Change!

I waited to post this decision on my blog until everyone involved was made aware of our decision and understood why we made it.
After much prayer and deliberation, Shane and I have decided to pull out of the Ukraine adoption program. The reason we have decided to pull out of the program is because OUR heart has changed. Even though we have felt called to adoption for quite some time, we didn't really start pursuing adoption until September of last year. This was right after my third miscarriage. Our hearts wanted a child (any child) quickly! After researching many countries Ukraine seemed to be the answer. It didn't appear to be a long process compared to others. We have truly loved learning about the country and about the orphans there. Emotionally, we feel very connected to the Ukraine. We have followed many families and rejoiced with them as they traveled and found their children there. This has been a very hard decision to say the least. The two most significant reasons we have decided to go a different route is: 1- we now really desire an infant! This was not the case a few months ago when we started the adoption process. The second reason is that we are not comfortable with the amount of time that we would have to be in the Ukraine away from our boys. This was an issue before we committed to the Ukraine, but we thought we could "get over it". We thought we could talk ourselves into it, but we just can't. Our boys are still so small and we cannot see us leaving them for such a long period of time. Because of their age and the ever-changing circumstances that one encounters in the Ukraine, it's just not an option to take them with us.
After talking with our wonderful agency we feel very comfortable with our decision to pull out of the Ukraine program and lead to pursue a domestic adoption. Our agency was very supportive and encouraging as we went back and forth on this decision. Even though the timing is not right for us to adopt from the Ukraine, God definitely planted a seed of love in our hearts for the orphans there that may bear fruit in later years.
We are very excited to see how God is going to grow our family now through a domestic adoption. We wait anxiously for the day we get to meet our Sophie!