Well... it's that time of year again. My most favorite time of year. It's the season where our living rooms are lit by Christmas trees and twinkling lights, where we drink copious amounts of hot beverages, and hold our loved ones close as we partake in family traditions. It's the season of advent and ringing a new year.
I am sure most can relate when I say, that this year did not go at all the way I expected or planned. Which has me all too excited to kiss 2016 goodbye and welcome 2017 with open arms.
BUT,
This season of advent has me waiting. It has halted me from sweeping away 2016 and caused me to reflect and meditate on the themes of this season. The themes of joy. peace. hope. love. These words we throw around casually and allow to become cliche, when looked at, picked apart, and thought about are deep, powerful, and challenging.
2016 may not have gone at all how I planned
BUT,
It did go exactly how God planned it. He knew every detail of 2016 before it even happened.
For me, I was sure that we'd have our little guy home by now (I blame this all on the naïveté of it being our first adoption). Last Christmas, when we took our Christmas picture, I was certain this would be our last Christmas card as a family of two.
I thought this year we'd be taking our little guy around to different houses to see Christmas lights, he'd be hanging his own ornament on our tree for the first time, and we'd be teaching him all about the Christmas season. Alas, here we are, well into the season and bringing him home is a pretty far reality.
However, as I took a closer look at the word hope I was reminded that God keeps his promises. He finishes what he starts, he is near to the broken hearted, he is faithful and true, and he does not leave us.
God may not have brought TJ home in 2016, but that was never his plan. His plan is to bring him home (hopefully in 2017!). And because he finishes what he starts, we can continue to HOPE.
Then, I looked at peace. PEACE is so much more than "being okay" and it is not faking it either. It is having faith and trust in God, that no matter the circumstances he will bring you through it and that he will stay true to His word.
Then came joy. Joy like peace, isn't about faking it, or just slapping a smile on your face. You can mourn and have joy. You can be in the midst of the storm and have joy. Because, like peace, joy comes from our faith and absolute trust in God. It's being able to say, this situation is HARD, really, really, really, HARD. But, God is faithful and true, he keeps his promises, and he will be victorious, so in that I can have JOY.
I am not going to lie, joy and peace are hard for me to maintain during the adoption process. It is easy for me to be cynical, to doubt, to worry. But this reminder has given me a new sense of joy and peace.
Lastly, I looked at LOVE. But what God spoke to me about love wasn't about how much he loves me (even though I know he loves me a lot). It was about how much he loves TJ. God loves TJ more than me. More than I can ever love him. He created him, he knew his story before it began, and he truly wants the best for him and his timing for his life is perfect, even if I don't understand it.
So, even though we are still waiting for our court date (going on 2 months now), even though I am anxious to meet our son and bring him home, and even though the waiting gets so hard that I feel I can't bear it any longer, I know that I can have hope, joy, and peace in Abba's plans and that he will carry them out faithfully in his perfect timing. And I can rest assured that his love for TJ is more than mine will ever be and it is unfailing.
Please, continue to pray for us and for him, and for things with the governments to work smoothly. But be encouraged with us.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
Rollercoasters & Battlefields
It has been a while since I have written an update. Partially because there hasn't been much of an update, and partially because we have been in a painful waiting period for the last few months.
I am sure I have said it before, but I will say it again, this process is NOT for the faint of heart.
We are still in the process of transferring to our new agency (who would have thought this would be so complicated) and there have been problems at every turn. We have been in the trenches, battling, fighting our hearts out to get things moving, and my emotions have been on the wildest roller coaster ride of their life. I feel like a pubescent teenager all over again. We slowly, anxiously climbed to the top waiting for answers, and then the ride took off. We have gone through many loop-de-loops of immense sadness, worry, and grief, wondering if we would even be able to adopt TJ, and if we'd have to start over. We had hard, jerky, turns of anger and frustration, we had calm, high, moments of hope, and joy, and then the cycle would repeat. It was a never-ending ride and honestly, there were several times where I just wanted to scream, "GET ME OFF!" It seemed that every time we got a glimmer of positive news, the negative news would come crashing down like a ton of bricks. Like that moment at the top of the ride, when every thing is calm and quiet, and before you know it you are shooting down the tracks, full speed ahead at 100mph and you can't make it stop.
I wish I could go into details but for privacy sake, and because we don't want to defame or misrepresent anything, we can't.
Almost a month ago, we received our PAIR letter (finally!!!); this is a letter that we have been waiting since mid April to get. That was our first win, but the battle continued.
