Monthly Wait-List Update

Well, thanks to Lesley Scott and those wonderful people at Lifeline Children's Services, we received our updated Wait List number today and we are number 3...we are very excited and are already playing through the scenarios in our mind on the timing and the holidays.  Similar to what my bride mentioned last time, to our knowledge, there is no one ahead of us looking for a referral for a child older than 2 years old so that means that we are likely number 1 on the list for a child older than 2, which is both awesome and scary.  The reality of the possibility for us to be on a plane between now and the end of the year to go to Ethiopia to meet our daughter is mind boggling.  

One of the really cool parts of the update was that 10 children were matched with their forever families during November.  Praise God for that and for all of His many blessings.

In one of her recent posts, my sweet bride indicated that I am a Type A personality.  That is true at least to some extent...well no actually it is completely true, but that can be a good thing.  One area that I think it could work well would be if we got our referral and went to Ethiopia to meet our daughter and I was able to stay there while we wait on our paperwork to pass through the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  I could use my Type A personality to bug the poo poo (and I thought my days of using words like poo poo, shoo shoo and tushy were long gone since my youngest child at home is 14, and when I use those words he thinks I am weird...actually he thinks I am weird either way, but as I was sayin) and maybe encourage some greater sense of urgency on their part to speed up the process of bringing our little girl home.  Please pray for us as Kelley and I walk through those kinds of decisions and do what God would have us do.  For me, leaving my daughter in Ethiopia after court may be more than I can handle...Thanks and WOO HOO!!!  We are NUMBER 3!!!!!

Thanks and God Bless!!

While We Wait - Peace and Prayers

You know those (Type A) people who punch the elevator button OVER and OVER and OVER....as if the elevator might come more quickly?

Yeah.  I'm not one of those people.

Really.  I'm not.  (Jeff is but that's another story for another day;).

However, I have attempted to be one of those people in the last several months as we have gotten closer and closer to the top of the wait list.  (As if there is anything that I might be able to do to speed things up).  I've analyzed the wait list over and over again (just like pushing the elevator button); I've spent time plotting out in my mind what steps would need to take place when the call comes (where will I be...where will Jeff be....how will I get in touch with him...how long will it take us to get to the same location so that we can see her face together for the first time); and I have stared at the face of my cell phone, willing it to ring, far too often.

Lately, I've felt so much peace about God's timing and I have (sortof) been able to let go of much of the anxiety.  (Now, next week -or tomorrow- when I'm stressing again, don't hold that against me...okay?).  My brother's wedding, having house guests and the arrival of the holidays has probably been good for me in this regard.  I like peace.

It occurred to me in the last day or so that, while I have this peace, I should do something positive with my time and, in addition to my normal go-to things like cleaning, laundry and, for now, breaking out the Christmas decor, I decided that I wanted to do something I haven't done not one time in the last 11 months.  Pray for my fellow waiting families.  Each of them.

 (Actually, I have prayed for some specific families when they've been at certain points or experiencing certain things in their journey(s) but I've never blanketed the whole group in prayer).

You know, we are not the only Lifeline family.  In fact, when we were added to the wait list in January of 2012, we came onto the list at #29.  Today, there are more than 90 families waiting to adopt a little one from Ethiopia through Lifeline Children's Services.  And there are many others who are in various different steps of the paperwork process.

I have begun to pray for each family and the child (or children) who soon will join their families.  Will you join me and pray for them too?

Dossi-Anniversier!

I was Facebook chatting with a fellow adoptive Mom earlier tonight when, all of a sudden, I realized that it was this very Saturday one year ago that Jeff & I found ourselves finally being able to send our dossier off.  (It was actually on November 26th but it was the Saturday following Thanksgiving....you can read about it here.)

I have to say.....I never in a million years thought that we would still be waiting for a referral this many months later.  I never thought that we would actually find ourselves as close to the top of the waiting list as we are now.  I really thought, because we weren't requesting an infant, that we would receive a referral long before we ever reached the top of the list....shows how much I know.  (His ways are not my ways; His thoughts not mine....but SO much better).

Tonight at dinner, Jeff and I were discussing how close we are and what our next steps will look like.  (By the way, for evidence of how close we are, you need only to see our reaction at the sound of my cell phone ringing.  For any of you that call my cell phone, don't take it personally when I sound disappointed that it is "just you").

AND....how close are we, you ask.  Well....officially we are #6 (as of November 1st), but unofficially, we are certain that we are #4 (because of two referrals that were given out at the beginning of the month) and we also know that one of the top two families is "on hold" for a referral for several months which would sortof make us #3.  There is also a rumor that another of the family's in front of us is on a hold as well (the one family has confirmed it on our FB page; this other family has not)...this would make us #2.  AND....if that is, in fact, the case, the one family in front of us is requesting a Girl, age 0-2 which would mean that we are the next family for a Girl over the age of 2 but under the age of 7.  Makes sense, right?

