Cave

At one of our local museums there is a cave exhibit. It is very cool. You go into what looks feels and sounds like a real cave. There is dripping water it is dark. They have a path cut out, but you really can't see much until you are right on it. Each time we go my boys are scared to go in. Each time we push them to go. They hold our hand (or arm or torso) and nervously walk through. Each time we take them they get a little bit braver. Now, they know we will be going through. They still ask if we can skip it. But when we get to the exhibit they hesitantly go in. They have been through it enough to know it may be a little scary, but Mom and Dad are with them so they know they will come out on the other end.

I feel a little like I am in a cave. This adoption is dark. We don't know how many curves are in the path. We don't know what is in our way ahead of us. We keep hitting obstacles that make the path harder. Honestly, it is scary. It is unknown. I do know that I am with God on this journey though. I know we will come out on the other side trusting him more. I know it will be ok. While I am here though I find myself asking why he has allowed so many curves on our path. I find myself clinging to him while at the same time begging for him to just get us to the other side.

Yesterday we got word from our agency that MOWCYA had written us an unfavorable letter. This was a huge blow. Their reasoning is that our financial form is outdated. This is especially hard to swallow because they have our updated documents. This delays us even further from receiving a court date. This means even more time that our daughter goes without a family. Our agency plans to request they look over our case again this week because it was their error, but it is unknown if MOWCYA will be willing. They are already trying to play catch up. Please pray with us that MOWCYA will quickly reevaluate and rewrite a favorable letter so that we can go meet our baby. Her birthday is in April, and I am desperately begging God that she is home with us by then. It will only be God that can make that happen at this point. But he is a big God. So it can happen.

We are so thankful for all who are praying with us. It means so much more than words can say. Thank you!

We are getting closer and closer to bringing our little girl home. There are a few delays going on with waiting on a court date, but honestly, I can look at this gorgeous face of MY little girl and the wait is bearable. As we are coming to the end of this stage in our journey we get a lot of questions. One of the big ones is "Isn't adoption expensive?". The answer it YES. It is more money than we could ever save up on our own.

I am a stay at home mom. We live in a cozy home in a comfortable neighborhood. We live within our means. I love to clip coupons and shop clearance. I live for a big trash bag of hand me downs. We try to use cash not acquire debt. My amazing husband is a wonderful provider .He works hard to take care of us. We are very average. We are blessed beyond blessed. We are comfortable. We are happy. We don't have the ability to save up for an adoption. But we have a big God. He isn't going to call us to this and leave us hanging. He didn't put the dream to adopt in our hearts and just wish us luck.

We made a few adjustments to our budget to save. We cut cable. We didn't buy as much stuff as we might have. My friend, hear this, GOD is faithful. He has taken care of each step. He has been in this from before this was even a thought in our minds.  We have done fundraisers. We have been humbled and floored at the generosity of our friends, family, and even those we don't know who have given and supported us. Please understand, we don't have lots of wealthy friends who just wrote us large checks. We have faithful brothers and sisters who gave out of an abundance of God's love. We were blessed many times $10 and $20 at a time. God is faithful. We don't know exactly what the expenses will be that are left. Most are just for travel and those fluctuate, but to our estimates we have enough for the rest of the adoption. GOD is GOOD. He is bigger than any price tag. Please know if he calls you to something that just seems unrealistic. That's because it probably is...for you. I have to look at the huge stuff God has done over the course of the past 3 years and just give Him glory! To God be all the glory.

How cool that he chose our very average family to allow his glory to show. How cool that we will gain a daughter because of his faithfulness. Because of the generosity of so many we have been so blessed. Thank you for your gifts, your encouragement, your prayers. We can't wait to bring our baby girl home. For now I am just overwhelmingly thankful to you all, and pointing to my Lord who deserves all the glory.

Up and coming...

We have been crazy busy around here thus the blog has been slightly neglected. I wanted to fill everyone in on what we are anticipating for the next few months.

We have a court date for January 15 for our MOWCYA letter to be written. (MOWCYA is the ministry of women children and youth affairs). Please pray with us that we are written a favorable letter. Once we have a favorable letter we will most likely be traveling 1-2 weeks after that.

When we travel we will be meeting our baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then we will go to court in Ethiopia. Praying that we will pass court the first time around. We will return to the US without her. She will legally be ours once we pass court, though.

After we have passed court we will be waiting for our Embassy appointment. Usually this is about a 6-8 week wait. During this time our agency will be working to process our baby's birth certificate, passport, and other documentation.

