One Year Later

On November 23rd, one year ago, we were on a plane on our way to Ethiopia. It is C-R-A-Z-Y what happens in one year.

Here's what happened.  Our year in review, a little early.

November 23 - 30, 2013 - Andy and I spent a week in an incredible country with incredible people doing incredible ministry.  We met a little girl at an orphanage.  She has an older brother but we didn't get to meet him.

December  2013 - Lights! Festivities! Gifts! Time with friends and family! And amidst all the holiday trimmings and events, I begin to pray for the little girl I met in the orphanage.  I try to imagine what she would be doing, seven hours ahead of us. 

January 2014 - A new year.  Time to reflect and ponder.  Andy and I continue to process all that we saw in Ethiopia.  I begin to fast on Monday mornings and set aside time to pray for the people I love in Ethiopia, particularly the little girl. I don't tell anyone about this.

February - I receive a disturbing text from a friend who knows the little girl.  She's not as "little" as we had thought.  She's a teenager and she and her brother are close to aging out of the orphanage.  Without family, that means life on the streets.  I sob all day, knowing deep down in my soul that God is calling us to action.  I don't know what that means though.  I tell Andy.  We cry and pray and ask God to show us if we are supposed to do something.  Andy breaks his ankle five days later.  Life stops. Surgery is scheduled.  Meals are delivered.  Two friends offer to bring lunch and we blurt out what's on our hearts - two kids, about to age out, can you help us get more information?  It feels really scary to put this into words and tell someone else. The four of us begin to explore the possibilities together.  They are adopting too, from the same orphanage. 

Our dear friends who are woven forever into our story! Many late nights and many tears and many laughs. Pray for their adoption too!

March - Emails are sent and phone calls are made.  Doors seem to be closing.  Many well-known agencies are shutting down in Ethiopia.  We are told the process has become very difficult. We spend a lot of time on the phone and online researching.  We receive some very bad news about one of the agencies and we feel like quitting.  But then I read Psalms.  "The helpless put their trust in You; You defend the orphans." (Psalm 10:14) There are 3 real kids (our 2 and our friend's boy) who are in an orphanage and need a family.  We can't give up on these kids until we've explored every possibility.  We fill out some pre-applications and tell our story to many more agencies.  More doors close.  More frustration, more tears, more crying out to God.  We spend hours on the phone with our friends and with agencies.  We finally find an agency willing to work with both families. Tears and rejoicing! Lots more paperwork.  Lots more phone calls.

April & May - A flurry of appointments, paperwork, check-ups, a fire inspection, a vet appointment, fingerprints, social worker visits, blood work, notaries, a tornado safety plan, more paperwork, more phone calls.  We finish our home study and submit it to our state for approval. 

June - We receive a phone call from our agency. They have obtained the official birth certificate of our girl and the age listed is 15 years, 9 months.  We are shocked.  We thought she was 13 or 14.  Our agency explains that we have a very limited window of time which to finish our dossier and apply for the I-600 (orphan petition).  If we don't apply by the time she turns 16, we could lose both her and her brother.  We finish our dossier in record time and it is mailed to Ethiopia to be translated.  We beat the deadline by a matter of weeks.

On our way to get our FBI fingerprints

July - We receive our official referral for S&A!! This includes lots of pictures and official documents.  We see pictures of their birth parents, learn the name of the town they grew up in, and receive medical and other reports.  We feel a deep connection to them after learning so much about their lives and their past.

August - Wait. 

September -   Our final piece of paperwork is submitted: the official application to the US to adopt these specific children.  The US Embassy in Ethiopia begins reviewing our case.  This is the approval we need from our government that allows them in the country.  Now we wait.  Again.

October -  We receive an RFE (Request for Evidence) from Ethiopia, which is very common.  As the documents are translated and reviewed, often an official will ask for clarification.  They require a new court order to be issued and signed and translated again.   Our agency (America World Adoption) is amazing and fields all of this for us.  Finally, we receive official approval from the US to adopt S&A!!

 November - Wait. We are waiting on one document - a positive letter from the Ministry of Women, Youth and Children Affairs (MOWYCA).  We find out that a batch of letters was released and we were not in the stack.  But, all of those letters were negative anyways due to officials rejecting a Power of Attorney that had been used for years with no problem.  In order to be proactive, we sign the updated document, get it notarized and certified by both county and state, and overnight it to our agency, who will have it certified by the State Dept and Ethiopian embassy and then sent back to Ethiopia to be added to our paperwork.  Our case will be reviewed again, and as soon as we get this one letter, we get a court date. 

And here we are today. November 25th.  One letter now stands between us and our kids in Ethiopia.  It's unreal.  There are so many days that it feels like it will never happen.  There are many days where it feels like it's all happening so fast.

On November 25th of last year, we met a little girl in an orphanage.  ONE YEAR LATER, she is almost our daughter.  In just a short time, we will be standing in a court room in Ethiopia, right hand raised, being sworn in as her mom and dad.   And not just her, but her older brother as well. Making a promise to love them both and enfold them in our family. 

Isn't our God crazy?  The more I get to know Him, the more I see how crazy He is. Such a Good, Amazing, Crazy God we have.  He took two ordinary people with ordinary lives and showed them this story that was unfolding halfway across the world.  And even though they were SCARED.TO.DEATH they said Yes and jumped in and now they are adopting two teenagers.

It's crazy.  It's wild.  And it's an honor and a privilege to partner with Him in His incredible story of redemption -- not just for those two children, but for us, for our family, and for our little corner of the world.

"Father to the fatherless, defender of widows - THIS is GOD, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families, He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy."  Psalm 68:5-6