We are still waiting to hear about our FDL from immigration. I am trying to not become anxious about it and when my mind starts with the what ifs, I have to be reminded of the truth.
Which is....

God is
FAITHFUL
GRACIOUS
LOVING

He has
A PLAN
-FOR OUR FAMILY
-FOR OUR DAUGHTER
ALREADY DONE MIRACLES in our adoption and our lives

He can
DO THEM AGAIN
BRING US TOGETHER
BRING US COMFORT/PEACE WHILE WE WAIT

My heart is yearning to be with her and to know her laugh, smell, cry.
We are once again, brought to our knees, waiting for news. News that we can get on a plane and bring our little girl home.

Jesus's Birthday

These pictures are backwards order, so we will start with Christmas Day. We celebrated Jesus's birthday in the evening by baking cupcakes and singing "Happy birthday" to Him. The boys think it's the funniest thing ever that it's HIS birthday but we eat the cupcakes and we get presents. The afternoon was spent relaxing. Some slept and some played with their new toys. It was nice just being under the same roof together.

Sebastian loved his gift from Nana Jane and Pop Dave. Talking cleaning kit (broom, dust pan, iron, dust buster and trash can). He loves helping me clean anyway, so this was the perfect gift.

Thatcher really was at a good age for gifts this year. When the presents started being passed out, he said, "This is going to be GREAT!" It was so neat to see his excitement.

Oliver did really well being patient while his brothers opened their gifts first. He was really excited to open them too, but he was gracious and let them go first.

Oliver was excited to get some dragons to paint. Look at his crazy hair!

Pop Dave trying to open a toy. Why do they package them so much. You need a degree and multiple tools just to open them.

Christmas Eve we went to church. I was prepared with my camera to take our family picture, but it didn't happen. But the boys were handsome in matching shirts, you'll have to take my word on it. Our theme for the holiday season was, "Give this Christmas away". At the end of the service, every family was encouraged to take a gift from the stage and deliver it to a designated place. The gift we chose was to go to the fire station. Travis and Oliver took it in and said something like, "Because God has blessed us, we want to bless you and thank you for your service to the community." The fireman were suprised and thankful and took them to see the firetrucks, which Oliver thought were stinky! (the tires) It was a great memory for us as a family and we were glad to be part of it.

When we came home, we had pizza and then made gingerbread men.

We weren't suppose to do presents for eachother-but T ignored the agreement! He bought me the necklace I have been wanting since we started the adoption process. I was very suprised and touched by this gift. It has a heart over Ethiopia and her name on the back. I LOVE IT!!!

Thatcher slipped while getting out of the tub and busted his chin open. It didn't really bleed that much but the wound was wide enough we took him in to get stitches. Lucky for him (and us) they just glued it together. Now he is proud to have a scar to match mine!

TRAVELING!!! (MAYBE)

Oh my! Oh my!!!!!
We just heard from one of the case managers today and she told us we are one of the confirmed travelers for the Jan. 11 embassy date. We were told it was possible but highly unlikely so we were planning on leaving the 22nd. So we were really surprised to get this news and EXTREMELY EXCITED!!!
But.......we are still waiting for our FDL-which we can't even buy our plane tickets until we have that. SIGH!!
But.....we did get an update on our little Addis. It is amazing how much she has grown since coming to HH. She is now up to 24lbs!! And her health is much better-she passed her TB tests, which is a huge answer to prayer.
We can't believe in a little less than 3 weeks we can actually be in Ethiopia holding our little angel.
Yeah!! Yeah!! Yeah!!!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN!!!
Travis and I both took this week off so we could have some family time. We originally would be going to visit my family in MO but since we will be most likely traveling in January to ET, we thought it best to just stick around home for the holidays. (Sorry to my family:(
We have started some of our Christmas traditions already; baking day, hot chocolate while we drive around and look at Christmas lights, christmas movies and popcorn.....more to come this week.
I am trying to concentrate on Christmas right now and making it special for the boys. I really want to help them understand what it is all about. I don't want them to have to struggle with the greediness that is so humanly natural and magnified during this time of the year. Having no tv has really helped with the "I wants" as well.
I do want them to have a fun Christmas and what person doesn't get excited to open something special?! But when you get 20 somethings, is it really special then? I guess balance is what I am seeking here. I want them to be as excited to give or do something for someone else as they are to receive a present.
After Christmas I work for two more weeks at the YMCA and then I am done!!! Then there is only 2 weeks before we travel (If all goes well). Looking at it this way helps me not drive myself crazy thinking about getting to my little girl. I am so excited to see her in person, she isn't a photograph, but a real little girl......my little girl. Just saying that makes me smile.

