We are celebrating!

Although the latest news of the changes in Ethiopia are discouraging, we are proceeding on with our adoption process. We finalized our dossier and sent in a copy to be authenticated in Washington DC, we also sent in a copy to our agency to be translated...

ONE STEP CLOSER TO GETTING SEHIN HOME!

I e-mailed the orphanage director to let him know this good news and he replied, "the sound is so good,very great news!! praise God!!!"

Changes in Ethiopia

We just got notice that, as of tomorrow, there are some changes in the adoption process in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it is so difficult to obtain paperwork on children that have been abandoned or have no documentation of deceased parents, Ethiopia needs to spend more time evaluating each individual case. As a result, they are cutting down the number of adoptions that they do daily. They currently are processing up to 50 adoptions per day...and they are talking about processing more like 5 per day.

This change in the adoption system slows our process down dramatically. It is easy to get discouraged but then I have to remind myself how perfect God's timing is. If I trust Him with all things, than I have to trust that this is part of the big picture.

Beautiful girl!

Here is a new picture of our beautiful daughter. It brings tears to my eyes to see how lovely she is...inside and out! I can't wait to meet her in person.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

A letter from Sehin!

My beloved family,

First of all I want to give a great Thanks for my almighty lord, about giving to me this great opportunity , be a part of your family. Also I want to say thank you for heard my prayer and knowing my feeling from my bottom of heart, He knows my interest and He did a great thing in my life, I think my life has changed now.

I really understood that you heard so many things about me and my family, especially about my mother’s health situation she is so fine and she better now and she is doing fine. And also my sister is so fine. About me, as you know that we are living only by the protection of God, no one is trying to help us after my father death. But my almighty lord take care for us, I know that I can’t get enough food, good education if I continue to live in Ethiopia anymore and thank you for your understanding that my difficult living situation.

I am so excited to go there (America) and live with my two lovely brothers and 2 beautiful sisters very soon. I know that you are working hard to take me there, I also praying alot for every process every day….You already told me that what I want to know about your family. And I want to say again that I want to be there with all your family members, Dad & mama and I want to play games with my brothers and sisters very soon…I want to ask a single question about your home study and dossier I think it takes a lot of time I am eager to hear the good news about it and I want to be finished fast to be with you please .

Always I pray for you

I love you so much

Your daughter

God bless you

HOME STUDY IS COMPLETE!!!!!

I am on my knees thanking God! We've been waiting on fingerprint clearance from the FBI since October. Ryan received his clearance in December and I finally received mine today. This means that we are done with our home study and sending in our dossier! Thank you for everyone that has been praying with us through this process.

The next step is that the dossier has to be authenticated (make sure everything is legal) and then translated. We'll also have to complete a second set of fingerprints for the US Immigration.

One more open door....one step closer to bringing our daughter home. Praise God!

Care Package!

We've learned that we have an opportunity to send a care package to Sehin in February. There is a family from Wisconsin that is going to Ethiopia and they offered to take something for us. We've been told that the items need to fit into a gallon sized ziploc bag. So far, we've gotten some pictures together, a small necklace and some bible quotes translated into Amharic (Ethiopian language). We're stumped as to what other items we should include... how can I fit everything that I want to give Sehin, into a gallon sized bag. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

HALF WAY THERE!

We are overwhelmed at the generosity of our friends and family! We've raised $4000 and are half-way to our goal! God is good! We are trusting Him that He will provide all of the money needed for His work! Thanks, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who has donated money and prayer! We can't wait to tell Sehin about how you've all come around us in order to help bring her home!

God Bless You!