we did it!

The numbers are in - 246 families have re-signed their contracts, sent in the $ and we are a go!!!
In the last few weeks I was pretty confidant that we would have enough families to continue and we do. What a relief!! Now we wait for the first referral - what a sweet day that will be!!!!!!! The other good news is that we will finally get a list of the families waiting and we will be able to see our place in line. We never knew that info before - i had my colour coded spreadsheet but it wasn't very accurate to say the least. That is such a relief to us! We will be able to get a better grasp on our wait times as we see the people ahead of us bring their sweet babies home!! I have a feeling we are in the top 50?! I really hope so - but it will just be nice to know for a change.
So, such good news after a wonderful weekend!!!!
In the whole mess of the bankruptcy i got a card from a friend that said 'expect miracles'. I thought that was a pretty bold statement. But i can tell you that i am expecting miracles here and they have been happening.

blessed

This weekend, Mike and I have been blessed in such a huge way.
Right after the bankrupcty happened, people wanted to do things for us. It was so nice, but there was really nothing to be done and at that point we didn't know if we had a future with this adoption. As soon as we knew we needed more $ to make things happen, a fundraiser was planned. My sister and cousin took up the challenge and made it happen.
Well, it happened last night. What a night!!! We used a friend's barn, booked a great band and friends brought wonderful treats. It was such a special evening.
About 150 came and showered us with love and support. It is very humbling to receive such love. We are so very appreciative and just full of gratitude - for everyone involved and everyone that came. Thank you so much for the financal support. The numbers aren't all in yet but so far we have enough to pay our fees plus a good chunk of our traveling expenses. What a blessing!!!
Thanks to Beth and Sheri - the driving force behind it all. To Len and Lynnette for their help on the Villages side. To Aunt Mim for phoning and inviting the Cober's - which is a big job! and for her help in the kitchen that night. Thanks to Val for putting together a wonderful power point of photos of Ethiopia and informative facts and trivia. Thanks to Arnica for allowing us to use her photos. Thanks to Carol for allowing us to use her beautiful barn. Thanks to Don and Stand Firm for blessing us and rocking out the barn!!!!!
I didn't say a speech last night and so didn't blubber -which is good. But i did have a few thoughts rolling around in my head as i observed our friends and family mingling and having a good time.
Adoption comes from pain. Our child will suffer many losses to become part of our family. But as I looked across the room last night i knew that our child will gain this community as their family and friends and will be so blessed to know all of you and have you in his/her life.
I cant wait till we have our next party - the band is booked and the pig (roasted of course) is on stand by. It will be amazing to celebrate our child home at last!!

The barn decorated in an African theme

Stand Firm and 'Rock on' Don

Bring down the house -or shall we say barn


oh the Food - wonderful goodness!!

shot from the balcony:

ticker

I haven't really been paying much attention to the ticker lately. No, my heart is fine :). The ticker is the little gizmo at the top of the blog that tell me how long we have been waiting for a referral. We know that this is only on small part of the 'wait'. We have waited long and hard before we even got to this point, but we won't go there today.
Anyhoo - today the ticker says - one year, one month, one week and one day, waiting for our referral.
I could go on and on about how i despise this wait. How it would be so nice to hold a baby like the sweet little ones i held today. But, i won't complain today. Because (so far) we can still say we are waiting. There was a point this summer where we thought it was done and we thought we were really done - i mean really done. I was trying to wrap my head around the idea of not having any kids. We have talked about it and know it wouldn't be all bad. But i just could not accept that one, it hurt just too much.
So, one year, one month, one week and one day. One more step closer and we are still in the game. One year, one month, one week and one day - I will take that.

good words

Today was a good day. It was the first day in a long time that i have felt like we are really going somewhere with the new agency. On that bad, bad day in July, i really felt like it was the end of our road to parenthood. I really did not believe that the agency could be revived - i thought that people needed to deal with their grief and not play mind games, getting hopes up. Boy have i been proved wrong. I usually don't like to admit i am wrong - but this time i sure am glad!!

So, today the first good words i heard were The Board will post an update from the team that has recently traveled to Ethiopia. We got an update email - which in itself is great. It is so nice to get info and feel like we know what is going on!! I was excited that we would get an update on the trip to Ethiopia. The rest of the email was just answering questions and general info kind of stuff - but stuff that reminded me what it was like to be excited about our adoption. We also know that we will be told where our place is in line. It is such a relief to know where we sit and i think will make waiting much easier.

Then the report was posted on the BDO site and i saw words like: MOWA reassured the group that they are pleased and looking forward to continue working with Imagine Adoption Wow!! MOWA is the ministry of women's affairs in Ethiopia. That was a hurdle that i worried about. But the Ethiopian gov't is on board and 'pleased'!!! Such great news!

Then i heard: Kingdom Vision and Selam orphanage have given the Board confidence that referrals will start sooner than we have anticipated. Here is another kicker!! Great news - amazing!!! The doubter in me says not to get to excited about that and still wants to guard my heart a bit but to me that sounds pretty darn good.

The next bit made my heart so happy!! There is no plan to exclude single applicants Yippee for my friends who can now sleep better at night knowing that they are included in the process!!

And finally the sweet words: ALL GOALS WERE ACHIEVED! That pretty much sums it up. Kudos to the new board and employees for getting so much done, so fast.

So, our contract is signed and will head out in the mail tomorrow. We weren't waiting for this info before we signed, but it sure makes signing all the sweeter. The realist in me is telling me to slow down and not get too excited - remember: international adoption has no guarantees. We still need to get the minimum of families to re-sign but i am feeling fairly confidant that this will happen!!

I also heard some words of validation today. I won't tell you the whole story, right now it seems so personal. But i will tell you that they were words i needed to hear. They were words from an African man who validated to me our international adoption. I some times wonder what African people think of us white folks adopting their kids - its a debate i won't get into now. But this friend encouraged me and then thanked me. I told him that we are the ones who are blessed. And we really are.

So - good words today. I feel that spark of hope growing. I feel like i can open the nursery door a bit more and take some steps inside.