I like to sign my name.

Yesterday we signed our names more times than I care to count. We completed the orientation packet and had everything notarized. Now it is in the mail and on its way to AGCI in Portland. Once they receive our packet, along with a hefty first payment we will be on our way to even more paper work, notarizing, and signing. They estimate that dossier paperwork will take 3 to 6 months. I plan on attacking it like a full time job. I may be too optimistic but I am aiming for 2 months... especially since we have been compiling some of the same stuff in our homestudy.
I hope that my posts don't get too boring... just a LOT of papers for now.

Answers when we weren't even asking questions.

Providence is at work. God has been guiding us to and through this adoption. We decided to get started at the beginning of 2010. We initially requested an infant under 12 months on our pre-app. Traditionally first time parents start with a baby (birth or adoption). Then again, nothing about the way we are becoming parents is traditional. When submitting our formal application we prayed, discussed, and marked under 24 months.
Recently God has been stirring our hearts even more. We were discussing bringing home our future child, fully aware of the fact the s/he is already living in Ethiopia right now. We have no idea what circumstances s/he is living in. I told David that we should change our request to an even older child. He absolutely agreed. God had been working in both our hearts at the same time, giving us an answer to a question we didn't know we were asking. Since we are so young we probably will be on the list for a child 3 or under. (you generally have to be 21 years older than the child)
You might wonder, why are we choosing an older child? All children are a blessing and we just want to be parents. We are around so many babies and as a nanny I have atleast had a "baby" experience. The majority of adoption applications processed are for an infant. My heart kept wondering about the older kids, how long will they wait for a home? Does a child who enters the orphanage when they are two wait another two years for a home? I love that the Holy Spirit is working in my life, my heart, and marriage. It must be Providence that Dave and I heard him speaking the same vision for our family. It would be really cool if we could get a sibling referral, but that is totally out of our hands.
On Friday we had our conference call with AGCI... and guess what?! We shared our desire to adopt an older child AND THE WAIT TIME IS LESS THAN HALF OF AN INFANT REFERRAL! We still have tons of paperwork and waiting for things to be approved by different agencies and governments but could be preparing to meet our kiddo is as early as six months from now.

My Yellow Brick Road

The road isn't yellow, instead it is black and white papered and leads to Addis Ababa, not the Emerald City.

I can't believe we are finally at this point. I have dreamed about it most of my life (really). Adoption has always been a subject of interest and common conversation topic for David and I. Now, we are really doing it! The clearances have come back, home study is underway, and we just received our international agency paperwork in the mail. I can't explain all that I feel... I am honestly a bit overwhelmed, but mostly full of joy. The paper chase... daunting, the cost... huge, the journey... magnificent.
As I looked over the documents and all that is to come in the next months I couldn't even get a handle on all my emotions. My eyes welled up with tears, and I couldn't stop smiling, my heart even seemed to beat with a certain intensity. Redundant, I know, but I seriously can't even fathom the road ahead, but here we go... finally embarking upon this journey that I have been called to and dreamed about since I was just a kid.
This Kansas girl is lovin' it!
If only I could click my ruby slippers together and be there now.

Nemo

Just as Dory in Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." I am constantly playing the words through my head and sometimes I say them out loud. "Just keep waiting/praying/hoping/loving, just keep..." Lots of waiting and praying.
Things are going well. Yesterday (Thursday) we had our second homestudy visit. We got to talk about marriage. It was a great to talk about my amazing husband and nice to reflect on the past 3 years of marriage, 5 1/2 years of being together, and almost 20 years of knowing eachother. I think that sometimes life gets so busy that I don't take enough time to reflect on the past and the wonders of today. Of course I always know that David is an incredible man and fabulous husband; we have such a great time together and love to dream about the future. I truly enjoyed answering the questions and am so glad that we share the love we do. Sometimes it is easier to realize just how truly blessed I am when was asked to talk about the one I love.

I hope our kiddo likes Nemo.

One visit down 3 more to go!

We finally met our social worker from Lutheran Family Services. She was great and the time was a blessing. Ahh how I love to talk about adoption, and the way God has prepared our hearts for each of these moments. It was kind of fun answering her questions. An important step forward. (Once we finish the homestudy and the social worker writes the report... it will go through a series of approvals and then we can be put on the waiting list.) Pray with us that there won't be too many, hopefully no hiccups along the way. We will be working as quick as possible to prepare the dossier (massive paperwork for International adoption) in the next few weeks or months... not quite sure yet how that will all work out!
Halleluiah! We are moving forward.
I am praising God today for all the little blessings coming together to make it all happen. Exhausted and rejoicing about all of the extra jobs! Pray with us and for us as we venture into the DEEP paperwork, I hope to escape without too many paper cuts.
Next meeting: Thursday afternoon!

Movement

Tomorrow will mark a milestone in the adoption process. We will finally have our first homestudy visit. I am sure a lot of behind the scenes background check work has been being done the last few months, but it will be great to see something happening. I am excited to meet our social worker, Melissa. We have been talking to her via email or phone since the fall. She seems really sweet.
I will update again when I have more news.
In the mean time, God is revealing so much more to us each day as he breaks our hearts for the world. Wow, how it hurts to even think these days. The more I read, the more I know, the more I am broken... praying to BE the CHANGE we are wishing to see in THE WORLD. I used to think being content was a good thing... in some respects it is. We are content with what we have, we do not need or want for anything (well maybe want but nothing necessary). We are happy with wherever God lands us. Life is a journey and a circus... and we are loving living in it. Okay, back to content and how it is or can be BAD. David and I have been discussing how we should never truly be content with the world and the status quo. God designed us for more. We should never stop doing, the world is in desperate need of love and change. I don't ever want to fall into a routine of completely content... where I am comfortable with not caring about the needs of others. I also am aware that we are only two people, and can't do it all by ourselves.