One Step Closer

I woke up this morning to see this email in my inbox from our case worker who happens to be in Ethiopia right now working on the orphanage that CWA (our agency) just opened to house orphans waiting to be adopted (possibly our child is there right now!!!).....

"Good news... we just got notification that your dossier is at our CWAE office in Addis Ababa.  One step closer!"

Today is going to be a great day!

We get the same question a whole lot of, "Why is it so expensive to adopt?" While, every country, including the US, is different in how much it cost to adopt, part of our decision to adopt from Ethiopia and through CWA (Christian World Agency) was because of where the cost goes. We are not only paying for the cost of legal fees, translation fees, travel fees, etc. towards the adoption of our child, but the rest of the costs goes towards the other orphans. It helps feed them, educate them, gives them medical care, a place to sleep, it helps pay the wages of the wonderful nannies (who the kids call "mommy") who care for them, etc. The gift of adoption doesn't reach just one child, but in our case, A LOT of other orphans hoping to one day become part of a family they hope and long to belong in. Here's more information about the Acacia Village. http://www.acaciavillage.org/village.htm

"For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end." Psalm 48:14

It's official!!!

OUR DOSSIER HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN SENT TO ETHIOPIA!

The dossier was supposed to go out last Friday, but due to bank holdings on our adoption account it didn't happen. They put a hold on our deposit that we made to cover the translation fee, international fee, second agency fee, and adoption fee. Because the check was well over $5,000 they had to hold it for 2 weeks! It was very upsetting for us, because we wanted to get on the waiting list as soon as possible, and the only way to get on the waiting list is for your dossier to be shipped, and the dossier can't be shipped until you have paid everything you owe. So once again, money issues were halting our process. (I feel a recurring theme here, so far with this journey.) But I was clinging to God and His plan for me. It's not always smooth, but sometimes you have to hold on to Him when the road gets bumpy and rest assured that His timing is perfect. That evening I got a very reassuring email from our wonderful case worker, saying that no other dossier has come in and that our dossier is first on the list to be shipped over (meaning no one will be in front us on the waitlist due to this little bank mishap.) Praise God! He works even in our accidentals and imperfections.


So, you better believe that we were ecstatic when we got the email today from our agency saying that they have shipped our dossier to Ethiopia today. Next up, our agency's team in Ethiopia will get our dossier on Monday or Tuesday. One of the workers will run around Addis Ababa all day on behalf of us getting all the necessary notaries and authentications needed from the country. I can't wait to get the email saying what number we are on the waitlist.


So what to do in the meantime......

I ordered a ton of books to read to prepare for the road to come and we have to do some required training from our agency about adoption. We also will be doing more fundraising to pay for the rest of our costs, which consists of traveling fees (we have to travel twice).

I will continue to update our progress everytime we  get word from our agency. To pass time, I'll continue to blog how God is working in our lives to prepare us for what's to come. There's nothing that brings me more joy to be able to go back and see what God did and how He uses people to make His plan perfect!

Thanks, again for all of the prayers and support thus far! It's an honor to share our story with all of you.

Ethiopia or Bust!

We are very excited to share the wonderful news, that our dossier is Ethiopia bound!!!

It has been authenticated by the state of Texas, the US department of state, and the Ethiopian Embassy. Our amazing case worker, Emily, sent us this picture before she sent it halfway across the world!

We also have received our appointment with immigration to be fingerprinted for our son's visa to enter the United States, which is February 22. I can't believe we are done on our end. What's next, you ask?

    We wait......................................and wait..............................and wait some more!

Soon we will hear from our agency's Ethiopian team and they will let us know our number on the waitlist. The waitlist consists of families who have completed their paperwork and are waiting to be matched with a waiting child whose legally ready to be adopted. Who knows how long it will take. On average they say about 9 months. Certain legal things can hold up the process, but Ethiopia has been doing everything they can to make the process faster and smoother. All we know is that God is in control and HIS timing is perfect! We will wait upon Him.

Now that all of the paperwork is done, we are planning a few more fundraisers to help with the rest of our cost. Here is where you can help:

1. We are planning very soon to hold an online auction. If you or anyone you know would like to donate an item please let me know. We're planning on doing one item a day. Items can include: gift baskets, art pieces (for all you artist), a service (i.e. if you're a chef, maybe you could donate a cooking lesson or a free meal with a personal chef, etc...), hotel reservations, maybe your place of business could donate something, etc........ Basically anything worthy of auctioning off. We're planning on auctioning off one item per day, so the more items, the more days, meaning the more we raise to bring our little boy home!

2. Another fundraiser we are planning on doing in the summer will be another garage sale. So, all you in the Austin area, give us all your junk. We will take anything and everything. We also pick-up if we need to.

3. I am also still selling headbands for $10/each and making invitations/stationary ($3/card).  

4. Also, if you or your business want to make a tax-deductible donation by donating directly to our adoption agency, you can do that as well. Just email me at mrandmrsmichael@gmail.com and I can give you the information.

These are just a few things that we have cooking while we wait........and wait........and wait. Please feel free to share our blog with your friends as well and help us get our story out!

Please continue to pray for patience while we wait and for financial provision. We still have about $15,000 to go and I know that He is faithful. As always, we will continue to share our journey with all of you. It is so comforting to know that we have all of you supporting us on this wonderful journey.  I pray that the joy that God abundantly fills us with through this process overflows onto you!!!!

" I saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life, You will fill me with JOY in your presence."

Acts 2: 25-28

God bless, The Michael's