Down to the wire...

The Associated Press reports:

AP Report
September 1, 2008

(Ben Stocking in Bangkok contributed to this report. )

US-Vietnam adoption pact ends, hundreds in limbo

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A U.S.-Vietnam adoption agreement expired Monday with the two sides unable to resolve disagreements over fraud and corruption, disappointing hundreds of prospective parents who will have to seek children elsewhere.
The two countries said they will continue trying to iron out their differences, but for now the program will be suspended indefinitely.
Vietnam will continue processing adoptions for parents who had already been matched with orphans before the agreement expired. But the vast majority of the roughly 1,700 families that had cases pending will be disappointed, according to Vietnam's top adoption official, Vu Duc Long.
Long said he was still tallying the exact number and would release it later this week.


My agency coordinator has told me that my case "should" be fine, and (bless her heart) she is trying to maintain positive communication with all of us even though she has not heard specifics of anyone's adoption status. But we don't know really.

What I do know is that I am feeling a growing anxiety each day, and I continue to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5. I do trust... it is just SO hard with my humanly limitations and fears- you know?

I feel like I am 8 months pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy, and something is wrong but the nurse won't tell me, and she has just scheduled me for an appointment with the doctor several weeks away...

But you see - I have pictures of this little boy who lives a world away. I am bonded to him. He has a head full of wild dark hair, big dark eyes, thick lips, and little hands ready to hug. He is living in an orphanage with no single person who is committed to his care and love toward him. He has never known parents who care for his daily needs. He is already 4 months old, and every day he grows and learns and seeks connection. The days seem so much longer now... The days seem like a world away.

Everyday Jordan and I talk about baby Brian coming to live with us. She can't wait to be a big sister. She loves looking at his picture too. We pray everynight for him.

So that's where we are in this process of ' adoption childbirth'. Thanks to everyone who asks about our status - it's just almost too tender to discuss. I am still prayerful and hopeful and I'll post any news as soon as I know it!

I hope (and pray) that I receive the news today that the Department of International Adoption in Hanoi has formally acknowledged our "match" with baby Brian and provides me our travel request to come to Viet Nam.