It seemed that every day a new source of drama was unfolding. It's been a battle of he said, she said, and a struggle to get the truth out of anyone. Then slowly, the truth started to unravel, like bombs going off, it was one after another. Discovering that stories had been fabricated, lies were being told, blame was being shifted, that we would now owe even more money than we originally thought etc. etc.
The war waged on, and I sat there asking God, "Why? Why is this happening? Why are we going through this? Why can't we have answers?" I didn't understand, and if I am honest I still don't, I may never. But, one verse that I heard God speak to me throughout the last few months comes from 2 Corinthians, "My grace is all you need. My power is best in weakness". That is the verse that I have been clinging to, most days by the thinnest of threads, but nonetheless I have clung to it. We've been at battle, and we've fought hard. I have fought hard to cling to the Father's hand in all of this, even in my dark moments, of wanting to let go. The moments where I wanted to stop believing that He is good, that He has a plan for me. I felt like the weakest and most wounded soldier, but my hope was in the fact that, that is where God's power works best. When we can't see past the explosions, when we can't see a way out, when we are wandering in the darkness, deafened by bombs, searching for an answer. That is when God's power is at it's fullness. When we are weak and humbled, then he is mighty, lifted high, and glorified.
This week, the battle finally came to an end. We finally (finally, finally, finally!!!) got the answers we have been waiting for. Our transfer is officially complete, and we can now move ahead, PTL! (Insert all happy and celebratory emojis here.)
I am so thankful to the other moms in our adoption group, they have kept me sane, they have also fought hard, made phone calls, written, emails, and refused to give up the fight. One mom from our group was able to be in Ethiopia this week, she was able to arrange a meeting with all parties involved, and she was able to get an agreement and a solution out of them. Thanks to her the battle is over.
We are now waiting to hear from our new agency what the next steps are. We should be getting our first court date very soon. This court date occurs in Ethiopia, but we do not attend it. Once court happens, we wait for a comment from MOWA, (for more information about MOWA check out this post). Depending on how long MOWA takes, travel could be really soon (we certainly hope so!)
We seriously could not do this without all of your love and support. I know that sounds cliche & redundant but I meant it, deeply and truly I do. The comments, texts, messages, phone calls, the people who have brought me ice cream at ungodly hours of the night (when they live on the opposite side of town) and let me cry, and rant to them (you know who you are), the prayers, all of it. It has kept us going, in the moments where I felt like my heart couldn't take it anymore, someone stepped in.
Just like, when Moses could no longer keep his hands raised during the battle, his friends stepped in and held them up. You guys have stepped in, you've held up our hands, and for that we can't thank you enough.
I am sure I have said it before, but I will say it again, this process is NOT for the faint of heart.
We are still in the process of transferring to our new agency (who would have thought this would be so complicated) and there have been problems at every turn. We have been in the trenches, battling, fighting our hearts out to get things moving, and my emotions have been on the wildest roller coaster ride of their life. I feel like a pubescent teenager all over again. We slowly, anxiously climbed to the top waiting for answers, and then the ride took off. We have gone through many loop-de-loops of immense sadness, worry, and grief, wondering if we would even be able to adopt TJ, and if we'd have to start over. We had hard, jerky, turns of anger and frustration, we had calm, high, moments of hope, and joy, and then the cycle would repeat. It was a never-ending ride and honestly, there were several times where I just wanted to scream, "GET ME OFF!" It seemed that every time we got a glimmer of positive news, the negative news would come crashing down like a ton of bricks. Like that moment at the top of the ride, when every thing is calm and quiet, and before you know it you are shooting down the tracks, full speed ahead at 100mph and you can't make it stop.
I wish I could go into details but for privacy sake, and because we don't want to defame or misrepresent anything, we can't.
Almost a month ago, we received our PAIR letter (finally!!!); this is a letter that we have been waiting since mid April to get. That was our first win, but the battle continued.
It seemed that every day a new source of drama was unfolding. It's been a battle of he said, she said, and a struggle to get the truth out of anyone. Then slowly, the truth started to unravel, like bombs going off, it was one after another. Discovering that stories had been fabricated, lies were being told, blame was being shifted, that we would now owe even more money than we originally thought etc. etc.
