Complete.

Today was a great day as we finally turned in our dossier.  We felt a sense of relief as we handed over 6 months worth of paperwork to our case worker.


It feels good to have this step done, but we know the hard part of waiting is now upon us.  The approximate wait time for a referral is still 6-12 months from the time our dossier reaches Ethiopia.  We now just continue to pray for patience and rest in the knowledge that God has a child in mind for us already.  We pray for that child's health and development and cannot wait to meet him or her!

It's Finally Here!

Our USCIS Immigration approval finally came in the mail on Monday!  We were so excited to see the final document needed for our dossier.  


I went to Grand Rapids today in an attempt to get several documents in our dossier state-sealed.  This is done at a Secretary of State office, but the closest office that gives state-seals is in Grand Rapids.  I walked in and was told that their computers were down, and they did not know how long this would last.  I burned some time shopping at a few stores and then went back.  No luck. Still down.  I decided to go to a few more stores thinking this problem can't last much longer.  I headed back to SOS and they were still down.  So, I decided to drive back home since I had already been there for 2 1/2 hours...with no state-seals. 


Scott is going to GR tomorrow to try to get our state-seals.  Hoping he has better luck than me:)  Then we can officially submit our dossier!

Tulips!

Here are a few pictures from our Thursday evening in Downtown Holland, MI at the Tulip Festival.  We met up with Scott's sister and brother-in-law and our two nieces- Lauren & Allie.  


The food was great, the Dutch Dancers danced, and of course the tulips were beautiful!  

Mother's Day

To be honest, Mother's Day is not a day that I have looked forward to over the past few years.  It seems to be such a raw reminder that our children are not with us, but we look forward to celebrating with our adopted child in years to come.  We made the best of our weekend and enjoyed celebrating with our families.  Scott & I are blessed to have great mothers and do not take those gifts for granted.   Our weekend was highlighted by our church service on Sunday morning which focused on not only celebrating mothers, but "Celebrating Women".  A major part of the service also focused on adoption and foster care! Such perfect timing! We cannot help but think about our child's birth mother on Mother's Day.  We pray for her each day as she takes steps toward this HUGE sacrifice.   And...Scott gave me a "Heart for Africa" necklace for Mother's Day.  Soooo cute, I love it! (Thanks for your help Sara!)

Quote, the Mailbox, & Vacation

God does notice us, and he watches over us. 

But it is usually through another person
that he meets our needs.

Therefore, it is vital that
we serve each other.

~Spencer W. Kimball

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We are about 3 weeks into waiting for the LAST thing needed for our dossier.  The USCIS approval is the only piece of paper we need to proceed, so we open the mailbox each day in hope of seeing the envelope.  Once we receive it, we need to make a trip to Grand Rapids to have the documents state-sealed.  Then we will drop off our dossier at Bethany in Holland, they will forward it to Bethany in Grand Rapids, they will send it Washington DC to be authenticated, and then off to ETHIOPIA and officially on the wait-list!  

We recently learned that Bethany Christian Services (BCS) is not currently changing the wait times for referrals.  So, we expect to wait 6-12 months to get a referral.  The big question mark comes after we get our referral.  Many changes have occurred in the Ethiopian adoption process and BCS hopes to have a better idea on wait times for court dates and Embassy appointments in the next few months. 

******

We were able to get away last week for a week in Florida with our good friends. We had a great time a relaxing week!  More pics to come!

Fingerprinted!

Today we had our fingerprinting appointment at the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office in Grand Rapids.   We are one step closer to submitting our dossier and getting on the waiting list!  Our fingerprints are sent to the FBI for clearance in order to get our Immigration paperwork approved.  We are hoping to get the approval in the mail in the next 3-4 weeks.  At that point we will put a few finishing touches on our dossier and send it in.  We love making progress in this sometimes long & daunting process.  The end of the paperwork is in close sight...which means the beginning of a long wait.


