The End of a Chapter: An Adoption Update

When I first started this blog, it was primarily to keep all of our friends and family updated on the process and progress of our adoption from Ethiopia. We started the paperwork part of the process in December of 2013- FOUR years ago. At that time, we were heartbroken and weary from our infertility/miscarriage journey, but excited to finally have some hope and direction for building our family! I knew I wanted to be a mother, and we really felt God leading us to adoption. I couldn't wait to get our paperwork finished and "on the list"...I couldn't wait for the day I could get on and post here about "THE CALL" or "THE EMAIL" that would let us know we had received our referral for one (or two!) precious little Ethiopian children, which we have been praying for all these years.

Well, we got "THE EMAIL" last week. But it was nothing like what I had envisioned that final email to be. Our agency sent an email out to all of the families in their Ethiopia program informing us that the Ethiopian government had voted the day before to completely shut down international adoptions within their country. Meaning everyone in our agency's Ethiopia program who has been waiting (for some of us, for years) to receive a referral- never will.

My heart broke for so many reasons that day. Mainly because I knew what this would mean for so many children in Ethiopia- precious children sitting in orphanages, with no family of their own, now have no hope of being adopted into loving families across the world. And most of the orphanages that were run by private agencies will now be forced to close (no adoptions= no funding to maintain operations) and those children will be moved to already overcrowded and poorly run government orphanages. I hope and pray so hard the Ethiopian government has a plan for how to best care for their orphans now that they have removed international adoption as an option, but we have not heard of any alternative plans for that as of yet.

I also grieved heavily for the loss of yet another child that had been birthed in my heart but never had the chance to become a reality. I had prayed for those children that would live in our home one day- worried about whether they would feel loved enough, accepted enough. I thought about future Christmas cards, family vacations, people they would date...and now those images I had formed in my mind and in my heart feel so stolen, and so empty. I now have to form new, different images of what our family may ultimately look like.

Most people that we have told already about this have asked what we are going to do now. We have a few options but haven't made any decisions, and we are not in a huge hurry to do so. Our agency has offered some transfer credits (basically giving a discount to all of the families in our program who want to switch countries), but since so many families would be switching at once, the discount isn't very substantial and we do not have the funds to basically start over with a new country in this season. And honestly, I don't know if I have it in me to switch to a new country right now and face the same risks. When we began the Ethiopia program, it was a very strong program- no one saw this shut-down coming until we were well into the program already.

We still have a strong desire to adopt and do believe God has called us to that. However, when we started this adoption journey, we didn't know if we could ever have biological children- and now four years later, we have TWO. And God may have more planned for us, so we are open to that as well. We are going to spend a season really pressing into where God is leading us now that Ethiopia appears to be a closed door. When we very first started this process and I would go through doubts about whether this was the right path for us, I would always hear God tell me "stay the course"- and until I hear God speak a fresh word to me (and I know that He will- because He is GOOD and REAL and loves to speak to his children)- I will continue to stay the course...pausing at what looks like a dead end of this journey- but maybe more like a fork in the road- to listen for where to go next.

We would so appreciate your prayers for wisdom and guidance as we do press into what's next for our family. THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us, sowed in financially to our adoption, and walked this road with us. We did lose all of the money we put into this adoption- which majorly sucks and makes me sick to my stomach- but I do know that the money that was paid to our agency went to running an orphanage for years in Ethiopia, to helping other families bring hundreds of children home, and to operating an extremely ethical and wonderful agency. We do not blame America World for shutting down their ET program, as they have no other choice and are just as devastated by this decision as we are.

I hope that one day I WILL be able to share on this blog about "THE CALL" or "THE EMAIL"- the one with the wonderful news that a child will be joining our family through the wonderful gift of adoption- whether its domestic, international, foster-to-adopt or any other way God will ordain it. Until then, I'll be maintaining this blog as my own journey of motherhood, living in community, and maybe even some food posts every once in a while if I ever get back around to completing a whole30 (don't hold your breath for that one).

