And we have movement ...

One of the things we have learned about adoption is that any movement, small movement, is a milestone. Nothing is "predictable," or guaranteed. The other thing we have learned about adoption is that when movement occurs it produces emotions beyond comprehension.

We had one of those "movement" experiences today. Yesterday, our agency made us aware that our dossier was "on the docket" for review yesterday afternoon. "On the docket" does not guarantee anything, but it was a small movement none-the-less.

You can imagine the emotion that an 8:00 am phone call ignited. 💥  It was our agency social worker calling to let us know that not only had our dossier actually made it to review, it was approved, and they verbally matched us with the kiddos.  (The verbal part is simply because the files for the kids have be transferred from the government department, ICBF, to the private orphanage)  To say I was, and then the rest of the children were, ecstatic is an understatement.  There was dancing and hugging and a little bit of screaming -- and some waking of the resident teenager. 

So what's next? The short version is that we are anticipating travel within 8 to 10 weeks. That's like two months!!!  TWO MONTHS!! We could be on a plane to Colombia to meet our kiddos in TWO MONTHS!! 

We also have some pretty significant prayer requests to go with this movement:

• Finances - We need to come up with approximately $20,000 to be able to pay all the fees and expenses to get the kids home. Pray for God's provisions. For us to trust His timing. 
• Hearts and Emotions - Lots of emotions, both here and in Colombia. Adoption comes from loss. There will be grief. Our resident children are excited, but they are also nervous and unsure. Pray that God would continue to prepare all of our hearts.
• Physical Space Needs -- We are still putting the final touches on bedroom configurations. We need two more twin mattresses, closets need to be organized, and let's not even talk about our need for a "mud room." Pray that we use our space efficiently and effectively. 

We are so thankful for little "movements" that continue to show us that God is in this journey. We are trusting Him to continue to bring us peace and we know we can trust that He has all twelve of us in His sights. 

With Extravagant Love, 

Sheila

Expanding Our Home by EIGHT Feet

These eight feet ... their story ... their need ... That's where this adoption journey began.

We didn't envision ourselves as a large family. With six kids we just felt we were a little larger than average. We weren't "looking" to increase the size of our family, but this isn't about what we were "looking" for, it's about what God was looking for. And that's where these eight feet, these four siblings from Colombia, South America enter the story. God was looking for a family, a forever family, an adoptive family, for these sweet kiddos. You see, I don't believe adoption is about God finding children for families, it's about God finding families for children. 

Not knowing for certain what God's plans for our family or these four kiddos might be, we took a step in faith. We ask ourselves,

"Can we parent four more kids?" And then, more specifically, "Can we parent for more kids from hard places?" And our answer to both questions was, "YES! As long as we keep God at the center of it all."

So here we are, many months after we first saw those eight feet. We have completed piles of paperwork, been through medical exams, psychiatric evaluations, fingerprinting (more than once), background checking, home visits, conference calls, training videos (more than we really cared to), and we have finally reached a point where this process is essentially "out of our hands."

At this point we are waiting for the proper authorities in Colombia to "officially" match us with the children. They have already "unofficially" made that match. In the upcoming weeks the children will be introduced to us, via photobooks and video. We will (hopefully) begin getting to know them using video calls, and more applications will be filed. 

Simultaneously, we will continue preparing our home for eight more feet. Sorting clothing - making our best guess of sizes and styles, setting up beds, rearranging rooms, and otherwise just prepping the physical space. But preparing our home also involves pouring into our resident children. It means game nights, and short road trips. It includes snuggles and whispered conversations. It involves intentional conversations about the "what ifs" of adding four more children to the mix. And more than any other preparation ... it involves lots and lots of PRAYER.

Our Referral Story

Referral ... according to Dictionary.com it is a person recommended to someone or for something. 

In the adoption community a referral is that point in the process when the agency that you are working with matches your family with a child(ren).  

For those who have followed Ethiopian adoptions in recent years, the time that it has taken families to receive that long-awaited referral has increased, and increased, and increased.  Most agencies have wait times of about 24 months at this point.  (And that's not including the 6 months of time you spend prior to that completing all the necessary paper work and obtaining the appropriate clearances.)  For our family ... the official wait time began in September 2011.

All of that to say, that sometimes God has other plans ... which is what happened for us. We officially received our referral for Zone in August 2012.  (Just less than one year of official "waiting.")  Zone's profile was featured in an update from our agency, Holt International, on August 1, 2011.  The first words we read about our son included that he was a "happy little boy", "asks many questions", and "enjoys participating in make believe."  I knew instantly, that I wanted to learn more about him and see what God had planned for our family and this little boy.  I was reading these words at 4:30am the day after receiving the update.  If you know me, you know that it.is.not.my.style. to be awake at 4:30am.  But something (hmm?? God??) had me up and I decided to revisit the update I had only skimmed the day before.  

By 5:00 am I was sending an email to the Holt offices in Oregon (grant you it was 3:00 am there) asking about this boy.  That was a Thursday morning.  The steps that followed included phone calls, question answering, more phone calls, and more questions.  All completely worth it to end the day on Friday knowing that we were being "considered" as a forever family for this sweet boy. (Whose name we didn't yet know.)

The process for referring a waiting child (Zone's file was being worked through this program) through our agency is thorough and lengthy.  All we knew by Friday afternoon was that God had placed this boy on our hearts and we were so thankful for the opportunity to pray for him and for God's affirmation that we were indeed supposed to be working to adopt.  

I was scheduled to fly out for the MOPS International Convention the following Tuesday.  So when our family departed for Chicago on Monday we were trusting in the process.  We knew that our next step would be a phone call conference with one of our agencies social workers. This was scheduled for the Sunday that I would return.  

God, in His infinite wisdom, had other plans.  Not more than an hour after I arrived in Dallas I received a text message from my husband.  It simply said, "Check your email."  I opened my email (from my phone, as I had decided not to bring a laptop or iPad on the trip) to see an email from our agency.  The subject line: Child Material Zone.  I thought, hmmm?  We are in the child material zone.  Wonder what that means.  (Are you getting it?  'Cuz this took me some time.)  I opened the email to read:

"Please see the attached child material that you requested. ... 

"please let either of us know once you are comfortable making a decision regarding pursuing or declining this child’s adoption."

Huh???  Pursue or decline this child's adoption?  What was this??  Oh my word!! This was a referral file!!!  As I paged down the email I realized that included in this email were pictures!!  Pictures of our sweet boy!!

I immediately called my husband who was in Door County with our kids visiting his parents while I was away.  I am in Dallas.  He's in Door County. And we are about to look at the pictures of our son for the very first time.  And all I have is a stupid smart phone. (Irony??)

Hence the journey to Zone began.  We took one look at his sweet face and knew that God had  prepared us for this moment.  That God had begun the work of placing him in his forever family -- ours!