24 months since DTE... goodness, it's been 2 years!!!

August 12, 2013 marks 24 months since our dossier went to Ethiopia! Can you imagine?! That's 2 whole years of waiting!

I really wish we had some news - but at this point we are still 'just' waiting. Things are moving forward, slowly, at all stages: families are receiving referrals here and there, many families are going to their court appointments in Ethiopia, and the Embassy is clearing families for travel, so children are coming home.

We have no idea how much longer it will be for us. There are still quite a few families ahead of us, and with the rainy season's court closures in Ethiopia everything slows down a little more until October.

A lot of our paperwork expires soon, so we will have to go on another document hunt in a few months... which means a lot of work and a bit of extra expense. We know it is worth it, and will do it cheerfully.

This wait is so very long, but we are hanging in there. Life is good, and we experience God's blessings every day. I love seeing pictures of children who have been united with their families and are coming home - and I hold onto God's promise of a daughter. The knowledge that God has a good plan for our family gives me strength to continue waiting for as long as it takes!

23 months waiting since our Dossier arrived in Ethiopia...

Last week was a busy, busy week, with Vacation Bible Extreme at our church and a whole slew of projects and commitments. I zoomed right past our 23-month date - oops!

Happy 23-months-waiting to us. It is good to know we are getting closer... right now the families who are getting referrals have been waiting for about 27-28 months, so we will be within the window of possibility soon-ish!

Life is busy, and it's (almost) easy to forget sometimes that we are waiting... and waiting... and waiting for our little girl. We remind ourselves to pray for the other families who are waiting, or who already have a referral. We also pray for our daughter (whoever she may be), for her birth family, and for everyone she will encounter on her way into our arms!

22 months since DTE

Our dossier has been in Ethiopia for 22 months! That is 22 months closer to getting our little girl... and so we celebrate. 

This week I am feeling frustrated and discouraged with the long wait, and the prospect of the wait continuing to lengthen.

In spite of my heavy heart, I continue to trust in God's perfect timing. He has the right little girl in mind for us, and she will come into our family at the right time.

21 months since DTE!

Woops, we zoomed right by the 21-month-waiting mark. On May 12 was 21 months since our Dossier went to Ethiopia.

It's good when time flies like this. The wait is hard, and the last few weeks weren't always easy. We continue to trust God and His perfect timing...

20 months DTE!

Yesterday marked 20 months since we sent our dossier to Ethiopia.

Life has been wonderfully (and sometimes a little stressfully) busy this past month, so time has flown by.

The current projected wait time that our agency quotes is 24-30 months, so in 4 months we will be 'in the window' for receiving a referral. However, looking at how many families are still ahead of us on the wait list, we are counting on waiting longer than that.
Don't get me wrong. As far as we are concerned, RIGHT NOW would be a great time to receive a referral. But we trust God's perfect timing, and we trust our agency.

Please join me in praying for our little girl, who very well could already be born at this point. We are praying for health and for protection of her little body and her little mind. We are also praying for her birth family, whoever they may be. Adoption always comes out of a situation of brokenness, and we don't want to ignore this as we eagerly wait to hold our sweet daughter in our arms...

19 months DTE

Our dossier has been in Ethiopia for 19 months now!

The last month has actually been really encouraging. There were 15 (!) referrals, and we moved up by quite a few spots on the waiting list. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see a few more referral-rich months?!

18 months waiting since DTE!

OK, it has officially been 1.5 years now since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. That is 18 months, or about 548 days. *Phew!* We could very likely find ourselves waiting for another year or more before receiving a referral... so we continue to wait... and pray... and wait... and update our documents... and pray... and wait...

Life is very busy and kind of normal these days. I don't have much time to sit and pine over the fact that we miss our daughter-to-be, can't wait to meet her, and to hold her in our arms and grow her into our family. We've reached the point in our wait where people start asking us: "So, are you guys actually still adopting?!" - YES! Yes we are! It just takes a really long time!

Please join me in prayer for MOVEMENT in all stages of Ethiopian adoptions. There are so many families who are waiting, and so many children who need families. Please pray for expedient (and ethical) processing of the clearances each child must receive before being able to be referred. Please pray for families to get referrals, and that the process of court and Embassy go smoothly. Please pray that the hearts of the children who need families are protected while they wait... after their losses, the wait is so much harder for them than it ever can be for us!