Adoption Timeline:
Jan. 2009--Started following Katie's blog. My heart begins to be stirred for the orphans.
Summer 2009--I felt God calling me to adopt.
November 2009-Seriously talking about adoption—Trevis gave me the go ahead after Thanksgiving. He had prayed about it and was now feeling the same calling.
November 30th-Started making phone calls about adoption (state, DHS, social worker, etc.)
December 2nd—Talked to Liz at American Adoptions. She was amazing—loved her!
December 5th—Clicked on the ordinary hero blog. From there, clicked on Kristi Johnson’s blog and watched the video of them getting Lucy Lane from Ethiopia….I wrote Kristi asking several questions.
December 6th—Submitted a pre-application to AGCI.
December 9th—We received an email back from Erin with a list of supporting documents we will need.
December 11th—Talk to Erin at A.G.C.I. on the phone.
December 14th—I emailed Erin at AGCI and told her we were going to wait until we had saved some money. We both did not want a child to be waiting on us while we still needed to raise the resources or save. We were still torn between domestic and international adoption with Ethiopia.
December 16th—Buck and Eddie emailed Trevis with some side-work…Sign #1 to proceed with adoption.
December 22nd—Watching “Wheel of Fortune” with the kids. They did a story on a previous contestant who used his winnings for he and his wife to adopt internationally. Sign #2
December 23rd—Natalie was flipping through one of the channels and one of the morning shows was talking about adoption. Sign #3 I called Trevis at work and he said he felt like we definitely needed to adopt from Ethiopia. So……Ethiopia it is!! Hooray—some peace in our decision!!
December 24th—Christmas Eve Service-- Pastor Allen preached and he said, "God knows how to get his children home." That was the theme of the whole message. We feel confirmed in our decision to proceed and are excited about God showing Himself faithful. After all, he loves our child/children in Ethiopia more than we do......It is his heart for them to have a Mommy and Daddy. Sign #4
During the week of Christmas, God directed me to several blogs and spoke to me through my quiet times with timely scriptures. God is soooooooo faithful!
December 26-27th—Filled out application, made copies, and filled out supporting documents/forms.
December 29th—Mailed application. Talked to Lisa—our social worker. She sent me the application and several forms via email. I started working on the home-study.
December 30th—Trevis wrote the most amazing letter telling about our adoption. I gathered documents, made copies, took the cats to get their rabies shots, got a statement from the bank, Trevis ordered the TBI forms, and I talked to Lisa again. It’s AMAZING what you can get done with the anointing in 24 hours.
December 31st—Trevis met with Buck and Eddie. They have a big project over the span of 6 months. Once again, God is showing Himself faithful. He loves soooooooo very much!
January 2nd—Natalie’s lesson at church was on adoption
January 4th/5th-Trevis applied for passport/Melanie applied for passport
January 7th—Formally Approved w/ AGCI
January 8th—Mailed out letters to family/friends/Received Orientation Packet w/AGCI
January 12th—Kids’ well visit with the pediatrician for home study/Orientation call with Erin from AGCI—We first found out that a check for $7360 is due with packet.
January 15th—Went to the bank and got everything notarized for Orientation packet…..Just waiting now on the money.
January 18th—Check up for me meeting Dr. Cobb for home study
January 19th—Trevis appt. with Dr. Cobb.
January 27th—Trevis and I met with our social worker.
January 28th—Our social worker came for our home visit.
February 6th—Mailed our Orientation packet in with a big check.
February 12-14th—Received dossier packet and completed all of our required online classes.
February 16th—Intro phone call with our caseworker about the dossier.
February 17th—We got fingerprinted for the FBI. Went to the police department to be printed.
February 22nd—Finished “With Eyes Wide Open” workbook (educational component)
April 14th—Our FBI fingerprinting paper finally came back!!
April 20th—Dossier mailed to AGCI with big check.
April 23rd—Dossier Reviewed….Needs a couple of fixes.
April 28th—Finally on the waitlist…Hooray!
April 29th—Talked to case worker….Our first numbers are: Girl 53, Boy 35, Siblings 28
May—Walked in and got fingerprinted for USCIS.
May 13th—New #s: Girl 51, Boy 33, Siblings 27
June 10th—New #s: Girl 46, Boy 26, Siblings 27
June 11th & 12th—Huge Yard Sale Fundraiser
July 13th—New #s: Girl 43, Boy 23, Siblings 25
August 5th—New #s: Girl 37, Boy 21, Siblings 24
September 14th—New #s: Girl 34, Boy 20, Siblings 23
September 16th-Referral for a 3 (almost 4) year old healthy boy. We told the kids. YEAAAAAAAA!!!
September 17th—Received our referral packet. Contacted the international pediatrician. Bought first outfit for “D”.
September 20th—Continued working on transition plan for referral packet; had consult with international pediatrician; had vaccinations: Hep A & tetanus (with pertussis), got written prescriptions for Typhoid and Malaria for travel, and blood drawn to test Hep B. antibodies; had phone consult with Mindy discussing post adoption life.
September 21st—“D” turned 4. Happy Birthday!
September 22nd—Met with social worker. Had her sign form and we talked about doing the addendum for USCIS to up our age parameters to 4. Finished the transition plan. Mailed packet express to AGCI.
We don't know what the next steps are, but we're excited to find out. If you are reading this today and considering adoption I want to encourage you in the financial part of it by saying that God is able to exceedingly, abundantly provide all we can ask, think, or imagine....
With Much Love,
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