And we're off!

Once again we're moving forward! Woohoo! We officially mailed our novellas yesterday and will now wait to hear from our social worker. What a relief! After a month of intense thought and prayer, I am excited to be one small step closer to our kid(s)!!

Update.

We are still sitting on our paper work.

It turns out that there are some very serious things one must consider when adopting a child. Real world questions about life and death. Grown-up things about money and stability. Questions that, at times, seem to require a crystal ball. So, we’re taking our time and trying to really think through these tricky, tricky questions. I’ve been spending a lot of time in conversation with my husband, my head tilted and me saying things like, “Hmmm….” I’m also spending a lot of time in conversation with God, eyes toward the sky, me saying things like, “A little louder now, Lord…” And, “…Really?!?”

That’s our posture right now. We’re standing still. We’re thinking. We're slightly perplexed. We’re anxious, but we realize that some things can’t be rushed.

Something happier today.

This link makes me smile. In some ways it makes the grief of my previous posts more profound, but mostly it makes me smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFbNqivu4R4

I want to honor these people. I want to make clear that they are a beautiful, joyous group. They are not just the faces of hunger and poverty. It's important that we know and see that reality, but it's also important that we see this living, dancing example of humanity as well.

I'm sorry, I've been so serious lately! Enjoy the music and the laughter!

One more thing. Or, number four.

I'm becoming a junkie for Ethiopian adoption blogs/information. The amount of time I've spent, tonight alone, online is just plain silly. The stream of books (Ethiopian stories, histories, you name it) that have landed in our mailbox this week has been ridiculous. I know that you, reader, may not be quite so passionate about this place. But then again, perhaps you are. And perhaps you'll read this. Another heart wrenching, yet hopeful, blog entry I came across while lurking Ethiopian adoption blogs...trying to calm down, trying to pump up, and basically trying to exist within all of this.

http://under-the-acacia-tree.blogspot.com/

Three things.

1. Please follow this link and read the July 1st post:

http://thesweetestthing-family.blogspot.com/


2. Please follow the links and sign this petition:
From ONE.org...

The Financial Times ran an article yesterday with a lead that could hardly be more alarming: “Leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations are set to backtrack on their landmark pledge at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to increase development aid to Africa to $25bn a year.”

It is astonishing that there is even debate within the G8 as to whether or not they should keep their promises. But the fact that there is a debate adds urgency to our call to the G8 to deliver on their commitments.

So far over 40,000 ONE members have signed our petition to the G8, but with this latest news it is clear we need to step up our efforts.

Please forward this message to a couple friends and ask them to sign the petition to the G8:
http://www.one.org/2008g8/?id=391-3919040-7NKDvtx&t=1

This potential reversal comes at a time when we are seeing results from investments in development. For example, thanks to distribution of bed nets and increased access to anti-malarial drugs, in Rwanda both deaths and cases of malaria have dropped by two-thirds since mid-2006.

As malaria still kills around one million people a year, it is clear that we must replicate successes like this. But it won’t happen if the G8 backtrack on their commitments.

Please tell the G8 leaders that aid works and is desperately needed:
http://www.one.org/2008g8/?id=391-3919040-7NKDvtx&t=2

Thank you for your voice,

Josh Peck, ONE.org


3. Please pray. I'm sure your heart broke, just like mind, as you engaged the information above. Please send all the love you can muster to Ethiopia. If you pray, please pray for them NOW. I believe in a kind and merciful God whose heart breaks harder than yours and mine. Sometimes this seems like it's way to big of an issue to handle, so we push it aside. Don't believe it. Enlist him, beg him, make a plea out of love and compassion. Our sisters and brothers are suffering. It's happening right now.

I just ran a marathon in seven days flat.

I'm done! Part of our PAC “homework” was to complete a Self Study and I finished mine this morning. This is basically a guided autobiography that J and I were each asked to complete. Mine hovers around eleven single-spaced pages. That’s a lot. The study covers obvious things like your upbringing, your family, and your current relationships. It also asks you questions about your own cultural awareness and diversity, your attitudes toward adoption, highlights of your parenting skills, and the strengths and weaknesses of your self, children, spouse, and self. This is not easy stuff. However, I found this to be a great seven days of thought and reflection and I’m sure that I’ll continue thinking through some of these questions as time goes on. It made me remember things long forgotten and it prompted me to take an honest look at the person that I have become. It required that I do some honest reflection on why I want to parent through adoption. The good news is that I still passionately believe that I am meant to be an adoptive mother. The bad news is that my social worker has to wade through all of this stuff! Seriously, it’s a novella.

I am typically a rather private person and this transcultural/transracial adoption will challenge my nature. Last week at PAC we talked about how adoption is not a private matter. For instance, soon my social worker and I will soon sit down and talk about things that my own mother may not even know. (I’m exaggerating, there’s really nothing that mysterious or dramatic about my life! But still…) And once our child comes home, it will forever be obvious that she joined our family through adoption. I am just on the verge of beginning to grasp what that will mean.

Eyes Wide Open.

That's what this weekend was all about...arming ourselves with information before jumping in. I'm so happy we chose this agency because they truly value education. We spent two exhausting days arming ourselves with experts and resources for our journey. We did a lot of soul searching and learned so much. So. Much. We attended workshops on attachment, transracial families, and Ethiopia. We listened and asked questions to panels of adoptees, adoptives parents, and birth mothers. We learned more about the language of adoption. The loss of adoption. The joy of adoption. We discussed complex issues within a small group. We watched videos. We received packets of articles and extensive book lists. And we were given "homework" to complete, which is the next step in this process. We got up early last Thursday morning and journeyed to Minnesota, thus making us one step closer to Ethiopia.



(I know that we look a little scared? scary? in this picture. We're not. We're really not.)