Uno. Dos. Tres. Cuatro... Cinco???

One. Two. Three. Four... Five???  Yes!  We are happy to announce that our family has asked to be officially matched with a sibling group of 5!  We are beyond excited and anxious for each step of the paperwork process to occur just as fast as it can.

While we thought our dossier was sitting quietly in Cali, waiting for a sibling group of 4 to obtain their adoption decrees, it was instead traveling to other parts of Colombia.  From Cali it went on to Medillan and then back to Bogota, where it was originally sent.  It was then that we were asked if we would consider a sibling group of 5.  Of course we would!

We would have updated the blog sooner, but decided to wait until we received approval from our home study agency to bring 5 into our family instead of 4.  Happily, we were approved towards the end of last week, and on Friday the 11th our agency sent a letter to Colombia asking for us to be officially referred the sibling group.

There are a few things we are working/waiting on right now.  The first is a reply from Colombia (ICBF) concerning our request.  Honestly, anything could happen, and they could say no.  In that case, we would just be waiting longer until we were referred another sibling group.  But, we don't think that is going to happen since they were the ones to ask us first if we would consider adopting the children.  We are praying that it is our Father's will for us to call these children our own.

Second, is our home study update.  We hope to have that done this week and sent on to USCIS to get their approval for our family to adopt a sibling group of 5.  Once that is sent, I believe, it takes about 3 weeks to get it back.  It is also possible that Colombia will not officially match us with the children until we have that approval, so we are working as fast as we can to get that done.

About the children...   I really wish I could show you pictures, but I can't just yet...  I promise I will post them just as soon as I can!  I can tell you that they look like a great group of children (we think they are really cute!), and we are all anxious to snuggle and play with them :)  One of the most fun parts about them is their ages - they are 6 1/2 on down to about 15 months!  Another part that will definitely shift around our family dynamics is that the boys will now out number the girls!  The two oldest and the two youngest are boys!  (Oh, boy!) And the girl is "smack dab" in the middle :)  So Kevin and I would have a grand total of 9 children - ages 14 on down to 17 months -  4 daughters and 5 sons!  It's going to be fun!

As many of our friends and family know, but what many of our readers might not know, is that we are a Christian family who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  And as Christians, one of our responsibilities is to care for orphans; to look after orphans in their distress.  This can take many forms and adoption is one them, similar to the way that we were adopted in Christ when we accepted Him as our Savior.   

One of my favorite songs that says it better than I ever could is called "Though I Was Born an Orphan" by Eric Schumacher and David L. Ward. If you would like to hear it sung, click here, otherwise I will leave you with the words:

Though I was born an orphan,
Abandoned and alone,
Enslaved and bound in darkness,
Without a hope or home,
The God of grace and mercy
From his eternal throne
Ordained to be my Father
And claim me as His own.

That I might be adopted
The Father sent his Son
To live in full obedience
And die for what I’ve done.
Now through his resurrection,
Through faith, with him I’m one.
A member of his household,
I am an heir, a son.

To soothe my fear and worry
The Spirit from on high
Was sent to be a witness
That “Father!” I might cry.
O How I love this Father!
I’m never left alone.
He’s come to dwell within me
Until he calls me home.

Since I have this adoption,
I cannot close my home
To widows and to orphans,
Abandoned and alone.
Lord, fill me with compassion
To love the fatherless,
That I might show the nations
How great my Father is!