3 months...and how many left?

We can't believe that, as of today, our dossier has been in Ethiopia three months....ONLY three months and we have already received our referral. We still find ourselves daydreaming of what the next few months will be like. To be honest, our heart aches for the families who are still waiting to see their child...families, who for whatever reason, have already passed their 3 month waiting mark. We have always believed that the timing on our journey would be perfect, no matter how long or how short, everything would fall into place the way it was meant to. Over the last week, the way our journey has unfolded has been better than we had ever hoped (not only because of the shorter wait). This has truly confirmed to us that everything truly does happen for a reason. Because when we saw and read our referral we immediately KNEW that we had been matched with OUR daughter.

Cause just like a tree planted - 

planted by the rivers of water 

That bringeth forth fruits - 

bringeth forth fruits in due season; 

Everything in life got its purpose,

Find its reason in every season, Forever, yeah! 

~Bob Marley

After we received our referral we had to submit our "ACCEPTANCE form" to complete the review process (as if it took us more than 1 second to say YES!!). We also provided one picture of us, to be shown to our daughter (we think its wonderful that the staff in Ethiopia truly believe in the importance of showing our picture to our daughter in preparation of our arrival).

So you may ask, what now? Well, as always, there are only ESTIMATED court and travel dates. Right now we are waiting for paperwork (both her complete paperwork as well as our Dossier being translated and submitted) to be sent to the Ethiopian courts, which usually takes about 6-8 weeks. Once everything is received, will be given our 1st court date and are finally able to make travel arrangements, with the anticipation of going to Ethiopia in 1-3 months. So ideally, we will travel around March but we are prepared to leave anytime from February to May. We have ALWAYS known that this would be the hardest part of the process, seeing our daughter's face and not being able to hold her and give her our love.

So now its time to put things in motion, time to further research everything TRAVEL related: vaccinations, lodging/transportation (our flight as well as traveling to different areas of Ethiopia), supplies to bring for her, and what we need to live for two months in Ethiopia! This week we also researched the area she is from, which we already knew some information about. We gained even further respect for not only the country of Ethiopia, but the region she was born in. It is also the time to start preparing for her arrival HOME, getting her room ready *finally*. So needless to say...we have alot to do in the next few months to prepare for the next step of our journey.

In an ideal world we would be receiving regular updates on our daughter around the 15th (or later) of each month. We are of course already greatly anticipating our daughter's next medical report and pictures. We have tried to take a PATIENT approach with this journey, knowing that it is truly not in our control, but we can't help but desire to hold her and give her the love that currently consumes our hearts as soon as possible.

“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”

 St. Francis of Assisi

We love to say that...there are now THREE of us!