the PUZZLE Update

These are pictures of what we have sponsored so far. For more information, click on "the PUZZLE" link in the right-hand column.

Dossier Update

Well, our dossier arrived safely into the hands of our family coordinator at our adoption agency yesterday afternoon. I was tracking it all day via FedEx! Now it will be reviewed by them and then taken to the U.S. Department of State, and Ethiopia’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. for authentication and certification. They said it should be ready to be shipped to Ethiopia one week from today!

OUT OF OUR HANDS!!!!!!

YAY!!! We received our USCIS approval in the mail today (earlier than expected) which set off the chain of events (crazy!) for our afternoon, ending in FedEx-ing our dossier to our agency! Now they will check it over and then it's off to Ethiopia!!!!! It is just surreal to me right now that we're finally done with the paperwork stage! Unless there's a problem with our dossier, it should be sent over with in a couple of weeks. It was a little scary, and yet such a blessing to be finally mailing everything in!

Also, we had a phone interview with Katelyn's Fund last night - an organization that offers adoption grants. We think the interview went well and they ended it by each of the 5 of them going around and praying for our family. It was hard to hear some because of it being a conference call, but I heard most of it, and it was such a blessing! Here were these 5 people who we've never met, but because we have all been adopted into God's family, we share that common bond. It was such an encouragement to hear them pour out their hearts to God on our behalf - their hearts that truly have a burden for and "get" this ministry of adoption! They will let us know in 3-4 weeks if they will be able to fund any part of our adoption expenses.

And, one of the "little" things - I'll try to condense this - one of the things we had to do this afternoon to tie up the last few loose ends was take this one form to be notarized b/4 we took it to the Sec. of State's office to be certified. So, we stopped at our bank on our way downtown - quick in and out, no problem, right? Turns out (found this out at the Secretary of State's office) that her notary or whatever you call it had been renewed but she put her old date . . . might have been able to work around that, but she also put the wrong county (where she worked instead of where she lived). Had to think on my feet and do several things then - when back to our bank (just happens to be a branch in the same building, right down the hall from the SOS office), then a few blocks down to the Indiana State Public Library to print out a new form, had to get a library card (which was free, thankfully), and then found out that print-outs would cost $0.25 and I literally had 2 pennies in my purse. Called Joe to see if he had $ and fortunately he had a dollar in his wallet. Then went onto my yahoo mail account and couldn't find the email w/ the document attached that I needed. So, I called our family coordinator at our agency, who I had tried to call 2 other times today and got voice mail, and SHE WAS THERE and was able to email me the form right on the spot!! Then we (yes, all 6 of us) walked 2 blocks back to the bank to notarize that form, then back to the SOS office and then as I was walking out, Praise the Lord, I saw that the SOS office actually did their part wrong! They easily fixed it, thankfully. So, in all that, she was there! I even tried calling her back again this afternoon and got her voice mail - but when we needed her, God allowed her to be there, at her desk, ready to take my call!!

Okay, and a puzzle update. We are so thankful that people have begun to sponsor some pieces of our puzzle. We hope to be able to get the sponsored pieces put together in the next few days so we can post a picture of the progress. If you're interested in reading more about this, just click on "The PUZZLE" in the right-hand column.

"Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 100

Puzzles and Unexpected Blessings

First of all, you will notice a picture/link to the right-hand side of this page for "the PUZZLE". This is a well, a . . . hmmm, how do I put this gently . . . okay, I'll just say it, it's a fundraiser! :o) We have prayed and talked and thought and prayed and talked and . . . you get the picture . . . over the idea of fundraisers. We are not comfortable with bombarding anyone and everyone we know and asking them to buy junk that they probably don't even need and would probably be buying purely out of guilt anyway! So, when this idea came across our plate, we found it very interesting.

The PUZZLE is named, I know very creatively ;o), because it is centered around a puzzle. We have purchased a puzzle that we will be putting together for our Ethiopian child(ren). We will put the pieces of the puzzle together only as each piece is sponsored. Those who choose to participate may sponsor one piece, a few, or many. We will then write the name of the sponsor on the back of each piece - what a beautiful memory and testiment to God's love and faithfulness, for us and our child(ren)! If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity to join is in adoption, just click on the "the PUZZLE" picture.