Once we have a date for Embassy we will travel to pick her up and bring her home! Then we will do a happy dance. :)

This is a quick outline of the next few steps. We are so looking forward to meeting our baby girl in just a few weeks. We are like little kids waiting for Christmas. We are starting to prepare for travel now. We will be collecting donations to go to the transition home where our daughter is and also to some local orphanages. Below is a list of donations they are in need of. If you are interested in donating anything we would love to take it over to share with the children in these homes.

Current Priority Transition Home Needs

Child-sized cotton blankets
Foam/Rubber (lightweight) soccer/playing balls for toddlers
Diaper cream, specifically with zinc oxide (Desitin or Boudreaux's) ***HIGH PRIORITY
Clothing and shoes for children ages 8-14 ***HIGH PRIORITY
Warm clothing-sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, etc.
Bath towels for children*** HIGH PRIORITY
Antibacterial hand gel (40oz containers available at Wal-Mart for $5 and personal containers)
Small sized diapers
Baby bottles and nipples
Vitamin D drops
Unscented baby wipes ***please note, unscented/sensitive skin wipes are the only type
used***

Orphanage and Transitional Home General Donation Needs

Toothpaste and toothbrushes
Scrubs for nurses and nannies
Crocks for nurses and nannies
General first aid items
Powder-free gloves for nannies and TH doctor
DVD and VHS children’s videos-especially Christian videos and/or ones with singing/dancing
Crocs for nannies
Toiletry bags (small) for children’s personal hygiene items (one per child needed)
Puzzles for young children
Toy cars and trucks appropriate for toddler aged children
Iron drops
Diaper rash ointment (A+D preferred)
Paper towels
Children’s clothing (new or slightly used); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-8 years. Clothing needs include
day clothes (especially pants), pajamas, underwear, and shoes.
Diapers for up to 30 pounds
Toys to stimulate babies such as colorful objects, rattles, etc. that are appropriate for babies
up to 2 years
Unscented baby wipes ***please note, unscented/sensitive skin wipes are the only type
used***
Powder formula with DHA/RHA
A + D Original Ointment, Diaper Rash and All-Purpose Skincare Formula
Hand Sanitizer
Candles
Children’s Notebooks
Enfamil or Similac Lactose free formula.


*the following Generic Brands with identical nutritional value to Enfamil & Similac are also acceptable:

1. Parents Choice formula from Wal-Mart
2. Target’s generic Formula
3. Kirkland formula from Costco

Soy based or other special formulas are also acceptable as long as they are one of the brands listed
above.

Medications/Medical Donation Needs**
o Multivitamins
o Tri-vi-sol (o to 6 months)
o Poly-vi-sol (6 months to 2 years)
o Chewable multi-vitamin (2 years to 9 years)
o Adult multivitamin (9 years plus)
o Tylenol (acetaminophen)
o Infants
o Children's
o Suppository
o Syringes for giving medicines (5mL)
o Plastic and Latex disposable gloves
o Baby nose saline spray
o Neosporin
o Mouth and nose masks
o Benadryl liquid/elixir
o Permetherin for scabies
o Lice kits
o Toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss

**Please check the expiration date on all donation items as expired items will be discarded upon
receipt and cannot be used.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in donating. If you would rather make a monetary donation we can use that toward buying supplies while we are in country. Thanks ahead of time for blessing these babies.

So that is where we are at. Once we pass court I will be posting pictures of our daughter's beautiful face. Until then we so appreciate your prayers that all runs smoothly and quickly.

Referral!!!!!

Well, the adoption process we've been on has taken us significantly longer than we had originally thought.  From the time we were first accepted into the Ethiopia program at America World Adoption Association (April 20, 2010), through our paper-chasing stage which concluded when we sent our Dossier To Ethiopia (DTE - November 19, 2010), and finally through our waiting stage up to now, we have been in this process for 2 years, 7 months, and 8 days.  Of that time, we have been at the top of our agency wait list for 5 months and 1 day, each day during the week bringing with it the excitement and opportunity that maybe it is the day we get "THE CALL," and then the inevitable disappointment that has come when it doesn't happen.  This has been a roller-coaster ride, for sure, and through it all we have been incredibly blessed by the many people in our lives who have supported us financially, emotionally, and certainly through prayer.

