Thursday, August 26, 2010

Passports!

Well, in recent news our passports arrived today! Yay, one step closer to having all the needed papers to go get our baby. I'm so excited to get a stamp saying we've been to Africa. My birth certificate has not returned yet so hopefully we will see that soon or I will need to order another one.

It is amazing to me how excited I am getting even about traveling. I will be honest that the idea of foreign travel has never really appealed to me. I like to have an idea about where I am going and what I am doing. I like knowing there is always a chicken option on any menu. I like knowing that chicken is fresh, but not just grabbed out of the back alley and killed, fresh. I don't do different foods. I hate not being able to communicate. I hate feeling out of my comfort zone. Obviously God is pulling me out of that comfort zone in many ways with this adoption.

Getting our passports today is the first time I felt excited about the traveling side of things. I am really looking forward to seeing where my daughter is from. I am anxious to learn more about her heritage and be able to later teach her what I learned. I have no doubt she will be an American girl who loves Dora and Disney Princess (or Thomas if Asher has anything to say about it), but I want my daughter to be proud that she was born in Ethiopia.

All that to say that we are that much closer. Still waiting on child abuse clearance. So please keep praying. Hopefully I will have more good news soon.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Here's the deal...

Well, we met with the social worker yesterday for our final "home study visit". She is so sweet I just love chatting with her. However, the only down side was that our child abuse clearance is still not been processed. The news only got worse because it sounds like the one lady who does them for the whole state just said she will be out for AT LEAST two weeks. Meaning she is probably on some type of medical leave.

The sad part about this is the fact that we can't move forward with out this one piece of paper. It is amazing to me how one person can hold so many up. I know of several other families that this is effecting. I am sure this person is not to blame it is just silliness to me that there are not more people to help. So long story short...we wait. The good news again is that just means our little girl isn't ready for us yet.

I had a friend encourage me a few weeks ago to be very specific about my prayers for our little one. So if you feel led to join me here are a few of our specific prayers for our daughter:

I am praying for her birth mom. Just that she will feel peace over her decision to give up her baby. I am praying for her health that she is well nourished while she is pregnant. I am praying that if it is the Lord's will we will be able to meet our daughter's birth mom and that she will allow us to take pictures and possibly video for our daughter to have when she gets older. Most of all I am praying that she either already knows Jesus or comes to know him.

For our daughter I am praying that she is held and loved while we are unable to do so ourselves. I am praying that she is not hungry. I am praying that when we bring her home that she will mold instantly into our family. Because of our lifestyle I am praying our daughter is exposed to groups of people and that she is not easily scared by having lots of others around her. Of course I am praying for her heart. That God has huge plans for her, and that she will be not only my daughter, but my sister in Christ.

For Dan and I; I am praying for wisdom in how best to raise our daughter. I know having three boys I am not the most compassionate mom. My parenting style has been set by three rowdy boys who move on from injury quickly, and emotions are not usually something I have to contend with. I realize so much of how I parent my daughter will look different. I am praying God gives me wisdom on how best to train her heart.

Then of course there is the prayer that God will provide financially for all the adoption costs. We did the math last night and on the low end we need around $26,000 still. God is good and so much bigger than any amount of money. So we just pray that he gives us peace and grows our faith through this experience. I'm so excited to tell the amazing ways God took care of the bill when all is said and done. He has already provided so much!

We so appreciate your prayers! We are blessed to know there are people out there praying for us. What a blessing. Well, time for me to go get a few things done while my boys nap. It is a special time of the day.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Gearing up to settle down

Tomorrow is our finally home study visit. In some ways it feels like we have been doing this forever and in others I can't believe we are finishing up this so soon. From what it sounds like we are still waiting on our child abuse clearance to go through. Please pray for us that it will be processed in God's perfect timing. I have to believe that it is being held up so we are matched in perfect time with OUR little girl.

It is really starting to feel real. She could be home in only a few months or it could be more than a year. I love starting to prepare  for her. We have borrowed her bedding from our good friends. It's fun that she will have shared the same cute bedroom set as my other fave little girl. :) I love looking at girl clothes and thinking about what our daughter will look like. It is so cute to hear the boys talk about their sister. Every time they see a world map they get excited. It is so cool to see how this is already opening the eyes of our family to the world outside our own.

We've been blessed to make other friends who are at a similar stage in the process . We know that it will be so important to have other families in our lives who have also adopted. What a blessing that God has placed us in a community that loves adoption and there are so many other families around us who have adopted.

Well, I will update how tomorrow goes. Hopefully we will have lots of great news.