Our Adoption Referral

A little Background
On the morning of October 1st, 2010, we were sitting down for breakfast and I leaned over to Heidi and asked, 'I wonder when our agency is going to call us? Maybe our specifications for a child are too narrow (boy, under 6 months old)? Heidi graciously replied, 'Dustin, the Lord knows the situation and His timing is perfect.'

October 1st was also Heidi's birthday!!! This was a great birthday gift!

I was headed out to leave for work and she had picked up her phone and realized that she had a voicemail from our adoption agency caseworker....which we know only means 1 thing...a referral.

Heidi talked with our caseworker and sure enough, it was referral day!

His current name on the paperwork: 'Musse Unknown' (When there is the word 'unknown', it means that there is no record of the father and mother. Very similar to Ezra's story, a police officer came across 'Musse' and brought him to the orphanage. He was 5 days old when the officer found him and directly came into the orphanage. He was/is extremely malnourished and in need of good care quickly. Before Musse would be available for referral, he needed to be at the orphanage in the village/town for 2 months, in case anyone in the area claimed him as their son or relative in any way. So, in mid-September, Musse was legally/officially ready to be adopted.

What does the name Musse mean???
The name if pronounced "MooSAY" and the English equivalent to 'Moses'.

Some might think he was 'abandoned' but if you are unfamiliar with the vast poverty, famine, etc. you will realize that he was really being set free for an opportunity for life and survival. The mother of Moses in the Bible loved him without a shadow of a doubt, but knew his life was in extreme danger if she didn't act and do something. In the same way, this biological mother, who we will never meet in this life, did so for Musse.

The Lord has answered countless prayers thus far and we look forward to continuing to see him answer many prayers.

What is the next step?
Our agency applies for a court date and then we travel. Hard to say exactly when that will be...but probably sometime in December or early January.

Can you put some pictures online?
We cannot until Musse is legally our son. Sorry.

It is October 13th and you got the referral on October 1st...why so long in sharing information?
Our agency STRONGLY encourages all adoptive families to take photos, medical information, etc. to a pediatrician or a pediatrician specializing in adoption situations. So we did that and felt it was important to wait until all that information was taken care of prior to broadcasting it across the world via our blog.

Do you have questions?
We know there are those out there that are considering adoption, are in process and confused, or have a host of other questions. No guarantee we'd be able to answer them, but we'll provide an open ear if that is what you need. Feel free to go to the Contact Us page if desired.