Court news!!

We just got the call from our case manager about our court date. WE PASSED!!!!
We were shocked to hear we passed the first time because it seems lately there has been a lot of families not passing for various reasons.
WE are so thrilled words can't even begin to describe it!!
This is so different for us than having our biological children. Even thought they are loved equally, we had to fight for this and work for it, whereas, conception and pregnancy came easy for us. That being said, we love all our children the same no matter how God brought them to us. I heard a friend say that this process was the first time in her life she was brought to her knees crying and praying. I now can say the same.
We will see our little girl in January!!!
We are praying all paperwork can be filed and her tb testing goes well so we can make the Jan. 11 embassy date. If not, we will be going later in January. Either way, it's OFFICIAL, she is our little girl.
Thanks for all the prayers!

Saturday's prayer is for our adoption paperwork. We hope everything is correct and in the right place for tomorrow night.
I am feeling the fears and anxiety start creeping in. I know I need to listen to the "truth", which is, God is in control, no matter what the outcome of our court date. We have learned this time and time again, in our own lives and in other's lives as well. He knows the desires of our hearts and He wants us to ask for them, so that is our part. The rest is in His hands and WE rest in HIS hands!

Today we started our Christmas baking!!! The boys were so excited to help out. They dipped pretzels in chocolate and they helped make puppy chow(I don't know anyother name for it) by shaking the bag with the powder sugar. Tomorrow it's cookie day so on the list is sugar cutout cookies, peanut butter cookies with kisses, and fudge. Sunday we will make rice krispie bars to decorate and we will be ready to assemble our gift boxes.



"I am not eating any chocolate, that's not chocolate on my face.."

"Can I lick my fingers now?"

S just ate pretzels-he enjoyed himself. I am trying to imagine Christmas next year with all 4 blessings, it will be wonderful to celebrate Jesus's birthday with Addis!!

Chain

The paper we tore off of our chain today, said "Father". We have already had a specific day to pray for him but I am imagining another one might be helpful. He is getting ready to say goodbye to his daughter-my heart breaks for him. I don't know his life-but God does and we are praying His mercy over the whole family, father, sister, brothers, aunts, uncles...
We are still holding out hope that he will return so we can meet him when we travel there, but the chances are slim. This would be an awesome thing to share with her as she starts asking questions. To be able to have a picture of him and her together and have something to tell her about him would be priceless.

3 more days!!!

There are 3 days left til our court date!!!
Today we prayed for Addis. We know this is going to be a traumatic experience for her. She will be leaving all she knows, sights, sounds, smells. When we put ourselves into her shoes and try to feel what she might feel, it makes us very sad for her. That is why we are praying for her today, that God will prepare her heart for this huge change and that she will quickly realize that she is safe with us and how much we love her.

Today we are praying specifically for the two documents that need to arrive by our court date. If not, we will not pass. Please pray that they will get there by the needed time, if they are not there already.
We are so sad for fellow AGCI family, the Wrights. They have been hit hard today but we know that THEY know the COMFORTER. We pray His peace over all of them as they wait.

Prayer of the day

I forgot to do yesterday's prayer from our prayer chain. (I am one of those people who start a journal and forget to write in it for weeks at a time:)

So yesterday we prayed for her TB testing that there wouldn't be a delay at all and she can come home right away. She has been healthy so far....so we are praying for continual health and esp. a clear chest xray.

