#4 ?!?! :)

Got some exciting news :)
We jumped about 25 numbers and there are now only 3 families in front of us waiting to be matched w/ a child!
How is this possible?  Well...we just didnt want to wait!
 Ya see, if we stayed on the 'baby' list then we were told we could possibly have to wait another year for a refferal.  There is a whole new system going on in Ethiopia now and they are slower than ever...this is all new to the ethiopian adoption world and so w/ these new regulations and all the agencies have no trends so go by to give us realistic timeframes. 
It's all new.  Soooo...we didnt feel to good about that. 
We started to think about increasing our age request- and the more we thought about it...the better it sounded!  It's funny- we had that baby 'itch' but yet we were very much enjoying our new found freedom of having 'older' kids.  (think:  reading a book on the beach...for the 1st time in several years!)  Then we thought of 'starting all over' and the big difference in ages the kids will have (it's really nice having them being so close in age now- they are all into the same stuff!)

So like I said, the more we thought about increasing our age request- the more excited we got...
 There are only 3 other families (w/ our agency) open to a child over 3 right now.
Our new age request is:  0-3
It's possible to still get matched w/ a baby but way more likely now to be matched w/ a 2 or 3 year old. 
And we couldnt be happier!!! 

Now the new timeline:  with only 3 families before us open to children that age it sounds like it wouldnt take any time BUT  the courts in ethiopia take a 2 MONTH summer recess in August and September = there wont be much going on.
  Also, alot of other families who are in front of us on the list may also change their mind and increase their age range too...bumping us back a bit (and there are 30 families in front of us.)
  The orpahanges that our agency works w/ are kind of small too.

So again- they have no idea what to tell us...hopefully this fall, most likely by Christmas, possible to go into the new year. 

Before, the wait was annoying because we were so far up the list.
Now, the wait is exciting because we have no idea when we can get the infamous phone call.
I am preparing myself emotionaly that this too can take long...but giddy w/ excitement that if really may not be much longer! 

Now this seems more real to us and we are praying like crazy for this little girl across the ocean, for her safety & protection, for the healing of her broken little heart & spirit, and for Jesus to hold her in His arms until He brings us to her.

Faith...this is our Word of the Year and the word for this adoption journey and most likely our daughter's middle name :)

I am writing in awe of God's provision for us.  Exactly one year ago is when we decieded to adopt again- knowing very well that we do not have more than a few bucks to put to what God has told us to do! 
It was a leap of faith that we had no idea what would look like.

Sooo we started w/ lowly tagsale- that took on a whole life of it's own.  Once we got the word out- that we were collecting items for an adoption benefit tagsale, we ended up w/ our basement and garage stacked full to the brim- walking aisles only!  We had to do 2 weekends for the tagsale because of the mass quantity.  Yes, I have already written on how insane those weeks were but hey- $3,500 for a tagsale!  (initial fee paid)
6 months later- a Pasta Dinner Benefit at church.  This was actually fun.  It was pretty easy with not even too much planning involved. We had some good raffles donated.  Yes, we had several people helping us but it did'nt take a whole army.  One night of fun raised $3,500...scored the 2nd fee's.

There are tons of adoption grants that you can find.  We only applied to one of them...and we recieved a $3,500 grant from Steven Curtis Chapmans Ministry 'Show Hope.'  (http://www.showhope.org/)

An awesome friend of ours wanted to do something for us, so her small group at her church held an Artsy type of talent show/coffee house one night and raised $1,000!

We sent letters to friends and family making them aware of our adoption journey and we recieved donations through this as well.

When possible, Michael took on certain jobs at work that he would claim ahead of time in his head as, 'adoption money.'  We also 'ebayed' some of the better items from the tagsale and set up a really simple shirt and coffee fundraiser online.

So recap:  tagsale, pasta dinner, grant, donations from friends and family= yeah, a bit of work, some time and planning, stepping outside our comfort zone but... 

it is so worth it!
This process has greatly increased our Faith, it has brought more awareness to the need of adoption, it served as life lessons to our children- they have different mind sets. 

Most importanly, I love how this is a real testimony from God that he truly does provide.  He takes care of the details.  I cant believe that one year ago we set off on this journey with nothing and here we are...the adoption is almost paid for.  We only need $5,000.  I smile even writing this...
I follow so many others adoption blogs and journeys and there really is a miraculous thread that runs through financing adoptions.  Adoption is God's heart,  if you partner with God's heart do you not think that he will provide? 

