Time to Blog!

Ok, so I haven't written in a while because frankly, I have been so frustrated with how long everything takes. However, as I am more reflective, I have more to say.
Good news is our paperwork is in for our home study and we are just waiting for the social worker to call us and set up the appt.
Our passports are in!!!!! Love that :)
fingerprints done
autobiographys done (phew)
financial reports, medical reports and other paperwork done (woot woot!)
and lots more to come truly....

We are about to register for a couple of courses we need to take for our dossier, which should be fun. We have access to our agencies internal site now, where we can view waiting children, adoptive family resources and all that stuff. We were reading about attachment issues our child could have and what to do when we first bring him or her home. I am crying as I write this because I can't express how much I love my child who I do not know yet. The site said how it might be a good idea to bring a mattress in the nursery and sleep there for a while to help our child adjust. It said they might just want to snuggle with us at first and that's ok. I LOVED reading about this, because it reminded me that this is real and it WILL happen and our child will love us and want to be around us. That encourages me so much. We're waiting for you baby!! :D

Um... what else? Well, we are excited that the wait time has gone down for referrals and hopefully we can have a referral by Christmas?? (Major praying and fingers crossed). There are two visits required now, so how it will work is approximately 3 months after our referral, we will travel to Ethiopia for a court date for consent to adopt and meet our child. Traditionally, we would go home (ACK!) and come back 6-8 weeks later to bring our child home. What we are trying to do is actually only go the first time and STAY THERE with our child. I am having lots of anxiety about leaving our child in an Ethiopian orphange and am pretty sure I would be a nervous WRECK if I had to leave him or her that long in that way. We will not know for quite for time (even after our referral) if that is a possibility. So that is a big prayer request.

PRAYER REQUESTS
-that the home study will go smoothly
-that we will be awarded grants to help financially
-that we can find some way to stay in Ethiopia rather than leaving and making two trips

It is in God's hands. We are to trust and obey His leading. So much of this process involves total faith. It is quite a journey. I am so thankful to God that He has chosen this for us and am so anxious to see what happens next.