Today was for her special mothers who are caring for her 24/7. I can imagine how attached they could get caring for a child all the time. From watching others videos of HH and seeing the special mothers love on the children there, I know each one of them care about those children. Watching them leave must be bittersweet for them. I can't wait to meet her special mothers and tell them "thank you for doing such a good job". So we pray for them and their lives and that God will bless them and comfort them as they have the blessing of being a part of these children's lives but the sorrow of seeing them leave.

Court date

Our court date is one week away and we are so excited to officially be a family of 6! We started a prayer chain to count down the days until the court date, each chain has a prayer written on it. Now that we are getting closer I will blog what we are praying for each day.
Today was for her father. He lives in the southern region of Ethiopia so traveling might be an issue. We can't imagine what he is feeling or will be feeling as he makes the trek to Addis to be at the hearing. We are praying for comfort, safe traveling and health for her father. This will always be our prayer for him, though, not just this week. Please keep him in your prayers as well this week.


(I know it's sideways-sorry)

Progress

The day after Thanksgiving we tore out everything in the boys old room(carpet, baseboards, vents, closet)

So here is the before...................

Sebastian is excited to show you the progress in his sisters room!

Okay so ignore the floor, we are waiting for the carpet to be installed. The stripes are done!!! I really like the way it turned out.

This dresser is the boys old dresser but we painted them black and kept the white knobs. They look brand new...why didn't we do this sooner????

The rocking chair is also a hand-me-down that we painted black to match the dressers. This is the same chair my mom used with all of us girls.

The prints in the frames are from an artist in Addis. He has an Ebay store to sell Ethiopian goods. We love them!!

So we are making progress in her room but there's still lots to finish. It's amazing how long projects take to get done when you have little ones all over. Oh well...

Adoption has made me a better mom

I am amazed at all of the things I have learned going through this adoption process; about orphans, how God provides for us, how awesome friends can be, how fun it is to meet new people who share a common goal, how God gives us love for a child we've never met. Most recently though, I have learned how going through this process has made me a better mom to my biological children. Sometimes in the normal grind of life, I lose sight of the little things I love so much. When we think of Addis and all the other orphans, all without families to care for them, we can't help but picture our boys in the same situation. It breaks my heart to think of the children worldwide who don't hear, "I love You" or "you are special", "God made you and loves you".
Because of that, I am finding myself taking advantage of the little moments I have with each of the children. Getting that last little hug in before they run off and play, or hugging them quickly as they walk by, reading the same story over and over (with the funny voices) just to hear them laugh, listening to a rambling story and knowing it means the world to them to have me interested in what they have to say.
I am blessed by being able to stay home with them, but that doesn't mean I get to spend all day just soaking in their awesomeness. My mind is always running through all of the things to be done around the house, bills, phone calls to make, homeschool, friends, family. But because of this journey, I have been reminded to be present in those times with them.
The dishes can wait til they're in bed, the house might be messier than I would like it, but I know I won't ever look back and regret spending my time with my little blessings and I definitely would regret it if I didn't.

Combining blogs

So I have been trying to juggle two blogs-our adoption blog and our family blog. Not really working out so well, so I am combining the two. So for you adoption bloggers, hope you don't mind getting in on the family stuff too.

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Today we had our fingerprint appointment in Fargo and we are so glad that is over with, not because it is a difficult thing to do, but just to get it done with and not worry about it anymore. While in Fargo, we had to do a little shopping at the mall-and the boys got to play at the dinosaur playground. While we were there we ran into a family who we met at the hair training. It was fun to visit about her little girl, who was around the same age as Addis when she was adopted. She had a wonderful transition experience, which is always a blessing.
Fargo has an African market, so Travis went there to buy the Teff we needed to make basic injera. We are going to try and make it soon, I will let you know how it goes.
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Room update:
Addis' room has now had 4 coats of white paint to cover the blue color-blue is still showing through. Agh!!!
We did get her dressers painted black and we are really happy with how they turned out-I will post pics when we get the walls done, her room might end up being pink with blue stripes!

God answered our prayers!!