The sponsorships are not tax deductible. If you are interested in participating with us financially in this adoption but are concerned about tax deduction, we have also qualified for The Eternal Family Fund through our adoption agency. If you choose to donate through this fund, your donation would be tax deductible. However, in order to comply with the law, they say they will try to honor the donor's wishes, but they cannot guarantee that all funds donated in our name will actually go to us. There is also a set amount that we qualify for through this fund. If donations in our name exceeded the specified amount, those funds would belong to the Eternal Family Fund to fund other adoptions. If you are interested in hearing more about this option, please email me and I will gladly send you the information (jsjgmcdaniel@sbcglobal.net).

We visited USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) today to have our fingerprints taken. Our appointment wasn't for another 10 days, but they allowed us to be seen early!!! They now have all of the information that they need in order to process our immigration form - the final piece of paper needed for our dossier!! It could still be another 6 weeks until we receive that from them, but we're hoping it won't take that long . . . we'll see! Then I went to Kinko's and spent $30 making copies of all of the paperwork - that's a lot of copies!!

Thank you so much for your time in keeping updated on what is happening in our adoption process. And we could never express to you how much we appreciate your continued prayers during this process!!

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"
Psalm 115:1

More Answer Days!!

We received our appointments for our fingerprinting for our immigration papers in the mail today. Once USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) has this info., they can process our application and give us the final piece of paperwork that we need to send our dossier to Ethiopia!!!

We also received a sizable check this week toward our adoption expenses. It is so exciting, obviously, to get closer to being able to pay required fees. But equally, if not more, exciting is the encouragement of seeing others sacrificially step out in faith and join us in this adoption journey! Our God is so good, and we are privileged to be serving Him!!

Psalm 145:1-3
"I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable."

An Amazing Story

There has been a lot of controversy about this new movie and it's negative portrayal of orphans and adoption, but that is not why I am posting this article(click here to read article). I read it this morning on American World Adoption (our adoption agency)'s blog and was in tears. It is an amazing story, and makes me so anxious to meet and hold our Ethiopian child(ren) (Lord willing!!).

Shout for JOY!

It seems there are many days in life, and especially on this adoption journey, that are spent trusting, praying and, yes, . . . waiting. The waiting days are hard, but necessary. Praise the LORD for the answer days!

We received word last Monday (9/13) that our final home study had been mailed to us! We received that the next day, making it just one day shy of 11 weeks total from start to completion for our home study. But it's done!!

Also that same Monday we received an unexpected escrow refund check in the mail from our mortgage company for a little over $400!

The day we received our home study in the mail, I was able to put it with our USCIS application in the mail. I also emailed another family in Indiana who has adopted from Ethiopia, and they had a much shorter wait for their form to be processed than the estimated 6-12 weeks. No guarantees, of course, but after how long our home study took, it was just encouraging that there's at least a possibility that we'll get that form back sooner rather than later!

And I called last week to find out the cost of having our dossier authenticated by the Secretary of State's office. The lady I talked to informed me that there is NO CHARGE for this service, so the money we had budgeted toward that cost can now go toward our next set of fees!

I spent every moment I could find last week filling out grant applications and gathering the needed information. I had no idea there was so much information and paperwork involved with applying for grants! I have a few loose ends to tie up, and then we should be able to get the applications in the mail early next week. Obviously there are no guarantees that we will receive any grants, but now that we have our home study completed, we at least qualify to apply for some. We are trusting the Lord to continue to provide as He leads, whether that's through grants or other means.

Joe took the teens to The Woodlands Camp this week, so the kids and I spent Monday through Thursday with Joe's parents at their house. It was a lot of fun for the kids, less worry for Joe knowing we were there, and definitely made the kids' "daddy-less" week go a little faster. So that's why it's taken me until now to update our blog with these wonderful answers to prayer!

Time Line??

Probably the one question we get most often in regard to adoption is what the time line is and where we are on it. So, I am going to try to explain that, along with an update of where we are currently in the process.