Amy say's it in a moving way here...
http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/2010/07/id-choose-you_30.html

March: #45

In December when we finnaly made it on WACAP's  wait list we were #55.

We slowly crawled down the line a bit and in March, we became #45.
I hate seeing those high numbers but hey, it's progress right??

It sounds quite strange to be on a 'waiting' list to adopt when their are Millions of children out there needing familes.  We didnt have to do this w/ our 1st adoption and frankly....Im sure glad we didnt have to! 
Our adoption agency (WACAP) only has 2 orphanges right now (a 3rd is in the works) and that means only a certain # of beds available.  As soon as 1 child leaves another child is brought in from one of the in-country orphanges. 

There has been alot going on in the Ethiopian adoption world this year.  There is 1 judge who signs off on all of the inter-country adoptions and she will be lowering her case load per day.  If there are delays, slow downs and bottle necks in the courts over there- then it keeps the children waiting longer in their orphanges and it keep this mama waiting for a refferal!

We were expecting to get a refferal this fall and travel to Ethiopia by Christmas.  It's too early to really say, but I think that we may have to re-adjust our timelines...
WACAP will not be officially changing their timeframes until the fall- it is too early to project delays but Im pretty sure we are being put back at couple months...
We just have to sit back and hold on!

Thank you! (pasta dinner benefit)

Im a little late here posting about the sucess of the pasta dinner benefit...but what a night!
I cant believe how smooth and actually 'easy' that was :)  I did a lot of needless worrying I must confess.  I dont like organizing events- I become a bit too focused and think too much about it.
Jacob and I spent the whole day at the church setting up and making it look good. 
We could not have pulled this off w/out the help of sooo many, once again.  We owe so much thanks to all who helped out...especially the amazing Miano's who cooked up their delicious homemade sauce and were a God send in the kitchen to us!
There were some really great raffles and  last minute Don put together an adoption DVD that streamed all evening- video clips of us meeting Sova-Grace for the 1st time and some really great adoption videos I found off youtube. 
We were really hoping to share our vision and God's call to adoption that night and I'm pretty sure that was successful...
We raised $3500 in one evening and are feeling so greatful and blessed by everyones's generosity.
Thanks to all who came out...it was a great night!

Pasta Dinner Benefit

On Friday March 25, we will be having an Adoption Benefit Pasta Dinner.
It starts at 5pm and goes till whenever.  I'm actually really looking forward to it :)  It's gonna be fun!
We're pulling together some really great raffles too!
 We are looking forward to hanging out w/ everyone...we'd love it if you joined us!


Faith Living Church                    Friday March 25, 2011    5pm- ?
20 Grove Street                           Food, Fun & Friends
Planstville, CT                            

(*tickets will be sold at the door- suggested dontation is $15 adults, $5 children)

Little Glimpse

 Most orphans that are adopted come from 2 orphanages.  That was the case w/ Sova Grace and I recently found out that even though we are adopting a baby- this will be her case too. 

 As traumatizing as it is to move a child from the only 'home' she's known to a new 'home'- it is a good sign that that child is getting closer to having a family. 

Sova was in her 1st orphanage from birth till 3 years- but that orphange was not licensed for international adoptions, so once no one from India came forward to adopt her- she was moved a few hours away to a larger orphanage that was able to do international adoptions, where she stayed one more year. 

Now for Ethiopia- once a child is brought to an orphanage they will stay there until a family signs papers stating that they plan on adopting that child (referral papers- hopefully by this fall for us! )

As soon as that child is 'matched' with a family then that child will move to (in our agency's case) a smaller orphanage which our agency (WACAP) calls the 'WACAP House.'  The children there will all be adopted out through our adoption agency within 2-4 months...so it's a pretty short stay.  There are usually only 18-24 children there at a time.  Once a bed empties...another child will get the chance to move one step closer to having a family.

Families that have traveled before say moving the child to the WACAP house is a very good move...usually better care than the government run homes.  So here's a little glimpse of the 'WACAP HOUSE.'

It's pretty surreal to see these pics knowing that within the year we will be walking through these gates to our daughter...

  

It seems like a lifetime away right now!  Oh please Lord, hurry things up!

side note:  the courts in Ethiopia have been pretty stagnant...there is literally ONE judge that handles EVERYSINGLE adoption case!  Completely nuts...there is alot going on there right now concerning adoptions so things are slow.  Surprisingly our agency still stands on the same timeframes that they gave us.  They reassure us saying that things happen in waves and batches over there.  Praying hard for some type of movement!