We're Officially a "Waiting" Family!

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know that we are officially on the waiting list!!!  Our dossier arrived in Portland on Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon we were given the message that it was "impressive" and needed absolutely no corrections (Our case manager Toni said this is rare and we should be proud.  Being type A has finally gotten us somewhere)!  This is awesome news and we are thrilled! We also received an appointment time for our USCIS-I600A fingerprints and that is going to be this coming Friday.  Clearly everyone's prayers were heard because this was a successful and swift week where things went our way for a change!  At some point over the next week or two we will be scheduling a conference call with our agency to find our more specifics on wait times and different scenarios but for now we rejoice in being able to relax just a bit and not worry about notaries, typos, or postal tracking numbers:-)

I-600A Check!...Dossier-Check!

It's a satisfying feeling to have all of the necessary paperwork that is required of us thus far completed!  Last week we sent off our I-600A off to Texas and this week our dossier is making it's way to Portland.  This is a wonderful thing and a big step forward to being an official waiting family.

• The I-600A is an immigration application we can submit now that our home study is finished and approved.   We  file this application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Department of Homeland Security and it's purpose is to allow our child permission to enter the U.S. once we come home.   (This will require more fingerprints from Scott and I, again, sigh...hopefully these go better and won't hold us up another 2 months!)
• A dossier is a fancy word for a collection of documents that provide specific information about your family, stuff like proof you have a job, insurance, financial information, criminal checks, reference letters, passport information, pictures etc.

(Ross helped me with the I-600A)

(Daddy and the kids sent out the dossier to Ms. Toni at All God's Children)

When I look back over the last 6 months I can see in detail how much the enemy has been trying to prevent us from submitting these documents.  There has been a battle raging here on Fairway Drive and it hasn't been pleasant.  I knew when we agreed to this process that there would be spiritual warfare involved, I had read about it numerous times from other adoptive families and felt prepared we would be able to handle whatever came our way.  Well, more than I could have imagine came our way, broken appliances, vehicles, lawn mowers, sickness, surgeries, threats of cancer to name a few.  All of this has tried to distract us from God's will, many times we questioned if we were doing the right thing.  Countless nights I pictured us stopping the process because of fear of what may be next, the notion of backing out and putting an end to these trials has been tempting.  But God is so much bigger than any of these battles and when we needed him near, we could always find him.  In the end we have kept our eyes on the goal and we have conquered every last distraction and hurdle that has been thrown at us and IT FEELS GOOD!   We have cried tears of joy, sorrow, anger, confusion, and physical pain.  We have sent out text messages to friends commanding the enemy to leave our home. We have screamed out in rage at a God who we felt was giving us more than we could bear.  We have been brought to our knees in moments of gratitude when our worst fears were taken away.  So much has happened in a short amount of time and at the end of the day the.enemy.has.not.won. Period.  

Psalm 91 has kind of become our family battle cry.  Two special ladies in my life had been coincidentally (or not, God does crazy stuff like this!) praying these verses over our family at the same time and I am so so glad they chose to share that with me.  (you can read the whole passage here>PSALM 91.)

(Psalm 91:14-16 by andrearhowey, via Flickr)

So what's next?

1.  We wait on an appointment to be fingerprinted for the I-600A process.  (Thinking this will have to be done in Sioux City or Sioux Falls).  We have received confirmation they got our application so hopefully an appointment letter will soon come our way.

2.  Once the dossier reaches Portland (hoping for the middle of next week) they will proof it to make sure it meets all the requirements.  (We are praying nothing needs to be redone!)  After approval, we will be placed on the wait list and the dossier will be prepared for authentication by the U.S. Dept. of State as well as the Ethiopian Embassy.  Once authenticated, it will be sent to Ethiopia for translation.  Wow, that's a mouthful!

What can you pray for?

1.  Pray that we have submitted a dossier that will need few if any revisions!  Each time we have to redo something it pushes our time line back and we are anxious to bring Baby J home!  

2.  For the fingerprint appointment to come quickly.

3.  For the enemy to leave us alone!

4.  For Baby J's birth-mom and birth-dad.  We pray for them daily in our home and ask you to join us for protection of their health and well being.  Wherever they sleep tonight, we just ask Jesus to be near.  Our prayer is that one day we may get to meet at least one of them.