Our adoption process officially started with application to our adoption agency. The estimate for total time is 14-24 months from the time you apply until you are home with your child(ren). Of course that can vary greatly along the way for a number of different reasons. Once we were accepted into their Ethiopia program, we began what is called the "Paper-chase" part of the process, also called "paper pregnancy". The estimate for completing this phase is 4-6 months. There are a number of different documents that need to be collected during that time, including the home study. Once we have collected all of the needed documentation, together it is called our dossier, we send that to our adoption agency to review and send to Ethiopia for translation and their consideration. At that point, we are waiting for our referral, usually for several months. The referral is information, usually very limited, on a specific child or children that are a potential match for our family. If we choose to accept the referral, a court date will be set in Ethiopia, usually a few months after that. Once we pass court, we will plan our trip to go get our child(ren). There are some things to be completed while in Ethiopia, but I don't know the specifics on that. Once we are home with our child(ren), they are officially and legally ours, but there will be some things still to follow-up on such as post-placement visits and re-adoption (having to do w/ name change, etc.).

So, that's the general time line. Where we are is in the paper-chase. We have all of our paperwork that is possible for us to have completed at this point - in fact, we have for several weeks now. We are still waiting on our final home study. We applied for our home study at the end of March, but they didn't schedule our first appointment (official start) until the end of April. At that point their estimate was 7 weeks to complete the home study . . . it has now been 10 1/2. Once we have our home study, we can immediately proceed to the next step which is an immigration form that has to be applied for through USCIS. The estimate is that it will take 6-12 weeks to receive our approval. Once we have that form, we can take our paperwork to the Secretary of State for authentication and it is ready to go to our adoption agency for transmission to Ethiopia.

Of course, there are fees and costs all along the way in this process. The Lord has been so good to us and, so far, we have not had to delay any of the steps due to finances. We have the money order already for the USCIS form and enough in the bank to pay for State authentication. We will then need $7,200 in order to get our paperwork sent to Ethiopia. We do not have that amount yet, but have a small fraction of it saved. If we get to the point where our paperwork is completed but we still do not have the total $7,200, we will have to wait until we have it in order for our paperwork to go to Ethiopia. After that, I believe there will be no fees until the referral stage when a bigger portion of the fees and travel costs will come up. We sincerely desire to follow God's leading in all of this, and we know He is faithful to guide us, and provide if He continues to lead us down this path.

For those of you who are praying for us, we are always in need of prayer for our faith and wisdom. We also request your prayer in regard to whether we are able to adopt 2 siblings or a single child. We desire to adopt to siblings, but that is rare within the age group that we are adopting. So, when the time of referral comes, if there are not siblings available, we need wisdom to know whether to go ahead and adopt a single child, or wait for siblings. My personal prayer is that God will either grant our desire for the siblings, or change my desires to match His.

HOPE and a FUTURE!!

I am encouraged and amazed by this thought today - just as we do not know the plans He has for us, there are children, literally on the other side of the world, who are waiting (who probably do not even know there is something better out there for them) that do not know that God has already set in motion a plan for them - HIS plan - to give them hope and a future - in this life and the next!!!

Speedbumps & Roadblocks

Wow, as I'm typing this it seems hard to believe that June is already almost done! I say that with amazement that it's only actually been 3 months since we officially started the adoption process. And I say it, honestly, with a bit of sadness and disappointment today as we're in somewhat of an unexpected delay and standstill in the process right now. I know these seeming road blocks are "par for the course" and something that inevitably comes in every stage of life, not just adoption, but I don't think that makes it any less painful. I don't know whether it's because of his "maleness" or because he is older and more mature than I am (Joe assures me it's the second reason ;o) ) but he is able to take all of this a bit more objectively than I am! And I'm thankful for his steadiness, or I'd be a basket case!

In Proverbs 13:12 it says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Obviously I couldn't describe it any better than God does here - things like this just make your heart sick. I have full faith and confidence in my Heavenly Father's soverienty, grace, and love for us and our children . . . but that doesn't mean there's not momentary disappointment when our desires don't match up to His plans - even if it's just the "when" and not the "what" of His plans.

The great thing is the second part of the verse, "but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." We know further in Psalm 37:4 that if we "Delight yourself in the LORD,and he will give you the desires of your heart." Not meaning that God will give us whatever we desire - but by His grace, as we lay our desires and burdens at His feet, He mercifully molds and shapes our desires to be what He wants for us! What a tremendous hope and comfort that is!

So, as I mentioned in the last update or two, we're still waiting on our home study to be completed. It took longer to even get started than it seemed it should and has already taken longer than they estimated it would (even with us having our completed paperwork to them almost 2 months ago now), with it now looking like another few weeks until we'll have our completed home study in hand and be able to move ahead.

