Our Journey - Successful Summer Adoption Update

GREAT news...we received our approval from the Immigration Department this week!

John David was very excited to officially
drop off our Immigration envelope at UPS.

After receiving our official home study write up the first week of June (thank you to our awesome social worker for working so quickly), we immediately rushed to overnight all of our paperwork to Immigration. 

Once Immigration received and processed our application, they sent us appointments to have our biometric fingerprints done the first week of July.

Our sweet little helper at our fingerprint appointment at the
Immigration office (John David decided it would be more
fun to play at a friend's house...I didn't blame him). 

Initially the Immigration Department estimated it would take about 2 1/2 months to receive their decision.  So as you can imagine, it came as a huge surprise to get our approval letter in the mail this week, almost a month earlier than expected.  I was a bundle of nerves opening the letter...

After the initial shock sunk in that we successfully completed another major step in this process, I realized I am now "behind" in our paperwork. Initially I hoped to have all of our paperwork ready so when we received our response from Immigration everything could immediately be mailed off to Ethiopia.  However since our approval came early, my procrastination caught up to me. 

SO this upcoming week is going to be CRAZY.  On the agenda...
1) Additional financial statements from the bank
2) More reference letters 
3) Fill out forms...LOTS of forms
4) Local Criminal Clearances (to go along with the federal, state and Immigration ones we already have)

Please pray for quick turn around times and fast responses from everyone involved this week.  As soon as we can get all of this final paperwork finished and submitted to Ethiopia, we will officially be placed on the waiting list.  Also please pray for patience from our sweet little ones (and mommy) as they tag along to all of our appointments this week.

Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in every situation, by prayer and petition, 

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6      

Quick Update

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything...the past month was crazy busy trying to finish up our education hours, getting all of our medicals and physicals done, completing last minute paperwork, etc.
 
But we have GOOD NEWS...our home study is officially DONE!!! 

Now while we wait for our social worker to write up our official home study document, we have begun our application for the Immigration Department and our Dossier for Ethiopia...which is really just a fancy way of saying we are continuing "the paper chase."
 
We ask that you please pray everything continues to go smoothly; specifically that our social worker can write up our home study quickly (because we can't officially send off our paperwork for Immigration approval until we have that document) and that we receive all of the other official documents we need and are waiting on as soon as possible.

I also ask that you please pray for my hubby...during our physicals something minor came up in one of his tests.  We have been assured that it is most likely nothing serious, but he is having some additional tests/procedures done next week to ensure that everything is okay.  Even though this does not affect our adoption process, I ask that you please pray everything goes well and the test results come back favorably.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and continues to pray for us on this journey, we are so grateful for your love and support!

And finally be on the look out for BIG NEWS coming next week...

Our Journey - Good News and Bad News

WOW!  The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of paperwork...

Between mailing our first set of forms and documents into our agency,


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Running around (with my sweet little helper) to get fingerprinted,

Saying "cheese" while we waited our
turn for FBI fingerprinting



Thank you to the Roswell Police Department...
she was a huge hit with the police officers who kept her
entertained while mommy did her GBI fingerprints!

and getting all of these additional documents and pictures together,
  













we were finally ready for our first home visit with our social worker.

Then after HOURS of cleaning, the crazy snowstorm hit Atlanta and we were forced to reschedule.  Sigh...

Luckily we were able to reschedule fairly quickly and I am thrilled to announce that
our home visit was a HUGE success!  (By the way, shout out to our social worker...she makes talking about subjects that aren't always the most comfortable feel like a walk in the park.)

 

 
Glowing from our success, I wasn't expecting to get a call from our adoption agency the next day with bad news!

When we started our adoption process the average length of time for Ethiopia adoptions was 2-3 years.  However, due to some intercountry changes our agency informed us that the timeline is now closer to 3-5 years! 

Devastation doesn't even begin to explain what I felt in my heart...I love this child as if I already know him/her...so immediately I thought how can I possibly wait 3-5 years to hold him/her in my arms???

