International adoption is a subject that is very close to my heart. My best friend works for an agency that helps children find their "forever families" and one day my husband and I hope to provide that permanent family to a child who is left without one. So when I read about countries that work to slow down the process, forcing these children who have already been through so much to stay in orphanages longer, rather than getting them home more quickly, it saddens me.
Ethiopia has, up until recently, been a place where children had the opportunity to get to their new homes quickly. As many as fifty cases were reviewed a day, allowing the adoption process to move smoothly and relatively quickly. Recently however, they limited their case load to five cases a day. This will potentially cut the number of adoptions up to 90%. That means children and parents are going to be forced to wait to be united. Who can possibly benefit from such a delay, the children, the parents, the caregivers in the orphanage who are probably already overrun with children to care for?
Isn't it good to know that our Heavenly Father doesn't delay in hearing our case. When we come to Him we don't have to wait for a government agency or any other third party to grant us permission to cry out, "Abba, Father." Ephesians 1:4-6 says that he chose us "before the foundation of the world" and predestined us to adoption as His children, for His glory. I pray, every day, for children around the world who are without a family to be allowed to join their "forever families," but more than that, I pray every day that those who are not part of God's Forever Family will come to Him in Faith and find in Him their "Abba."
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