God gave us our "Thanksgiving Miracle".......we have a court date!!!!!!
December 14 we will hopefully pass court and she will officially be our little girl.

Thanksgiving Miracle????

We had a conversation with our case manager today-hoping for some news about a court date-no such luck. We are holding out for a Thanksgiving miracle though.
Praying for those who are probably meeting their new little ones today at HH.
Our day will soon come and all this waiting will seem so silly.

"She's our Brown- Eyed Girl"

Here's another peek at our sweet baby girl. We love sitting and looking at her photos. We are so thankful to have at least these to hold on to while we wait for her.

Fingerprint appointment

We finally received our fingerprint appointment Saturday for November 30. It seems like still so far away. I am trusting God will have everything worked out so we will receive our FDL letter when we need it.
It seems so odd that everything takes so long. I understand the waiting time for a referral-there are families ahead of you. But once you accept a referral.......come on!! I know our agency does all they can do and it's just the way it works. But it's been a month since we accepted her referral and she is still sitting there with no family to love her. HH does a wonderful job but it's not the same as a family.
I want to hold her and sing to her, tell her we love her and her heavenly father loves her. I want to see her play with her brothers and watch them protect her. I can't wait to see her grow and to see her personality. Will she be a tomboy with all these brothers? Or will she be a princess? I can't wait to feel that first hug and hear that first "I love you". I can't wait to be the one who wipes her tears as she cries...for her loss...boo-boos...fears...
Even if things are not the way we imagine they will be when we bring her home, she will be HOME, with her family. God will work everything else out.
WE LOVE YOU ADDIS! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!

WAITING!!WAITING!!WAITING!!

So we are just waiting for any news from AGCI or our int. Ped. Any news would do.......well preferably good news. So to pass the time, we pray for her and her special mothers caring for her. We pray for her family wherever they may be right now. Here is a sneak peak of our little Addis.

Package for Addis

We mailed off a little package for Addis. We can only send what can fit into a gallon size bag. I was shocked by how small it was but we were able to fit what we wanted to send.(except for me, of course)

A doll, a blanket, and a little photo album with pictures of us in it. I hope she likes it!!

We hope the pictures of us will help her not be so scared when she sees us for the first time and the blanket has our "scent" so hopefully it will be familiar to her when we hold her.

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On Saturday I went to Fargo to learn how to do Addis' hair. It was a blessing to be around so many adoptive families and children. It was neat to learn about how to care for her hair and ways to fix it. Very encouraging to be around families who "get it".

I can't wait to get her in my arms and cuddle and play-and now do her hair. I am curious how long her hair will be when we finally get there and to see the texture and curliness of her hair.....WE CAN'T WAIT!! Well, of course we have to wait and trust in God's timing......but we are so excited!!!

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Please continue to pray for her health, she is doing better since at HH but our international ped. is concerned she might be flagged when going through the testing to leave the country. We are hoping to hear soon, this week, on what we can possibly do to avoid this delay.

Good News

We had our "next step" call with our case manager yesterday and received the news that our paperwork is on it's way to Ethiopia. Yay!!!! I had been praying the night before that this would be the news she would tell us. We are relieved to have our documents on their way. Our travel packet also came in the mail that day which explains what to pack and what to expect when we do travel. That was so exciting to read that and picture us actually doing it, going and getting her and being in her country. I have always wanted to go to Africa and so I am just elated at fulfilling two dreams in one. I love learning things about Africa and especially Ethiopia. I have been trying to learn their language a little and Youtube has been quite helpful, actually. They even have videos of kids singing songs in Amharic, I love hearing their beautiful voices. I hope to keep this going as she grows so she can feel connected in some way.
We pray this time will go by fast and that God will allow us to go and get her as soon as possible. He has shown me that He has a plan for us and this adoption and I need to trust in that.
I was a little down as I drove to work last night, despite the news of our paperwork getting to Ethiopia soon. I was a little discouraged and even fearful that we wouldn't be getting her for a long time and then a song came on the radio, Mark Schultz, "I am". I have heard the song so many times before but this time something was different. It was like God was singing to me, saying "why are you doubting, worrying, fearful, impatient? Don't you know who I am? This is who I am......" I couldn't help but smile and even laugh a little about how silly I was being. He knows the path of our lives and I am glad I can trust in HIM. Our sons memory verse this week is ,"It is better to put trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man."