Understanding our shock and devastation, our agency said we could always explore other programs and look into possibly switching to another country.  In weighing our options, my husband and I wondered if God was trying to give us a sign...are we on the right path???

 Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

         and he will establish your plans.       

                                     Proverbs 16:3              

 In their hearts humans plan their course,

but the Lord establishes their steps.

  Proverbs 16:9

 

Trying to understand God's plan for your life can be challenging to say the least...I often find myself asking (really it's more like begging) God for an obvious answer for what He wants me to do.  And usually I don't get a clear answer to my questions...so as Christians what are we supposed to do?

 

Honestly, I don't have the answer (sorry)!  But I can tell you that both my husband and I decided to go with our heart...SO we are sticking with Ethiopia!  Are we praying the timeline will be shorter...of course! But without a clear sign from God all we can do is pray that the feelings in our heart are the Holy Spirit speaking to God's plan.

 

AGAIN I am going to ask you to please pray for our family...

• Pray as we prepare for our individual interviews with the social worker
• Pray that God will give us peace while adjusting to the new timeline
• Pray for our child, who we desperately long to hold in our arms

 

PARENTS - WE'D ALL GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

One thing we hear a lot when people first learn about our adoption is "what an amazing thing you are doing."   Although we usually give a standard answer of "thank you, we are very excited" I often find myself wanting to SHOUT "it's not amazing, we are simply normal loving parents." (By the way if you said this in the past or say this in the future please don't worry...this post is simply me expressing what is on my heart.)

When we accepted God's plan that our next child was going to come into our family through adoption I immediately felt this child was OURS (in the earthly sense because we are all really God's children).  God created this child just for our family and for us to parent with the only difference being simply his/her unconventional method of "delivery."  (see side note below)

I instantly fell in love with our child...the same way I fell in love with my first two children when I discovered I was pregnant.  As a result, I am simply doing what any other loving mother would do for her child...whatever it takes!  Yes, we are navigating through an extensive process.  Yes, the journey is going to be long and difficult.  BUT the truth is...I would go to the ENDS OF THE EARTH for my children.  And I bet most of you reading this blog post would do the same thing for your children.

So we aren't really doing anything all that amazing.  We are simply doing what other normal loving parents do for their children everyday too...being a parent is a long, difficult and extensive process in itself.

I recently saw this quote and feel it perfectly describes a parent's love for a child...

“Only God can give us a selfless love for others, as the Holy Spirit changes us from within."
Billy Graham



SIDE NOTE - I know some of you will say "wasn't this child created for his/her biological parents" and you are right.  The short answer to this hard question (which I hope to blog about someday) is - we believe God created this child with the unique opportunity to have two sets of parents, his/her biological parents and then us, his/her "forever family." (Although this is not one of my favorite terms, since I believe a child's biological parents are also his/her "forever" family, it is commonly used in adoption and at this moment I can't think of a better way to phrase it...any suggestions are welcome.)

A New Year - Goals and Challenges

As we go into 2014 most of us set goals for the new year; hoping to make this year even better than the last. As my husband and I discussed our own ideas on what the new year will bring, we realized we were not only making plans for a successful year ahead but were also planning for the challenges we already know we will face.

Before starting the adoption process, I researched and read a lot about the challenges we would encounter; the unending paperwork, the waiting, the delays, etc. In fact my husband and I have discussed (and thanks to my patient husband continue to discuss almost daily) these challenges in great depth. I hoped the more we discussed these challenges, the more prepared we would be and the easier they would be to handle. But now that we have officially started the paperwork phase...and by paperwork I mean mounds and mounds of "organized" chaos in the form of paper...I find myself struggling with "if this is God's plan for us then why isn't this journey easy." I mean seriously, how many times can two people sign their names; and we are nowhere near done.