We're praying, obviously, that God will move things ahead quickly, but also that I won't be so anxious to move out of this hard spot that I try to manage things on my own - that's a nice way of saying that I pray I won't be manipulative ;o) I pray, as God tells us in the book of James, that He will give me the strength to "consider it all joy" in every circumstance and choose to endure - to remain under - this weight to learn what He has for me . . . I know there will likely be many more of these times ahead in the adoption process, and inevitably in life in general!

On a somewhat lighter note, I just finished, and Joe is finishing up, reading an EXCELLENT book called "Adopted for Life" by Russell Moore - I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, whether you are considering adoption or not. This is not a book with the purpose to convince anyone to adopt, nor a "how to" book on adoption. It is a Biblical look at God's plan of adoption.

Strength in Weakness, Peace Beyond Comprehension!

We finished up our school year on May 22, but it feels like we're just now starting summer break - it has been crazy busy! The last few weeks have been spent with getting ready for a huge yard sale, in addition to the regular business of our house.

Our yard sale was this past Friday and Saturday, and it was HUGE!! Several people donated items for our sale, and we are so thankful. There was so much stuff that it took us over 3 hours to set up Friday a.m., and there were still items we forgot to put out. Our sale went well Friday, and we were exhausted . . . then after dinner Friday night Madie's ear started hurting so we got to spend some time in immediate care that night. Turned out she had a double ear infection - poor girl!! Saturday, to our surprise, was an extremely slow day. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty worn out and discouraged and not wanting to talk about possible plans of doing it all again this weekend ;o) Early on as we planned this sale, I knew we had enough funds in the bank to pay our next "step", which is the last 1/2 of the home study cost. Then following that is the immigration form that I mentioned in the previous post. I thought it would be good if we made enough to cover that cost. So, as I was sitting on the couch Sat. evening feeling exhausted and a bit dejected and Joe was counting up what we had made off our sales, I was amazed when Joe told me how much we had made - it was just around $10 more than we need to pay for our immigration form! God is so good to us!!

So we were planning to do the yard sale again this week, starting a little earlier on Thurs. instead of Friday. Even though our sales were good, we still had at least 3/4 of our "inventory" left to sell. We decided we'd list a bunch of stuff on Craigslist and whatever was left we'd try to sell at the yard sale. We ended up getting a great response on some of the items we posted, so we decided not to go ahead with the second weekend of the sale. The plan is to continue to try to sell stuff on Craigslist and then possibly have another yard sale in the fall . . . don't really want to think about that right now ;o)

We also had our last meeting for our home study yesterday. I was so excited to finally have this last meeting. She told us at our first meeting (which took them a month to even schedule to begin with) that she estimated the home study to take about 7 weeks, which is already on the long side as far as home studies go, she said depending on how quickly we get our paperwork done. Well, I thought that was a good sign because by the time we had our first meeting, we had already given her all of our paperwork, even the recommendations from our references, and the only other paperwork she gave us, two weeks later on a Friday, we had completed and returned to her by the following Monday. But by the time we finally were able to schedule this last meeting, it's already been six weeks since we started, and she said it will be about 2-3 weeks until we have our completed homestudy. The amazing thing to me was that after the last few weeks of insane business, I was worn out, and the frustration and disappointment in hearing this news would normally have put me close to tears, if not over the waterfall! But God gave me a true peace in my heart that in no way came from me - I may be self-deceived in many ways, but I think I know myself at least well enough to know that peace is not my typical reaction to these type of situations! I know people were praying for us, and what a true blessing to know the peace of God that passes all comprehension, and to truly feel God's strength through my weakness!!

Okay, sorry for the long update ;o) We were also able over these last several days to get a handful of forms completed, notarized and approved for our dossier. As far as timeline, we're waiting now on the home study to be done (I'm still praying she'll get done more quickly than she estimated ;o) ). As I said in the last update, once we have that in hand, that will set a lot of other gears in motion.

One more thing - probably more than a month ago I requested prayer regarding how we should word our application letter in regard to requesting 2 siblings - should we only request siblings and then possibly wait longer, or should we request a single child if siblings aren't available? Again, we know that God is sovereign in all of this, but we had to put something on paper! We decided to just request siblings. And this is the thought that God used to bring peace to my heart on Tuesday - assuming He brings us through this whole process to completion of adoption, He has the children for us and will have them ready for us and us for them, all in His time! What a blessing to be able to rest and hope in confidence in our Father!

