Just waiting on that "call"

Summer pressed on, despite our loss, and we all grew restless. I focused my energy on spending quality time with David, cherishing our last summer as just the two of us. We rode bikes, played games every day, read books, ate ice cream together, and talked a bunch. It proved to be a good summer for us and for our relationship.

That summer held challenges, too. Juan David struggled with anxiety and began to misbehave in the orphanage, probably because he knew he likely wouldn’t live there much longer.  Mike and I stressed about work, not knowing how to plan for an indefinite leave of absence when we didn’t even know when we could leave.

I finally accepted we’d likely travel during the following school year, so I searched for a qualified substitute to cover my class. For a long absence, I needed a certified bilingual teacher, definitely not an easy position to fill. I dreaded the task of making so many phone calls until I found one.

By the third call, I found someone interested, miraculously someone bilingual and certified to teach, and a Christian adoptive parent, too! Having walked a similar road to adoption, she understood my vague timeline, and she encouraged me and prayed for me! Once again, God came through, showing how far ahead of me He walks.

“Forgive me, Father, for my unbelief. How could I doubt You planned even this detail, as well?”

The month of July passed by slowly after that. Each time I called my agency for updated news, they gave me the same answer. “We haven’t heard anything new, Rachelle. We’re on Colombia’s time now, so we need to wait patiently."

Sigh. That’s not what I wanted to hear. What in the world made it take so long?

The date soon fell on July 20^th again, Colombia’s Independence Day. A solid year already passed since we’d met our children. We wanted to make the day special again, despite all of our frustrations. So, we headed back to Austin for an event scheduled with the new children that came from Colombia that year. They hosted another picnic at the same lake where we met Juan David and Viviana the year before.

 

God refreshed and renewed our spirits by letting us meet some wonderful people who understood the process of adopting from Colombia. A Christian couple who adopted their daughter two years prior gave us several travel tips to keep in mind. Another couple shared their story of adopting a girl right before her sixteenth birthday, which would have made her unadoptable internationally if the process had not been expedited.

We met two other families still in process to adopt children that came the summer before, just like us. We desperately needed these connections at this point in the game. Like a breath of fresh air, they perked us back up and kept us going. Seeing other families now complete reminded us it would all be worth it when we finally brought our children home.

I even met the chaperone who accompanied the kids from Colombia. She told me more about my kids’ specific orphanage and living conditions. She thanked me for pursuing their adoption because very little possibility existed to find a family in their own country due to their ages. She assured me it shouldn’t take much longer. She even offered to deliver a letter to Juan David and Viviana for me!

We returned to Austin again the following weekend for another activity. I gave the chaperone two letters to take back for Juan David and Viviana. We breathed in more encouragement from the new families we met the week before, plus God allowed us to meet even more people. We didn’t feel so alone anymore as we waited for “the call.”