At this point we do not have any idea how long the wait times will be to receive a referral.  With all the changes that are going on around the Ethiopian adoption system, our agency (Bethany Christian Services) is doing what they can to keep us informed.  They are not able to give approximate wait times until families go through the modified process - the process seems to be constantly changing. We received an email today stating that the Ethiopian court must obtain a letter from the police, hospital, family, etc. proving the orphan's status.  We think this is a positive step in cleaning up some of the problems in the system and hope and pray this will be beneficial for the children.  


I follow several blogs of families adopting from Ethiopia.  It is encouraging to see the process working and moving forward in many cases during this time of unknowns.  Families are currently getting referrals, court dates, Embassy appointments and bringing children to their forever homes.  We are dreaming of that day!

A Great Adoption Video

We mentioned in our 1st post on this blog that God had opened our hearts to international adoption after attending an Orphan Sunday Event at our church.  I recently came across one of the videos that was shown during an international/domestic adoption session at that event.  God used this video to open our eyes and hearts to international adoption and ultimately an Ethiopian adoption.



(2011) Adoption Associates 'Owen' from Chad Kremer on Vimeo.

Just to keep everyone up to date...we have not heard any updates from Ethiopia in the last few weeks.  We continue to pray for the orphans and those making decisions in Ethiopia. 

The Roller Coaster

The last few weeks have been pretty tough.  We have tried to remain upbeat remembering that God has this, but that is tough to say the least.  The constant roller coaster of excitement and then defeat over the past five years has made it difficult to get back up and fight sometimes after receiving disappointing news.  But just as these negative thoughts started to dominate our minds again we were once again reminded that God already has a child picked out for us – we will eventually hold that child even if it takes a little longer than first expected. 

Over the weekend and again today we received a bit of good news!  While nothing is official yet, it appears as though MOWA has replaced their staff in Ethiopia and are now processing more than 5 cases per day (reports have confirmed they approved 20 cases one day late last week)!  This is still a substantial reduction from the 50 that were previously being processed and we have no idea if 20 cases a day will be long term. 

Maybe this change was needed and now adoptions will be safer and will be more ethical.  Perhaps this was a good thing and now we will be safer when we go.  Maybe even the new employees of MOWA will be the spark that is needed to overhaul the entire system in Ethiopia.

We are continually mindful of Ethiopia – our minds still race with questions and concerns.  All we can do is continue to pray for our child, the birth parents, MOWA, the country of Ethiopia, caretakers at the orphanages, and Bethany in Ethiopia and here.

James 1:2-6

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Children of God

Another great song and video from Third Day about adoption and God's adoption of each one of us...

Reality

Thank you all for you prayers this week.  Unfortunately we received word today that the proposed changes became reality as the Ethiopian courts only processed 5 adoptions today (down from a normal day of 50 cases).  We feel a bit paralyzed by this and don't know exactly what to think or do.  We continue to pray that this wouldn't be long term in nature. A 90% drop in the adoption rate would mean that children would remain in orphanages much longer and wait times would significantly increase for families. A number of organizations (including representation from Bethany) are trying to meet with the decision makers this weekend.  We pray for a positive outcome for the sake of those kids and for those of us who desire to provide a permanent home for them.


Here is what Bethany sent us today:


Since we talked yesterday, the Dept. of State posted an alert regarding MOWA:  http://adoption.state.gov/news/ethiopia_alert.html.  In it, they indicate that starting today, MOWA will only review five cases per day.   

This morning we spoke with the Bethany team in Ethiopia.  Sisay, Bethany's adoption coordinator in Ethiopia, went to the court (even though we did not have any cases today) and to MOWA to see if MOWA decided to, in fact, only review five cases per day.  He indicated that only five recommendations were submitted to court by MOWA today.  Also, it stated on the door at MOWA that their new policy was to review only five cases per day.   

Adoptive and birth parents will still be expected to attend their court dates as scheduled, and according to current information, will need to wait until MOWA writes their approval letter to be approved by the court.   

The Minister of MOWA has indicated that he will meet with the Network (a consortium of adoption agency representatives, of which Bethany is a part) this weekend to further discuss the issue.  If this meeting takes place, we hope to have additional news on Monday.   

It is important to note that this "policy" is still under negotitation and discussion within the government.  While it may be in practice at this time, we do not know it's future, as many within the government appear not to agree with the policy.