So now that our paperwork is in Ethiopia, many have asked what's next. Great question and honestly ... we don't have the full story ... only the Lord knows what's really next.
We have an idea of the sequence of events but have NOOOO CLUE when they will be. But this is what we know so maybe this will give you some idea of "what's next".
First, we wait now for a "referral". This is the information of WHO Levi is ... who our agency and ultimately, who the Lord has prepared as our son. The referral will come with "The call". That's the moment we see the area code 703 on our caller ID and scream with joy in the anticipation that it just could be our family coordinator on the other end with all that great information.
Once that call arrives, we will receive all of Levi's medical information and background information that our agency has. We will also receive PHOTOS to drool over. The hardest part is that we won't be able to share those photos here just yet ... that will come later, but not at first.
Once we have received and accepted a referral, the timing and steps look something like this:
1.) 8-16 weeks after that referral, we will go to "Court" where we will be in front of a judge petitioning to adopt Levi. YES, this will mean we will travel and we will get to MEET our son. We pray (and you can begin now praying) that we pass Court the first time. Many many families do not. Often the Ministry of Woman's Affairs (MOWA) is missing important documents etc. and so a family will "Fail" court. This doesn't mean they don't get to adopt that child ... but it does mean that more work, more steps must be completed to make that child legally adoptable. Once we pass court we get to show the world who Levi is ... not until the moment we pass court and he becomes legally ours can we share here his picture, real name and birth date - UGH .... that's a big bummer! Oh and if we failed court, they would have to get us a new court date. Doug and I would not have to be there for subsequent court dates, just the first. Also, when we leave the country, whether we pass or fail, we don't get to bring Levi home. OH MY ... can you pray over that goodbye!
2.) Once we pass court, our agency will work to secure an embassy date. It takes about 2-4 weeks for them to secure that and so typically, a family will travel back for the embassy date 4-6 weeks after court to bring home their child. Praying FOUR!! Yes, this is trip #2.
On this trip, Canyon and Dakota will go with us. This is the trip that Doug and I, Canyon and Dakota will get to bring Levi HOME forever! (I think I hear angels singing!!)
We have also been told that on some occasions, after court, some families have had their file go under "investigation". This would greatly delay the time between court and embassy ... and the day we get to be a forever family. If that happened, it would be 10-12 weeks after that court until we traveled back. That could be a LOOONG and emotionally hard couple of months so pray with me against that! I hope you saw that really big ... pray for passing court and no delays or "investigations" needed.
We also recently clarified with our family coordinator our age range. We are "approved" for a child 3-5 years old according to our I-171 (the letter we need to bring Levi home per Homeland Security), however, we are requesting a child 36-48 months. Basically, a child that is 3 and just barely 4. We made that clarification after realizing that saying 3-4 could very easily bring us a referral of a child that was at the end of the 4 year spectrum ... say, 4 years 11 months, closer to five. If this happened, that could make Maliah and Levi VERY close in age and we felt pretty certain that we wanted to keep our "birth order" and let Maliah be a big sister. We feel like this will be important for her and honestly, our social worker really advised that ... and we totally respect her experience and advice! SO, we made that clarification just recently.
SO ... now we just wait. We have NOOO clue how long we will wait for that call. In a recent conference call with Ethiopia families, they said that an infant girl was a 7-11 month wait, an infant boy was 4-6 month wait and then said "a family seeking an older child or sibling group has no trend history, but we do know it is typically less than infant boy". That's us ... the no trend family.
They also said that families seeking infants would receive an "On deck" e-mail about 1-3 months before they could expect the call. They followed up by saying "families seeking older children may never receive that e-mail and will just receive a call".
HAHA .. so a girl who loves to have control has NOOOONE! Yep, in adoption, you just have to totally let go! I am certain that's why the Lord has called me here TWICE ... I must still need practice. He also knows I loooove surprises and well, I am certain that one day when the phone rings unexpectedly and it is news of a son, with NO warning ... that's about the best surprise you can get!
That's the 411 on what we know now.
We do know we are still saving and selling those T-shirts and coffee. We also were blessed beyond measure by an awesome gift that paid our expenses at the time we had to send off our Dossier ($7,200) which is WILD! With that .. we DO KNOW that the Lord totally has this whole adoption covered. He has already blown us away and every day on this journey is like Christmas ... just not sure what gift we'll unwrap next ... or well ... maybe ... the best one ... the face of our son!!
Speaking of Christmas, Have an awesome one!
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