NUMBER 1 !!!

Found out yesterday that we are now number one on the waiting list for a baby girl. Our agency even knows which orphange has waiting baby girls right now...the probem is all action is on hold right now for that orphanage. Pray that changes soon and then we can get a referral. We would love to see her face before Thanksgiving, but we are not sure that will happen. Please check out one of the blogs that I follow called "ethiopia or bust". I have an Africa necklace from junkposse jewelry that I love and whenever I wear it, others always ask about it. There is a heart right where Ethiopia is located. Amy on the blog "ethiopia or bust" has pictures of more of the necklaces by this great artist. Christmas is coming and for those of you who have a passion for Ethiopia, you may want this on your list. Keep us in your thoughts and as soon as we get the "call", we will let you know.
Count your blessings this Thanksgiving....

coming soon???

We have found out that we are number 2 on the referral list for a baby girl!!!! We have also heard that any day CWA could be receiving paperwork in the mail that would contain referrals for many families. We are hoping to hear something very SOON! Please keep us in your prayers as we await this referral. Pray for our baby's birth parents, her health and our readiness for this big and great change in our lives. We'll let you know as soon as it happens.....

make a statement

Yes, we are still waiting. Yes, we are trying to be patient as we have hit the 5 1/2 month mark. Yes, we are hoping that the original time frame of 6 months will apply to our family since new families are being told 7 to 9 months. We know that God is in control of this adoption beginning to end. We know that He clearly asked our family to go on this journey so we have no choice but to trust His timing and plan. As I have always said, we do have a lot of distractions which helps our family. In the adoption blog world, there are so many things that you can buy, but I have recently found something worth sharing. Check out www.147millionorphans.com. I now have a link at the top right hand corner of this site. I love cool t-shirts and you will find lots of cool and comfy t-shirts on their site. All members of our household now have at least one of these shirts. The best part is that the money raised from the selling of shirts goes to feed orphans in Uganda. Buying one shirt is equivalent to providing one meal a day for a week to an orphan. The other great part is you can help increase other's awareness of the orphan crisis in the world. I have had on the baseball shirt today that says on the front "147 million orphans" and on the back it says "feed 1". I think so many people don't realize how many children are suffering and need our help. Also check out ordinary hero under blogs that I follow. Amazing stories! Just wanted to share.... We'll keep you updated. Pray for a phone call in October. :)

waiting...waiting...waiting...

So many of you have asked for an update, but really nothing has changed. We have been on the wait list for four months now. Some days it is easier to wait than others. I think that we all thought by the end of summer or early fall, we may have a referral. I know that we all thought we would travel by the end of 2009. Now it looks like we may not even have a referral by the end of this year. Currently, our agency says that the wait for a baby girl referral is 8-9 months. If that is true for us, then our referral will come in December or January. Last spring, the wait was about 6 months. This whole experience is such a journey of faith and you know that you can't rush God's perfect timing. The anticipation is just difficult at times. Once you have committed to adoption, you are ready to live it. I know that God has valuable lessons in the waiting so I pray that He is molding and preparing us during these months. Mark keeps saying that he would rather wait now instead of waiting so long after we see her face. Once we receive a referral and accept it, then we have to pass court before travel plans can be made. For some families, the time between referral and travel is weeks and for others, it can be months. We ask that you continue to pray for our family as we wait, trust and try to be content.

on our way to the top!

Just had an update today that we are now NUMBER 11 on the waiting list!! Just a few weeks ago, we were number 18. It was very encouraging news. Our children screamed with excitement. With the courts closing soon, we aren't sure how that may affect things for us. For now, we will celebrate that we are moving up quickly and be thankful for those seven families who have received referrals for their babies recently. :) That means less orphans in Ethiopia and that makes our hearts happy. Check out "bringing home lucy" in the blogs that I follow for a sweet story about a family's adoption. The mom just met their little Lucy yesterday and the pictures say it all!!

just waiting

People keep asking for an update so here it is. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of news. We are still in the waiting pool and the last we heard, there were 17 families "ahead" of us who had requested a baby girl. Courts close in Ethiopia for August and September so we don't really expect a lot to happen until the fall. This morning, Brynn woke up and the first thing she said is "when is our baby girl coming?". She said she had to come before Brynn turns 10 which would be next March. I pray that it doesn't take that long, but we know it's out of our control. We did hear wonderful news this week that a friend of our's got a referral for a precious little boy. For now, we are going to have a wonderful summer and treasure the blessings we already have. Please just continue to pray for our little one and for the process. Mark and I know that the hardest "time of wait" will be once we see her face and then have to wait to pass court and get our travel plans. We promise to keep you posted as things happen.....

it arrived

Just wanted to let everyone know that our dossier has safely arrived to Ethiopia. It is being translated and we are officially on the wait list. Yeah!! The average wait for a referral is about 6 months for a girl, but we know that it's not up to us. We had a wonderful benefit dinner last night for Acacia Village which is a wonderful project we are supporting in Ethiopia. Learn more at www.acaciavillage.org. Again last night, we saw pictures of beautiful children from Ethiopia and even had the chance to meet a 2 year old little boy who was adopted from Ethiopia into a NC family that already had three children....just like us. The boy is precious and it was so warming to see him relate to his new and forever family. Adoption is an incredible thing and I am so thankful that our family gets to live this adventure. As I hear news, I'll be sure to pass it on. Please keep us in your prayers. With love....