We are done (DONE!) collecting all the documents from our end, both for the home study and the dossier. Now we just need to wait for our wonderful Social Worker to finish writing the home study, and for the last few reference forms to be mailed to her by our friends. Then we will apply for the I171-H form from the USCIS, and then our dossier can be mailed off to our agency, from where it makes a few more stops before being sent on to the Ethiopian government.
While we wait, we diligently pray for our daughter and her first family. As I think about her, I can't help but wonder: '
How should we pray?' There is a good chance that she is not even conceived. Her birth mother and father will make choices, experience things, face hardships that are REALLY hard for us to fathom. Our daughter has a long, difficult road ahead of her. I feel selfish praying for her birth Mom to have a healthy pregnancy, because I want my daughter to have a good start into life. 1 in 6 women die in childbirth in Ethiopia. Many women and children die of malaria, diarrhea, HIV, and other illnesses. Any of these things could be the reason our daughter becomes available for adoption. How should I pray for her birth mother? I pray for God to give her strength. For her not to experience pain. For her to be surrounded by loved ones. Words fail me as I think, as I pray. In the end, I just have to be still. Have to trust God.
Praying for our daughter is easier.
Dear Lord, please keep our little one safe. Keep her little body from being harmed. Keep her little soul safe from hurt. Treasure her little heart until we can bring her home and become her family. 