We are gearing up for the launch of our orphan ministry at our church. I am so excited to see how God is going to work through this ministry. I hope eyes will be opened and more families will be led to adopt, others will feel led to donate time or financially to help orphans worldwide.

Adoption has taught me.......

When we started this journey we were so caught up in changing someone else's life for the better. We knew we wanted to help a child have hope for a better life and hopefully a life in Christ. As I look back I can't believe how much WE have changed because of this journey. We look at everything differently, our needs, our children, our possessions.....The things we thought were important before aren't nearly as important(besides our children which have always been #1)
Our family has forever changed. Our children are learning the world is bigger than us and what it looks like to make sacrifices for His kingdom.

What?!!

We have been waiting to get our appointment to be fingerprinted for our FDL. Now we know why it has taken so long. I received our application in the mail yesterday and get this....WE FORGOT TO SIGN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't ask me how. I am able to laugh at it now but seriously, what?How?why?
We are pretty sure it won't affect the timeline of us getting her home but still.........We overnighted it right away.
We are trying to keep busy and work on the room changes. We moved the toy room down to the family room and now the 3 boys will share the big room(old playroom). We are going to do a car/garage theme, the boys are excited!! Needless to say I won't have to buy much for decorations and Travis won't notice all of his missing car stuff.
We have her paint colors and bedding already. We are looking for a bed and a comfy glider for all the cuddling we are going to do.
We have lots of painting and reorganizing to do but when we are done hopefully it will be time to bring her home.
Thatcher is so cute when he sees her picture he says, "That's my sister!!" He doesn't want to call her by anything but sister. We can't wait to see all of our children together for the first time.

Sinking in

Now that the reality of us getting her is sinking in, my emotions are changing from ecstatic to sorrow. I of course am excited to get her home and get to know this child we love already, but I am now saddened by the loss she has and will always have. I am sad knowing that her family will be saying goodbye to her and she will always deal with that issue. We are starting to prepare our letter for her father and siblings and I am just so heartbroken when I think about our children and how I would feel having to give them up, for any reason. Then to think about the amount of children that deal with rejection, whether they are an orphan or still with their families but just not loved, possibly abused, it's beyond comprehension. Everyone, whether they can recognize it or not, long to be loved by someone on this earth. Unfortunately, some will never have that kind of love, but my prayer is that EVERYONE can know the kind of love that lasts forever-God's.
I hope we can help her as she goes through every grieving stage to realize her worth and value. I hope we are sensitive to the specific way she might grieve her loss for her family and culture.

Passports

Even though I feel like there is still so many mountains in front of us before we get to Addis(this is the name we have for her-it means "new" and is the city she is in), there are little rocks being pushed aside. For instance, we have received our passports. That is another thing checked off our list. I wish I could show the passport photos, they look more like mug shots. We did them at walmart and the lady told us not to smile and took the photo from above us-not a good angle, trust me. They are horrible pictures, but they'll get us to our sweetie.
I love that families are hearing good news about court dates. It gives me hope that it won't be too long before we are hearing the same good news.
Our hearts long to be with her, what is she doing right now..........is she happy.......she doesn't even know that she has a family waiting to see her and hold her forever.

International Pediatrician

We heard from the Dr. that is reviewing "W" medical files. She said things look promising and that with some love and good nutrition she should blossom. We were so excited to hear that(although we had our mind's made up already) and it was nice to hear her perspective on the medical concerns she has. We know that the permanent effects will not be known for years to come, but we feel confident that she is our child.
We are praying she stays healthy and continues to do well at HH until we can get to her. It is so hard to be here and know she is so far away......
We have made more progress in the "O" area accepting this new little one. This morning he commented on the blanket we bought to send to her. He asked if I thought she would like it and I said "I hope so", then he replied, "me too". In my heart I know he is fine with it, it's just his personality to reject everything that is new or unknown. When not prompted about her, he is interested, but if WE ask him about her, he isn't interested in discussing the subject. But again, we are making progress and we still have a couple of months till we bring her home.

