Wait time

Today we got an email from our family coordinator. It said that the wait time for both boys and girls is increasing again. This time is it is going up to 18-24 months. This was a pretty significant jump. Before that it was at 14-18 months. When we started, the wait time for a female infant was 7-11 months. Needless to say, this process is taking much longer than expected.  The other thing the email said was that times are probably going to continue to increase.

This is for sure discouraging. However, we are still trusting that God has perfect timing for our family. We still feel that this is where God has us. Please keep us in prayer. Also, please keep praying for Ethiopia and adoption process. We are so thankful for all the prayers and support we are receiving along the way.

Top Ten, BABY!

Well, there have been a steady stream of referrals coming lately. Not every week, but much more than there had been. This weekend there was a referral which moved us up to the #10!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited to be getting closer. We love seeing the movement. Each referral to puts another child with their forever family which we love! Plus, that means we move up a space on the wait list.

Also, we are finishing up all of our renewal paperwork. I had a doctor's appointment today. I started up on some vaccinations. 1 Hep A and 1 Hep B down. Lots more to go. We had a visit from a new social worker last week to update our safety audit. All is well there. We should be sending out all our paperwork tomorrow to have the home study updated. Then we will send that off to update our I-171h. Hopefully, this should all be quick and we will be up to date and ready when our turn for a referral comes up.

We so appreciate your prayers as we continue down this journey. We are praying the movement continues and we are able to have our daughter in our arms in the near future.

Things are starting to move...

Hello, all, Daniel here hacking my wife's computer.  Thought I might take the opportunity to let you in on the good news that just about got me knocked down the stairs, potentially breaking both of my ankles and shattering a rib or two.  Well, maybe that's a little bit of an over-exaggeration, but you get the idea.  SO ANYWAY, we've been spending the evening cleaning the basement sorting through and throwing away toys.  It's been quite an evening, as the boys have done more playing than cleaning, although hearing them get excited about bringing toys from the garage that have been in hibernation for the past six months has been exciting.

Asher: "Oh my goodness, you got the lincoln logs back out!"
Me: "Asher, you're standing on the box, and that has been out the whole time."
Asher: "oh, yeah."

Abby and I had gone upstairs to make out for a minute to put some toys aside to go back out to the garage, and she gets a text from Tami.  As I'm halfway down the cluttered stairs (toys are literally everywhere in the basement right now), I hear massive amounts of squealing, "we moved up, get out of the way!" and start getting shoved to the bottom of the stairs.  Seriously, it's a good thing I have the ridiculous agility of a cat otherwise I would have, well, you already read that part.  Abby runs to the computer, because things really aren't true until she sees them for herself, even if told by a trusted friend (or maybe I'm still bitter over getting shoved down the stairs, forcing me to dodge miniature pirates and OUR CHILDREN PLAYING WITH THEM).  Lo and behold, Tami wasn't pulling her leg.

CONGRATULATIONS, WE'RE UP TO #12 ON THE WAIT LIST!  God has been so good in bringing us to this point, and we know that He will continue to carry us through the rest of the process.  After months of stillness, we're starting to make some headway, which is so encouraging.  Hang on, Amelia, we're coming for you!

Check out our new fundraising site and help us out!  We couldn't do it without all of your support!  And, THANK YOU for your continued donations and prayers!

Fingerprints

Yesterday morning we headed down to Cinci to get fingerprinted again. Ah, the joy of renewing adoption paperwork. It was nice that we were in and out very quickly. We had all three boys with us. God is good and every one was happy and cooperative! Now we just wait for our updated I 171H.

Next up, I need to schedule doctor appointments. In order to update our homestudy we must update our physicals. I'm hoping we can all go in together and get every one done at once. We'll see how that goes.

Another exciting thing is that there was another referral today! Actually our agency had two referrals, but one of them was for a three month old girl! Meaning we move up a spot. We are now number fourteen on our unofficial list. Can I get a WHAT WHAT! I'm a little excited. It has been an eventful week for adoption news.

In other exciting news we are now officially a family on Adopttogether. We heard about this site through a friend, and we are so excited to see how God uses it to help bring home our baby girl. It is a non profit organization that allows you to donate to our adoption. You can check out our profile if you like and we'd love your help if you are able to give.

