60-40-33

We got a very important call today from our adoption agency...we're officially waitlisted!  I never thought that word could mean something positive, but in the context of international adoption, it's music to our ears!

Since we are open to adopting either gender, and since we are open to adopting twins (or siblings who are both under the age of 12 months), we got put on 3 waitlists...

#60 on the girl list
#40 on the boy list
#33 on the sibling list

They estimate the wait time to be 9-10 months for a girl or 5-7 months for a boy.  They have no estimate to give us for the sibling list (and apparently twin orphans are not very common at all). 

Given those waitlist numbers and estimated wait times, it's certainly looking like we're going to get a little boy (but we're still open to either)!  It also means that we could be matched with our child and be making our first trip to Ethiopia as early as October!  If that happens, we'd have quite an exciting Christmas present to bring home from our second trip!

Since we're on all 3 waitlists, here's the way it will work:  each time a family gets matched with a child, our number moves closer.  If they are a family who was on multiple lists, then the numbers change on all of the lists they were on.  If they were only on the girl list, then our number only changes on the girl list.  Etc., etc.  

We will receive monthly updates from our agency on where we are on the list, so we'll keep everyone posted as we move closer to being matched with our child!

To try to compare this to a pregnancy:  if submitting the dossier was like finding out we were pregnant, then getting our waitlist numbers are like hearing the heartbeat for the first time.  We're SO pumped!!

Big Step Completed Today!

We sent our dossier to AGCI today!  They will review it tomorrow and as long as it's complete we get put on the waitlist.  Woo-hoo!  Once we're on the waitlist, it's 8 months (at the longest) until we get matched with our child.  Thanks for sharing this journey with us!!

The FedEx employees thought I was weird for asking them to take a picture. 
Oh well--I'm fine being weird. ;)

I want to grow up and become a Polish nun

No, I'm not crazy.  Well, maybe a little. 

So, I read an article today (found it on a blog I "stalk") and got super-excited.  I'm excited because it's written about a topic that I've been thinking a lot about for the last few months or so.  I'm excited because Christians are starting to "get it"!  And I'm excited because it's given me some clarity and direction on how to move forward.  I'm pumped, people!

You see, I've been overwhelmed lately with all of the things I feel God telling me to do.  It all has to do with my role in serving the poor and marginalized around the globe, but it's all jumbled up in my head.  I can't tell exactly what I'm meant to do.  In the meantime I've been praying for clarity and just doing "normal" service things that I've always done.  Not to downplay those things, but really--I feel called to do much more.

A tidbit of info about me:  I tend to feel called to action regarding EVERYTHING I read/see/hear.  I know it drives my husband crazy...he's definitely going to sigh loudly when I tell him to read my recent blog post...but I guess it's a good quality to have, right? 

Anyway, when I read the aforementioned article today, it stirred up a lot of excitement and heart pounding in me.  First I'm going to read the book that it references (and prepare for the change that it will most definitely bring to my life).  Then I'm going to talk to my small group about using the free 6-week study guide for our next study together (and pray that all of us are called to action)I'm pumped, people!

So, please share in my excitement by checking out this article and this book (and even this blog where I found the article). 

Here is another teaser from the article (the first teaser was the blog title)...

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking, and maternal mortality.

And a teaser from the book...

How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?