China adoptions

It seems like everyone around me right now is in the throws of an adoption from China.  I can't even begin to tell you how ODD that is for me!   Things in China slowed down so much for the healthy program that for the 6 years we were waiting for Marlee, hardly anyone we knew was adopting from China.  Other than us, we knew of ONE other family!  Lots and lots of people around us were adopting from Ethiopia, but apparently that is becoming more and more difficult.  This seems to be the trend with adoption.  A country becomes very popular because of the short wait time, then a back-log occurs, causing families to wait for much longer than they anticipated.  Other families see this increased wait time and choose to adopt from another country.  It's exciting to see so many families fulfill James 1:27 by caring for orphans.  Adoption is NOT the only way to care for an orphan, but for our family, it was our way.  Healthy adoptions from China is still a 6+ year wait...honestly, probably more like a 8-10 year wait if you started right now.  But, adopting a special needs child from China is more like an 18 month process.  It's beyond exciting for me to see so many friends choosing this path.  Being in China, meeting the people, seeing the children....my heart is full of joy for my friends.  I sure wish I had the funds to financially help each one of them...unfortunately, that's not the case!  God will provide for each of these families, we've seen Him do it for us.  We know that these precious children will soon be home...there's nothing like it!