Many have been telling me recently that they are ready for an update on our adoption and I realize that we haven't written anything on here in several months. So, I figured it was time to update everyone on where we are at.
After the very, very difficult decision to turn down the referral last January, we were told to expect another referral within a few weeks. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. We are still waiting. Personally, I vacillate between sitting on pins and needles, expecting each phone call to be a call telling us to come meet our child, and anxiously wondering what is wrong and why it is taking so long. We have communicated with our agency, asking what the delay is about. They do not know exactly,but have reminded us that things often do not go as expected with foreign governments and that we will get a referral someday, we just cant predict when.
So, we really do not have news to report other than that we are waiting. I ask for your prayers for our little one who needs a home. I hate that government red tape is causing them to live in an orphanage without a family longer than necessary. All four of us are ready and are all learning about patience, waiting, and trusting God.
A few weeks ago, I believe God spoke to me through a verse, reminding me that He is in control of the timing of all of this, and all we can do is wait in an attititude of faith and trust.
"....If it seems slow in coming, wait. Its on its way. It will come right on time." (Habakkuk 2:3)
Despite not understanding, I am trusting God's perfect timing in the whole process. Thanks for the support and prayers.
The room is finished for now. Maddie reminded us, "The room isnt done until my brother is here to sleep in it." 
Things have settled over the past week or so. We have made peace with our decision to decline our first referral and are again waiting. Now that we have gotten a bit of perspective over the events of the past few weeks, we are are left with a renewed sense of the need to pray for orphaned children. I (Brent) find it difficult to know how to pray for such a huge, worldwide need. It was while pondering this a few weeks ago I came up with an idea. In Russia, orphaned children have to be posted on a public registry for at least six months, so that a Russian family will have the opportunity to provide homes for these children. Some time ago, a fellow adoptive parent showed us how to access the site and helped us to navigate to the registry for our region (since the site is all in Russian, of course, this is a bit tricky!). On the registry, a first name, photo, and some very basic information about the child is provided. My idea is to print these photos and translate the information so that I can pray for each child individually. I quickly realized that this is a bit of an undertaking, as there are hundreds of kids on the registry for our region. So, here is what I propose. Help pray for these children by taking one child and praying for them. If you can commit to praying for one of these children, please send me an email and I will send you back a photo and translation (thank you Google Translate!). I have compiled about 40 so far and will continue to do so as long as I keep getting emails. The really exciting thing for me is to know that one of my friends or family members will be praying specifically for my child. Ann-Marie and I are continuing to pray for our first referral and hope to see him removed from the registry soon so we can know that he has been placed with a family. As you pray, I will happily update you on the child you are praying for as well. The bottom line is that I want to see these kids placed in a loving home as soon as possible. My email address is brent @ hb-re.com Thanks for your prayers both for our family and for these kids.
