What I am learning so far...

I was overwhelmed looking at the list of countries from where a US citizen can currently adopt.  I had all kinds of questions, the first being, "how does one decide domestic vs. international?" and the second being "if international, where?"  I knew God would lead so I just kept praying and immediate stopped and prayed if the questions went beyong wondering to anxiety.  Truly, God does lead.  First, through a series of conversations and prayer, we do believe at this point International adoption is where we are headed.  Second, it is actually very easy to start narrowing down countries when you start looking.  We simply aren't eligible in some countries.  We already have children and some countries won't let you adopt when you have three children at home.  Other countries mandate a long stay (months) to finalize adoption, which just isn't doable with a job and three children we will most likely have to leave with friends or family in order to pick up our fourth child.  Other countries won't let you adopt under age two, and at this point, we feel after praying that we want to keep our "birth order" in order.  It's been eye opening and exciting to see a long list of countries now become 6 countries.  We are pretty sure we know where God is pointing our hearts, but it's still early so we are committing it to prayer. 

I've been somewhat afraid in a lot of ways, but even really starting down the first steps on this road has calmed some fears.  All the countries we are looking at have 2-3 years laps between start of this process and bringing home our child.  It is as if God has said to me, "I know a fourth child seems like too much today, but you're not bringing you fourth child home today, you're preparing for the future."  The picture is starting to clear and excitment is setting in.  My heart anticipates what more he will show us and I'll keep ya'all posted...even on the bad days when I might be back to freaking out;)