Love, Lori

the word of the year

I have always loved the holidays and Christmas, and I even love that it comes at the end of the year because I get to look forward to it all year long and its like the Grand Finale to our year. But in recent years, the end of the year- or beginning of a new one perhaps- has also made me a little anxious. Gearing up for a new year with all of the "resolutions"  people make, myself included, are what usually end up getting me all frazzled. Without fail, every single year, I have resolved to: start working out again daily, eat healthier, wake up earlier, and stop biting my fingernails...and yet every December 29th(ish), I find myself waking up to the sound one of my kids crying for me to come get them out of their bed, eating various processed products throughout the day, and chewing my fingernails as if my life depended on it. So I decided last year that personally, making a ton of somewhat unrealistic resolutions was setting myself up for failure, and I needed new approach to the new year ahead.  So Erik and I decided to scratch a list of resolutions, and instead pick ONE WORD that would define the coming year for us. For instance, for 2017, he picked "Active" and I picked "Positive". I tend to see the glass as half empty a lot of times, rationalizing my mindset it as being practical and logical, but it plays out as negativity, and I knew I really wanted to work on that- especially as we were gearing up for our big move and a lot of changes coming our way. Erik wanted to work on his health and building new friendships in Dallas, so his word was fitting for multiple goals he had.

At dinner the other night, we were able to sit down and talk about our year and our respective words and how we saw them play out over the year. We both noticed and called out how the other person had really succeeded in a lot of areas with our words! Erik has been so active in our new neighborhood- he organized a Dad's flag football game that everyone loved and wants to continue annually, has made some awesome new friends and seems to always be meeting up with guys to do stuff, and he has been way more dedicated to running and working out than in years past. Not because he had a resolution to work out every day, but because he had a desire to be more active in general.

I will say that my attitude towards moving and getting settled in Dallas been surprisingly positive this year, but not without a little work in that department. Changing my mindset about situations, people, and circumstances has taken time, but reminding myself of all the good parts of a particular situation and being grateful for all God has done and people He has put in our lives has helped me see the glass a little more full. I know that this area of my life is still a work in progress, but Erik and I both noticed a definite difference in my attitude over this year and that's something to celebrate!

We also chose new words for 2018, and I am excited to see how those words play out in our lives. Erik chose "Focused" and I chose "Purposeful". (Okay, I actually chose two- I also chose "Grateful" because I want to continue on my positivity journey and like I said, gratefulness is a key in that!) I want to be purposeful about how I spend my time, money, and invest in relationships. I want to be purposeful about how I parent our kids and in how I love and support Erik.

If making resolutions are stressing you out as much as they did for me, maybe this is a good year to scrap those lists and come up with just a word that you want  to define your 2018. Maybe you write it out on your mirror, or keep in your car where you can see it, so that it can really penetrate and start doing some work in your life and soul. I would love to hear what some of your words are if you go that route!

The Year of the Move

A little over a year ago, we made a major family decision to move to Dallas, a decision that rocked our marriage and family in the process. We had lived in San Antonio almost 6 years at the time. I got my first “big girl” job there, we bought our first home there, I made some of my dearest, deepest friendships there, I learned to hear the voice of the Lord like never before at the sweetest church there, and I walked through one of the darkest seasons of my life there. I brought home two colicky newborns there and had a pack of girlfriends who brought wine and held my babies when I didn’t have the energy to. I had countless girls’ nights and fun playdates and regular days that felt like they would never end there too. There was just so much to leave, and I wasn’t sure I could when Erik asked me to move new city where I would have to start all over.

And let me just say, I put up my best fight. I pulled out all of the stops, telling him one night that he should just go without us, that I would stay back in San Antonio and would be just fine on my own (this coming from the girl who cannot make coffee by herself….just fine on my own?! Right.) A few weeks later, after a few long hours with our most favorite marriage counselor, I agreed that maybe I would at least consider whether this move might be a good thing for our family. 

As I began to really pray about it, (read: telling God why this was NOT a good idea and asking him to change Erik’s heart and job situation so that we could stay in our little bubble with all of our friends forever and ever), something strange happened. God started speaking to me that Dallas WAS what he had for me. Not just for Erik, but for me. And that I had a choice to make- I could really believe that and trust Him with all of the details that come with a major life move, or I could continue believing the lie that moving would be the worst thing ever and that Erik was trying to tear me away from everything and everyone that I loved in San Antonio. The thing is, I knew how important this move was to Erik. Erik loves his job and really loves his company, and him staying in San Antonio with his current company meant he wouldn’t have had much room for professional growth. Making him switch companies or jobs just so I could maintain my level of comfort and happiness would have just been wrong, and deep down, I knew it. But Erik wouldn’t make this job transition unless I was on board (because Erik is far more selfless than I am), so hearing the Lord assure me that he not only wanted this move to be for Erik’s benefit, but for our whole family, began to soften my heart to the possibility that this might turn out okay.

