Our Germany adventure actually started almost 3 years ago (in 2008)...before we ever dreamed we'd be going to China. Wayne works for the Air Force and the people in charge of his department decided to restructure...resulting in Wayne's job position being phased out within 3 years. The only available position for him in his organization was in Germany. I suppose most of you would think of this as the chance of a lifetime, but we are total home-bodies and were devastated by the news.
We had the weekend to decide if we would move to Germany indefinitely or take our chances in the job market here in Colorado Springs. We love it here...it's full of wonderful ministry opportunities, it's beautiful, there's SNOW, we have an amazing church, and it's the perfect place to homeschool. But when we moved here I had prayed that no matter how much I love it here, I would never let my love for Colorado allow me to say "no" to God if He wanted to send us somewhere else. So we cried and prayed and finally decided to trust that God had a plan and we would go wherever He sent us. God had always used the military in the past to put us exactly where He wanted us, so why would that change now that Wayne was a civilian?
At first we were in a big panic since they wanted Wayne to report for duty in Germany within 6 months. But 6 months came and went and we were still here in Colorado. Apparently, nobody knew how hard it was to create a civilian position overseas. So 6 months turned into a roller coaster year of thinking we were leaving...and then not leaving...and then maybe we were...but then not...ugh! After that we decided to forget the whole thing and not worry about it anymore, which made the second year much more pleasant.
After 2 years of waiting, it didn't look like they were ever going to figure out how to get Wayne to Germany and we didn't want to go, anyway, so we kind of forgot about the whole thing. Plus, Wayne's commander seemed to think they couldn't eliminate his position here in Colorado as long as he was still in it so why bother getting all worried about something that couldn't happen?! We figured the whole thing must have just been a test by God to help us see that we were willing to do ANYTHING for Him...which meant maybe He had something else up His sleeve (can you say "ADOPTION"? LOL).
Then, after over 2 and 1/2 years, the Air Force finally contacted Wayne out of the blue and told him the Germany position was ready for him. He still had to apply for the job, but they had written the position for him and intended it for him, so the application was just a formality. It was implied that if Wayne didn't apply for this position, he would soon be without a job...so he sent in his application and we waited nervously. We didn't tell our friends (or even Bethany) because we were tired of telling people we were going to Germany and then finding out we weren't going after all.
To make matters worse, by this time we were 6 months into the China adoption process and there was no way we would do anything to jeopardize losing our kids...and Wayne not having a job would definitely end our adoption process! Fortunately, Wayne was told the Air Force would work with him on a report date so we could get our kids from China first and then head to Germany. This time we were sure we were going.
At this point, Wayne decided it was time to call the adoption agency and start whatever paperwork we needed to get things transferred to Germany. Even though we were going to be able to wait until the kids were in the USA before moving to Germany, we knew we still had a year of follow-up to do with a social worker, plus we were still hoping to adopt from Haiti. We expected this to be a fairly easy transfer since so many Americans live in Germany. We were dead wrong!
The adoption agency immediately started to panic and said no matter what happened to make sure we got those kids home from China before going to Germany or they would have to close our file and cancel our adoptions. We were a bit shocked so they explained that Germany is the ONE country that will not sign the necessary papers for a foreigner living on their soil to adopt from another country. CCAI has tried to work with many military families stationed in Germany to help them adopt from China, but the German government refuses to cooperate.
This news caused us great distress because, even though the Air Force was willing to wait until we got the kids home before sending us to Germany, it meant we would never be able to adopt from Haiti. It also meant that the 1 year of follow-up visits would be next to impossible unless we flew the social worker in from the USA. (We didn't know at the time that the 1 year of follow-up visits would soon be changed to 5 years!)
We immediately started praying and asking God which was His plan...Germany or Haiti. If He wanted us in Germany then we would go, but if He wanted us to adopt from Haiti (or even China again), we could not allow ourselves to go to Germany.
We quickly realized we had absolutely no peace about giving up on our desire to adopt from Haiti, so our decision was made. Wayne immediately withdrew his application for the Germany position and, while we have had a bit of stress about it, we are confident it was the right decision.
It has been almost 4 months since then, and the 3 year time limit for Wayne's position to be phased-out is fast approaching. Wayne's commander still stands by his statement that Wayne's position cannot be eliminated as long as he is in it. Others in Wayne's organization haven't been as optimistic, but we know that Wayne must have a job in order for us to adopt so we are leaving that detail in God's hands.
So, that's the end of our Germany adventure...the adventure that never really happened. Hopefully, we won't soon be having a "Wayne's job just got eliminated so does anybody out there want to hire him" adventure! Pray!
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