The Process, the Paperwork, and Sparkles

I thought I'd post a little bit of an update on the progress we are making towards bringing baby brother home. I have compared the amount of paperwork required to being more painful than the 3 labors I have experienced. Actually, it's not that hard it's just alot. And every piece of paper we touch we have to have notarized.

For now I'd break the process into 4 pieces: home study, dossier, the wait, and the travel to bring baby brother home. The paperwork for the home study is completed. We are waiting for the FBI to return our fingerprint results. This could take up to 2 months! (They received them on May 14th so I'll be anxious to see how fast they get here.) We also have a home visit schedule for June 7th. The hard part of getting this scheduled was finding a time when the whole family will be home! Mark and I are also required to complete 6 education courses (1 workbook and 5 online classes). Good thing we are used to doing CPE for our CPA's...these are much more interesting too! We have completed 2 online courses and 3 of the 20 chapters in the workbook. The social worker that reviews and approves these courses will be out of the office the whole month of June so our goal is to have these to her on July 1. We would like to think that given the FBI cooperates we could have our home study completed and approved by mid-July.

The dossier is (not only a fun word to say) but basically the paperwork required by the Ethiopian government. We are just down to needing to put together a few more documents and then having them all notarized. There is one that has to be certified by our county clerk and also by the TN Secretary of State. Can't wait to make that trip downtown...not! Once our homestudy is complete and approved we'll send these documents to our agency and they will review them and send them to Ethiopia where they will be translated into their language and reviewed.

Then the wait. As soon as we complete the dossier the wait begins but there's still more paperwork! We have to file a document with our government (part of Homeland Security) called an I-600A. Once that is sent off we wait to get another fingerprint appointment (yes, it would be easy for the FBI to just forward results but hey, then it wouldn't be the government would it?!) Once we get fingerprinted (again) we have to wait the up to 2 months for them to get the result back. By the way, the purpose of this filing is for us to get a visa in order to bring baby brother home to our country. (If you're looking for a specific to pray for...how about praying that the FBI comes through both times is a timely manner.) During this time we are also waiting for the Ethiopian government and the agency working together to match us with our son. This is also called a referral. Once that happens we'll get information and pictures of him! Our agency has told us that based on the facts that we are asking for a boy ages 1-3 our wait could be anywhere from 1 to 6 months from the time our home study is approved.

As far as the travel goes, it looks like at this point 2 trips to Ethiopia will be required. It has been only one trip in the past but the Ethiopian government is in the process of revising those requirements. The first trip is for a court date and a time to meet our son. The second trip is to bring him home. We are both not required to go and we have not decided how or which one of us will go. We have both applied for passports and are waiting for those to arrive in the mail any day now.

I know I have surely left something out of the process as sometimes it seems so overwhelming. But one thing is for sure, God is not only opening the doors for us but I think He's standing there holding it for us! Everything so far has just worked out so smoothly. (Well except for the doctor that kept us and our notary friend waiting for 1 1/2 hours in his office just to sign a simple piece of paper!) Looking through our paperwork I am amazed at how many of our friends are reflected in them...David, Greg and Myra all notaries, Brad the banker, Chris the pediatrician (not the one that kept us waiting), Frank, Rebecca, Jeri, Mary Lea and Richard our references. And then there are the many that have encouraged us along the way.

Also, some of you have asked about names. Since our son will most likely already have a name we are waiting to see what that it. If it's one that hard to pronounce or way out there, we may give him a more "American" name. We have had some interesting dinner time conversations on what those names should be. Elizabeth has chosen "Sparkles." Anna would like to name him "Chocolate." And the rest of us have our own preferences too. For now, I call him baby brother or Sparkles!

I know this post is full of a lot of probably boring details for most of you! You maybe can see why some days I wish I had an epidural to get through this process! When we know more I'll be sure to let you know!

6 - Why Not?

I can't think of any way possible to call each one of you with our latest news but I do want to share with each of you the plans we have for our family. Before you jump to any crazy conclusion…NO I AM NOT PREGNANT!

Many of you may know that Mark has been wanting to add #6 to our family since shortly after we brought Elizabeth home. I have never been very open to that thought and have joked that it would have to be with wife #2! Well, Mark is not getting a wife #2 but we are working towards plans to adopt a #6 child to our family. The short of it is we are looking to add a toddler age boy from Ethiopia. (I think Mark is realizing that soon he will be the odd man out in a house full of girls!) There are still lots of questions to ask and things to learn but here is where we are:

First, I can honestly say that I feel like God has been changing my heart over the past couple of months. The thought of having another little one in the home terrifies me still but I am reminded that God doesn't throw anything at you that He knows you cannot handle with His help. Over the past couple of months I have read or seen various blogs, videos, emails, speakers and TV shows (believe it or not "Idol Gives Back") that have kept the orphans of Africa on my mind (Ethiopia alone has over 4 million orphans). I have also been reminded of how much I feel like God has blessed our family with a stable job for Mark, a house more than big enough for our family, and supportive friends and family. He has given Mark and I the calling and joy of being parents. There really is no reason that's clear to me why we can't provide a home and family for one more child.

I also believe that if I think that God could possibly be calling us to adopt again I have to step out in faith and pursue it. I know that God can close the doors just as easily as He opens them and will make it clear to us as we pursue this journey. The longer I piddle around wondering if this is what we are to do, the more I risk missing out on an incredible opportunity and blessing.

A confirmation of our decision to pursue this adoption came when we told our children. Adoption is a family event. Everyone in the family is affected one way or another when you bring a new child in the home. We are fortunate that our children share a heart for adoption. Who would imagine that teenage boys would be excited about getting a baby brother?! Mary Grace, the 2^nd mother that she is, is thrilled and has already put in her request to travel to Africa! When I told the kids I thought that some people would think we are crazy Matthew said, "well, that's crazy in a good sort of way." Anna and Elizabeth of course have no idea what this means but we are sure they will teach little brother everything he needs to know and more! Don’t think for a minute that it’s always a Walton family-like picture around here…believe me, no camera crew will ever be allowed within 10 feet of this house!

We are working with an agency out of Portland Oregon called All God’s Children International (www.allgodschildren.org). We learned about this agency after getting an email from a former teacher at our elementary school. She adopted a little girl from Ethiopia last year and highly recommends that agency. I would love for you to see the YouTube video of her with her daughter in the orphanage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duyL9UjLrdM). Ideally, I'd like a child that is potty trained - maybe 2-3 years old. Mark definitely wants another son. Who really knows what God has in store for us....remember He gave us the little blonde hair blue eyed tornado when we thought we needed a little sister to "look like" Anna! The most amazing thought for me is that I believe that God has known all along who our son is and that most probably he’s already been born.

Lastly, we sang a hymn in church a few weeks ago, Let Your Heart Be Broken, that spoke volumes to me, particularly the last verse

Let your heart be tender

And your vision clear -

See mankind as God sees,

Serve Him far and near;

Let your heart be broken

By another's pain,

Share your rich resources -

Give and give again.

Please pray for us as we embark on this journey. I look forward to sharing this experience with you! Our last adoptions were definitely an exciting adventure. I hope to keep everyone updated through my blog so that you can enjoy the ride with us! Last night we had a conference call with our social worker and learned more of the “details” of the process. I’ll be posting some of those details later. Let me just leave you hanging with a teaser…1 to 6 months! Yikes!

"Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" - James 2:17