Another "Official" step closer

On Thursday we received the e-mail with the official referral packet for us to sign and send back to accept our precious little guy. Do you notice that I'm using the word "official" a lot lately? We are at that stage of the game. Yesterday we got all the paperwork signed and notarized and today we got the cashier's check for the final adoption fee payment. The packet will arrive at CHI on Monday. Then that paperwork will be sent to Ethiopia with their official shipment which usually goes on Thursday. From there, the orphanage and CHI put together the paperwork and request a court date. At some point in there a birth certificate will need to be issued for our little guy as well. I can't believe that we are that close! From the looks of it we will be going to Ethiopia twice. While this costs a lot more there are benefits. Not the least of which is that we can meet and spend time with our little guy. And, we will get to take over suitcases of formula for the orphanage. To understand just how important that is read this post from my mom on a program that they have developed to make sure the babies in the orphanage have formula. It really is a life or death matter to these precious orphans.

Please continue to pray for things to move smoothly and that our little guy will be safe and sound until we can go and get him and bring him to his forever family.

A big day with good news

So I just received the "official" call to tell me that the "official" referral is on it's way via e-mail for our 13 month-old son. This happened as I was on the way to meet Jim at a reception for CHI families and our Ethiopian Lawyer, Abdissa, who happens to be in America for the month. It was a wonderful thing to meet this man who assured us that in God's timing we would be holding our new little one in our arms. I, of course, used the opportunity to ask questions concerning the timing of the rest of this process. After much discussion our new fellow-adopting friend Lori leaned over and said, "did that answer your question?" I had to say no. Then I told her what I was really looking for was an answer like, "Why yes, I think it should work out that you get your court date before the courts close for the rainy season." Of course, this is only an answer that God can give. And he may choose to answer with, "Wait. Be still." I'm sure that no one ever likes when God teaches them patience in life. I must say, this could be the hardest of those lessons for me yet.

God's timing, not ours

How's this for some big news? After almost 6 months of preparing to adopt two little boys at once, God seems to be guiding us to a bit of a different time table. We have decided to adopt one boy at a time instead of both at the same time. Here's what happened...

We took the video clips of the two babies we were interested in to our pediatrician to look over. As he finished viewing the second baby's video he went around his desk and sat down facing us. He then, in a very direct (but kind) manner challenged us to consider the issues faced by adopting two unrelated babies at the same time. He encouraged us to still adopt two, but one at a time, giving each child their own best chance to become a part of our family and bond with us. We thought about this issue in detail and decided that God was using our doctor to bring to light some serious challenges that had been overlooked in the myriad of issues and decisions we have had to make lately. It became obvious that a change of plans was in order. We feel very much at peace with this decision and are so looking forward to enjoying our new son. We are now awaiting the official referral. There is the slightest chance that we could get a court date before the 2 month break for the rainy season. But it's going to take an act of God. Would you pray with us to that end?

Waiting for a referral

We have made some major progress. We are currently waiting for an official referral of two little boys. One very little as a matter of fact. There will be much more information forthcoming on our precious two. Until it's official, we ask for prayer in the following ways:

That the baby's blood work would come back quickly and healthy.

That our adoption agency would agree to make the official referral.

That MoWA would open and be able to quickly process the birth certificate.

Do you notice all the "quicklies" in my prayer requests? One reason for that is that the courts are about to close for the "rainy season". When the rains come the courts close for approximately 2 months. So the more we can get accomplished before this delay the better. This will be a hard time of waiting for us as we know who are babies are and are already anxious to have them home. Check back for the "official news" of a referral acceptance or better yet, subscribe to this blog so the update comes to you! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

A long awaited update

This update has been too long in coming to be sure. First, let me tell you a little story about God's amazing faithfulness. As you know we have been waiting for the Ministry of Women's Affairs office to open so that the orphans could get final approval to be adopted. Well, the office is still not open but...they called our orphanage director, Tezerra, to come in to their office. They commended her for the wonderful widows and orphans programs they are running. They said that their homes are a model for the country, gave her an award, and asked her to speak at the upcoming conference to all orphanage directors. All that AND they gave the needed letters for every adoptable child in the YWAM orphanages! Does God answer prayers in a big way or what?! This isn't something they were expecting and it happened in the wake of 20 other orphanages getting shut down.

This development has moved us forward in the process to be able to look at specific boys who might soon be our own. We ask for your prayers for wisdom, discernment, guidance and peace as we continue this leg of the journey.

Something's a comin'

So I was just going to post this morning about how we are still here, still waiting, with no news. And then...something happened! I'm waiting to officially share the news until after I talk with the director of Adoption Ministry. But God is surely at work. Stay tuned! :)

It's in the Mail!

So today was a HUGE day in the adoption adventure. After 4 1/2 months of masses of paperwork, wrangling with bank managers, mountains of notarizing and enough copying to fell a tree...the dossiers are done! They are on their way to Washington for approval by the State Department and then the Ethiopian Embassy. From there they travel to our adoption agency, CHI, and then finally to Ethiopia. I almost don't know what I will do with my time now! Perhaps catch up on 4 1/2 months of other things in my life that may have been a little neglected. :)

And, in other HUGE news, I received confirmation from Rep. Trent Frank's office that we do have a correct understanding of the Adoption Tax Credit. It has been turned into a refund. This means that we will receive a refund of $13,170 per child for the adoption expenses we incur. And this means we are done with fundraising. Unbelievable really. Next step...wait for MoWA to open (there is an election on May 23th that everyone is hoping helps to facilitate this happening but who knows). When it does open and when our boys are identified for us by Adoption Ministry, we will get to "meet" them via referral pictures.

God is so good and faithful. We are done with the hurry up. Now we begin the wait.