I think that is it for now. I am so excited to be seeing some movement in the adoption world. It has been much to quiet for too long. Hopefully, I will have more to update soon.

Something to talk about

I'll be honest. I haven't written on our blog in so long because there just hasn't been much happening. Each month passes and we reach another milestone. We will be at 14 months on 1/19. However, there is so little going on I'm just not excited to post. Sorry, but it's true.

However, we have hit a milestone worth writing about (I guess). It is time to start renewing paperwork! WOOOO HOOO. Ok, so that may be a little sarcastic. We have gone far past what we had anticipated our wait being. So far in fact we get to renew our homestudy. We go down to Cinci next week to redo our finger prints for our I-171H (a form we have to fill out for the USCIS).  Praise the Lord we get one free renewal because that one form is expensive.

What I didn't realize is that renewing our home study would be so involved. We have to renew our physical, background checks, fingerprints  (yep, 2 sets) and a handful of other stuff. Plus, this is an additional expense.  Boo.

All that being said I am strangely happy to have SOMETHING to do. It was almost nice when we were paper chasing because there was some kind of movement. So again it isn't just sitting and waiting and praying for a flood of referrals (even though that hasn't changed). Now I have stuff to get done. I love a checklist. So, here it goes. Paper chase round 2 here we come.

Christmas

Here we are at another Christmas time. I love Christmas. I love decorating, baking, having parties. I love buying presents and watching the face of the recipient when you got the "right" thing. I love the smells, the lights, the music. I love it all. I get so excited for this time of year.

This year I am full of such joy. I have been so down lately. I have just felt like a chunk of our family is missing. I feel like this is a journey that is lasting forever. I think I had a time line in my head and now we are so far past it I can't even picture an end. I have been stretched these past few months. However, in this season I am so overwhelmed with joy of Christ's birth I feel somehow less desperate. Don't get me wrong. My deep desire for my baby is still as strong as ever. I am just so thankful for this season. We have been doing a Jesse tree this year as a family to celebrate advent. I love the chance each day to read God's word to my boys and think about what Christmas is all about.

There is a version of the Christmas carol Joy to the World that sings "Joy, unspeakable Joy. An overflowing well that none can tell." I love the song. When it comes on the radio I scream it as loud as I can. I can't explain it, but I am so thankful that Christ still can fill my heart with joy. Even in the midst of my desperate longing and sadness because I miss our little girl so much. God is SO GOOD! I feel so confident that this is where we are supposed to be. We are asked constantly if we have changed our plans. With all the delays going on will we try to get pregnant or give up on the whole adoption thing. Trust me we have had that conversation. But that isn't where we are supposed to be. We are supposed to wait for our daughter. She is worth waiting for.

Today for our reading we read in Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
   and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
   to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
   from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

This is Isaiah, not even in the New Testament. We are talking a REALLY long wait for a baby. However, God had perfect timing as always. Jesus was born long after this passage was written, and He was born at the perfect time and place.

So, we continue to wait for our baby. We continue to miss her, cry for her, long for her. We continue to plan for her, save for her, and pray for her. But we know God has a perfect plan. This is part of it. It will be a story we will tell her about. For now I am so thankful for Christmas and the hope it is renewing in me. 

Being still

I know it has been awhile since I last posted. I am finding that there is little to update. We will reach our 1 year mark of waiting this week. I was really struggling with that. Because when we started the wait time was 7-11 months and many people were flying threw in much less time than that.

The wait time now is 11-18 months. The wait is painful, but I know there is a reason. There was a girl referral this past week. I find that any movement keeps me going. It usually lasts about a week or two and then I'm back to pitiful.

I was talking with a close friend about a week ago. I was just pouring out my heart and how I felt so stuck. I feel like with no movement in the adoption I don't know what to do next. We have no major event going on. Nothing to put a bunch of energy into. Nothing to plan. Nothing to prepare for. At least, that is how it feels sometimes. My friend stopped me and reminded me of Psalm 46:10 "Be STILL and know that I am God." Ah, wisdom.

There is just something so hard for me about being still, but it is where God wants me. Not that life here with 3 crazy little boys doesn't keep me moving. We are not typically very physically still. Yet, in the stillness of the adoption process right now I must remember who is God. Today when I opened my Bible to my devotions this was the verse that awaited me. I think that God may be trying to teach me something through this verse I have heard so many times.