After a few more hard months and lots of counseling, we finally got on the same page, and the details then began to fall into place. I got a message one Friday morning last fall from a stranger on a neighborhood facebook group (the neighborhood down the street from Erik’s office in Dallas) giving me a heads up that a new house had been listed that morning and it met all the criteria that I had posted about a couple of weeks before. This neighborhood was known for houses being sold off-market, so the fact that one even came ON the market was rare. Our realtor in Dallas drove over to look at it later that morning, and called to tell us we needed to come see it in person because he couldn’t tell If I would like it (he had discovered quickly how “attentive to detail” I was about every.single.thing re: potential houses). The problem was that the sellers were planning on accepting a bid by the end of the weekend since they were expecting multiple offers. So the next day, I got up and drove 5 hours to see this house for exactly 30 minutes (before our showing got interrupted by an accidental double-booking). I was hesitant to make an offer because I thought the house needed some work, but Erik (who stayed back with the girls because his “attention to detail” is not quite as advanced as mine) was convinced that this was our house- it was in walking distance to his office and in our dream neighborhood- so we made the offer. I honestly wasn’t expecting us to get it, as there had already been several offers submitted, but on the drive home that night, I heard God clearly say that house would be ours. So when we found out that Sunday night they had accepted our offer, it was confirmation that A) I had heard God, and B) He was taking care of us with this move.

Fast forward to today, and I can honestly say our family is thriving in Dallas. Not to say that I don’t miss my tribe in San Antonio so much that it hurts sometimes, but I know I will have those special friendships for the rest of my life, regardless of the distance. Since we’ve moved, Erik is able to be home more than on the road, which has been a huge weight lifted off me in turn (a weight I didn’t even realize I was carrying). The girls love going to their new preschool, we adore our amazing church, and we have made some of the most wonderful friends here already. Not to mention our dream neighborhood, which conveniently came with some dream neighbors that we love doing life with. I can absolutely already see the fruit of God’s promise that Dallas would be a good fit for me as well as for Erik.

I feel a contentment in this season that I had been missing for a long time. And I don't think it was changing zip codes that brought that- it has been more about letting go of my death-grip on control and finally truly trusting that God's plans for my life really are for my good and not to harm me (Jer. 29:11). Maybe also it’s just a less hectic season with our kids getting a little older (A 2.5yr old 1.5yr old…which let me just tell you, is a heck of lot easier than a 1yr old and an infant), or maybe its just the cooler weather here lately that has me feeling grateful. Of course, we still have struggles and arguments and traffic (dear Lord, the traffic) here, because, well….life, man. But I am finding that living life from a place of contentment is so much less stressful than from a place of contention. I can’t say that I always submit to Erik’s leadership in every area of our marriage, but I am so grateful that I did this time- he really did know all along that this would be a good thing for all of us. It just took some kicking and screaming and maybe some of my claw marks in the San Antonio clay to make me realize it too :)

If there is something in your life you are holding on a little too tightly but really feel God's nudge to let it go, maybe press into that, and ask Him what He may have to give you instead? For me, it was giving up everything I thought brought me comfort- the familiarity of the life I had built for my family- to gain a deeper level of trust and comfort in God and my husband that I hadn't known before. And it really has been worth it. 

Opening Up

I can't believe its been over two years since I last blogged. So much life has happened. We have had not one, but TWO kids since then...so yeah, life's been a little busy. I was sitting at dinner with some girlfriends the other night, and one of them asked us all this question-- "if you could do anything, without constraints of resources, time, family...what would it be?" I immediately knew...I would write. Not quite sure what I would be writing about, but I just knew thats what was in my heart to do. These particular friends I was with that night are the kind of friends who really go after the deep things in me, so they all asked, "well, why aren't you??"

So here I am. At it again. The same old fear messages pop up every time I come back to write...What if no one reads this? What if they think my writing sucks? What do I have to add that a million other bloggers out there haven't already said? I decided today to shut those down and just write...because even if those three friends of mine are the only ones to read this besides my mother (Hey, Mom)...at least I'm bringing myself life in this space. God has not tasked me to reach millions with this blog- He simply wants to see me come alive with a passion that is already in my heart, ready to spill out in word form. 

So today felt like a good day to write. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my first miscarriage- the death of our first little baby. It has been four years since that day, yet I can remember every detail about that weekend like it just happened. We had just been to the doctor a couple of weeks before and had our first sonogram- we were in awe of the tiny little blob on the screen with its little heart fluttering so fast. We were going to be parents! I was so excited to be pregnant that I went to Gap on my way home and bought 5 pairs of maternity pants...because who doesn't love an excuse to wear stretchy waistband pants?? We drove to Austin that weekend and had my mother-in-law take pictures of us with a cute tiny little pumpkin for our pregnancy announcements that I immediately ordered the next week- rush shipping, please.

