Immigration Update....

   Still waiting on our approval letters!  That's the updated news!  Ben went last Monday to get his fingerprinting; I had mine taken the week before when he was in PC, FL.  Now, we just wait and check the mailbox each day for our approval.  We are excited with anticipation of mailing the entire group of paperwork to Ethiopia.  Brock continues to help us with planning ideas of his room set-up once his brother arrives home!  It is definitely cute to listen to him share his "vision" for their room!
   I purchased the book Orphanology last night while we were at Lifeway.  I am ready to "dive" into the book after reading bits of it last night on the couches of Lifeway!  What a picture of our family...all three of us with books reading bits from each on the Lifeway couches...I love it!  The book, Orphanology, was co-written by a guy Ben went to seminary with at New Orleans.  Tony Merida is a dynamic speaker/pastor who decided, after his own adoptions, to co-write a book about individuals and churches to become aware of James 1:27 to care for the orphans in one way or another.  It should be good!

Spring Break 2011

   Well, Ben made it back from Panama City, FL, from the Beach Reach Mission Trip with the college students. Brock and I wanted to go very much; however, the sights of PC during Spring Break are not what an 8 year old boy should experience!  During Ben's trip, I was able to complete dossier paperwork!  Brock and I found the Secretary of State's office in downtown Jackson Thursday to get the 17 notarized documents state sealed!  Later that day, we found the Immigration office (in a different section of downtown Jackson) for my fingerprinting appointment.  Ben goes Monday to get his fingerprints taken.  Once those are processed and we are cleared, we can send off our dossier along with the initial payment to Ethiopia!  Getting to this part of the process is exciting to know that within 1-2 weeks, we should be mailing off our papers which gets us even closer to bringing home our little boy from Ethiopia!
   On the other days of Spring Break, Brock and I found little things to do.  This first day we took a very long bike ride/walk the dog and picked up all the trash in our neighborhood - a mini-mission!  The other days were spent with us spending gift cards of Brock's from his birthday a few weeks ago.  We also went to the MS Children's Museum (with, I think, all of the Jackson-area kids and families!).  It was fun!  Here are some pics from our visit to the museum:

STARTLING STATS ABOUT ETHIOPIA

* One out of every 20 children born alive die in their first month of life

* One out of ten die before reaching their first birthday

* One out of six die before reaching their fifth birthday

* There are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia

* The median age in Ethiopia is 18

* 1.5 million people in Ethiopia are infected with AIDS

* Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa

* Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is
1 to 24,000

*Half of the children in Ethiopia will never attend school.

* 88% will never
attend secondary school

A little "Glitch" in the road...but God reminds me of something this morning!

   Many of those who are connected to Ethiopian adoption already know of the recent changes in the adoption process; however, if you are not aware, here's the update.  As of last Friday, the Ethiopian courts have cut the number of adoption proceedings from 50 per day to 5 per day.  This is a significant reduction; Ethiopia has expressed their reasons for this reduction.  However, such a decrease in number means a lengthier road for us and many other families as well.  When I found this new information out, I was saddened.  One of many reasons for our adoption is that Brock is so looking forward to having a little brother.  A longer wait in this process definitely was NOT on our list; however, "glitches" are always a part of adoption.  We know that God's plans/timings/paths for our lives are not always what we envision; however, His plans always turn out so much better that we could plan ourselves.

   As I was studying through Philippians this morning, I was reminded of Philippians 4:6-7: 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, with guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

  God's gentle reminder to me that He is at work for a specific reason, and I shouldn't be anxious through this situation.  We'll keep you posted as we learn new information.  

   The biggest thing right now is to covet the situation with prayer: prayer for the children waiting on permanent families and prayer for adoptive families waiting on acceptance to travel and bring home their child  

Updated Family Pictures from the MC Campus

Fundraising T-Shirt

With the large cost of the adoption and other expenses related to the adoption, we decided to create a t-shirt and ask our family and friends to support our adoption through this fundraiser as well as getting a "cool" new shirt!  One of our college students is currently working to design the t-shirt with some of our ideas and a scripture we have been convicted with through this adoption journey - James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Once we get our t-shirt design, we'll post the design.  Please pray to consider supporting our journey to bring our son home from Ethiopia with our t-shirt fundraiser.
God Bless!

Dossier Paperwork!

We have finished all of our Dossier paperwork!  We began the paperwork in January 2011, so it is pretty good that in the midst of college ministry, teaching, Brock's school, and LIFE that we have finished this quickly!  We go tomorrow afternoon to get the mass of papers notarized by a sweet lady at MC where Ben works.  Then, the mass of papers goes to our state Secretary of State department to get the "Great State Seal" to ensure the validity of the notary.  Once that is complete, we just have the Immigration fingerprints to get done and those papers "Great Sealed"!  We pray to be able to send everything off to Ethiopia at the mid-to-end of March.  Then, more waiting on the referral of our little boy!

Inspiration Blog of "Gotcha Day"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duyL9UjLrdM&feature=player_detailpage


I found this blog posted by another family who adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia.  In the midst of completing all the Dossier paperwork and waiting on Immigration for our fingerprinting appointment, this inspiration was just what I needed.  When trying to update family and friends on where we are with the adoption process, the length and mass of paperwork can become very overwhelming.  This blog is exactly what we look forward to ourselves sometime this fall.  We are excited and trying to be patient at the same time!