An exclusive 'club'

The process of adopting a child from Albania is a pretty unique experience.  On average (for the past ten years), about eight Albanian children per year have found families in the United States.  We're a small club and on the rare occasion when we meet each other in person there's an immediate understanding.

Since arriving here in September, we've been blessed to meet two families walking the adoption journey in Albania.  Both arrived around the same time we did in September (one family arrived a few days before me, the other a few days after Nathan), and this past week, both finally completed all of the legal steps to go home with their children.

Last Sunday night we met together for supper to celebrate and say 'goodbye'.

The folks below are Bethany Christian Services staff.  They came to Albania just a few months before we came to adopt Ellie in 2006.  When we met them, they had four children in their nest.  This fall they returned to Albania this fall (after marrying off one daughter, and dropping two others off at college in the States) with only one still at home.

Bob likes to tell folks that he met Ellie and Reni before we did! ;-)

We rejoice that we know of THREE more families coming to Albania over the course of the next several months. (Two of them we will be meeting in person for the first time and the third we are blessed to already call 'real life' friends.  They will be returning for their second Albanian-born daughter!)

One of those families is coming for "JM", a little guy from Reni's orphanage whom we met in July 2010 and advocated for on this blog for over a year (you may have noticed that his image was removed from the sidebar over the summer). He had some medical ambiguities, so he sat on the waiting child list for a long, long time waiting to be chosen.  I'll tell you there was great rejoicing in our house this summer when we got an e-mail from the couple whom God called to step forward and call him 'son.'  Over the course of the last few months we have fallen in love with this couple through their blog posts.  JM is a blessed boy indeed to be going to a home where he will learn about Jesus from parents who follow hard after Him.

The cost of adoption is high.  That's not a surprise to most.  While a family has to prove that they have the ability to financially support the child they seek to bring home, it doesn't necessarily mean they have the money sitting in the bank to pay for an adoption in cash.  I know this family has pinched and scraped and cut back, even going from two cars to one.  They are having a number of fundraisers to pay costs of each step in the process.  While most of us aren't within driving distance of their neck-of-the-woods, they are currently hosting a fundraiser which isn't limited by distance.  Click here to find out about some shopping opportunities from some of your favorite vendors where the proceeds benefit their adoption fund!  It might be a good way to kick off your Christmas shopping!

And someday, Lord willing, you'll see their faces here as we hug them goodbye and see them go home as a family of three!