Let me back up a bit. We had been waiting at the top of the list for about 2 1/2 months so by this time we were weary of waiting and pretty much told ourselves it wasn't going to happen anytime soon so "Get over it!"
....so I answer and she asks the question that I know means "I have a referral for you" (because I have read way too many referral blog posts by friends) which is "Is Casey around?" and I freaked out! I asked "Is this it? Is this really it?" She said yes and I said Casey was at work, but she said she would conference him in. He answered and she told us a little bit about our sweet girl. She said she'd send us her file and would call back in a few hours for our answer. He raced home because I wanted us all to look at her picture for the first time together. We set the laptop up and realized we had a large file that needed to download. So we waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity but was maybe only 10 minutes. We all gathered around and saw the most beautiful baby staring back at us. We knew she was meant for us and every hour, month, and year of waiting had led us to this day and this sweet baby. Our social worker called and, of course, we said we would accept the referral.
What's next you ask? We will wait patiently, or not so patiently, for lots of paperwork to be submitted and then in 5-6 months we will travel to Ethiopia for court where she will legally become our daughter and then we will travel again about a month later where she will have an embassy appointment and we will bring her home. We are praying for smooth sailing and that we wouldn't have any huge delays.
How can you help? You can pray for us that everything will go smoothly. That the Lord would watch over her and keep her safe and secure until we can get to her. Pray for her transition. Her little world is about to be turned upside down. New people, new language, new country, new smells, new family. It's all very hard on a little person who has known nothing but uncertainty and sorrow in her short life. Also, we still have a home to sell in Louisiana and a home to find in Arkansas. Prayer for both of these matters would greatly appreciated.
We still have to raise about $11,500 for our travel for both trips and to update our home study since we are moving to Arkansas. The Lord has been faithful to provide the money for two simultaneous adoptions so we know He will provide this last bit. We will be doing several fundraisers in the next few months. We are having a new shirt designed which is going to be super cute, so be looking for that. We also have a way to send donations through our blog over on the right-hand side where it says Help Bring Our Children Home. Just click that and it should be straightforward on what to do next.
We aren't allowed to share particular details about our little girl or share pictures until after we have been to court, but we will share as soon as we are able. Thank you to everyone that has been so supportive through all of this. We are so thankful for you!
