A final post... for a while anyway

Big changes are happening...

It's been over a year now that we first put in our application to adopt to the Department of Social Welfare in Bohol. Although we were told to expect a wait of only a few months before we would be matched with a child (or possibly two), that obviously didn't happen. We're still not completely sure of the reasons, although we know that the entire social welfare system in the Philippines has been undergoing big changes in the way it works as well as a change in the law which affects adoption. During our time in Hong Kong we were hopeful that on our return we would finally hear some news and make some progress. Unfortunately as far as we can tell, that is not the case. Actually we know very little, only that the social worker will not pick up our calls or agree to meet us. What began earlier in the year as our joking suspicions that she was avoiding us seemed to look more like the truth. In the whole month we've been back we've still been unable to make any contact with her except for one single text message. Knowing that this could go on for a very long time and that we may never actually find out why, we have made the decision to let go of adoption in Bohol. We are still quite sure that adoption will be something in our future, but we decided not to keep waiting indefinitely for it to happen in Bohol.

The suggestion that we move to Manila is something we have been considering for a while. Daniel's work is now focused on a national level and requires regular visits to each of ICM's six bases scattered across the Visayas region, and Manila is a much better hub for travel. It can take 2 whole days of travel to get from Bohol to ICM's work in Mindanao, whereas a flight from Manila is less than 2 hours. With the adoption no longer holding us we began to seriously consider the pro's and con's of moving. Since returning to Bohol our current house has had severely limited water and also termites destroying the stairs, so we realized we need to at least move house fairly soon. With the full support of ICM's CEO and board of directors we have decided to make that a move to Manila. We had not been planning to rush things but while Daniel was in Manila for meetings this past week he was actually able to sign a contract to rent an apartment for us. If we are able to pack up, ship furniture, sell what we can't take and say our goodbyes in such a short time then we hope to move by mid July. Although we'll be sad to say goodbye to Bohol, the ICM staff and the other friends we've made in our two years here, we are excited for the new challenges Manila will bring.

Although letting go of the adoption has not been easy, we are both sure that God has been preparing us for this time. During our time in HK we were reminded again and again to let go of our plans and trust in God's plan for our lives. We do believe our family will grow though adoption and we trust that our loving Father will orchestrate that to happen when the timing is right.

So, is this the end of a blog? Perhaps for a while, but I look forward to picking it up again and completing it when we do have the joy of welcoming new children to be a part of our family.