Finally pink in the house

Okay, so during every pregnancy, when we had an ultrasound to find out the gender, we would go and buy the baby an outfit to celebrate. So.........that's my excuse to buy "W" some clothes. We were in Fargo and went shopping at the mall there and I restrained from buying every cute little dress available. I did buy a blanket to send to her and an outfit to fly home in. We don't know her exact size so we can't buy too much right now. I also went to "My friends attic" sale this weekend and picked up some cute sweaters. A little girl's gotta have some cute bows and of course comfy PJ's (Thanks again Michelle).

Now that this is becoming a reality, I am finding a lot of things that I need to research and get ideas about. At the beginning we were thinking our child would probably be a baby, but knowing she is a toddler changes things a little bit. It's weird to think we have all of this love for her and we are excited to get to her, and she has no idea who we are and she definitely doesn't love us yet. We pray God prepares her heart for us and our first meeting goes well , if not at first, that she quickly gets use to us.

Thank you

Before I show the Pink, I have to say thanks to my husband who brought me flowers after we learned that we were going to be able to get "W". Flowers are a special treat, since I have told him not to buy flowers for me in the past.(I love them but they die so quickly) So "Thank you" again!!!

Referral Packet

On friday, we received her referral pack. We were so excited to read all about our little "W". Everything looked great and we are just waiting to speak with the international pediatrician on Monday and then we will give our ''YES".
A thought popped into my head the other night, of the timeline of "W" life and our adoption process. The reason she was given up happened the same time we applied to AGCI......She was brought to Hannah's Hope the same time we were able(when God provided the money, not when we actually could have) to send the money to contract with AGCI.....we were declined to move forward with her the first time and we didn't have the money for our dossier yet and the same day we had the money for the dossier AGCI called to see if we were still interested in "W"..... HOW AWESOME IS THAT??!!!HOW AWESOME DOES GOD WORK THINGS OUT?
I AM IN AWE!!!
Oh, "my cup runneth over" right now.
Stay tuned to see how the rest of our journey goes.......

They said 'YES"

We got a call from our agency yesterday and they said we could move forward to adopt a little girl we have been interested in for a month. We first saw her through a waiting child e-mail from AGCI. Travis e-mailed to get more information about her and we started praying about her and how she could fit in our family. After a long weekend we notified AGCI that we were interested but evidently so were some other families. Since she is in between Thatcher and Sebastian, it would break birth order, something they don't like to do. So we were told they were going to go with another family. We were so sad about that, but knew God had a plan for her and us. We had the door open and shut for her 2 more times. Throughout this rollercoaster ride we never doubted God's plan, whether this plan had her in our family or not. We don't know why it went this route or why we had to be disappointed, but we are rejoicing now.
Our heads are spinning with what is to come the next couple of months. Our prayers are heavy for her and her health issues, whatever they may be. We pray God will prepare her heart for what's to come. And for our boys hearts to be open to her and not doubt our unconditional love for them.
We have lots of planning to do, rooms to rearrange, painting. And the thing I have been waiting to do since we started having children but was never able to do, SHOP FOR GIRL CLOTHES!!!!
We have no idea what size she is but we know she is really small for her age, so we won't buy too many right away. Even though the idea is exciting for me, I know our focus will not be on clothes when we get her.
I can't wait to be able to post pics for the world to see our new family member!!!

Learning a new language

Today we got a book we ordered, Amharic, A Complete Language Course. We thought we should learn as much as we could before we travel to Ethiopia. As we started reading the book, we realized this is a language you have to actually hear to learn. So we are going to have to find some tapes.....But we are excited to get started. In a way, it makes us feel closer to her and her country and it gives us something productive to do while we wait.

new number

We got an update today and we have moved to number 43!!! We couldn't believe it-2 in a matter of 4 days.

