We will come to you...

We are happy to announce that our paperwork has been processed and we are officially in the Ethiopian Program with America World Adoption. :)

Our next step will be placement with a case worker. This individual will be the person who will guide us through the remainder of our adoption. He or she will tell us what needs to be done and when. He or she will also be the person we contact if we have any questions. 

In addition to being placed with a case worker, the next phase of Project Ethiopia will be our home study. America World is in the process of creating an Indiana home study agency but the construction is not complete. Therefore, we were given a few agencies that America World works with for home studies. 

At this time, we are waiting to hear from our case worker before we proceed with our home study. We want to ensure that we are fully prepared for our study before they travel to visit us. Another reason we are waiting to complete our home study is because we will owe an additional $2500 at the time the study is done. We are not worried about the funds because we know that God will provide.  His provisions will come in his perfect timing. Patience, patience, patience!! :) 

A fun side note, I spoke to our pediatrician about how we can prepare Jaxon and Evelynn for the arrival of their sister and she suggested we start talking about her now. She also has suggested we order books and give visuals. They are very smart children and they are going to realize that Amira does not look like them. So as a start of introducing them to the reality that their sisters skin is going to be a different than theirs I have bought a book called The Magical Friendship Garden. It is a story about a little girl who was adopted from Ethiopia and her family's great love for her. It will be a great visual to show them that love should not be associated with how we look or what country we are from but is much deeper than that. Color is only skin deep and we are all created equal in God's eyes. I am looking forward to reading this book to them. I am also working with my sister in law Chami to put a photo album together or her previous trip to Kenya where she served in an orphanage.  Living in Chesterton, my children have not been overly exposed to people of other races but I want them to know there are lots of different kinds of people in the world. As our pediatrician said, exposure will be the best way to prepare them for the wonderful gift Amira will be to us. 

We are continually grateful for your prayers and support during our journey !