THE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week Wednesday....September 5, we got the CALL.  I have been thinking about it so much in the last few months and you kind of think it will never happen but then it does and your life will never be the same.

I had to call our caseworker for something so I had left her a voicemail that morning.  She then called back at noon and answered my questions very casually.  She then asked if I had time to talk.  She then went on to tell me that she had a referral for us for a beautiful (pause) 4 month old BABY GIRL.  I could hardly believe it.  I asked her several times if she was serious and she was.  She went on to tell me a whole bunch of information that I didn't have to remember because she would email it to me and also how beautiful she was. We talked a few more minutes and then hung up the phone to get Keagan to school.  Within minutes I received the email.....there in front of me was my beautiful baby girl. I could hardly stand it, she is perfect with the most beautiful big brown eyes and curly hair.  I wanted to just kiss those sweet cheeks. I can not tell you how it felt to see that photo of the child that God picked out for our family....joy, excited, gratitude.

So the details. Her name is Hemen, she was born on May 15, 2012.  We will be changing her name to Hannah Grace. The big question is when do you get to bring her home. Well, we aren't sure yet. The courts are closed until the first of October.  Our case has been submitted to court but our caseworker is not sure if they will process it now or when the courts open so we could travel anywhere from late October to late November and then back about 6 weeks after that to bring her home. We are praying hard that she will be home the end of December.  Christmas would be great!!!

I still can't believe we are at this point. It was a year ago this month that we started the process and here we are with a daughter that soon will be joining her forever family.  I stand amazed at the work God is doing. This is His story and He receives all Glory!

I sometimes find myself a bit overwhelmed and a bit anxious about what is ahead of us but was comforted by these words:
"Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed,
 For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
 I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
 Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."   (words from "How Firm a Foundation")

Please pray for.....Sweet Hannah, for her caregivers, for our family, peace for me as we travel because that alone gives me great anxiety:) and quick processing in the courts so we can get her home.

"To God be the Glory great things He has done"

Five

I am happy to share that we are #5 on the wait list.  I received a email this morning from our agency and she shared the news with me. This means we are # 1 for a single infant. What this means is that the four families ahead of us are waiting for 2 or more children and older too.  We are so CLOSE!
I have to admit that the closer we get the harder it becomes to wait! We could get a phone call any day or it could be a month or two.  Not being in control of the situation is very difficult for me, some one that likes to know what and when things are going to happen. God sees the big picture, He already has our brown eyed baby picked out for us.  SO I trust Him, he has not let me down yet!

Over the last few months I have become more and more aware of God's faithfulness.  So often we get so busy with life and the "noise" around us we have trouble seeing God work.  He is and it is evident all around us and in every way.  Sometimes we just have to take the time to see it.  Thank Him for how He is working in your life in big and small ways.  Slow down, turn the "noise" off and be amazed.

"Great is thy Faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see"

#14

I have not updated in awhile because there really isn't anything going on in regards to the adoption. When our dossier arrived in Ethiopia in March we were #22 on the waitlist.  The agency sent out monthly numbers this week and we moved to #14. Each month is a little closer. So that is the news on the adoption front. I would make the prediction that mid-late summer we will recieve a referral, but what do I know - God's ways are perfect.

Our dossier has arrived!

I recieved a email this morning stating that our dossier (which is A LOT of papers) arrived safely to Ethiopia.  What does this mean.....we are offically on the wait list.  This is a huge step in the proccess and it feels great to finally be at this point.  No more chasing papers and getting this or that notirized.  We simply wait for God's perfect timing.  We are confident that just the right child will be placed in our arms at  just the right time.

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful weather, I know our family is!

Waiting.........

Not much has changed on the adoption.  We are making progress. We were able to send in our Immigration paperwork last week Thursday. So now what, we wait to get fingerprinted. Then we wait to get immigration approval. This process is moving a little slower than I had thought - about 6 weeks. 
So in the waiting I have several documents I have to get ready for our dossier. Once we get immigration approval we we can send in our dossier so I want to make sure all our documents are ready to go.


A week or so ago I was completely humbled when I opened the mail.  We received a very generous gift towards our adoption costs. We do not know who the person was but if you are reading this THANK YOU! Thank you for blessing us we are very, very grateful on what you have done on behalf of our family and sweet Baby E!


Just a FYI - I received and email from our agency and the director of the agency is leaving for Ethiopia in February and they are collecting much needed formula for the orphanage's.  If you would like to donate formula please let me know and I can get them to her before she leaves. They would like to fill a couple of suitcases! You can email me at sarahmokma6882@gmail.com if you have any questions.
This is a small way we can be the Hands and Feet of Christ!

Homestudy Complete

On November 17 we had our final homestudy visit. This involves the social worker coming into our home and talking with us for two hours. She asked many questions, takes a tour of the home and meets the kids. It went very well.  After the visit she then takes all her information and writes a 8-10 page paper about us. It really is hard for me to believe she can write that much about us, but I guess its possible!



 We are currently waiting for our completed homestudy.  We should receive it in a week or two.  When we get that in our hands we can then submit our documents to Immigration. Basically we are "paper chasing", collecting documents so we can send our Dossier to Ethiopia. We are hoping to have the Dossier complete by the new year. Once that is complete we are put on the "wait list".



Many may be wondering age and gender of the child. When we started the adoption process we thought we would be specify girl.  In our minds it worked, Addison is the youngest, they would be close in age and they could share a room.  The thing with that is there is a much longer wait for a girl. A referral for a girl is 9-15months (or more) from the time your Dossier is submitted and for a boy it is 2-4 months.  There is a great need for families to adopt infant boys, so we have decided to be open to either gender. We figured we weren't able to choose gender of our first 4 children why should we choose now.  God brought us to this place and He is in control of all areas - even the gender of the child.  When it comes to the age, the child will have to be 9 months younger than Addison.  Basically the child will be 0-2 years of age.



It is exciting to watch God's plan unfold in our family's life. We feel His hand leading us through every step, even when the road seems scary and when there are so many unknowns.  When I find myself overcome with fear of the unknown, I am reminded of of Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God". 



Thank you for praying for us. We ask you join us in praying for "Baby E"- for health, protection, for the birth parent as they make the ultimate sacrifice of giving their child up for adoption.



Blessings to you all this Christmas!



Sarah

Were do I begin.....

We are adopting from Ethiopia! There, I have made the announcement! Many of you have been wondering if what you heard was true. Yes it is true. We have started the process of adoption.



I am amazed at God's work in our family's life over the last few months. I am excited to see what He has planned in the future. Never did I imagine that when Kevin and I got married 11 years ago that we would be parents to 4 beautiful children, but never, never did I imagine we would be parents to 5 children with one being from the other side of the world. God's ways are perfect!



I can't wait to share this journey with our family and friends. There is so much more that I want to share but for now this is enough. Please pray for us as we embark on this journey of adoption.