We had a breakthrough today with O! So far he has been reluctant to talk about the idea of a new sister, insisting we need another boy. But today he actually voluntarily said, "will sebastian still be a baby when we get our sister?" I was shocked and giddy at the same time. He is acknowledging that it is going to happen and it will be a girl. I can't wait to see them all together, and now with a little pink mixed in.

NUMBER 45!!!!

We got a call from our case manager on Friday. She reviewed our dossier and everything was in order and correct so we were able to be put on the waiting list. I was so nervous about sending it in, I was sure something was going to be wrong and we would have to redo something. I was suprised when she said everything looked good-whew!!! It was a relief to get that out of our hands and out of our heads. It was a constant feeling of something hanging over our heads until we sent it in.
We are number 45 for a girl and number 11 for siblings.
Now all we have to do is wait. Not my favorite thing to do, by far. But we know God's timing is PERFECT and He is not one minute late on His plan. So we can confidently wait knowing that!! We have dreamed about this moment-getting on the wait list. We never thought it would come, well, looking at the mountain of work and fees at the beginning it is hard to imagine yourself getting to this point.
Thanks to those who have made contributions to our adoption-we couldn't have made it this far without you!!!!! I should try and create a name for her using all of your initials, since you were such a big part of his. LOL!!

MAILED OUR DOSSIER

We mailed our dossier today!!! It was Travis's anniversary present to me, he handed me our packet of papers with the check we needed to mail in. I was soooooooo excited and shocked. He had waited since Monday to tell me. Defininately the best anniversary we have ever had!!

So now we will wait to hear if everything we prepared is in order and then we will be on the wait list and we will be assigned a number. What the number is exactly isn't a big deal to us, just knowing we have done all we can do for this part. God has worked through this process, it has been amazing to see it. Oh, the story we have to tell other prospective adoptive parents.

God's Mission: Adoption

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, He adopts us. Through a dramatic series of events, we go from orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. Here is how it happens. You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of His justice He cannot dismiss your sin, but because of His love He cannot dismiss you. So, in an act which stunned the heavens, He punished Himself on the cross for your sins. God's justice and love are equally honored. And you, God's creations, are forgiven. But the story doesn't end with God's forgiveness.

For we have not received a Spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out "Abba! Father!" the Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:15)

It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more. He gives you His name. It would be enough if God just set you free, but He does more. He takes you home. He takes you home the Great House of God.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. I certainly don't mean to offend any biological parents-I''m one myself. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs are filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came. In fact, sometimes the child came with no decision. I've heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I've never heard of an unplanned adoption.

That's why adoptive parents understand God's passion to adopt us. They know what it means to feel an empty space inside. They know what it means to hunt, to set out on a mission, and take responsibility for a child with a spotted past and a dubious future. If anybody understands God's ardor for His children, it's someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us.

God has adopted you. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home.

Max Lucado
From The Great House of God

Finalized Homestudy

We just got our finalized homestudy in the mail today!!! AGCI has approved it and we are set to send in our dossier.
We can't wait to get on the waiting list.
The orphan ministry at our church is underway and we are excited to see our vision come to life. The committee has met a couple times so far and we are ironing out our vision and the details. We hope we can help spread awareness for the need for families to open the hearts and homes to orphans worldwide and to assist families who are going through the adoption process, financially and emotionally. We want to see orphans united with their forever families so they can ultimately have a chance to know the ONE who loves them the most, their heavenly father.
GIVE.HOPE.ADOPT

Moving along

We are almost done with our dossier. We are waiting for a couple documents and then we are DONE!!! We have online courses to complete but we are done with our workbook and that is our last step for this part. When we are done with this we will be put on the wait list for a girl. Then we WAIT.

Case Manager

We had our dossier orientation call today. We were able to talk with our case manager who will help us through all the paperwork we need to gather. There are a couple changes we have to make to our homestudy but for the most part we are doing good.

Dossier!!!

