Day 1

Today our Dossier was finalized and sent to Washington D.C.!!!  In about a week it will begin to make it's way to Ethiopia, but our Agency considers this Day 1 on the waiting list.  Woo Hoo!!!  In about 9 months we will finally get to see what our baby looks like and hear his/her story.  I'm so happy, and I have such a sense of peace that we've finally reached this point.  I have no doubt that the next 9 months will be agonizing at points, but, let's be honest, so have the last 2 and a half years!  Another year, or so (9 months for referral, 3-4 months for court and embassy visits), can't be that much harder, right?  We'll see!

S.B.T. - Still Honored

NOTE: Spousal Blog Takeover (S.B.T) is the “very” occasional contribution from Robert to this blog.

Yes, it's been a while since the last adoption-related blog entry, but the time is coming where we probably won't have enough time to report all of the happenings going on in our household. For now, the news we have is that we received our CIS approval in the mail yesterday, which is the last official document needed for our dossier. Now that our dossier is complete it should be a matter of days before we are on "the" wait list. At least for now, that means we can consider ourselves metaphorically pregnant because the average time until a prospective child is matched with us is about nine months, a thought that is both exciting and a little frightening.

No matter how the thought strikes me at any particular moment, I still am honored and, at times, floored that God has put it on our hearts to adopt. The very thought of claiming someone as your own and letting that be what drives your love for them gives me a better appreciation for the One who put this desire in my heart; it's motivation for pursuing Christ more intentionally.

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." - Philippians 3:12