On the Move Again

I just received a call that our home study update is complete.  With any luck, it will be in our hands Thursday and then off to the USCIS (United States Citizen & Immigration Services) center where they will update our orphan visa approval cable and send it to ETHIOPIA.  After this has been updated, we can complete our dossier and then have it sent to Ethiopia to patiently wait for a referral for Baby Boy Cooper.  He is getting closer....

“If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be delayed.”  

As I found the waiting very frustrating today, a fellow adoptive Mom offered the following verse as encouragement. 

But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT)

I hope you find this verse encouraging as well.  I now have it posted in my cubicle at work.  God is in control.   

What a Beautiful Story

Please take the time to watch this inspiring story.  Click on the link below. 

I Like Adoption

Change, Change, Change...

A lot has happened since the last time we wrote anything on the blog.  Since July we have been waiting to hear word of another matching meeting in Lesotho but every month seemed to come and go.  On December 1, the Lesotho government decided to join the Hague convention for international adoptions.  I am sure there are others out there that could explain this better than me, but from what I understand, they are trying to protect their children from trafficking.  What it means for adoption agencies and prospective families is more paperwork and higher fees, etc.  With all this said, the Lesotho government also asked for 3 more months of a break from meetings to work on getting their new system in place in Lesotho.  All of the above brought many new questions for us, including whether or not our current placing agency would really be able to finalize our adoption since they are not a Hague Accredited agency.

After a lot of discussions and prayer, we decided to walk away from our investment in a potential match in Lesotho.  It felt very much like what I imagine a miscarriage to feel like.  …All the expectations of a son from Lesotho, imagining what he would look like, imagining traveling there to bring him home.  

…None of that will happen now.  But…unlike a miscarriage, we are moving full speed ahead.

For the last month, we have been diligently working on updating paperwork with Adoption Associates in Jenison, MI (our new placing agency) to have a new dossier sent to… Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA!!

 

one year later...

On July 5, 2011, we started the initial process of adopting our “Baby Boy Cooper”.

Over a year has passed.… and we still have no word of a specific child, of a specific boy to pray for and dream about joining our family.  However, we will continue to praise God and trust in Him.  I have faith that He will work the details out “for the good of those who love Him”.  So….while we wait…

We will continue to pray for all the fatherless children in the world, if not individually, then as a mass.  A huge mass… 147+ million orphans.  

We do have some wonderful news with regards to fundraising.  We received a grant from Katelyn’s Fund.  We also were awarded an interest free adoption loan from Lifesong for Orphans and Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin.  We are now only about $10,000 away from reaching our need.  We are overwhelmed and humbled at God’s provision.

We also received an extremely heartfelt gift from a friend of Naomi’s.  She sent Naomi a letter via snail mail last month.  Within the envelope, she included a small gift for Naomi, Elijah and Abigail AND money she had earned to help bring Baby Boy Cooper home.  May God bless you, Madison!!