My mind is still a little fried from the last few weeks, so I'm sorry for the long post and that there's probably parts that won't make sense ;o) If you've gotten to this point, thanks for taking the time to read and be updated on what's going on in our adoption process!

"While I'm Waiting"

Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

The Last Two Weeks . . .

Like my creative post title??? Yup, took me days to think of that one . . . feel free to borrow it for your blog :o)

Okay, so it's been two weeks since my last update. In that time, we received Joe's passport and some other needed documents - some reference letters and Joe's employment letter - for our dossier. I was also able to get things - hopefully - cleared up and corrected on our medical forms . . . just waiting on our Family Coordinator - Terra - at the adoption agency to approve them. Long and crazy road to getting medical forms filled out completely and correctly!! I also found out that a friend of ours is a notary, so that will make it a lot easier (and cheaper) to get all of our needed forms notarized.

We were also able to finally set our last meeting for our home study to be completed. That is on the 9th, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to have our completed home study "in hand" within the next few weeks. Assuming we're approved, once we have that, we can send our I-600a application in (for immigration, visa's, etc. for the child(ren)) and begin the 6-12 week waiting process for our approved form. Also, with the completed home study, we are then eligible to apply for several grants as well as our agency's Eternal Family Fund (more about that in a future post!). So, all in all, pretty excited to get the home study completed!

We're going to be very busy this week getting ready for our "Adoption Liquidation Sale" on June 5-6. Basically a huge yard sale, but we are calling this an "Adoption Liquidation Sale" because we are not just selling our unused, unwanteds, and cast-offs. We are trying to liquidate anything and everything we can in order to raise money for our adoption expenses. So there are many nice items available as well as many donated items from friends. I plan to post this on Craigslist soon. Our sale is also coinciding w/ our neighborhood yard sale. If you're in the area, you're welcome to stop by and see if there's anything you need. If not, we'd appreciate so much your prayers for nice weather and good sales!

As we've been looking over our budget the last several months, and recently as we've been talking and planning for this yard sale, I've been reminded so many times that all of our things - no matter how sentimental they may seem - are just stuff. They are temporary! I've been so rebuked at how consumed I can be with making my life more comfortable. As Joe likes to say as of late "it's all gonna' burn up!" We laugh, but it's so true! But what time, energy and finances God allows us to invest in the lives of people will last for eternity!

Thank you so much for taking the time to be updated on what God is doing in and through our lives and for your prayers on our behalf!

"Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light."
Psalm 36:5-9

"Picture Pages"

Okay, so one of the documents that we have to put together for our dossier are some picture pages. Since I was born in the late 70's, every time I read or hear someone say "picture pages", the theme song to Bill Cosby's Picture Pages runs through my head. And everytime I say it myself, I have this uncontrollable urge to sing it . . . unfortunately, I don't think Joe ever saw that fun little show, so he just looks at my like I'm insane!

Anyway, some of these pictures I've posted before, but in case you're curious, here are the photos we've included on our picture pages (and YES, I'm singing the theme song in my head right now!!). The requirements are 2 posed pictures of the entire family, 4 family life photos, 1 of the outside of the house and 1 of one room inside the house.







Probably the biggest accomplishment in our adoption process this week was that we were able to complete the rest of the paperwork for our homestudy in time for Joe's meeting w/ our social worker on Friday. We now have a couple's questionnaire to fill out (very long, detailed questionnaire) and submit to our homestudy agency. When our social worker has some of the paperwork through on her part, we will then be able to set our final meeting.

We were able to get our financial statement for our dossier completed (pending notarization), but are still waiting on Joe's passport and a few other documents. We were able to get our medical forms from the doctor early in the week, but . . . I scan and email all dossier documents to our family coordinator at our adoption agency for her to review and "okay" for our dossier. Apparently there were quite a few errors made by the doctors office on the forms, which were notarized (and we had to pay an extra fee for the notary) - not the least of which was that the date of the dr.'s signature did not match the date of the notary . . . to clarify, the entire purpose of getting it notarized is that the notary is witness to the doctor's signature and that is what is notarized. One of the more interesting mistakes is that the doctor dated my form in the year 2008! Most were just a failure to actually completely fill out the form. So, this was all late Friday afternoon and a bit discouraging - especially since there's nothing I can do to clear this up until Monday. But God has not lost control! And, even though I don't like waiting, I am thankful that He's given me a few days "off" to pray and contemplate and, hopefully, react on Monday in a way that is honoring to Him.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary."
Isaiah 40:28-31

A Change of Scenery

I am trying to put an update on here at least every week, so we'll see how it goes. Some weeks are more eventful than others, although all are mostly going to be about paperwork for a while. I know, exciting stuff!

