Happenings

I know I don't post a lot lately, but there really has not been much to post and most days, I do my best to put the adoption in the back of my mind to keep sane. It is very hard to anticipate things progressing day after day and see nothing. Yes, I know it is in God's timing. Reminding me of this makes it no easier and to be honest, I feel like I am getting spit on when someone says that to me. I have a close relationship with God and communicate with Him often. I don't need anyone telling me His truths. I already know them. All I want is people to listen and pretend like they understand how hard this journey is. For this I am very grateful for our agencies yahoo group. We may not have met each other in person, but we understand what each other are going through, pray for each other, shed tears for each other, and rejoice together. I know God enjoys seeing His children loving each other in this way. A while past, the southern region of Ethiopia added a clearance children needed to go through to be paper ready. Although this other step was added, there was something preventing them from being able to process this clearance. I'm not really sure of all the details. Last week, we received an email from our family coordinator stating that this other office (?) is now up and running. WooHoo. The agency did not know how fast they would process clearances or how long things would take. Obviously I would like to know details, but am very happy for a big glimmer of hope. This was good news number one. Good news #2 is that a family who was trying to get an expedited visa to bring their daughter home, was just granted one. YAY!!!! They will be able to leave Ethiopia Wedn or Thurs night and get her to a hospital in the states to have tests done. Praying big for this family that they get answers and treatment so their little girl gets well. The last good news to report is that a family in line for a little girl got a referral yesterday. Praise God! They have been DTE since the end of Aug. 2010. I am very happy that they can see their daughters precious face. Well, that's about it for now. We are still hoping that the flood gates open and the referrals pour out..... soon. We are still number 11, but will post as soon as that changes. Bye for now.

A great day

Today is going to be a good day. This has nothing to do with events that may or may not happen, but about how I make it in my mind. I could choose to look at all the difficult circumstances or I could choose to look at all my blessings. I am grateful for the Lord and for everything He is. The peace that I receive through Him surpasses any temporary gratification that the world can provide. It's easy to keep up with routines and forget about Satan's influence on the world, but when you step back and pay attention, it is so real. Satan doesn't want what is best for us like God does. Instead he feeds us with lies to steer us away from God and His peace. While these lies seem small and harmless, they add up and steer us further from our creator and protector. Today is going to be good because I am aware of Satan and his schemes and I will conquer his lies with God's truth. When I see greed and selfishness creep in, I will go to my Father for strength and humbleness. It is not about us! We are all better off loving others as ourselves and putting others first.

11 month anniversary

Happy, or not so happy, 11 month anniversary to us since being DTE. Courts are now open, but there have been no referrals lately. It has been tough not seeing progression and not understanding why. The agency is still estimating wait times for an infant boy to be between 10 and 16 months, but is expecting the wait times to increase. I guess we are just along for the ride. I am so blessed to have an awesome group of friends in my accountability group who listens, prays, and encourages me. Last week I shared that I've been having pity parties with the whole adoption. They are encouraging me to stay away from the yahoo group, only checking it once a week at most. While this is hard, it's better that way. It has consumed me, as I check it nonstop throughout each day thinking there has to be someone stating that they have received a referral. It's always a big let down. To end on a positive note, even though I am trying not to buy anything for our son until we receive his referral, I got a great deal on a car seat. Since I am a planner, I have known for sometime now the car seat I wanted to get. It just so happened that my friend had that car seat and is selling it because her son has outgrown it. It's in great condition and is only costing me $50. instead of $225 for buying it new. Woohoo. Well, that is it for now.

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.