We received our adoption planner and dossier package on Friday. It was so exciting to open it up and start the next step. So now we are starting more classes to educate us about adoption and the needs of our new baby girl. We will also be gathering more paperwork and filling out more forms, such as birth/marriage certificates, medical statements, taking pictures of our house, and many more.
We hope you will join us in praying for our little girl. We don't know where she is right now, if she has even been born. We pray for her mother that she will have a safe, healthy pregnancy/delivery. If she has been born, we pray for safety and health for her and whoever she is with right now. It's hard not to try and hurry the process along to get to her quicker. We have to daily remind ourselves that God's timing is never late. A very wise friend gave us this verse to clutch to during these times:

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

God is AWESOME!!

We have sent our signed contracts to AGCI and we are now officially, "paper pregnant". Whooohoo!! We have been praying about the funds we needed for this first step, trusting that if God was in this and wanted us to go forward, HE would make a way. And HE did!!! It is amazing the way HE works things out and how HE decides who HE will use to carry out HIS purpose. I am in AWE! Thanks to God and those who have chosen to obey His calling, we are one step closer to bringing home our little one from Ethiopia. To God be the Glory!!
We have also completed our homestudy, so another step closer.
Thank you to those who continue to pray for us and our journey through this process.

"Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much." Helen Keller

Nothing New

So I guess there is nothing new or exciting going on in our adoption process. We have our final homestudy on the 20th and we have until August 8 to send in our signed contracts with our first agency fee.
This is the hardest part, trusting for something we can not see.
Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.

Orientation Conference call

On Thursday we had an orientation call with All God's Children. We went through our service plan, which tells us what entity will provide what service to us at each point in the process. We also went through the payment plan; when fees are due and where they are going. It was exciting to see the whole process written out before us. Our first goal: we have until August 8 to send back the signed service plan with the program fee.
The best part of the orientation pack was the calendar they gave us with pictures of adopted children on it. Every time we see those sweet faces we are reminded of why we are doing this.
We will do all we can to make this happen, the rest is in God's hands. Please pray with us!

Home Study

Well today is a big day. Our home study agency is coming at noon for our in home visit. We are so excited to take another step forward in our journey. Also we received our acceptance notification from our adoption agency and we will be doing orientation this Thursday. Please keep us in your prayers and we will keep updating...God Bless

Application accepted!

We just received the call from AGCI saying they went through our application and medical documents and everything is good to move forward-yeah!!!
Next step is to have the "orientation call" this thursday or monday. We are looking forward to the orientation packet coming in the mail-Thursday!
I also got an adoption book I ordered in the mail today, "Twenty things adopted Kids wish their Adoptive parents knew." We have heard it is very informative. We are trying to go into this without expectations and with eyes wide-open-the more info the better.

Blessings

We are already seeing God working. We are starting to receive support from family and friends in many different ways, money, words of encouragement and most importantly, prayers. Thank you! God is awesome and He uses His people to accomplish His work.

2nd homestudy visit

Our next homestudy visit is scheduled for the 16th. Please pray that the social worker will get an accurate view of our family when she visits. Help our hearts and desire to please God in our daily lives shine through the "craziness" that occurs when someone new comes into the house.(dog, boys excited and showing off)
We have our application packet ready to mail with all our medical records,doctor's approval letters, and our personal statements regarding losing Hudson. Of course getting a family picture taken was an issue. But in the mail it goes.
Yeah! We are one step closer!

Adoption paperwork

We are gathering paperwork for our home study. Birth records, marriage license, medical exams, copies,copies, copies, of everything you can imagine. It's totally worth the effort, though. I am so excited to think that some where out there, there is a little girl that will be a part of our family. Even though we don't know who she is, or if she is even born yet, God knows exactly who she is.

Let's get started!

We have decided to adopt and we prayerfully decided on an agency to work with. Our homestudy is progressing and we are busy compiling our paperwork. The only thing missing is the funds......but we aren't worried. I have taken a part-time job and now we have fundraiser to help. We know that God has a heart for orphans and if we seek His will and His kingdom, He can move mountains. So here we go......