While We Wait

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know about my youngest niece, Sadie.  (There's a cute Sadie story HERE).

(Who am I kidding?  If you have read or are reading my blog, you're related and, of course you know Sadie.)

Today, my sister Ashley (aka Sadie's mom), Sadie and myself went to Nashville's annual Christmas Village.  At one point, we were in a booth for a Ugandan ministry that had bracelets for sale to benefit orphans.  First, Sadie helped me choose an African mama doll carrying a baby on her back.  As I was paying for the doll, Sadie came carrying a bracelet and some money.  She proudly told the lady checking us out that it wasn't for her but it was for her cousin in Africa.  So sweet.  And, of course, we had to make sure that Sadie got one of her own as well.  Here she is showing it off:

By the way, Sadie's family is really close to having their own family added to soon.  All of their paperwork, etc. should be completed next week to officially begin accepting foster children into their home.  We're all thinking some big phone calls are in order in the coming days.

In the meantime, being so close to the top of the ol' waiting list is really exciting; especially considering that the month of November has already been very active in the referral department...and there's still a lot of November left.

One of the things that I have found really helpful in the wait is our agency's Facebook group.  It's always nice to "spend time" with people who "get" what you're going through.  If you happen to be a Lifeline family and would like to be added to the FB group, please leave me a comment and I'll be happy to add you.

Dear LG ("Little Girl),

Yesterday, in honor of Orphan Sunday, Jeff posted the sweetest "note" on Facebook and I wanted to share it here so that we will always have it to remember.

"To LG (my Little Girl): 

I have been waiting 306 days today for you to come home. I know you have been waiting a lot longer than that. I prayed and hoped you would be home by now, but you're not. I pray each day for you, that you aren't hungry, or cold, or lonely, or wet, or being abused. I pray that you know you are loved and that Mom and Dad are coming for you in God's time. But still we wait. I love you LG. I pray that this is the last Orphan Sunday that we celebrate apart...".

I love where God has taken/is taking our family; His fingerprints are clearly on this journey and, as we get closer to the end of this part of things, I can't help but wonder where He might use us to help others (adoptive families, adoption ministry, orphans, etc.).

On another (very exciting) note, before we went to bed last night, I took one last peek at Facebook and learned that our agency had given out a referral (on Orphan Sunday...how cool) to the family in the #1 position (as of November 1st).  This family received the referral of a 2 1/2 year old girl which is very encouraging as toddler/preschool-age referrals have been few and far between lately.  For us, this means that we are unofficially (we won't get a new "official" number until December) now #5!  3 of the 4 families in front of us are on a FB group for our agency; 2 of them are waiting for girls, age 0-2 and one is waiting for a girl, age 0-4.  I am unsure of the parameters for the missing family (now in the #1 spot....unofficially, of course) but it is very possible that we are next in line for a girl older than 4.  

Boldly, I'm praying for a referral by Thanksgiving.

Edited to add:  The minute that I shared this update to Facebook and hopped over to make sure that it posted, I noticed a new post in our FB group (the one for families in our agency).  The family who had been holding the #3 spot (since Thursday) received a referral today for an 8-month-old baby girl.  I think that this means that (remember, we are unsure of the family in the #2 spot but think that they are waiting for a boy) we are next in line for a girl over the age of 4 and second in line for a girl over 2.  

Orphan Sunday 2012

November is Adoption Awareness Month.

Today is Orphan Sunday.

Orphans....(particularly one little one who will prayerfully soon join our family)....invade our thoughts on a daily basis now.  The statistics are staggering but, more than that are the faces.  David Platt has been quoted as saying this and it is so true:

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they are not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do everything changes".

EVERYTHING has changed for us.  And we are humbly grateful to have been wrecked in this way.

So often, it is easy to turn the channel or just consider things as someone else's problem but, as Christians, this is our problem.  If we are His hands and feet, how could it not be?  I believe that we are all called to do something.  Pray, sponsor, GO, give, love, adopt.....

Did you know that there is a statistic that says that 34% of Christians consider adopting but only 1% actually do?  And, further, are you aware that if only 8% of the people who call themselves Christians would actually adopt an orphan, there would no longer be a crisis.  Is God calling YOU?  Is he urging YOU?  We would love to share our experiences thus far, we would be honored to pray with/for you.  You can email us at movedtomove@gmail.com.

In the meantime, I love this video from ONEless:

And then we were......

But the VERY BEST news is that ELEVEN children were placed (by our agency) into their forever families during the month of October.