Dossier

IT is in the mail! I just sent our dossier to the adoption agency. We're one step closer to bringing MAC home. There are still many pieces that need to be finalized by our agency before it will be ready to send to Ethiopia but we've completed our part. Yeah!

So...what's in a dossier? It depends on the requirements of the country you are adopting from. The dossier we put together has:

* Notarized photocopies of birth certificates for both parents
* Notarized photocopy of marriage certificate
* Notarized police clearance letters for each parent
* Notarized medical statement for each parent
* Notarized bank statement
* Notarized copy of your most recent 1040 tax form
* Notarized employment letter
* Notarized family letter to the government of Ethiopia
* 2 notarized reference letters
* 2 notarized power of attorney's for those handling the case in Ethiopia
* I-600 petition to classify orphan as immediate relative
* post placement agreement
* passport photos
* fees and costs disclosure
* statement of understanding
* payment of invoice
* basic information sheet

The dossier also has a cover document and a notarized adoption homestudy which our agency is completing.

Whew! It has been a whirlwind week! One week ago, yesterday was our 15th anniversary. I intended to post about it but when I checked the mail, our dossier packet had arrived and I immediately began collecting and processing the information. No time for blogging!

Yesterday, we were told that the last piece, the police clearance letters, was complete and mailed. I checked the mailbox 4 times today and had just decided that it wasn't coming until tomorrow when my dfil rang the doorbell with our document in hand. The post office had delivered it to their house by mistake. Thankfully, he ran it right up to us in case it was important.

So...I had a goal of sending this in by March 1st and we made it! Yeah!!!! Now we WAIT while our agency works with government agencies to pull all the pieces together.

5*5*5*5*5*Book MeMe

I've been tagged!!!

Karolyn tagged me to do a 5*5*5*5*5*Book MeMe.

Here's what you have to do....

*1* Get your favorite book
*2* Turn to page 55
*3* From the top of the page, count down to the 5th sentence
*4* Write it and the following four (a grand total of 5 sentences)
*5* Tag 5 more people

I LOVE to read but I sat on this for a couple days because I could NOT decide which book to use. I finally decided to use my favorite Bible. It's the book that I've read the most over the years & of course, depending on which Bible you have, you may end up with completely different verses. Amazingly enough, this is the story the kids and I are studying right now with our Bible lessons.

"During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure. Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On." Genesis 41:47-51

Here's the 5 I'm tagging:

Kim
Julie
Karleen
Angela
MaryGrace

Ouch!

Today we visited the County Health Department! Dh & I each got poked 3 times for 1st doses of vaccines & a test. We get to go back later this week, next month, a few months from now & six months from now. Vaccines are NOT cheap so I'm glad we can spread them out a little! Good news is that if we were to bring the kids with us, they're all current with the vaccines that they'd need. Dh still says NO WAY are we bringing the girls but maybe ds/8??? Ds never wanted to go until he found out he doesn't need any shots and now he wants to go very much. It'll be fun to see how the Lord provides for our travel (safety, money & childcare). In the meantime...can you please pass the tylenol?

Trust and Obey

This hymn has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Yesterday we sang it in Church and the words were never so poignant to me. These words are a comfort as we pray about which little boy the Lord wants us to bring into our home. Each of the boys we're praying about has their own unique circumstances and one has a medical issue. There is an obvious answer to the boy with medical issues as dh is self-employed and we provide our own medical insurance and yet, it isn't obvious. Because...we aren't "self"-employed. And not only that, our "boss" owns the cattle on a thousand hills & more! Whichever child the Lord leads us to, we just need to trust & obey!

TRUST AND OBEY

When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
Not a frown or a cross, But is blest if we trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
For the joy He bestows, Are for them who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey.

"You are the bestest daddy in the whole world!" dd/4

He's the best daddy in the world to our two darling daughters and that's what counts! Last night, dh took dd/6 and dd/4 to a daddy daughter valentine's ball. The girls were SO excited. They got to dress up in pretty dresses and daddy even put on his suit for the occasion. They each got a carnation and a balloon. They had their picture taken at the event (we'll get it in the mail later), had cookies, punch and dancing. Apparently, dd/4 LOVED the dancing part (she's pretty uninhibited) while dd/6 kept burying her face in dh's stomache and saying she was too embarrassed. Eventually she warmed up. They both felt like a princess and Daddy was their prince charming. Oh, and ds/8 and I got to enjoy a mother - son movie night while they were out dancing.

God's Word

Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Mark 10:16 "And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

1 John 4: 7-8 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Decision

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. We've been spending a lot of time praying & researching, etc.

On Monday, some friends came to AWANA with their newly adopted children. Our kids are very excited about bringing MAC home and meeting these Ethiopian children simply increased their passion for their new brother. They are sweet, lovable children and their family is feeling so blessed! It was so great to meet them.

After spending time in prayer, reading through an education packet that our agency sent us and
speaking to families who've been there, we are still feeling called to adopt one of the waiting 7 year old boys.

Last night, we e-mailed our social worker to let her know and we're hoping to receive our dossier packet fairly soon so we can get started on it right away.

I'm sure the next few weeks will be very busy as we pull together all the necessary paperwork.

Once we have it all completed, our agency sends it to Ethiopia where it is translated into Amharic. I believe this takes about a month on average.

Once we accept a referral for a specific child, we wait for a court date. Many families pass through court the first time but often a case needs to go back to court more than once for various reasons. And it can take quite awhile to get a court date to begin with.

Once we pass court, he is officially our child. We wait for an embassy date and then make our travel arrangements to be there for that appointment and to bring him home. I believe this can average anywhere from about 4 - 8 weeks from the court date (longer if holidays get in the way).

Our biggest piece right now is to work on the dossier. The sooner we get it, the sooner we can complete it & get it sent off. We also need to work on getting some immunizations and passports as those can take awhile.

I think it's time for me to make a spreadsheet so I can keep it all straight!