Answer
As many of you know, we followed up with our hosting experience by asking the Lord if we should adopt Eduards & Helena. We thought that we wanted to, and the only way we knew to see if that was what God had planned for us was to try. So we asked our adoption agency to seek an answer from the Latvian Orphan Court whether they could be adopted.
Well today we finally (after waiting 4 weeks) got an answer from the Orphan Court, via our Latvian attorney and our adoption agency. It seems that Eduards and Helena have said that they do not wish to be adopted. I think God has been preparing my heart for this answer from the beginning, but we still thought we should try. According to the OC, they will ask again in a few weeks, which may mean that they feel an international adoption would be a good situation for E & H.
This is very disappointing, but we have been praying all along that the Lord would open or close the door so that we would know what we should do. In a way I am relieved that we have some type of answer, rather than just NOTHING. I am also surprised that the OC asked them whether they wanted to be adopted, when we have been told all along that the children would not be asked (according to Hague International Treaty) unless we had progressed with our adoption pre-application! (I am still waiting to receive my passport). Perhaps this is God's way of shutting the door before we had gone too far?? We tried to be a good testimony to them, we felt that the Lord gave us love for them, and them for us, and they even prayed to invite Jesus to be their Savior. We made sure that they understood that it was between them and God, and not to do anything like that to please us, God knows their hearts. We can only pray for them now, and continue to email, and express our love. If the OC is willing to ask them again, that is okay with us. I so wonder what they and their aunt thought of when they planned to be a part of the hosting program. I guess every situation is different, and when I heard that the foster mother was their aunt, I really wondered if they would even want to leave her. I so wonder what the situation is with their own mother.
Thank you to everyone who has so faithfully encouraged us and prayed for us. For now, we ask that you pray for E & H, that God will make Himself real to them there in Latvia, and that if they change their minds about being part of our family, that we could find that out.
