Its been awhile...

Sorry all my blog followers, I've been bad about updating lately. This past week Fran e-mailed us the draft of our homestudy. We filled in the blanks to the questions she had remaining. We are still waiting for Tyler's Colorado CPS Background Check to arrive in Fran's mailbox. I contacted the place in Colorado responsible for this and they stated that they mailed it to Fran on March 22nd....so she should be receiving it any day now.

We have kind of been in the waiting game for the past 2-3 weeks, and once our homestudy report is completed we will be back to the paper chase. It has been nice, but at the same time...days seem like weeks. As you can tell, I am not a patient waiter:)

Tyler and I went to a group for Ethiopian adoptions about 2 weeks ago. A couple who had recently adopted a baby boy (Jonathon) decided it would be nice to meet with other couples who have or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia once a month. It is a nice way to share stories, ask/answer questions, and one day give our child some "look-alike playmates". During our visit, two other couples were commenting on the brand spanking new change in Ethiopian adoptions. What currently is one visit for a week (to pick up your baby) will be two visits. The first visit is shortly after we receive our referral, in which we will travel to Ethiopia and meet him/her and we will actually go to court during that visit. Then, we will have to return home and go back to Ethiopia 10-12 weeks later to pick up our baby (another week long trip). There are several reasons floating around as to why the change.....1. Approx. 40 families have went to pick up their child and they were not the same as their referral pic/info...2. Supposedly a couple agencies are not operating ethically and this is a way to closer monitor their actions....

Its kind of a bummer that we will meet our child and then have to leave him/her for close to 3 months. Its kind of a bummer that we will have to make 2 close trips to Ethiopia (20 some hour flight each way). BUT, it will all be worth it in the end. We are slowly inching forward....

Round Two

This week has been spent working with our old agency (The Villages) and our new agency (Adoption Network) gathering documents. I was able to meet with The Villages and get all of our original documents and the notes/home inspection that they have completed. Then, we completed the required documents of Adoption Network. We mailed off all of these on Thursday and Adoption Network received them yesterday. SOOOO, we are caught back up. Fran (our new case worker whom I LOVE) is working on compiling all of this information into our homestudy document. Hopefully, it will be completed in about 4 weeks. We have already started collecting documents for our dossier...

We are now in the waiting period...waiting to hear what our next step is, what our next document to complete is, etc, etc, etc...

The stress has been lifted! If you cannot tell, I am a bit OCD...so if there is something I can be gathering, doing, I am not content until it is done.

Last weekend, we bought several books on Ethiopia, as well as, raising a child from a different race/culture. Tyler spent this week reading a book on Ethiopia culture/customs. So, he has been non-stop asking me "What else do you want to know about Ethiopia?" like a broken record. We want to make sure that we teach our child about his/her country and help him/her to thrive.

Almost every week, I put a prayer request into our collection basket at church. The Chapel then prays for us all week long. We have been asking for God to continue to lead us, carry us, and comfort us on this journey. Today when I got the mail, there was a card from the associate pastor at The Chapel. The card was full of hope and he wrote to us saying that he too has an adopted child. It was a simple gesture, but it meant the world to me:) We know without a doubt that we are pleasing God. I keep reading over and over in the Bible about God's love for the widow and the orphan and how it pleases God to care for these.

We are getting so excited! I feel that the end is drawing closer, with each week. I try to envision what it will be like when we see our child for the first time. It brings tears of joy to me when I think about it:) I cannot wait to get the call!!!

I encourage everyone to read Matthew 25. Here is one of my favorite verses from this chapter:

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" Matthew 25:40

God is continuing to bless us, and He knows exactly what we need! We started on this journey saying that we are going to adopt a child in need (one of the reasons we chose Ethiopia, because we felt that there was a great need there) but, as we continue on....I have a feeling that we need this child, more than he/she needs us. Our child has already taught us so much already. He/she has strengthened our lives/love for God and strengthened our marriage (which was already great before).

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-10