This week we received our certificates of completion for the 8 hours of online adoption training that we finished a few weeks ago. We're still waiting on Joe's passport. We also talked with our doctor's office this week and we should be able to pick up all of our medical paperwork sometime next week.

Thursday I received a call from a local marketing research firm. I've been on their call list for probably about 5 years now and I always take their calls and surveys, but have only qualified to participate in one of their focus groups one time - and ended up I couldn't do that one because of scheduling conflicts. Anyway, on Thursday the girl told me that I qualified for this group, but that the slots for my age group were full, so she'd have to talk w/ her manager to see if they would fit me in and then call me back the next day. She said if she didn't call, then they didn't need me. And, she explained the process. This group actually has 3 meetings, for a total of about 5 hours, and a total payment of $285. She didn't call yesterday, so I figured it was a "no go", but she called me this morning and said they'd like me to participate! Yay! I know it is just a "drop in the bucket" in the grand scheme of adoption expenses, but what an amazing God we serve! For so long I've been on their list and taken their surveys, but never qualified when I could do it . . . until now! And most jobs pay $75-100, and this one could pay a lot more! I will have my first meeting this week for which they will pay me $100. Then if they want me to continue w/ the remaining two meetings, they will pay me the remainder of the total.

We've got some paperwork to finish up this week before our second homestudy meeting on Friday. Then we will be given more paperwork to complete. We are also still working on needed documents for our dossier. And, only two more weeks left of school!

So to conclude this week's update, the post title is simply because I changed the look of the blog. I really liked the previous background but I think it was causing difficulty in being able to pull up the blog. So, hopefully this background will make things a little easier.

This verse has been a tremendous encouragement to me this week:
"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him."
Psalm 62:5

Homestudy beginnings

So, since our last update we've done a few more things. Joe and I both had our physicals last week - SO fun! And had some blood work done to go along with that. We received our state clearance letters and fingerprints, which was a surprise because that was much sooner than they said. We're still waiting on Joe's passport.

Last weekend our family friends, Mike and Babs Hull, had the kids over to do some "yard work" (picking up sticks) to earn some money to put toward adoption expenses. Of course the kids had a great time, and it was such a great opportunity to talk with the kids again about why we are doing this and for them to invest and be involved in the process. We love Mike and Babs and are so thankful that they thought of doing this for the kids!

We had our first meeting (of 3) for our homestudy today. I was a little nervous as I didn't know what kind of questions she'd be asking, but also so very excited to get this part of the process going! She just did a quick walk-through of our home (yes, our house is cleaner than it's been in a long time!) to basically check for space requirements and any safety concerns. She sat down with the kids to ask them a few questions and then for a longer period of time to interview me. That part was a little more difficult than I expected - I usually don't have any trouble dominating a conversation ;o) Joe will go to their offices in the near future to be interviewed. In the mean time, we have a little more paperwork to complete for the home study. After Joe's interview, there will be more paperwork, followed by a third visit at our home. Then she will write up the info. and send it to us and our adoption agency for review before the final draft. This process should take about 6 weeks . . . we'll see!

I know I keep saying it, but thank you to all of you who are getting involved with us in this process by praying for us!

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:7

Paper trail . . .

So, as we continue in this "paper chase" phase, we are working on obtaining documents, information, etc. as we can. Joe and I both applied for our passports a couple of weeks ago. Mine came in the mail yesterday, so we're expecting Joe's soon. I'm working on gathering some needed photos. We've all had our TB tests done, except Joe who has to wait to get his at the dr. b/c he can't get to the health dept. during their testing hours. We've got the kids medical forms completed that are required for the homestudy, and Joe and I both have physicals this week (yay) for our homestudy and our dossier. And a lot of other paperwork, references, etc. in the works.

