although still a process and a wait, could a little one join us?

In foster care, there is no "wait."  Not with a placement anyway.  With Braeden I was called one fine Monday morning at work, told he was born over the weekend and they needed a placement, would I accept?  I had to cram in three weeks of lesson plans FAST.  They had planned to bring him at the end of the day Monday, but it became Tuesday morning when he arrived due to paperwork delays.  With Olivia, I had been notified the week or two prior that there was a possibility they were going to move her from her current foster placement and would need a new one, would I be interested?  YES of course!  The time for placement was a phone call one day telling me they were going to get them and would need the placement, did I for sure want to say yes?  And she was dropped off a few hours later. And with Liam he was dropped off for a visit at the agency by his current foster mom, with all his stuff, and told that she was done.  I was called while teaching at school and he was dropped off a few hours later, at school, where I was conducting parent teacher conferences.  There is wait time when you wait for a placement maybe, but not a wait for the actual placement.  It's crisis time and it's quick.

So waiting is not something I wanted for a LONG time.  And Hong Kong seemed to fit the bill on all respects.  Though a small program, it seemed stable, there were so many special needs kids needing placements, mostly Down Syndrome, which I had a heart for, and travel was a short 5-7 days. 

That process began exactly two years ago.  I bypassed programs that were 2+ years, thinking I can't imagine life waiting THAT long.  And here we are.  Two years gone.  Hong Kong gone.  And finally last week officially approved to switch to Haiti.

BUT

When I think back over the past two years.  I can't imagine adding a little one during those times.  The last two years have been two of the hardest, worst, most emotional, years of my life.  So much has happened.  So much has shaped me, shaped us as a family.  And I believe we are even stronger having come through it all.

I pray for our continued journey. 
I thank GOD for carrying me, carrying us, through the past two years.
And I look forward to the journey still to come.