I share a lot on my face book page about our adoption, but wanted to update on here too. We are officially ON THE WAITING LIST!! Yay! It took longer than we hoped, but that's okay.
Another bit of good news is that we received one grant from Lifesong For Orphans. It's a matching grant for $2500, which means our friends and family's donations are matched up to $2500, which will give our adoption $5000 if all is matched. All donations are now also tax-deductible if given through Lifesong. God is providing at every step, because we were about to be "on hold" because we didn't have all the money to get on the list. This grant came at exactly the right time and that is not a coincidence. God is working. We have applied for two more grants.
SO, what happens now?
Now we wait.
Wait for THE CALL. The referral call that our agency tells us we've been matched with our daughter. We were told last week that we are #76. BUT there are less than 10 people ahead of us who are open/approved to adopt a child with special needs. So, they say 18-24 months waiting for a healthy baby and that being open to special needs will cut that time, but we don't know how much. I'm hoping we get a referral this year.
A few weeks ago there were some significant worries that Ethiopia was planning to make some new adoption reforms that could stop or halt all adoptions. It was mentioned in a meeting of their parliament. They said they would meet about it in ten days and give their recommendations to the prime minister. This was in part a response to an anti-adoption documentary that aired in Ethiopia. Well, ten days was about 15 days ago. It seems that the meeting never happened and adoptions for now will continue as normal. It is a privilege to be able to adopt the children from Ethiopia who need families and the Ethiopian government could end that at any time. They are a nation that makes their own laws. The good news is that it doesn't seem they will be ending adoptions, but just trying to make adoptions more ethical. It could slow things down even more. We are okay with this. The ultimate, most important thing about adoption is that it is ethical and that only children who really need a family are adopted.
We have 3 beautiful children, and we know there is a piece missing, but we are willing and happy to wait for her to get here. At least that's my take today. Ask me again in 6 months, I'll probably be getting impatient by then.
Some prayer requests:
If you would like to give towards our Lifesong Matching Grant you can do so by going to http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/ Go to the "Give to an adoptive Family" link. Our family number is 4170. Make sure you enter this number.
Another bit of good news is that we received one grant from Lifesong For Orphans. It's a matching grant for $2500, which means our friends and family's donations are matched up to $2500, which will give our adoption $5000 if all is matched. All donations are now also tax-deductible if given through Lifesong. God is providing at every step, because we were about to be "on hold" because we didn't have all the money to get on the list. This grant came at exactly the right time and that is not a coincidence. God is working. We have applied for two more grants.
SO, what happens now?
Now we wait.
Wait for THE CALL. The referral call that our agency tells us we've been matched with our daughter. We were told last week that we are #76. BUT there are less than 10 people ahead of us who are open/approved to adopt a child with special needs. So, they say 18-24 months waiting for a healthy baby and that being open to special needs will cut that time, but we don't know how much. I'm hoping we get a referral this year.
A few weeks ago there were some significant worries that Ethiopia was planning to make some new adoption reforms that could stop or halt all adoptions. It was mentioned in a meeting of their parliament. They said they would meet about it in ten days and give their recommendations to the prime minister. This was in part a response to an anti-adoption documentary that aired in Ethiopia. Well, ten days was about 15 days ago. It seems that the meeting never happened and adoptions for now will continue as normal. It is a privilege to be able to adopt the children from Ethiopia who need families and the Ethiopian government could end that at any time. They are a nation that makes their own laws. The good news is that it doesn't seem they will be ending adoptions, but just trying to make adoptions more ethical. It could slow things down even more. We are okay with this. The ultimate, most important thing about adoption is that it is ethical and that only children who really need a family are adopted.
We have 3 beautiful children, and we know there is a piece missing, but we are willing and happy to wait for her to get here. At least that's my take today. Ask me again in 6 months, I'll probably be getting impatient by then.
Some prayer requests:
- Pray for our daughter! She could have been born by now. We don't know yet where she is, who she is with, or how her health is. Pray that she receives love and food.
- Pray for our daughter's birth family. Whatever circumstances that lead to her needing a new family will have a level of tragedy and loss. Pray that God comforts them in their loss.
- We've applied for two more grants. When we accept a referral we will need $10,000, plus the money needed to travel to Ethiopia twice. We NEED grants.
If you would like to give towards our Lifesong Matching Grant you can do so by going to http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/ Go to the "Give to an adoptive Family" link. Our family number is 4170. Make sure you enter this number.
