A LITTLE BALANCE

Did you see that dark cloud hanging over me all winter? Yuck! I'm so glad the sun is finally out and I can enjoy life again. ...ok, so maybe it wasn't only "winter blues". We've been chipping away at this adoption block for a while now and honestly... I'm tired! This thing has completely consumed me for the past year and I think it's time I gave myself some room.

A while back I had a really good chat with Aaron about how balance in parenting was important to us. We're going to love our kids and we're going to tend to their needs, but we don't want to forget about "us" and we don't want to forget about what our passions were before we had kids! It's so easy to get sucked into this world and this amazing adoption community, but I think I got a little lost and Aaron was kind enough to give me a gentle "nudge". I'm so thankful that I have a partner who's not afraid to call me out ;)

TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!

Just got word from our agency that FOUR babies were referred today! That moves us up to number 14 on the list! I didn't mention this before, but we were told that part of the hold up was that they ran out of HIV testing kits in Ethiopia. Last week the kits finally came in and they were able to test the babies and prepare them to be matched! I'm still feeling a hodge podge of emotions. I'm ready to get a more final word about where we're going to end up with this change in the system. Keep praying for inter-country adoptions from Ethiopia and that any changes they make to the system will be what's best for the kiddos over there!

FRIDAY UPDATE

Friday's news came as a shock! Ethiopia announced that they will be cutting foreign adoptions by up to 90 percent. I haven't really been able to think about anything else. My mind just wont let me rest. I run through all the different scenarios given all the possible outcomes. Ha! That will just make you crazy! But, the thing is... I don't feel worried. I'm ready for us to be parents, but right now this isn't about us and our timeline. This is about children who are at risk of falling victim to a corrupt system. The intention of this cut back is to try to solve the problem and a lot of people are worried that this will only create more problems and leave more children left behind without families. Right now we need prayer. Will you join us in prayer as we enter into this season of lent?

HAPPY 3 YEARS!

Last Wednesday Aaron and I celebrated three years of marriage! It was fun for me to look at our life and sum up what I love about our past, what I love now, and what I'm looking forward to. I found the idea for these crafty anniversary things a couple different places. (arrows and notecards)

This week also marks one year into the adoption process... what?? This year has flown! Up until the last few weeks, the waiting hasn't been so bad. We always felt like we were making progress and it was exciting to tell people where we were in our wait. With no real news to report for the last eight weeks it's starting to feel like this is never going to happen. It's such a weird feeling. We just feel really disconnected from the whole process right now.

BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN'S BOOK

The Boy, the Kite, and the Wind from Improbable Philanthropist on Vimeo.

EIGHTEEN!

According to this week's update, we've moved up one spot on the list! There hasn't been a ton of movement for the past five weeks so I am thrilled to see this new number :)

WHOA!

It's been a while since I gave you guys an update on our paper chain, but it has definitely been shrinking! I can't believe it's been 18 weeks since we started our wait! There hasn't been a lot of movement this past month, but Aaron and I both believe that we will get our call very soon. Thanks for coming alongside us and supporting as we continue on in this crazy journey :)