Half a Year

Exactly

months and one day ago, we were placed on the waiting list to adopt a child {or two children} from Ethiopia.  Although the journey has been much longer than that {6 months waiting to be able to apply to adopt from Taiwan and 5 months of paperwork before being placed on the wait list} it is difficult to believe we have been an official waiting family for over half a year!

I was struggling with it a little the last couple of days and had an opportunity to talk to my friend, Emily {who God placed in my life at exactly the right time}.  We discussed how this little pattern we are in of two weeks with no referrals and then two referrals in one day has been sending us into mini-tailspins of highs and lows and that we were ready for another high.

Well, today was the high...2 referrals were given today, putting Team Chase at number...

Woohoo!!  We are getting so close!  As far as we can tell, we are at number 7 for siblings {not super likely as there have been very few siblings referred in a LONG time} and number 9 for one child.  We know that at least two of the eight above us are girls only, so we are at least number 7 for a boy.  So, technically, we are in the single digits!  This is beyond exciting!

It is so awesome to see how God is working this whole thing out.  This morning I was just crying out to Him saying "Lord, you know the desires of my heart.  I am longing to see my little one's face, but I know it's not time yet.  I sure would love to see some referrals today."  And, BAM, He just went and did it!

So thankful.

Four Steps Closer

Four waiting families received their referrals yesterday!!  Woo hoo!! 

Our new number is

AND, three of the families with referrals received a very timely court date.  It was a great day for the CHI Ethiopia program.

Getting closer and closer to our next sweet child!

Number...

47!  We are number 47 on Children's Hope International's waiting list to adopt from Ethiopia and that is exciting!

A little shout-out from the kiddos (yes, that's a woot, woot you hear and they are still in their jammies at 1:30 p.m., thank you very much, Christmas Break!).

So, what does this mean?  I'm glad you asked!  Basically our number on the waiting list means NOTHING!  Here's why...

As mentioned before, we are requesting two siblings aged 0-3 with no gender preference.  So, of the other 46 people who are waiting above us, most of them are probably waiting for one child of a certain gender.  OR, they all may be waiting for two siblings aged 0-3 with no gender preference.  We really have no idea.  So, let's say that there are three couples with our exact same request.  That means we would get the referral for the fourth sibling set with our specifications that became available for adoption.  Even if we knew how many had the same preference, that would do nothing for giving us a time frame, because four sibling sets could become available today or two years from now.  Also, there is the slight chance that a couple directly above us on the list with the same preference could be given a referral and not accept it for some reason, so then the referral could be given to us.

So, long, complicated story short, our referral could be TODAY (like this family) or way far in the future.  All I know is that it's in God's perfect timing and for today, we are going to bask in knowing that we are one step closer to our babies!