It is with great excitement and joy that I am finally able to say that on Wednesday November 28 at 10:33am, we received a call from our agency to let us know that we have been given a referral for a 19 month old girl.  GOD IS SO GOOD!  We are incredibly happy that God has continued to grow our family through adoption, and has blessed us with a beautiful baby girl.  Since we still have a ways to go, here is a short synopsis of what comes next for us:

• After our agency receives our referral acceptance, they will work with the Ethiopian government to set a court date for us in Ethiopia.  Court dates usually come about a month after our referral, which likely means that we will be traveling in late December or early January.
• Once we pass court, we will have legally adopted her according to the Ethiopian government.  However, we will still need to wait for approval from the U.S. Embassy in order for her to receive a Visa which allows her to enter the U.S.
• After the Embassy reviews the paperwork, we will have to travel back to Ethiopia for our second trip for an interview with the Embassy, and receive her Visa so we can bring her home.

We have estimates of how long the rest of the process will take (hopefully we'll be bringing her home in February or March), but the reality is that there are no guarantees when it comes to the time it takes for each of these steps to be successfully completed.  We would also love to give you more information and pictures, but at this point she's not yet legally our daughter.  However, rest assured that we will keep you all posted with more information as we are able.

We thank you all for being with us through this, and ask that you continue to pray that God will grant us a swift conclusion to this chapter of our adoption story, without complications or hang-ups, and that we will be able to bring our daughter home quickly.

2 years

Two years ago today we were in Florida visiting our friends for Thanksgiving. We received an email from our family coordinator telling us we were officially DTE. That means that our documents were sent to Ethiopia. We were finally waiting. We were number  31 on the list. Things were moving. The wait time at that point was 7-11 months, but some people were moving much faster. We were getting our girl! We were so excited.

The times have been pushed back several times now. Today makes two years of waiting. I believe we along with one other family have broken a record at our agency. :) This week is a short business week for our agency. We don't anticipate a call before Thanksgiving. They have extended wait times to 18 to 30 months so we may have more time on our hands. As we have seen the wait times are a very rough estimate.

I am thankful for this time though. Since we have been waiting lots of great things have happened. We are blessed beyond measure. We have made friends. We have been blessed by prayers, hugs, and financial support toward our adoption. I have learned so many lessons. It is hard waiting, but I am thankful for the wait. God knows what we can handle, and he never leaves us alone through it. We are praying it is soon that we get the call and see our daughters face. For today, we will be thankful for these two years, and we will pray for patience as we wait on God's timing.

pins and needles

Ok, so I don't want to think about it, but I can't stop. If we don't get a referral tomorrow we will be waiting at least two years. At this point we have already waited longer than any one else. (To my knowledge), but we will break the two year mark on Monday. Since there is no one in the office on weekends to give referrals tomorrow is our last shot to be within two years.

I would so love to have a referral now before the holidays, but alas, I am trying hard not to get too anxious. I'm just trying to remember that it will come in perfect timing. Dear God, please let tomorrow be perfect!  :)

20 weeks

Today is the 20 week mark for being number one. Who knew. I remember like it was yesterday when we found out we were number one. My stomach was in knots. It was all of a sudden real. This thing we had been waiting for was finally going to happen. That was in June. Now it is November and in some ways I feel further away than when we started this whole thing.

God is good. I know He has a plan. I know it is a good plan. I know it is all in His timing. I know that none of this surprises Him. So, I try to just breathe. I try hard to just live. I try to pray and hope and believe.

I am working to find the balance in the wait. The balance between avoiding and obsession. The balance between excitement and fear. The balance between living and longing. The balance between surrender and hope. I fight back tears most days. Once they start it is hard to stop. I want to dream about my baby girl, but I am a little scared because what if none of those dreams work out.

This wait is painful. It is a good pain. I have learned lots. I am still learning lots. I am so blessed. God had protected me from so much. It is good for me to wait. It is good for me to learn to give up all control. It is good for me to have to surrender my plans.

At this point there seems to be no timeline. My heart hurts for those who are below us on the list. Their wait will be even longer unless something drastically changes. The time frame right now is 18-30 months. It was 7-11 for an infant girl when we started. This wait has been unexpected. It has been long, but God knows what was needed. He knows who my daughter is. He knows her personality. He knows her favorite color. He knows every hair on her gorgeous little head. He knows how much this momma loves her. And He loves her even more. She will be worth the wait.

So for now we are praying. We are praying for Ethiopia. We are praying for clearances so these orphans can go home. We are praying for the staff who are caring for our baby. We are praying for others in the program because we are not the only ones waiting. We are praying for the staff at our agency.  We are praying for our daughter that she is safe, warm, has food, and is being loved on until we get her here in our arms. We pray for our family for peace and patience during the wait. We pray we see her face soon, and get to hold her in her arms soon. Most of all we pray God's will be done.