Updates

Well, it's been a little less than 3 weeks since our last update and I'm happy to report that we are seeing progress.  I'll be honest and say that my expectations have been low and I had pretty much accepted the fact that we would have major set-backs.

It was almost a month ago that we received the bad news about the Ethiopian adoption program changes followed by my emotional melt-down.  It was during that time that my mom called me on the phone to offer her love and support.  I just listened as she said all the things that I needed to hear at that time.  One of my favorite qualities of my mom is her ability to calm me down and help me see the bigger picture when things seem hopeless.  

That phone call was followed by more phone calls, messages, emails and visits from friends and family who genuinely cared and wanted to express their love and concern.  I can't even express in words how much that meant to us.  We could literally feel the prayers being offered up on our behalf and the last month has been filled with peace and hope.  Hope for the future.  Hope that everything is going to work out just the way it is supposed to.  There hasn't been a moment that we have questioned our decision or wondered if we should just give up.  I know without a doubt that miracles happen and we are seeing them often as we move along in this process.

I got a surprise phone call from our agency on Monday to tell us that we have an official referral!  Initially, we were told that we wouldn't have that until our Dossier was received in Ethiopia.  I was thinking that could be months away and to find out otherwise was a big surprise.  A referral basically means that the children we have identified are officially ours to adopt.  Once we accept the referral, we begin paying the orphanage to care for them until we are able to bring them home.  It also means we can request more detailed information about their backgrounds and health information.  We will also receive regular updates and pictures with progress reports and health conditions.

This week received more detailed information about the children's family and background.  My heart aches.  I look forward to sharing some of the things we've learned but it will have to wait.  I just have to say that these children are incredibly special and have endured more in their short life than most people could even comprehend.  We feel honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to care for these precious children.  It is we who will gain the most from this experience.  We have already grown closer as a family and have obtained a greater perspective of the big picture and about what is really important.

We have a fingerprinting appointment on the 26th in Nashville and hopefully we will get our I600-A approval two weeks after that.  Once we have that approval, we can submit our Dossier.  Our agency seems hopeful that we could possibly have a court date in Ethiopia in July.  That is our hope since the courts close there by August and don't re-open for a month or two.  We are praying hard that things continue to move along at a consistent pace.  I find comfort in knowing that all the stress and worry will someday all be a distant memory.