                                                           

Two weeks later, I boarded my flight to Annapolis for our annual law school friend reunion wearing my maternity pants (falling off of me at this point bc I had no real belly yet, but did I care? nope) and carrying 5 copies of my pregnancy announcement to surprise the girls with the good news. The first night we were all together, after sharing my exciting news, I went to the bathroom and noticed I was spotting. I started freaking out, but the girls tried to calm me down (even though none of us had ever been pregnant before) and we eventually went to bed. I don't think I slept even 10 minutes that night, something just didn't feel right. The next morning, the spotting had gotten a lot worse- I knew I needed to get to a hospital right away. Two of the girls drove me to the ER, and I remember being terrified as we waited...all three of us trying not to cry right there in the waiting room. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, I was finally taken back for a sonogram. My two friends were allowed to be with me in the dark sonogram room as they searched for little baby's heartbeat. There wasn't one to be found. The nurse confirmed my worst possible fear right there in that dark room, that I had lost the baby. My sweet friends just hugged me and stayed with me while we processed the news together. My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest, and as grateful as I was for them being there, I just wanted to be with Erik in that moment and he was thousands of miles away. (I didn't know at the time, but Erik had gotten a last minute flight as soon as he heard I was at the hospital and he was already on his way to me). My other three friends arrived at the hospital right after we got the news, and they filled the hole in my heart in the best ways they could- they cried with me, brought us food, talked about the baby when I wanted to, talked about everything BUT the baby when I didn't, gave me a play by play of Erik's status, and once the doctor finished the procedure, they took me back to my friend's house and let me rest. I remember how good it felt outside when we were leaving the hospital- it was cool and crisp, on what was supposed to have been a wonderful day of exploring Annapolis with my girls. When Erik finally arrived, I met him on the steps of my friend's house and we sat together and cried. Once i started crying, I just couldn't stop it. We tried to go to dinner at a little pub, but I had no appetite, so we just went to a coffee shop and cried some more instead. Our friends arranged for us to go stay at one of their other friend's apartments that night so we could be by ourselves. I didn't want to go, but I felt like I had drained everyone enough for a lifetime, so we went. The next days and weeks felt like a blur. I remember coming home to that little pumpkin we had used for our announcements, and I took it outside and tried to smash it. I couldn't, so I just threw it in the trash along with all of the pregnancy announcements that would never be sent. My mom came that week and we kept ourselves busy with projects, but the ache was just so much, and I knew everyone around me could feel it. 

Four years and two kids later, and that experience still brings me to tears when I allow myself to revisit it. We experienced several more miscarriages after that one, but none hurt as bad as that first one for me. I felt so blindsided by it, maybe that's why? One of my friends who was with me on that terrible day texted me this morning, asking how I was doing (she's one of my most thoughtful friends, of course she would remember to think of me today) and we started talking about how loss can really make you question what you really believe- how it can move you from an idea of who you thought God was to making you take a step forward in faith and decide whether you are going to believe in Him and in His goodness in all things, in spite of circumstances that appear otherwise. I know that my faith was tested more in that season of my life than it has ever been before, but I also know that I am more sure now of who God is to me and what true trust looks like, because of what He brought me through. I always tell Erik that I don't trust people to speak into my life in a deep way who haven't been through anything hard in their own life....because I know what hardships do to people, I know what the fire will bring out in you, and the people who come out stronger and more in love with God on the other side...I want to know their secrets. I want to know what they learned through their experiences and how they arrived at their decision to believe with everything in them that God is GOOD, no matter what.

What about you? What has God taught you and/or done in your life through the really crappy, hard stuff? It's okay if you don't know or see it yet, I don't know that I can see the full extent of my own stuff either. I do want to encourage you to take the time to visit those painful places in your life with the Lord though and ask Him what He has for you in it...what have you learned about who He is through it? Was there someone who was able to encourage you in a way that no one else could because of shared heartache? Could you possibly be that person for someone else in the same situation down the road? Just some thoughts to think on.

