Just as I had been telling people all week that we hoped to be on the wait list sometime next week I received and e-mail today from our social worker to let us know that they received our documents back from DC so we are officially on the waiting families list. Did you catch that? WE ARE ON THE WAIT LIST!!!
Officially we are family #42 on the overall list. We are blown away. We were initially hoping to be less than 100, and then were hoping to squeak in under 50, but 42?! We feel so blessed.
The situation with the proposed slow down in processing with the Ethiopian government remains up in the air. Progress is being made and the continuing conversations between many different entities and ministries leave us feeling hopeful. At this point the wait time for a referral is looking like 6-12 months, but the wait for our paperwork to be approved through the courts could take longer than under the current format if procedures change. We are certain though that our baby is in Ethiopia, maybe not even born yet. We can't see what lies between us and him, but we have faith in the One who has brought us this far, and know that there is nothing that can stand against us when we walk with Him on this road of obedience.
We've come so far, worked so long, and in a very real way it feels like we are only now just beginning this adventure. A few months ago I watched the sweetest video of another family's journey to Ethiopia to bring home their son and the words from one of the songs in their video has been running through my mind lately:
"Baby there ain't no mountain high enough,
Ain't no valley low enough,
Ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you, babe!"
I don't know this family, but watching their story always makes my heart swell as we look forward to the day we too will bring our child home.
http://vimeo.com/14597892
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
One More *Tiny* Wait
I just got the word from our agency social worker that our dossier passed the final review and will be sent to Washington, DC on Thursday for authentication. It should take 1-2 weeks for our agency to get our dossier back and then we are officially on the wait list!!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
It's Out of our Hands
Yesterday was a busy one! We started off back at the credit union for one more notarization and then to the doctor's office (and their notary) to straighten out my medical clearance letter (which had been in revisions for a week!!) And then we were all off to Jefferson City!
Our first stop in Jefferson City, after stopping at a tiny town along the way because Ane was just sure she would never be able to wait any longer for a restroom and resorting to eating at McDonald's and then finding out we were 10 minutes from Jefferson City and better food... Wait, where was I?
Right, our first stop in Jefferson City was at the State Police Headquarters where we were fingerprinted once again so that we could be written a letter stating we have no criminal record. I did end up getting one of the most unusual compliments of my life when the technician told me in an admiring sort of voice that I have very nice fingerprints. I guess he would know.
With our notarized police letters in hand, along with a whole stack of documents we've been accumulating for the past few months, we traveled next to the State Information Building to have all of our notarized documents state certified. Essentially an additional letter is attached to each document stating the the notary is in fact an actually person authorized by the state to notarize letters. The estimated wait of about 10 minutes was more like 30. The kids, especially Juniper, had a great time running up and down the halls. The information building is beautiful with lots of natural light because it has a open, atrium like structure through the middle of the building, around which the halls and offices are located. Think of a fancy hotel except instead of looking down into the lobby/restaurant/pool area from the open hallways you're looking down into a library. And then imagine you're in the library and up on the third floor there are kids running up and down the hallways and a toddler shouting "Hi!" and waving down at you. And thus is how we spent our time waiting for the certification. The good news is that we could have waited weeks for certification if we had sent the documents by mail instead of walking them in person. The information building is right across the parking lot from the beautifully grand state capitol building, but after the show our kids put on for the folks at the Secretary of State, we decided to take a field trip to the capitol when they are a bit older and more able to appreciate it (read: will not disturb hard working lawmakers).
We decided to stop for ice cream at a highly recommended local shop and head for home.
This morning I went through the documents for like the 20th time, putting them all in order, attaching a letter to our social worker, and writing out the largest check of my life. Then I bundled everything together and tied a it up with a ribbon. We had the girls come sit with us and we all laid our hands on the bundle of documents and prayed that God would continue to bless our family on this journey as we turn everything over to our agency.
Emerson and the girls took the dossier to the post office this morning. Emerson said the van, which has been running great, sputtered and died at the stoplight a block from the post office. He revved up the engine and when the light turned green they were on their way. The van ran just fine on the way home. What a minor, odd thing to even mention, except that episode contained a lot of meaning for Emerson. Over and over again since we made the decision to adopt there have been things, odd, sometime minor, sometimes major, that have happened to us that have seemed to us to be very clear deterrents to our adoption. (Side note, I just noticed that our mail box has been hit again.) The van stalling a block away from the post office as Emerson was heading to mail it to our agency reinforced to him again just how opposed this path is that we are walking. We have had our hearts reassured in a vast variety of ways that we are walking in obedience to God's Word and the call his has specifically spoken to our hearts.
