Transitions again

The June update came out yesterday and we moved up 3 spots on the list this month to number….

 

Thirty-one is a good number for us right now.  Honestly, I am glad we didn’t move up any further right now because the Cooper family is in the midst of some pretty big changes – none quite as big a deal as bringing a son home from Ethiopia – but big changes nonetheless.

Last month, Josh and I traveled to Topeka, Kansas to visit with members and staff of Grace Point Church, where Josh was interviewing for a campus pastor position for a soon-to-be launched satellite location in Topeka.  We absolutely fell in love with the people of Grace Point and with the area.  The entire time we were there, we felt God’s presence, peace, guiding and comfort in that this was a perfect fit for Josh and for the church.  After 4 days of interviewing/ meeting lots of really cool people, Josh was offered the position.  The next morning, we accepted and started our short search to find the perfect house.  That afternoon we made an offer and it was accepted a little while later. 

Back in Zeeland, we put our current home on the market and had 5 offers in 48 hours.  So, our house is now “pending” and we are waiting for a closing date to depart Michigan and make the 12 hour journey to Topeka.  Most things are off the wall and numerous boxes are packed.  Josh has completed his time serving as an Associate pastor at Compass, our church home the last 3 years. 

Many have asked…so how does this move effect your adoption?  We are staying with our current placing Agency in Jenison, MI, Adoption Associates. However, since we are moving out of state, we need to complete a new homestudy in Kansas as well as many forms in our dossier.  We have a found a Christian agency in Topeka that has agreed to update our homestudy and I will be extra busy after the move updating forms galore once again. 

But we are so confident that we are following God’s will for our lives.  And there is so much peace in this knowledge and faith.  Thank you, God!

Wait List Update

We received an update from our agency this afternoon and we are number 35 on the list. 

 

We moved 12 spots in 1 months’ time.  YEAH!!!  Fifteen children were referred to families this past month from Ethiopia.  Please pray with us for these families as they prepare to travel in the next 2 months and of course for these children.

The agency also said they expect to have an additional 15 referrals soon.  Our agency is now saying that we should expect another 5-7 months before receiving a referral.  Getting closer....

All about Ethiopia

Ethiopia Facts:

Official name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Size: about twice the size of Texas

Capital: Addis Ababa

Climate: Moderate in highlands; hot and dry in lowlands

Languages: Amharic, Arabic, English, Oromigna, Tirigna, others

Currency: Birr ($1 USD = 18.50 Br as of March 28, 2013)

Products: Coffee, cereals, sugarcane, oilseeds, honey

 

Ethiopia Facts for Children:

School:

• Because much of Ethiopia is rural, kids who attend school may have to walk several miles each way.
• Unlike in most African nations, school in Ethiopia is free. However, many kids work to help support their families. Less than half are still enrolled by grade 5.

Play:

• Gebeta, a game of strategy, has been popular for hundreds of years. It is played using seeds or pebbles and a board with rows of cups.
• Many kids learn the lively and irresistible eskista dance, which is performed almost entirely with the shoulders. Soccer is the most popular sport.

Family:

• Most families live in rural areas. It is common for an extended family to live in a cluster of houses and farm together.
• Traditionally, parents and children do not share a last name. Most kids take their father’s first name as their last name.

Favorite foods:

• Injera, a pancake-like bread that is used to scoop up spicy dishes such as doro wat (chicken stew) and mesir wat (lentil stew).

Sources: http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932441.html; http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/ethiopia; http://coinmill.com/ETB_USD.html#USD=1

On the Wait List!!

I checked my email today before I headed out for work and lo and behold, I received an email from UPS.  Our Dossier had arrived at Adoption Associates in Jenison meaning that today we were added to the official Wait List.  We are currently family number

in line to be referred a child from Ethiopia.  We are being told to expect a 9-12 month wait to receive a referral.  But today is a good day.  We are on the list and can start the official waiting this time around.  And we know this is where we are supposed to be.  Faithfully waiting…

After the referral, we are told to plan on another 4-5 months total before our son will be able to come home with us.   Approximately two months in to that waiting, Josh and I will get to take a trip to Ethiopia to meet our son.  Then the second trip there, we will be able to bring him home with us…forever…to be part of his new forever family.

Mailbox Stalking Paid Off

Yesterday, Josh called me at work to give me the normal update on the content status of the daily mail, the same thing he and my Mom have been taking turns doing on their appointed day for the last 12 days or so as we stalked the mail for the final piece of paperwork to arrive so we could complete our dossier.  He started the conversation out, “So, how is your day going?”  My heart nearly skipped a beat as they have both been instruction to respond to my hello with a “Yes” or a “No” as they know why they are calling and what I am expecting (i.e. needing) to hear.  Finally, he told me, YES, it came.  The USCIS approval form came in the mail!!!!  (For those other parents in process out there who had to send paperwork back to USCIS for an update, it took 17 days including 3 weekends as it arrived there on a Friday morning and back home on a Monday afternoon.)  This final piece of paper is our approval visa to adopt our son from Ethiopia and we needed this as a part of our dossier.  Yeah!!

So then, Josh came to work to have my co-worker notarize two final documents.  Then I made final copies of the whole dossier of 24 notarized documents.  This morning, Josh and I found our way to the Office of the Great Seal in Grand Rapids, located in a mall of all places, to have the first two documents “sealed”.  And then this afternoon, I prepared the packet to be mailed to a courier service to have them walk our dossier through the US Department of State in D.C. as well as the Ethiopian Embassy in D.C. Here is a picture of our packet before I sent it.  This is the last time we will see our documents. 

 

After this is done, the courier service will mail the dossier back to Adoption Associates in Jenison and they will mail our dossier to Ethiopia and then….. we will be on the WAIT LIST TO RECEIVE A REFERRAL!!

Now I know it sounds like a whole lot of excitement to just start waiting again, but we have been jumping through a lot of hoops that last 3 months in order to adopt from Ethiopia as opposed to Lesotho and we are finally really close to having the major portion of the paperwork complete.  Praise God!!