What a gift...

So I figured that I (John) should add a post every now and then. Up to this point my contribution to this blog was just setting it up. So here goes....

Yesterday I listened to the monthly conference call. Our adoption agency does these monthly conference calls for everyone who is in the waiting stage. It is a chance for us to hear what is going on with our agency, the children's home in Ethiopia, changes in government procedures and so on. We call in and then hear the updates and then have a chance to ask questions. I missed the live call but they record it and send a link of it for those who couldn't call in live.

Nothing new really to report other than it seems like the 9-11 month waiting period from our DTE might actually drop into the 8-11 month range. Small blessing but a blessing never the less. The agency worker did not say this for a fact but I am drawing that conclusion from some of the comments and the fact that their have been so many referrals this month. I am not getting my hopes up though. She mentioned that it was pretty safe at this point to add nine months to your DTE for when you can expect your referral. That puts us in the first part of November. Then she mentioned that you can add two months from then for a court date. That is about how long it has been consistently taking from the time you agree to adopt the child to get a court date in Ethiopia. So that puts us traveling in the first part of January.

I am hoping that it is a little bit quicker. As I process it, I think it would be pretty special to travel around Christmas. Talk about a gift huh! We celebrate the amazing gift that humanity was given in the form of baby Jesus at Christmas. How awesome would it be for Nicole and I to be given an amazing gift in the form of baby Yoshi! I am not getting my hopes up but it is fun to think about!

For now...back to waiting.

Patience being fertilized by hope...

So I decied tonight that I should write another update to our blog. Although the only real thing to keep updating people on is that we are still waiting. I was going to blog about the fact that we found there had been 6 referrals in early March. I decided to check America World's website before I started my blog for the night. Much to our delighted surprise we found the website to have an update on 11 more referrals!! That brings March's total to 17 referrals!! America World was hoping for 10 referrals a month, so this is even more than they would have expected, I'm sure. We are mindful to remember that not every month will be this good, April could possibly only have 3 or 4. But for this moment, it is exciting to think that so many families have gotten the word that they have been matched to their child(ren). And it also means we are that much closer to getting that call ourselves. Although we haven't even reached our 2 month wait since our DTE, we are still encouraged to keep waiting. The families that received their referrals this month have been waiting 10 months...so we have a ways to go, but we are learning a lesson in patience anyway:)...

1 down, 8+ to go...

So today marks the first month of waiting being over. Although the month went by as any month does, whenever I thought of the adoption, it seemed to drag by. Honestly, when we originally got our DTE and found out it would be 9 months from that date, I was so depressed, I didn't want to talk to anyone about the adoption. People would ask how things were going and I would brush it off by saying "fine, just waiting." If people prodded anymore I would try to find a way to change the subject so as not to have to go into details about how long it was going to take or when we expected to hear anything. Even though I knew "everything is in God's time" (which some friends tried to remind me of), I didn't want to think about that. But of course, God reminds you of these things Himself.

Something we have had to be thankful for is my job situation. Over the summer I decided to try to work "as needed" for several different places in the area. One place in particular decided they could use me up to 20hrs a week (which worked out to be more $ than working 40hr weeks at my current place). Although I have enjoyed the flexibility that the schedule has provided, this past week they decided to offer me a permanent full-time position. Which I accepted...praise #1.

Then last week, we got news back from our tax guy. Because John had graduated from Anderson University in May with his Master's Degree, and AU's county had been declared a federal disaster area from a storm that went through, we ended up with a bigger return that normal. Which will allow us to pay off all remaining debt, including the last of John's student loan...praise #2.

Most of you may not know that John and I currently live in Elkhart county, which as of last month has the highest un-employment rate in the country at aprox. 15%. I feel blessed to have a job where I enjoy working and my field is doing well enough that they wanted to hire me full-time. (Mainly because a robot can't do my job...and there's baby-boomers everywhere just getting older:))...praise #3. However, several weeks ago, we found out that the church (John's employer) was going to cut a position. This was very upsetting to John and I as we will miss the friends we have made in Steve and Jenny and also their kids that we have grown to love who are in our youth group, Elise and Anthony. While we know that God has a plan for Steve and Jenny in their ministry, it is still hard to face the reality of the county we live in and wish somehow it could have not had to impact our church family.

Which brings me to my next point. Even though waiting 9 more months for a referral seems like an eternity at this point, it will allow us to do several things. 1.) Save enough money to hopefully be able to pay America World our final payment when it is due at time of referral (aprox. $12,000) without having to go into debt. 2.) Maybe even have enough to redo the flooring in the upstairs of our house which I wanted to be able to do before Yoshi is here. 3.) Get the nursery (and house) ready (and have the money to do it). 4.) Research and educate ourselves about the things to expect in Ethiopia, the rest of the adoption process and what to do with a 6 month old:)

So, look at that, I guess everything does happen in the timing that is best. I will feel free to re-visit and re-read this blog next month (or next week) when I am questioning it again!...