We are number ONE!!!

We are officially number one on the list waiting for a referral! I never thought we'd get here. So keep checking back. News could be coming any day ...or in a couple weeks, or maybe even in a couple months.... we don't really know for sure in all actuality, but we're excited regardless.

A couple weeks are up....

So a couple weeks have passed, but we still don't have the news we have been anxiously anticipating. Thank you all for hanging in here with us. We remain on the edge of our seats. I continually check the phone for missed calls. We're confident we will get the call sometime soon, but for now I am just focusing ahead and trusting in God's timing.

In the interim, we have a huge prayer request: Ethiopia, in an attempt to improve the adoption process for the sake of the children, will be implementing a two trip requirement for families adopting children. This will go into effect in mid May. This means families that are given a court date (hearing in which the adoption becomes legal in Ethiopia) prior to mid-May will only be required to make one trip to Ethiopia -at which time they will be able to bring their child/children home. This is the situation we have been anticipating and preparing for.

However families who are given a court date after this date in May will be required to make two trips to Ethiopia -one to meet their child and accept the referral in person before the case goes to court, and then another trip to finish the process and bring the child/children home -unless of course families could manage to stay in Ethiopia for the entire time which could be 6-8 weeks or more, which is not an option for us.

While we would LOVE the opportunity to make two trips to Ethiopia and experience more of the culture as well as be able to meet our child/children sooner, their are also some cons to having to travel two times such as the additional financial burden, the decreased amount of time off we will be able to receive once we are home with our child to adjust and bond and also having to meet our child/children and then leave without her/them.

So if we receive our referral in the next couple weeks, we likely will not have to make two trips to Ethiopia. We know God has this planned also and knows exactly how this will work itself out, but we woud appreciate prayer for a speedy referral and court date early in May.

Maybe in a couple weeks....?

Sounds like things could be moving pretty soon. Keep checking back because we may have some information to share in the coming weeks!

Excellence

Excellence is the result of:

Caring more than others think is wise.
Risking more than others think is safe.
Dreaming more than others think is practical.
Expecting more than others think is possible.

Are you willing to strive for excellence?

Nothing really

So I apologize I have not updated our blog in a month. I admit. I have been discouraged. My last post indicated that we were number 4 on the list for one baby and number two for two kiddos. However since then we actually moved DOWN the list instead of up due to varying circumstances with other families also in the adoption process. This was incredibly discouraging news to me, and I didn't have the heart to post here.

However Sean has been so amazing and encouraging to me. He gently reminded me that it doesn't matter what number we are on the list or how many families are ahead of us on the list. God has specifically chosen our daughter (or kids) to be a part of our family. This will all happen in HIS timing regardless of our number.

I contacted our agency again today for an update. We are now again number four on the list for a daughter and we are now number one on the list for twins. When we began the adoption process, it was explained to us that we may have to wait up to 10 months to be matched. When I inquired about this time frame today, I was encouraged to hear that they still anticipate we will receive our referral information within the estimated 10 month time frame -which would be by May 13 (but who's counting?)

Hoping to have more news in the coming weeks. Thank you for your prayers for patience (apparently having two two year olds didn't grant me enough patience) sanity and trusting in God's timing.

One to Eight Weeks & Number 4

Just got another update from WACAP. We have moved up the list one spot since last week, so there are three families ahead of us which will be matched before we are matched. She anticipates to be calling us with our news in anywhere between one and eight weeks.

Number FIVE!

I received an update on our adoption status today. There are only four families ahead of us on the list waiting for referrals similar in age to ours. One of the families is requesting 0-12 months, one is requesting 0-24 months, one is requesting 0-36 months or twins and the other is requesting 10-24 months. …Remember we are also open to adopting twins, which means we’re family number two on the list for twins. It’s becoming more real for me every day, and I am getting very anxious. We're anticipating being matched with our child/children in the early Spring.