Status Update

Many folks have been asking us "What is going on with the adoption ?!?"

In general, the adoption process in Ethiopia has slowed down! This is due to many factors. One reason for the slow down is the explosive growth of adoptions from Ethiopia in general. This growth, coupled with the Ethiopian court system, which is just simply understaffed, leads to less cases getting through. The families in our agency who had received their referrals in October are already on their second scehduled court day, as their first day they were unable to get through. The first group of families who have received referrals now have court dates scheduled for this Friday, December 7th. The second group will not receive court dates until the first group gets through successfully. From my understanding, the court problem also leads to a longer waiting time for referrals, though this seems to be up to the discretion of the particular agency in some cases (this is just my understanding). In other words, until other families have actually gotten through court and traveled to pick up their children, no other children will be referred to waiting families. The transition home that our agency has established for children who have been referred to families holds around 14 children (maybe a few more), so most likely, there will be no more than 14 children waiting for their parents to get them at one time.

I hope I haven't confused everyone with all this info!!!!

For us, this means that when we do eventually submit our paperwork to Ethiopia, we could be waiting longer than we expected, probably into the summer or fall months for our referral. Our goal was to have our paperwork to Ethiopia by the end of December, and to expect a referral sometime in the spring, but due to circumstances beyond our control, this goal is no longer possible. We are now shooting for the end of February, at the latest, to have our paperwork finished. Hopefully it can be in Ethiopia by March.

Where we are at right now, today: We are still waiting for our final copy of our homestudy to send to USCIS. Hopefully, we will be receiving it this week. Once we send it to USCIS, and we receive our approval from them, we will be sending our paperwork to our agency headquarters, and they will eventually send it to Ethiopia. When Ethiopia receieves our paperwork, our wait to be matched with our son officially begins!

These time frames are of course estimates. It is very hard to know when everything will happen, but for now, it is safe to say, things are on a bit of a slowdown.

This was a bit hard for us (especially Rebecca) to take at first, but we do trust that God has this all in his hands, and God knows what he is doing....he has known all along! We just continue to pray for Caleb, and for all the families in the adoption process. It is hard to believe we have already been in the adoption process for four months now! Hopefully the next four will go by just as fast....

I have copied a wonderful post from another AWAA family's blog. It really spoke to me on one of my "down days". I hope it will speak to you as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh?'" Genesis 18:13 NIV

You'll laugh again!

In Genesis 18:13-14 we read: "The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord?'" Then in Genesis 21:2 we read: "Sarah became pregnant and bore a son...[and] said, 'God has brought me laughter'" (Ge 21:2-6 NIV). But between the first and the last laugh Sarah went through a wrenching time of disappointment and heartache. The 'love of her life,' Abraham, betrayed her to save himself. Abimelech, a heathen king, took her to his harem and would have slept with her had God not stepped in to rescue her. Yes, like Sarah, between the first laugh and the last you'll do a lot of growing. You'll celebrate your good times and pray for grace to survive your bad ones. Some days you'll feel like you can't go a step further, yet through it all you'll learn to trust God more than you ever dreamed possible.

Here's an important thought: when you share your story with others don't just tell how you started or where you are today, tell them what God brought you through. Why? For those are the things they are struggling with too! King Abimelech's tent was in Gerar, which means the halting place. There will be times when you'll feel as if your life has come to a complete halt; like you're getting nowhere. Maybe that's where you are today. If it is, please know this - God will be faithful to you! Not only will He bring you through, but like Sarah, you'll laugh again as you watch Him fulfill His promises in your life!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------