Referrals in the air and court opening

On Friday last week, two families received referrals. I am hoping this is the beginning of many more to come. Since one of the referrals was for an infant boy, we were able to move up in line. Now we are:

Also, we got an email from our family coordinator saying that court will reopen Wednesday October 12. My hope is that while courts were closed, MOWCYA got caught up on their backlog of cases and was able to work out some of their kinks.

Changes

Brian and I have decided to make some changes to our adoption. Instead of requesting a male 12-30 months, we have changed our request to a male 0-12 months. There were many contributing factors to this, but ultimately, we believe this will be best for our family. Once again, Brian and I were on the same page with this. I spoke with our family coordinator and social worker this afternoon and we have approval. We will need to amend our home study in a few months, but this shouldn't require too much work as papers are beginning to expire anyways. In changing our request we move from #3 to #14 on the unofficial list. I laugh at the craziness of this, knowing we just willingly made our wait time increase at least a few months when we were nearing the end. I also find it humorous that just a few months ago I got rid of all the remaining baby boy clothes we had saved. Oh well. Bye for now.

9 months and waiting

Today marks our 9 month anniversary of being DTE (dossier to Ethiopia). Funny to think that if I had this child through my conceiving him, I would be holding him in my arms, or close to that point. We are still anxiously awaiting "the call," but have become somewhat numb and used to the hardships. My new way of coping has been to remind myself that while I might be disappointed not having our son home, or even knowing who he is for that matter, this wait would be so much worse from the other side. Imagine being the child who has gone through huge losses, major transitions and without a family. They might be wondering if they will ever have the love of a mom and dad again. We know that bearing any unforeseen circumstances, we will be adding a son to our family and can even watch ourselves move up on a list that gives us an idea of when things might progress for us. Our son and all the other orphaned children don't have that. Many of these children will grow up in an orphanage and then be left to fend for themselves on the streets at a young age. When I think about the children, I get more anxious to bring our son out of his difficult circumstances and love on him, but I also feel like a spoiled brat for complaining about my wait, when quite frankly, I am beyond blessed and completely spoiled with luxuries so many will never enjoy. Plus, the longer you wait for something, the more you cherish it, right? Our son will no doubt be cherished, and probably just a little spoiled :) As I wait, I am growing closer to the Lord, growing in faith and trust, working on being more like Jesus in my wife, mom, and Christian role, and trying so hard to be content with where the Lord has me.

East Africa facing Drought

The news coming out of Africa these past few days is hard to read. Southern Ethiopia and the surrounding countries are experiencing a drought that could possibly become the worst in 60 years. We need to stop what we are doing and pray.

Click on the news stories to read:

The West Must Start Heeding Early Famine Warnings

Ethiopia: The Great Trek for Water in the South

Eastern Africa: Half a Million Children "At Risk"

Anniversary's

Over the last 5 days, Brian and I have celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary and today is our 8 month anniversary of being DTE. One anniversary was pleasant to celebrate and the other not so much. I'll let you guess which one is which. It amazes me that every time I go through a rough patch with the adoption, God never leaves me hanging. I was very bummed out when the wait times were extended again, but that rut only lasted a couple of days. Today I am feeling much better. There are so many people who God has brought into my path who have been through the process and are so kind and encouraging. I hope to one day be used by God in a similar way to encourage others. It would be so much easier if my faith would always stay strong, but I have my moments when I am weak. I love that through these trying times, as difficult as they seem, my faith grows stronger through each trial I face. Praise God for that. James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Our wedding anniversary was wonderful. The Baker's watched the kids so we could have a couple of nights to ourselves in Siesta Key. Thank you Lowell! Here are a few of the pictures we took.

Wait Times

AAARRRGGG!!!!! (roll of eyes)

Brian & Anna,

As your family is in the waiting stage of the adoption process, we are writing to inform you of a change to our predicted timeframes between dossier submission and referral.

The wait for a male referral is now predicted to be between 10 and 16 months. The wait for a female referral is now predicted to be between11 and 18 months. Wait times currently show a trend of increasing.

There are many factors that contribute to wait times. Each child’s case can vary in the amount of time it takes to be ready to be referred to a family. America World thoroughly investigates each case and it can take weeks, and at times months, to clear referrals with medical or documentation issues, or to obtain necessary governmental documents/clearances/etc. that are needed before he or she can be referred.

While we know this news is disappointing, we are encouraged to share that MOWCYA has increased the number of recommendation letters they write to 15 per day. We will continue to apprise your family of any other changes that occur, and we are praying for your family and all families in the various stages of the adoption process. Please feel free to let me know if you have any follow up-questions.

Blessings,

God Moments

I absolutely love God moments. Some might call them coincidences, but I know better. Lately, I have been having a hard time following Christ and keeping our communication open. I have been lacking on my daily devotions and quiet time with God, filling my day with much less important things. I don't understand why I do this, but there are times when I put up a wall. Of course, I should know better because every time I do this I end up with a rotten attitude, an anxious heart, and without God's peace (that's the biggest one). Of course I know God eagerly awaits for me to come back and welcomes me with open arms, but I am just so stubborn. Well, over the past week, I have really been trying to get my priorities straight and stop being so stubborn. I had a great girls night with one of my friends from our Bible study, enjoying a pedicure, makeup shopping and dinner at Chili's. We just began doing a summer study on Lisa Whelchel's book "Friendships for Grownups." I find it slightly ironic that this book touches on breaking down walls we create to protect ourselves. It was very nice making time for a friendship for me. I often brush "me time" under the rug, but truly enjoyed making me a priority for the night. By the way, thank you Brian for encouraging me to go out. Anyways, I am getting a bit side tracked. The two God moments are as follows: One- A week ago at church I spotted a couple I had not seen before, so I made my way over to them, introduced myself and invited them to our Adult Bible Fellowship Sunday morning (Brian was not there that Sunday). Last Sunday, I came into ABF and saw Brian talking with them. Well, it was really neat when I found out that they were adopting twins from Romania. I didn't learn this the previous week during the brief introduction. I felt like God set them there to have another couple we could relate to with our adoption journey. I felt like that was a huge encouragement in the midst of my emotionally draining journey (for the moment). And to think, if I ignored the Holy Spirit's nudge to introduce myself, I would have probably not met them. God moment number 2.... Since both of the kids are going to summer camp for a few hours each day this week, I decided to get a massage. While I was in the waiting room, I began reading the Power of a Praying Wife book. At the start of the massage, I started praying for Brian and later in the massage, Unchained Melody (our song) began playing as the background music. Like I said, some might call these coincidences, but I feel like both of these are God reminding me of His great presence. I just love my God and how patient and loving He is with me. I guess my great big stone walls I put up are no match for my Almighty God.... and I am glad about that :)