There's so much more I could say on this...and I will as I continue to press in to the pain that still remains and learn more about what God has for me in and through it. But today I need to go tend to the perfect little miracles that God has given to me to parent here on this Earth, and I will wait in eager expectation to meet that first little baby when I arrive in Heaven one day :)

One Year's View

As I was going through my desk looking for something this morning at work, I came across my weekly planner from last year. I don’t know why I keep this kind of stuff, call me sentimental. Or a hoarder, but sentimental has a better ring to it. As I flipped through it, I began to reminisce about some of the events and reminders I had put in it from the year before. I came across Labor Day 2013 and immediately got a knot in my throat. Exactly one year ago, I was busy packing for our big vacation to Las Vegas, a trip we had been planning for months. It feels now like it was years ago and yesterday, all at the same time. We had just finished our first round of infertility treatments the week before, and my fertility doctor was SO SURE it was going to be successful because I had successfully ovulated not one, but FOUR eggs (do I sound like a chicken or what?) with the help of minimal fertility drugs. My problem had never been getting pregnant anyway, it was the staying pregnant that seemed to be stumping even the best fertility doctors in Texas. I was taking the treatments simply to try and develop a better egg. I remember my doctor calling me that week and asking if I was sure I wanted to go forward with the remainder of the treatments because the chances of me having multiples was so high, but of course we said yes…I had always wanted multiples anyway! So as I packed for our trip to Vegas, I was giddy thinking about the pregnancy tests I had thrown into my suitcase, and how I couldn’t wait to celebrate seeing that positive pregnancy test while on our vacation. Fast forward two days into our trip, the day it was time to take the test. The day I had been waiting for all month.

It was a big fat negative.

I knew because I had seen positive tests before, and this was not one of those. I couldn’t believe it, I was in complete shock. Hadn’t my fertility doctor just told me I was surely going to get pregnant on the first round, and probably with multiples?? I remember crumbling in a heap onto the floor of my beautiful hotel bathroom, unable to even think clearly. At that moment, I felt what every woman who struggles with infertility feels month after month. It was devastating.

When I finally pulled myself together, Erik convinced me to go with him to eat breakfast at Vegas’ branch of Serendipity 3 (you know, from the movie Serendipity, which I’ve always loved), because he knew I had wanted to go there the last two times we had been in NYC and the line had been too long. So I went, and promptly ordered a Bloody Mary. Because that may be the only positive of finding out you aren’t pregnant, being able to drink a Bloody Mary for breakfast. And as we sat there and drank our Bloody Marys, I put my sunglasses on and let the tears come. They didn’t stop the entire two hours we stayed at that restaurant, and I didn’t even care. We both cried as we shared our disappointments about our failed fertility cycle and about all of the failed pregnancies before that. We second-guessed our decision to spend thousands of dollars on fertility treatments that didn’t even work. We wondered where God was in all of our trying to have the children we thought He had for us. We prayed that He would comfort us and give us peace in our not understanding.

Fast forward just one year, and here I am again, packing for yet another Labor Day getaway, this time to celebrate our “Babymoon.” You know, that one last trip you take as a couple before the baby comes and it gets a little harder to get away for a long weekend together. This time, I am packing maternity clothes instead of pregnancy tests and planning to eat breakfast at the flagship Serendipity 3 in NYC, where I will gladly skip the Bloody Mary and order a frozen hot chocolate instead. Isn’t it wild what a year can bring? The space between then and now didn’t necessarily get easier, but we got stronger. I went through one more failed fertility cycle before we decided to give the whole “trying to get pregnant” thing a break, then I miraculously got pregnant the very next month, only to miscarry again. That’s when we decided to get serious about our adoption journey, and the rest is history, as you know.

I am sharing all of this to say, whatever it is you are hoping for, dreaming for, praying for…whether it is a baby or husband/wife or a job or anything else, don’t lose hope for those dreams. It may take a little longer than you planned or expected, but God is able to do some amazing things in our hearts during those seasons of waiting if we will let Him. And when those things you’ve been hoping for do happen, it will be so much sweeter and richer than you could have imagined! Ask God what He has for you during your waiting season. I can say that He taught me a lot of things during my season of waiting, some of which I was fortunate to have grasped and some of which I am sure I missed. I wish I could go back and tell that girl in a puddle on the floor in her hotel room in Vegas that she won’t always feel like that- that there is so much more coming for her family and not to lose hope. But since I can’t, hopefully I can infuse some hope into whoever is reading this that might need it-- that IT WONT ALWAYS FEEL LIKE THIS. Hold on to the hope that God has put inside of you for whatever dreams He’s given you. It may look differently than you expected, or take you on a different route than you planned for your life, but God never withholds good from His children unless He has better to give them. My life in this season is proof of that, and yours will be too.

