This Friday, August 10th, Frazier will turn 1 year old. 6 days later we will celebrate our one year anniversary of having our "log in date," which basically means that all of our documents have passed the US government and the Ethiopian government and we were officially on the "list" to be placed with a child. Well, the months progressed and we would catch wind here and there that we were fifth on the list, then third on the list. Then we got word that in the month of July two families received their "referrals," which means officially being placed with a child. That made us a just a wee bit anxious to be "next" on the list. Now, as of August 6th, 2012, someone else is now next on the list as we received and confirmed OUR referral on Thursday, August 2nd! We are SUPER excited about our...wait for it...DAUGHTER! She is just under three months old and is in good health (as good as can be evaluated based on the resources).

Here is where it gets a bit stressful for us. Ethiopia has what is called "rainy season." It's just that, however, the courts close during rainy season for a couple months. Our agency is bending over backwards to get us our first court date before the courts close (predictably August 17th). What this means for us is that we could be travelling to Ethiopia in the next few DAYS. That is pretty insane to us considering Frazier still nurses, Jackson will be starting Kindergarten that week, and that the first few days of the Fall Semester are pivotal for a college minister. In the event we get to travel in the next few days will mean bringing home OUR baby two months sooner than later.

We are very excited, overwhelmed, nervous, scared, humbled, etc. Ever since we have started this process, we have had only one option: "Trust the Lord." That is plan A...there is no plan B. We will trust the Lord with our new baby. We will trust the Lord with our children. We will trust the Lord with logistics. We will trust the Lord with finances. We will trust the Lord, period. There is no other option.

This season of the adoption is where ALLLL that money we raised over the last two years and 5 months starts to be spent quickly. $1200 here. $8000 there. Plane tickets here. Guest Housing expenses there. It will be depleted quickly. Fortunately, we have a significant bit of this money raised and in the bank. We WILL be doing some more fund-raising as we come down the stretch. We are selling these Africa Charm necklaces for $25 (pictured below). Let Erin know if you are interested in purchasing one: erinbclark00@gmail.com. Or, let me, Jonathan know: jonathanclark00@gmail.com. We will be glad to get one to you! We might even be re-visiting making t-shirts for selling as well.

Most importantly, be praying for us. The Lord has sustained our potential anxiety with His perfect peace. Pray for our little girl. Pray for the transition, for the travel, for the funds, for our boys, and for all the little details that make adoption possible.

Thanks so much for journeying with us!

Nervous!

A few weeks ago we heard from our agency that the current wait was 6 months. If this is the case we could be hearing something within the next month. Although this is what we have waited for for 20 months now, the reality makes us nervous. We ask that you partner with us as we pray that the Lord will provide and that we will trust Him completely!

More money yet totally worth it!!

We got an email from our agency today that gave us an incredible opportunity. We have the option to pay only $400.00 to receive a video of our child's story. What will happen is an investigator will go to Ethiopia and video the facts of our child's life history. They will interview any birth relatives that our child may have. If our child was abandoned they will interview any witnesses, the person who found our child and the police officer who prepared the report.
When we read this email we were overjoyed to think that one day we would be able to share with our child on video his/her life story from the beginning. Praise the LORD!!!

Still waiting..

All we are doing as far as adoption goes is......waiting!!

a long needed update..

Sorry that I have been so lazy at updating our blog. My excuse is that we moved and had a baby=) But to update everyone on our adoption process:
We are simply waiting. We have been told that the current wait is around 5 months which means we could expect a referral around the first of the year. We are hopeful, yet realize that things could change at any time.
We are also going to update our home study on Tuesday, Oct. 4, which will add our new place and our new son!
Please continue to pray for our family as we wait for yet another addition and please continue to pray for the funds to finish the process out!
We are thankful for you guys!!!

WOW!!

It is official!! All of our stuff is in Ethiopia and we are waiting for our paperwork to be approved in country then the placement process begins. We have been told this process could take 4-5 months yet we are unsure. We know that the country is in its rainy season which could delay things some. We also want to let you guys know a few details of this process. It seems like we are asked often about the sex and age range. We originally were adopting from Rwanda and felt peace about pursing a girl. When Rwanda closed and we switched to Ethiopia we no longer felt peace pursing a girl so we decided to purse either sex. That means we could get a boy or a girl. Also the age range that we desire is 0-24 months. This means that upon the time of referral the child could be anywhere between birth and 2 years old. We are excited about this time in our lives and are thankful for the many prayers, encouragement and financial contributions you guys have made over the past 16 months!! We ask that you continue to pray for our Ethiopian baby, or as Jackson calls him/her, Best Buddy Clark. Also pray that the Lord would provide each step of the way!

OUR FINGERPRINTS CAME BACK!!!

Friday, July 22nd, we received our USCIS approval!! We are 100% done with our paperwork!! Now for the waiting game!!=)