We spent the afternoon in downtown Indy last Friday. The kids and I spent some time reading and looking at books at Borders while Joe got some more copies of his birth certificate.

Then we walked a few blocks to the government center to submit the paperwork for police clearance letters and be fingerprinted. I thought that part was actually pretty interesting. I met a lady who was being finger printed when we got there - she is in the process of adopting two children from Haiti! Anyway, we should get that paperwork back in a few weeks. Over this past week, we've both been working on our 8+ hours of required online adoption training.

This is the kids waiting for us to be done at the government building - don't they look thrilled to be there? ;o)



The kids watching Joe getting fingerprinted.


Next week we officially begin our homestudy with an in-home meeting where I will be interviewed as well as Joey and Gracie. Joe will be interviewed at a separate meeting at their offices.

For those of you who are praying for us, first of all, we appreciate it so very much! It is so evident to me personally by the peace that God gives in the middle of desire, anticipation and business. It is still struggle to quiet my mind and rest in God, some days harder than others, but it is so clear that people are praying and that He is working. He continues to provide financially as we need it, and we are so grateful! As far as the prayer request in my last post, we have not reached a decision in that area yet. We are praying, as always, for wisdom, faith, and patience! I am also praying that I won't be so consumed with the things going on in my own life that I fail to see the people and the opportunities that God puts around me everyday!

Psalm 62:5-8
"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah"

Prayer Request

When we filled out our application to the adoption agency, we marked that our desire is to adopt two siblings. There was also an option to mark if you were willing to adopt two unrelated children. We decided that we were open to that option as well. However, I talked with our family coordinator yesterday and she informed me that they do not place two unrelated children in one home in the age range that we fit into (Ethiopia's requirement is that the adopted child be at least 12 mos. younger than the youngest child currently in the home). Not a huge deal, but, from a human standpoint, this does lessen the chances that we will be able to adopt 2 children - sibling groups are more rare in that age range. So, still knowing that God is in complete control and that if He wants us to adopt siblings they will be there, in working with our adoption agency and the country of Ethiopia, we do have to set up parameters of what we are looking for. There are a lot of "sub" issues of how specific to get in our preferences, but the big one is deciding if siblings are not immediately available, do we wait for siblings (and how long) or do we go ahead and adopt a single child? So if you are praying for us, besides all of the obvious and ongoing requests of wisdom and financial provision, we would appreciate your prayers for specific wisdom in this area - and that as we pray and seek God's wisdom that He will graciously allow us to be of the same mind.

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
James 1:5

What's been going on?

Okay, so I'm not really sure if/when people check here for updates, what they want to know. A lot is going on, but probably not too exciting for most of you. Over the last week we have set up doctors appointments (need physicals for our homestudy and our dossier), set up our first meeting for our homestudy, gotten lots of paperwork started/ordered, etc. Feels kinda' like we've thrown a bunch of balls in the air and are waiting for them all to come back down. Along with a lot of paperwork comes a lot of questions on my part - wanting to make sure everything is done right to avoid problems in the future - so I'm sure our family coordinator is getting sick of hearing from me!

I have been excited to see how God is providing for us so far. All along the way there are costs to keep things moving - forms, fees, etc. God has allowed for no unexpected big costs to arise over the last few months, has allowed me to keep under budget in groceries, etc., and little things like finding good bargains and deals on things we need - all "little" things that add up to being able to pay all costs that we've needed to so far. I know He will always provide for our needs when He KNOWS we need them - not when I THINK we do! Our God is so good!!

On a personal note, probably my biggest struggle right now is anxiety - big surprise ;o) Not necessarily right now for the adoption to be completed, but since I tend to be task-oriented, I find myself getting anxious to get these steps and paperwork completed to get our dossier ready. I guess feeling like I have some kind of control over how fast this part of the process goes makes me forget so easily that I am NOT the one in control. It's funny, on a human level you'd think that being in control (or thinking you are) would give you some sense of security, but it's just the opposite.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

"Paper Chase"

We just spoke to our family coordinator (our representative at the adoption agency) for the first time today. She sent a lot of paperwork describing the mountain of paperwork, etc. that we're going to be having to do over the next several months - talk about overwhelming! The paperwork portion should take about 4-6 months, at which point we submit all of our documents (dossier) to Ethiopia. The agency calls this paperwork stage the paper chase - hence the title of the post :o)