Out of our hands....

We mailed our dossier off this morning!

The paperwork is literally out of out of our hands. Of course, everything about this process is really out of our hands and completely in the Lord's - which is exactly where it should be. We are, however, very thankful to have it physically done and out of the house. It's been a long road...and a confusing, up and down one at that.

So, many of you are probably asking, "What's next?" Here is your answer:

1 We mailed our original dossier to "The Assistant Stork" this morning (they assist with the processing of paperwork for adoptions). They'll receive it and take it first to the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington D.C. for authentication. It will be reviewed, authenticated & bound. Then it will be taken to the Embassy of Ethiopia also in D.C. They will send it on directly to Ethiopia. (we paid about $300 for this)

2 We also mailed copies of our dossier to our agency (Love Basket) in Missouri. They will review it along with the Application Packet we just completed (paid $570 for this) and then will place us on the waiting list for our child! We can possibly expect to be placed on the waiting list within a week or two. We'll let you know when that occurs.
3 Once we're on the waiting list, we wait to be matched with a "referral" (a child). This could take 3-6 months, although it's usually on the shorter end of that timeframe. We've asked for a child (either gender) 0-2 years old. The youngest a child can be at referral is 2 months. (apparently we now owe $4,000 to our agency to be paid to the Ethiopian Embassy at this time as well which we were just told this morning AFTER i emailed our agency to tell them we had mailed everything off. She somehowforgot to mention this......TRUST IN THE LORD. He's given us lots of opportunities to put this into practice throughout this process).
4 After we receive our referral, we'll spend some time reviewing the child's file (personal & family history - which isn't always available or very extensive, medical records, medical tests, etc.). We'll take the file to an international adoption pediatrician for review as well. And of course, we will PRAY. We do not expect to reject a referral, so then we'll accept the referral, and we'll know exactly who our child is!
5 Once we accept the referral, we'll pay Love Basket another $6,000 and things will start getting underway legally. Our child will be moved from the orphanage to the transition home and we'll be waiting on a court date - which will be our first of two trips to Ethiopia. We'll be presented in court and the child will be legally ours. (we'll pay possibly $2000-$4000 for this trip) We'll have to leave our child there and come back home. (another $3,000 is due at some point during this time as well)

6 We could possibly wait 2 - 6 months before we get to go back to Ethiopia (another $2000-$4000) to finalize everything, apply for our child's visa, and take our child home. Once we get back to the U.S., the child will be OURS! We'll schedule pediatrician appointments and begin life and a crazy new adventure together as a family!

So, that's kind of the update and what we can expect. More paperwork, lots more to pay out, some crazy emotions, and lots of unknowns! It's all so worth it. The lessons we're already learning are invaluable. It's an amazing thing to literally be waiting on the Lord for EVERYTHING in our lives right now, and to have to fully trust Him. It's quite freeing actually (and this from a confessed ex-control freak).

In other EXCITING news:
Ben has been nominated as the official candidate for Youth Pastor at our church! We are so overjoyed at this, and we're praying for God's continued affirmation and direction. We will have a Town Hall meeting next Sunday, and the congregational vote on the 27th. We have been confident of God's leading us to this position, but it has been a long road with again, many more life lessons over the past year. We are thankful for God's faithfulness, patience, love, and direction, and for allowing us to be part of His work with these youth. This past year has been difficult and FULL of steps of faith, but it has definitely driven Ben and I to our knees and closer together as a married couple.

Thank you for your constant prayers! Some things to SPECIFICALLY PRAY for:
Finances: God has been SO faithful and so "on-time" throughout this process. We are trusting Him for everything now and as we continue down this path. So many of you have been so generous to us, and we are overwhelmed and humbled. We still have at the very least $15,000 more to save/raise before this process is finalized. Please continue to partner with us in prayer for God's provision, and for our patience and good stewardship with what He provides for us.

Life: Please pray for us as we are juggling a lot in our lives right now - school, Abby's business, this (hopeful) promotion at church, the adoption, and life in general. We want to be faithful, holy, and honor the Lord in all of these endeavors. We realize they all belong to HIM. We pray for wise use of our time, for continued growth in Abby's Premier business, for faithfulness and vision in our ministry at church, humility, passion in all we do, and growth as a married couple.

Our Child: Please pray for our child (who may or may not be born yet!), the child's birth parents, the orphanage he/she will be living in, the transition home, for his/her adjustment to us and our culture, and for his/her future salvation through Jesus Christ. Pray for us as we learn to be parents....and parents to a child who has lostso much already and will have so many adjustments to make here in the U.S.

We love each of you, and thank you so much for your encouragement and support. It means more than we could ever attempt to say.