We turned in our I 600 A documentation yesterday...our Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition...now we wait. We wait for our home study to be written up, we wait to be called in to do more finger printing (this time for the FBI) and we wait until we can send in our dossier. We are definitely learning patience during this process. We are moving forward though and that is exciting. I know the next few months will fly by what with the Thanksgiving and Christmas, and before we know it, we will receive our referral, the picture and information of our baby...it's coming, I know it is. God is oh so good. This whole process is in His control.
In the mean time...please be praying for:

• Our I 600 A - that it will be processed quickly
• Our Shaohannah's Hope Application - this is the application for an adoption grant - please pray that we will be able to get in all of the needed documentation turned in by November 8th. Yikes!
• Our financial needs for the adoption - Please be praying for our silent auction and dinner coming up in a few weeks
• Prayer for our daughter and her birth family - As this is a time of great celebration for us, we have no idea what our daughter and her birth family are experiencing right now...please be praying for peace for them.

Coffee with Heart...

I know there are so many people who love drinking coffee and love helping others...Saint's Coffee is a coffee company that is transforming the lives of orphaned children by investing almost 1/3rd of net profits from every sale into organizations helping children. Their coffee is certified, fair trade as well. With Christmas coming up, giving a pound of coffee that helps children as a Christmas gift is an awesome idea! When you buy a pound of their signature blend, St. George the Dragon Slayer, you are feeding an orphan for a month! So drink some great coffee and help needy children!

Adoption Training #1

Over the last two days, Andy and I have had CORE training, training the state of Colorado requires adoptive parents to have. Colorado requires all adoptive parents to have 16 hours of CORE I and for international adoptions you also have to have 8 hours of CORE II. This was such an encouraging time for me because we were able to meet many other couples who are building their families through adoption. We even met a few other couple who are adopting from Africa. It was such a great time to learn more about adopting and to connect with others. I am hoping that the couples we met at this training can become some great friendships as we go through this process.
The last part of our training was really interesting...they had three birth mothers come and talk to us about their experience relinquishing their babies for adoption. These women were so brave. Brave to be able to speak to a room of 50 adoptive parents, and brave to know that their children would have more opportunities if they were adopted. These women loved their babies so much that they did what is best for the babies. I know that situations in Africa or China or other countries in the world are different for birth mothers, but that love is still the same. Our family is honored with the responsibility of taking care of and loving a child from another country and from another family...what an amazing privilege...I can't wait.

Melissa Fay Greene

I have shared my love for the book There Is No Me Without You...because reading is not Andy's favorite thing in the world, we have been listening to this book on CD. Reading (or listening to it) for the second time has really weighed on my heart. My heart just aches for these kids who have watched their parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, mentors, neighbors, schoolmates, and even themselves waste away to HIV/AIDS. I found this video of Melissa Fay Greene, the author, speaking about Aids and Adoption. The full video is over an hour long and can be viewed here.

Ethiopian Coffee

I love, love, LOVE Coffee. It is such a comfort thing for me...especially now that the days are cooling down a bit. Colorado has wonderfully cool mornings that make coffee taste oh-so-good.

Coffee has its roots in Ethiopia. Below is a short video showing the coffee ceremony in Ethiopia.

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007:

The date when our home study case will be presented and approved! Our meeting yesterday went just wonderfully. Our social worker asked us questions about our parenting style, why we wanted children, and how we run our household. Then, we did a walk through of the house and it was over! Yay! It will take about about a month for her to write up our home study, then we can send everything in!
Since we have an approved home study, there are so many things to get done this month so we can move on...here are just a few:

• Get another crib for Baby Ethiopia so we have pictures of her room to turn in with the dossier.
• Turn in our USCIS documents
• Turn in our application to Shaohannah's Hope for adoption grants
• Send in our dossier paperwork!

Please be praying that each of these thing will get do with no major road blocks.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragements....I love reading your comments!

8327.12

the number of miles between Denver, Colorado and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This distance feels smaller and smaller with each step of the process. Like I said earlier, tomorrow is our final home study meeting. The house is as clean as it can be...fire extinguishers installed, outlets covered...I feel so ready for this meeting. I'm not nervous like the first meeting, just excited...just picturing one step closer to being able to hear our daughter's name, find out her story, see her picture, hold her in our arms, and bring her home. It is so strange to worry about someone you have never even met. I worry about her, about her safety. Is she hungry? Scared? I pray for her safety and ask that thousands of angels will be placed around her. God has planned this for our family, we have seen the confirmation of this time and time again. I know He is taking care of her. I think of Zephaniah 3:17 (with my additions):
The LORD your God is with her,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in her,
he will quiet her with his love,
he will rejoice over her with singing.

Amen.