Tiny "Snag"

We just received notification of our first official “snag” in the process – nothing major, but a slow down, none the less. Our social worker received our approval letter today from DCFS, but they apparently spelled our name incorrectly : ( She has contacted them and they are supposed to be sending a new letter right away, but it will likely slow things down a few days because she is out of the office the rest of the week.

I think this process is going to teach us patience like nothing else in our lives ever has - we just keep reminding ourselves that it will work out in perfect timing. Please continue to keep our process in your prayers.

Feeling So Blessed

Jonathan and I feel so blessed to be part of a church that cares so deeply about orphan care! We had the opportunity this evening to attend an event for Chosen (see link below on right). It was an adults-only outing to Alexander’s Steakhouse in Champaign (yum!). It was great to connect with a few other individuals who have been through, are in the midst of, and who are just beginning to consider the adoption process – both internationally and domestically. It is wonderful to have that type of support at our fingertips!

We were not only excited to share where we are in the journey, but also to hear where other people are at. One of the couples, specifically, is preparing to travel to Ethiopia for their first trip in about ten days. We enjoyed hearing about their preparations and sharing in their excitement at getting to meet their beautiful child soon : ) We thank God everyday for putting people like this in our lives!

Completed Home Study!

We are now completely finished with our formal home study process! Our fourth, and final, visit went well this morning. We read through the document and only made a few minor changes that Maria will change before sending it to our family coordinator at AWAA. Thank you, again, for your thoughts and prayers during this process : )

Upcoming Home Study Visit (4 of 4)

I apologize for the short notice on this update, but we are scheduled for our final home study visit tomorrow morning at 9:30! We will keep you posted on how it goes, but the plan is to review the rough draft of our home study to ensure that all the information is accurate. Our social worker told us that this document would be 17-18 pages, so it may be a bit tedious, but very exciting : )

The home study will also be sent to our family coordinator at AWAA and to the state of IL for their approval. This entire process is supposed to take about two weeks.

Once the home study is finalized, we will submit it, and several additional documents, to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) for approval to bring a child into the U.S. from another country. This process takes roughly 6 – 12 weeks, but once we receive documents back from USCIS, we are free to submit our dossier to Ethiopia! 

We are getting there. All continues to move along very smoothly and we ask that you continue to keep our process in your prayers. God has blessed us with wonderful support and patience thus far and we thank all of you for journeying with us during this exciting time : )