If you are struggling with a loss of hope for any of your dreams and need some encouragement or someone to talk to who has been there, please feel free to email me at loristeenken@gmail.com. I know that infertility and miscarriage specifically have been such silent topics for women for a long time, and I so desire to change that. I want there to be space for women to share their heartbreak and disappointments the way I was able to share mine with those close to me. So reach out, and know you aren’t alone in this. And thank you to those who already have shared with me as I’ve started this blog, I am constantly interceding for you and your dreams to come to pass!

We have a "DTE"....and a Due Date!

Well, we have some BIG updates…but first on the adoption front- we made our deadline of getting our Dossier finished by June! We had some unexpected set-backs towards the end (not to mention a couple of months of all-day morning sickness to enjoy at the same time) but I was determined to get that package sent by the end of June. We finally received the last document we were waiting on early last week, so last Thursday, a couple of friends met me at the post office and prayed over the package as we sent it on its way! I didn’t really understand when we first started the process that we don’t actually send the documents to Ethiopia ourselves- our agency takes care of that for us (thanks to a nice little courier fee we have to pay to get it there safely), which was actually a huge relief to know. I personally don’t trust myself to send very important documents all the way across the world. So this week, our agency is reviewing everything one last time, and then taking our Dossier to the Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy for certification and authentication. They will then courier the final package to Ethiopia, which is set to arrive the next week in Ethiopia, so our official “DTE” (Date-To-Ethiopia) will be July 4, 2014. What a fun DTE!

The most important thing about having a DTE is that we finally get our name on the official waitlist. The wait time has been steadily increasing, and the current wait time for a healthy (relative term in Africa) infant/toddler is now around three years. It could be shorter for us due to the fact that we are requesting siblings, which aren’t requested as often as single children, but we are mentally preparing ourselves to wait the full three years- I mean, what is three years when you get the rest of your life with these precious children?! I feel like my patience and ability to be at peace in “waiting” has been tested, and tested, and tested some more over the past couple of years…and y’all, it has been HARD. But for me, I’ve come to realize it’s more about perseverance to not give up on the dreams and promises God has given me, regardless of whether I see them coming to fruition anytime soon or not. I could write a whole post on that topic alone, and I think I will soon, but for now, I want to focus on the JOY of being done with such a huge part of the adoption process!

And speaking of JOY and dreams, we also found out in April that there will be yet another little Steenken joining our family, set to arrive this year! We literally found out I was pregnant the very same day that we sent our paperwork to USCIS to be approved (something tells me that was more than a coincidence!). It has been so hard to keep it a secret for so long, but we wanted to make sure the pregnancy was going well and the baby was healthy due to my past experiences with pregnancies. But this pregnancy has felt SO different in so many ways- so HOPEFUL (and so full of my head in the toilet, which my doctor has assured me over and over again is totally a “good sign!”). I ended my first trimester last week and got the go-ahead from the doctor to shout it from the rooftops…we have a perfectly healthy baby set to arrive at Christmas of this year! I hope to write out more of my thoughts about our experiences on this two-year journey of so desperately wanting children, but again, for now I just want to delight in the faithfulness of God in our lives through this little miracle baby joining us in December! I know so many of you have not only prayed for our adoption, but have also been praying for us to be able to have biological children. God has heard every prayer, and He is so faithful. Thank you from the deepest place in my heart for contending for us in prayer as we’ve shared our journey in all of this. It really does take a village, and I am so glad to be in this one.

 

 

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” –Luke 1:45

WE ARE APPROVED!

I have to apologize for not getting to this update sooner, we have had major computer issues in our house lately, but several visits to the Apple store later, we are back in business with some great news to report! We received our approval letter from USCIS in the mail last week- which means we could technically accept a referral for a child or children immediately. (Oh how I wish it worked that way! Since we are going through an agency, we still have some more steps to go through and then quite a long wait list) We were expecting it to take a little longer to receive the approval letter, so we still have a couple of documents we are waiting on…but once those are in, all of our paperwork will be off to Ethiopia! I can’t we are finally to this final stage…the paperwork process was no cake walk, but we’ve had a lot of favor in getting it done so quickly (thanks to all of your prayers during this part of it all!) We are more than ready to be on the wait list (which will happen once the Ethiopian government receives our paperwork and processes it through their system), and it’s crazy exciting to think that it could happen THIS month. Thank you for your continued prayers for us in this journey; they are being answered in a real, tangible way!