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Photo by: Marchele Johnson, Marchele J Photo
December 1st, we marked six years since we submitted our application to Lifeline Children’s Services to become part of their Ethiopia international adoption program. We had prayed, researched, prayed some more, and as a still newlywed couple, we embarked on a journey that we could have never imagined.
Read moreIt's been kind of a bizarre season of life for me. In May, I quit my job at a nonprofit that served kids in care to stay home with Brighten and to start my own consulting business. In June, we found out that we were not going to be able to continue to pursue international adoption in Ethiopia after almost four years in process. Now, I'm learning contentment, which, if I'm honest, is uncomfortable and completely unfamiliar.
Read moreWhen Jason and I began our Ethiopia adoption process in December of 2013, we had no clue what the next several years would bring. We were, admittedly, blindly optimistic. We thought it'd only take a few months to do our home study (try 7.5), be on the waiting list by summer (it was the end of September), and be booking flights to Ethiopia by Christmas 2015. Thankfully, even basking in our optimism, we'd heard that adoption is not for the faint of heart, so we had the foresight to set some "guidelines" - rules for ourselves if the going got tough.
Read moreIt's been a while since we've sent an email. Partly this has been because we haven't had an update and partly because we've been praying that things would change and we'd have an update to give. Well, I'm happy to say that day has come, but we certainly couldn't have guessed that this is what God has in store for us. We are using this email as a kind of reset for us all - for you and for us.
Read moreA Hole of Hope
Merry Christmas! We must admit, this is one of the more difficult updates that we've written for our adoption. Today marks the two year anniversary of beginning the process of adopting from Ethiopia. We had high hopes that this would be the year we were able to announce that we're bringing our son home, or that we have a referral, or something. But this is not that update, and this is not that year.
Read moreGet a paper bag, I'm starting to hyperventilate. We. Are. So. Close.
We are now #14 on the waiting list.
Read moreI'm currently reading a book called, Everything You've Ever Wanted. I highly recommend reading it if you're adopting, know someone who's adopting, or maybe want to adopt someday. It's very real - the pretty and the not-so-pretty. I love the honesty.
Read moreWe get asked pretty often how we chose to adopt from Ethiopia. While I wish the answer were more romantic, our answer to people is that it was logistics.
Read moreSome of you might be wondering, if it's going to be three years before we're able to bring our child home, why would we name him now? That's a great question, and a question that I really do love answering because it helps our friends and family see a little deeper into our lives and our approach to this whole adoption journey.
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