a go.

we are home study approved.
and we have in our possession, the file of a little girl. :)

i can't share any information,
until we pass court in Ethiopia,
so it will be awhile..
but trust me when i say,
she is perfect.
completely perfect.

now..
because we are doing things a bit backwards,
we have to submit our I-600,
AND submit our dossier before we get approval back on that.
with the hope being,
if everything is in, and complete, we will just have to be fingerprinted, and then we can send everything over to Ethiopia.

and because we will receive her referral
as soon as our dossier is in,
that means a HUGE chunk of the cost is going to come all at once,
instead of spread out between a number of months,
like many adoptions.

not sure how that is going to happen.
just praying, and trusting that it will all work out.

so happy right now.
mixed with awe,
sorrow,
thanksgiving,
grace,
and mercy.

almost.

having a few frustrating days.

last friday we got conformation that our home study was complete.

so monday, it was faxed to our family coordinator.
and monday night,
she informed me that she needed more documents.

okay.

i can do that.
faxed them this morning.

and still....
we wait.

ugh.

it is so difficult, because i know the file of our potential daughter sits on her desk... waiting as well.

the sense of urgency is somehow not there for them,
as it is for me, and i get that.

but it frustrates me.

fragile heart

i read something today that brought me to tears.
a judge, who was presiding over an adoption hearing in el salvador,
said these words to the adopting family:

"These children were not orphaned for nothing.
It was destined that they would become a part of your family."

my heart aches to know our daughter,
to assure her that we are her family,
that she wasn't orphaned for nothing.
that although we are plan b, we are still god's plan.
and that we will spend the rest of our lives loving her
for her birth mom and dad who can't.

143 million children were not orphaned for nothing.

there is meaning in their lives, to their lives, and for their lives.

all one hundred and forty three million of them.