One Last Post

Habakkuk 2:2-3 "And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits the appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." A sweet friend from college e-mailed me this verse several months back and it has been one I have meditated on and found great encouragement in. The vision He has given us awaits its appointed time and is completely in our sovereign Lord's hands. As we sit right now, we are expecting a referral very soon. The Lord's timing is perfect. As I opened my devotional this morning it gave me the verse Deuteronomy 33:12. This is a blessing that Moses spoke over the tribe of Benjamin. It stood out to me at first because Ben is the name (for now) that we plan on giving our future family member. "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders." And then it sank in.... I know our son could very likely be born already and these verses are my desire for him. That he would rest secure in the Lord. That the Lord would shield him all day long and that he would rest between the shoulders of our strong and mighty Abba Father. We covet your prayers and humbly ask that you would pray this blessing over our future child. Thank you for the prayers you have already prayed, the encouraging words that have been spoken and for helping to spur us on to run towards the vision He has given us. We want to continue to keep our friends and family up to date with where we are in the process, but for many reasons, we have decided to find other ways to do that. This will be our last blog entry but not the end of the story that God is writing in our lives. Scarlett

Our Week in Pictures

Paperwork Complete.

Dossier Mailed.

(A, W and the cousins all left there love marks on the package.)

And now we wait to bring you home little one.  

(Estimated time frame: 10-14 months)

Home Study Approved!!

This is HUGE!!  Our home study was officially approved today!  This allows us to complete necessary paperwork in order for our dossier to be complete.  Once our dossier is sent we will be on the WAIT LIST!!!  The reality of almost being done with the paperwork phase is hitting me and I am super excited!  Expecting through adoption is different in that I just want something tangible to hold onto to know that we are getting closer to our baby.  So any big step forward like this feels great!

Time lines are still very unknown.  We do know that if our dossier were submitted  today we would be #16 on our agencies wait list for a referral, but this list is not linear.  Everyone on the list has different request of age and gender so we could be even further up.  What is unknown is how quickly everything will be processed in Ethiopia once we receive our referral.

While we are in this paperwork phase, there have been times that I have not allowed myself to think of our little one.  With so many unknowns and all the changes that have taken place within their government I think I have tried to guard my heart.  My Andie girl won't let me go long though without thinking about her new baby brother.  She talks about him all the time.  "Mommy when my new brother gets here we are going to need another crib, highchair, car seat.... etc."  Whenever we have another child in our home she reminds me that this is how it is going to be when her new brother comes home.  Today, before I had heard of our home study being approved, she told me how excited she was for her new baby brother.  I love how her child like faith allows her to be excited and expectant even though she doesn't know the when and how he is going to get here.  I want to be like that.

Love,
Scarlett

Home Visit

Last weekend our social worker came to the house and spent three hours with us.  It turned out to be beautiful day and so we were able to do most of the interviewing out on the back porch while the kids played.  She spent time interviewing us together as a couple and then we each had individual interviews.  It was not at all the intimidating interrogation I was prepared for:)  She was a believer and I had a peace as soon as I met her at the door.  It was really a pleasant experience and we were able to just have good dialog about adoption in general and our future son.

We met with her today for our second visit.  She said our home study is almost prepared and that she was just waiting on our criminal history records to come in.  We will hopefully have our completed home study paperwork soon!  This will allow us to move forward on other necessary paperwork for our dossier. 

As changes are being made in the process and the time line of our adoption is unknown a verse keeps coming to my head.

James 4:13-15 "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."   Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

And so, we will continue to move forward prayerfully and work hard to get our dossier in, trusting ultimately in His Will.

Love,

Scarlett

With Eyes Wide Open

Adoption can be scary and there can be a lot of fear that goes along with it.  I feel like I was trapped there for a while, but am thankful to say that God has helped me move past it.  As I was in the middle of my fear I couldn't help but think how many people who have had that dream and seed of adoption in the hearts have stopped in the midst of fear.  I know there have been many times in my own life that fear has kept me from doing things that I knew I was meant to do.  But there have also been times in my life that the fearful situations brought the most joy and satisfaction in the end.  Chris starting his own business seemed a huge risk at the time, but has ended up being a huge blessing for our family.  The decision to go to one income so that I could be at home raising the kids seemed almost impossible at the time, but God has blessed it.

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 will help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous hand."

By God's grace, I have moved passed the fear and now have a renewed giddiness and excitement in my heart for our little boy. My mind drifts to him during the day.  I think of him when we are at the park or playing in the backyard and picture what it will be like to have him here with us.  I look forward to his smile and his laugh and how much joy he is going to add to our family.

We still have a month until our home study and we are using this time to educate ourselves with on-line courses, getting physicals, and continuing to get needed paperwork.

We humbly ask that you would pray for us that we would continue to keep our eyes on the one who called us.  We know he is faithful.  We would also ask that you would pray for our little one whether he is born yet or not and that he would know love.  My heart aches when I think of the one who will first hold him and the reasons why he must be adopted.  Pray for her too.

Love,
Scarlett

Paper Pregnant...Paper Chase

I have heard people say "paper chase" many times and now we are smack dab in the middle of it!  I've been dragging my feet to get started because it all seems overwhelming and I didn't quite know where to start.  A sweet friend of mine, who has recently gone through the adoption process and now has her little boy home with her, helped me get moving in the right direction and encouraged me to check one box off at a time.  I'm so thankful to know people who have walked this road and understand just how to encourage and help me press forward.   God has placed so many people along our path right when we needed them. 

My goal this week was to order our certified birth certificates, find a social worker to do our home study, set up home study visit. Check, Check, Check!  We will have our home study visit March 26th.  In the mean time, we have more to check off our home study list and our dossier list.  Every check off the list gets us that much closer to our son! Is the "paper chase" worth it.....I think so!

In the post below, is a video of the Ethiopia Guest Home.  When Chris and I started really pursuing adoption this past summer, I ran across a "gotcha day" video on You Tube.  As I was watching (crying), I realized that I had been in a Bible Study with the mom in the video a couple years back.  They adopted a little boy and girl from Ethiopia and I knew I had to talk to them.  Facebook is a crazy thing and I was able to get in touch with them.  They had us over to their home, prepared the most delicious meal and let us ask them a million questions. They are also the owners of the Ethiopia Guest Home where we will hopefully be staying when we go to pick up our little man. 

If you have a few minutes to spare, the video below is really good and worth watching.  

Love,
Scarlett

Ethiopia Guest Home - More Than a Place to Stay