I like to think that we are pretty decent people and we strive to live by His example. Don't get me wrong, I am a sinner just like everyone else and some days are better than others. However, I am reminded that many "good" people in the bible struggled; in fact if I am honest those people sinned much less than I do. I think of Job, who suffered even though he felt he had done nothing to deserve it. And Abraham and Sarah, who waited many years for God to fulfill his promise. If God let these people struggle, why do I think I am any different? The truth is, God never promised us an easy life. In fact, we are all guaranteed to encounter challenges along our journey.

Going into 2014, I've decided that one of my goals is to rely solely on God during all the challenges He has planned for me this year. SO in an effort to make this year even better than the last, I hope that you will remind me of this goal when I am struggling with the many challenges we will face this year in our adoption process. In return I will pray that you too know God's love whenever you face challenges in the upcoming year.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13

Remember we can all glorify God's kingdom in everything we encounter, especially the challenges!

Our Journey - Ethiopia

IT'S OFFICIAL...we were accepted into our adoption agency's Ethiopia program yesterday!!!  We shed tears of joy and I did my "happy dance" (one of the many things this mommy does that embarrasses my kids).  Even a day later, I find myself randomly smiling and with butterflies of excitement in my stomach at the thought that we are one step closer to bringing our child HOME!

We know some people will not understand our decision to adopt internationally, especially when there are so many children locally that need families.   We strongly believe EVERY child deserves a family!  However, my husband and I always felt God leading our hearts toward international adoption.  One question we are expecting to receive a lot is "Why Ethiopia?"  While our initial response is "why not Ethiopia," our decision to adopt specifically from Ethiopia has been a journey in itself. 

Our journey to the Ethiopia program was not without its hiccups.  We both strongly felt God calling us to adopt but we didn't initially feel God leading us to a specific country.  After researching our agency's international adoption programs, we narrowed it down to China and Ethiopia.   We initially approached our agency about China because that process simply looked "easier."  However the entire time we were working on being accepted into the China program, I felt unsettled.  Looking back, we realize my unsettled feeling was God nudging us to His path. 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11 

The moment we spoke with our agency's Ethiopia program, my unease immediately subsided.  My husband and I always felt a pull toward Africa.  Having gone to Africa for our honeymoon, we both feel a piece of Africa always stayed with us.   5 years later we feel like we are coming full circle, going back to the place where we first celebrated our marriage.

As we begin the next step of our journey (the paper chase) we take with us the lessons we have already learned while "growing our faith through family"...as long as we follow where God leads our hearts, we can trust He is guiding us down the "correct" path.

Our Journey - Growing our Faith Through Family

I've gone back and forth on whether a blog is truly the right forum for sharing our family's story.  We ultimately decided this would be a great way to not only document, but also share, our journey with friends and family.  So we have BIG news...WE ARE GROWING!
This past May, after months of subtle (and some not so subtle) nudges, I woke up one morning knowing God had big plans for our family.  He wanted us to grow...in both numbers AND faith...and He wanted us to do it through ADOPTION.

Quick back story...adoption is something we have discussed so the idea was not a new concept for us.  However we always agreed it was something we would look into in the future when our current children were older.  As a result, it came as a big surprise to me and an even bigger surprise to my husband when I told him this was something God wanted us to do NOW.  God laid this on my heart...if we were going to grow our family biologically we would do it now, so why were we pushing the idea of growing through adoption into the future?

After a few months of praying and lots of research, we finally decided on an adoption agency.  Then came putting all of our personal life details on to paper, which was not as easy as I imagined.  On November 19th we officially submitted our application! And so the process begins.  This will be a long and often difficult process and we know our friends and family will have questions along the way.  We may not always have the answers but our hope is that this blog allows us to share God's plans for our family the best way we can.  This journey is a complete act of faith and we are completely trusting that God will provide for us along the way. 

For now, we ask that you please pray...pray for God's will to be done, pray for our future child we long to hold and pray that our family's FAITH continues to grow as we grow our family.