Thank you for praying for us as we continue on this journey of faith. We've come to the tremendously freeing (or fear-inducing) stage of knowing that everything is out of our hands. After our dossier takes a quick trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Ethiopian Embassy, we will be assigned our number on the waiting family list. And then we wait..... Just this morning I read the weekly program update sent out by our agency. 10 babies were referred to families this week. Five boys and five girls. All 10 babies were between 3 and 6 months old. The families had waited between 5.5 and 11 months for their referrals. 5.5 months! I bet those parents nearly fainted with the unexpectedly early phone call! And now we will be numbered with the waiting multitude. For how long? Well, just like our dossier now, that's really out of our hands.
Our first stop in Jefferson City, after stopping at a tiny town along the way because Ane was just sure she would never be able to wait any longer for a restroom and resorting to eating at McDonald's and then finding out we were 10 minutes from Jefferson City and better food... Wait, where was I?
Right, our first stop in Jefferson City was at the State Police Headquarters where we were fingerprinted once again so that we could be written a letter stating we have no criminal record. I did end up getting one of the most unusual compliments of my life when the technician told me in an admiring sort of voice that I have very nice fingerprints. I guess he would know.
With our notarized police letters in hand, along with a whole stack of documents we've been accumulating for the past few months, we traveled next to the State Information Building to have all of our notarized documents state certified. Essentially an additional letter is attached to each document stating the the notary is in fact an actually person authorized by the state to notarize letters. The estimated wait of about 10 minutes was more like 30. The kids, especially Juniper, had a great time running up and down the halls. The information building is beautiful with lots of natural light because it has a open, atrium like structure through the middle of the building, around which the halls and offices are located. Think of a fancy hotel except instead of looking down into the lobby/restaurant/pool area from the open hallways you're looking down into a library. And then imagine you're in the library and up on the third floor there are kids running up and down the hallways and a toddler shouting "Hi!" and waving down at you. And thus is how we spent our time waiting for the certification. The good news is that we could have waited weeks for certification if we had sent the documents by mail instead of walking them in person. The information building is right across the parking lot from the beautifully grand state capitol building, but after the show our kids put on for the folks at the Secretary of State, we decided to take a field trip to the capitol when they are a bit older and more able to appreciate it (read: will not disturb hard working lawmakers).
We decided to stop for ice cream at a highly recommended local shop and head for home.
This morning I went through the documents for like the 20th time, putting them all in order, attaching a letter to our social worker, and writing out the largest check of my life. Then I bundled everything together and tied a it up with a ribbon. We had the girls come sit with us and we all laid our hands on the bundle of documents and prayed that God would continue to bless our family on this journey as we turn everything over to our agency.
Emerson and the girls took the dossier to the post office this morning. Emerson said the van, which has been running great, sputtered and died at the stoplight a block from the post office. He revved up the engine and when the light turned green they were on their way. The van ran just fine on the way home. What a minor, odd thing to even mention, except that episode contained a lot of meaning for Emerson. Over and over again since we made the decision to adopt there have been things, odd, sometime minor, sometimes major, that have happened to us that have seemed to us to be very clear deterrents to our adoption. (Side note, I just noticed that our mail box has been hit again.) The van stalling a block away from the post office as Emerson was heading to mail it to our agency reinforced to him again just how opposed this path is that we are walking. We have had our hearts reassured in a vast variety of ways that we are walking in obedience to God's Word and the call his has specifically spoken to our hearts.
Thank you for praying for us as we continue on this journey of faith. We've come to the tremendously freeing (or fear-inducing) stage of knowing that everything is out of our hands. After our dossier takes a quick trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Ethiopian Embassy, we will be assigned our number on the waiting family list. And then we wait..... Just this morning I read the weekly program update sent out by our agency. 10 babies were referred to families this week. Five boys and five girls. All 10 babies were between 3 and 6 months old. The families had waited between 5.5 and 11 months for their referrals. 5.5 months! I bet those parents nearly fainted with the unexpectedly early phone call! And now we will be numbered with the waiting multitude. For how long? Well, just like our dossier now, that's really out of our hands.
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