Habtamnesh

Moving on up

I got my monthly update call today and I was so surprised to get our new number. Last month we were number 11. And now we've moved to...........


Drum roll please....




NUMBER 2!


I can't even believe it. 9 girl referrals in a month! Now that I am nearing that number 1 spot I have found that I am getting very anxious and a just a bit impatient:) I don't go anywhere without my phone now. Our close friends are leaving next Saturday to pick up there little girl and I just keep thinking how amazing it would be if we were able to get a referral by then. They could give our baby lots of love for us and get plenty of pictures for us as well!

I'm hoping the next time I post something it will be to say that we've gotten our referral...

On the list...

Wow, I've done such an incredible job keeping this blog updated;)

We have been on the wait list now for about a month and a half now. We are officially number 11 on the girl wait list, but unofficially we are number 9. There are two families that are reviewing referral information and will probably accept their referrals. There are some people that are on more than one list, so they may get a boy referral, but we still get to move up on the list.

I've been playing the guessing game, trying to figure out our timeline based on the currents wait times for a referral and travel time. I have been coming up with a timeline that would have us traveling somewhere in November or December. Probably in the middle of all the holiday chaos:) I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that it can happen closer to October. I hate to be away from family during the holidays.

I was thinking today that we started this project almost 1 year ago. Our original timeline had us traveling by now. Which I'm very thankful didn't happen. We decided to go ahead with our house remodel at the beginning of the year when we realized that we wouldn't be traveling until later this year to Ethiopia. Our original plan was to add on another bedroom after we had adopted. I am so very thankful that we did it now. I cannot imagine the chaos that surrounded our home remodel and adding another child to the mix. It would have beyond stressful. I was actually very dissapointed at first when we realized that our timeline was going to take so much longer and we would not be traveling when we had hoped. But now I am just thankful that God was in control the entire time and had a much better plan than I did for how fast this adoption process should go:)

So I don't have to much more to share right now, but I will try to keep everyone posted as we continue to move up the list.

Paperwork and Patience

Not much has changed since my last post. We are still buried under the pile of paperwork we refer to as our dossier/homestudy. We do have our first appointment for our homestudy this week, so I do feel like we are making some process.

I have been thinking lately how I think this adoption process will be a great lesson in patience for both Kyle and I. I would say that neither of us is blessed with patience of any kind. We enjoy activities or things that provide instant gratification.

I have to admit I have struggled with this overwhelming feeling that we need to have all of our paperwork completed and turned in 2 weeks ago so that we can rush through the process as quickly as possible. And when I start to feel frantic, like I'm in some sort of race, I try to step back and see the broader picture. I know that there is a child that God has already planned for us to adopt. It doesn't matter how fast I try to push the process or how long I drag it out. I can't change God's plan. Nor do I really want to.

So I guess I will continue to learn my lesson in patience and trust that God has the situation under control.

Our journey begins....

So I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog to document our adoption process. You see, I'm not really much of a writer and I don't have a great ability to make my stories sound fun and exciting. But maybe this will make great practice for me:) Besides, I'm hoping to fill in with enough awesome pictures that those of you that don't like to read can just look at the pictures (that's what Kyle would do).

I thought a great first topic to write on would be why Kyle & I decided to adopt internationally and what made us choose Ethiopia. I've had quite a few people ask us that and honestly I haven't had a really great answer. It just sort of happened. Well, I've been thinking about it more lately and as I was talking to someone the other day about it I remembered back to a couple of years ago when I went to went to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in Missouri after the birth of their son. I was catching my flight back to Portland and was looking for something to do on the plane. I stopped at a magazine vendor and there I saw a National Geographic special about the best 100 pictures. Loving photography like I do, I had to get it.

Somewhere over one of the midwestern states I flipped the pages and came across an image that has stuck in my mind. The story that accompanied the photo has sort of faded a bit, but the image remains very vivid and clear. The first image showed an African women holding a child (I believe it was her daughter). The child was starving. I remember that she had an IV. I think there were tears in the picture. Or maybe they were my tears. I do remember reading that the child had died shortly after that photo. I also remember the look of anguish and grief on the woman's face.

Now I know that there are starving children in many parts of the world. But for some reason, that has stuck with me.

When Kyle and I began this adoption process, I can honestly say that we weren't exactly sure of the direction that God was leading us. In fact, at one point we had shyed away from Ethiopia because of the difference in skin color. Not because we didn't want a child of a different race but because we were afraid of what other people were going to say and think. When we realized that was our only reason for not choosing Ethiopia, we laid it at God's feet and said "okay, we'll do it."

I am amazed at how God works in you heart when you are following his will. I have been reading some other families blogs and looking at their pictures (families adopting from Ethiopia) and everytime I see a child, I think they are beautiful. Really, I think that Ethiopian children are the most beautiful children. I started this journey wondering the same thing every adoptive parent wonders, will I be able to love this child as if they were my biological child? I have no doubts now. God has given me peace that this is the right decisions and this child will have a wonderful place in our hearts.

So why adopt internationally? For us there are a couple of reasons. Mainly at this point, I would say that I am so emotionally attached to Ethiopia, I can't imagine adopting elsewhere. The passion I have for adopting has mainly stemmed from the love for the country itself.

Another reason for our international adoption are the overwhelming statistics. Due to the geography of Ethiopia, its agricultural production is very vulenrable to climatic condions and war. Recurring droughts cause periodic famine. Half of the population lives under the poverty line. In 2003, the life expectancy was 43 years old. The statistics about the children are even more frightening, but I'll share those another time.

Well, I think I've sort of jumped around a bit. At least I warned you that writing really isn't my thing;) I'm sorry this post was so long. Next time I'll try to keep it a little shorter.