What a day. To sum it up, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion in Rwanda released its official statement today stating that they were suspending all new adoptions effective August 31st. They are processing any dossiers they have already received and are allowing any dossier waiting at the Rwandan embassy in D.C. up until today to be included. Again, our dossier was due to arrive at the Rwandan embassy next Monday. Two business days have separated us from our Rwandan adoption.

We were so close I could taste it.

As reality has set in today, I have cried and questioned and cried some more. It’s as if I am grieving an unfulfilled dream. I had fantasized about our time in Rwanda and meeting our Wyatt for the first time at the House of Hope orphanage. As we look ahead to most likely adopting from Ethiopia now, I am utterly overwhelmed with how bittersweet this all is. God may have closed the door to Rwanda, but He is allowing us the opportunity to fall in love with another country and its children. Right now, though, I am allowing myself to feel and to grieve. Barring any miraculous changes in the next few days, I hope to report next week that I have picked myself back up and have jumped head first into the brand new stack of paperwork that awaits me.

As I let go of our Rwandan adoption, I must continue to remind myself that God has designed a child to be ours. We might not know where you are right now, Wyatt, but boy, we are coming!