The war waged on, and I sat there asking God, "Why? Why is this happening? Why are we going through this? Why can't we have answers?" I didn't understand, and if I am honest I still don't, I may never. But, one verse that I heard God speak to me throughout the last few months comes from 2 Corinthians, "My grace is all you need. My power is best in weakness". That is the verse that I have been clinging to, most days by the thinnest of threads, but nonetheless I have clung to it. We've been at battle, and we've fought hard. I have fought hard to cling to the Father's hand in all of this, even in my dark moments, of wanting to let go. The moments where I wanted to stop believing that He is good, that He has a plan for me. I felt like the weakest and most wounded soldier, but my hope was in the fact that, that is where God's power works best. When we can't see past the explosions, when we can't see a way out, when we are wandering in the darkness, deafened by bombs, searching for an answer. That is when God's power is at it's fullness. When we are weak and humbled, then he is mighty, lifted high, and glorified.
This week, the battle finally came to an end. We finally (finally, finally, finally!!!) got the answers we have been waiting for. Our transfer is officially complete, and we can now move ahead, PTL! (Insert all happy and celebratory emojis here.)
We are now waiting to hear from our new agency what the next steps are. We should be getting our first court date very soon. This court date occurs in Ethiopia, but we do not attend it. Once court happens, we wait for a comment from MOWA, (for more information about MOWA check out this post). Depending on how long MOWA takes, travel could be really soon (we certainly hope so!)
We seriously could not do this without all of your love and support. I know that sounds cliche & redundant but I meant it, deeply and truly I do. The comments, texts, messages, phone calls, the people who have brought me ice cream at ungodly hours of the night (when they live on the opposite side of town) and let me cry, and rant to them (you know who you are), the prayers, all of it. It has kept us going, in the moments where I felt like my heart couldn't take it anymore, someone stepped in.
Just like, when Moses could no longer keep his hands raised during the battle, his friends stepped in and held them up. You guys have stepped in, you've held up our hands, and for that we can't thank you enough.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Prayer Points
We have had many people ask us how they can pray for us. Prayer is powerful, and we appreciate all of you who are praying for us. When praying it is helpful to have specifics and direction, so I made a list of prayer points below.
Again, Barry and I can't say it enough. We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers, love, encouragement, and support through this process, it is overwhelming and encouraging as we navigate this journey.
- Finances: Transferring to a new agency has added a significant amount of money to our fees that wasn't originally in our budget Pray that God will provide the finances we need to finish our adoption.
- Efficiency: International adoption involves two governments working together to accomplish a goal. It sounds beautiful in theory, but things can get really messy, and put on hold for long periods of time. Pray that everyone can work together efficiently to get paperwork completed, processed, and approved.
- Movement: One of the things we will need is an approval from MOWA (Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). Once we have completed our current step we will have to get a positive comment and a couple of other things from MOWA. This could happen quickly, or it can take months. MONTHS! MOWA is known for the latter. We know God's timing is perfect but we are asking for prayer that MOWA will move the paperwork and that there wouldn't be any delays.
- Peace: If you haven't caught on already, it is really, really, really hard to wait for our little guy. We just need peace. Peace that God will provide the finances. Peace that there won't be any more delays. Peace that the paperwork will move along quickly. Peace that we will bring home TJ at the right time, peace to trust in His timing, and peace while we wait. Pray that God will fills us with the peace we need in all of the areas I listed above.
- Other Families: There are other families transferring over to our new agency with us. They are going through this exact same thing. They have been faced with the burden of finding thousands of more dollars for their adoption, they have more paperwork to do (some have to complete redo and start over), they have to wait for the paperwork to move and the governments to work together, they have to wait for approval and court dates, and they, like us, are anxiously waiting to bring home their kiddo(s). Pray that the other families will have all of their needs met, that they have peace while they wait, and that they get to be reunited with their children soon.
Again, Barry and I can't say it enough. We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers, love, encouragement, and support through this process, it is overwhelming and encouraging as we navigate this journey.
You can purchase & share TJ's song by clicking here!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Happy 1st Birthday TJ!
Today is our little guy's first birthday. When we first accepted our referral for our guy we were dreamily hoping we'd have him or at least be with him to celebrate his first birthday. We were still naive to the timelines and challenges of the adoption process then.
Well, here we are 8 months since our referral acceptance, a year since his birth. It's hard to believe that he isn't the tiny, nearly bald, baby that he was when we first saw him. He is now very tall, has a head full of hair, and resembles a toddler more than a baby.
It is hard to believe that he has been on this earth an entire year, and we haven't even met him yet.
We haven't held him in our arms and rocked him to sleep, cuddled him when he's been sick, kissed his cheeks, played with little blocks or chased him around the house, read books to him at night and tucked him in, felt his hand grip our fingers as he is falling asleep, heard his little breaths while he is dreaming, changed any stinky diapers, bathed him and watch him splash around, or watched him smear his baby food all over his face.
So. Many. Things.
So many things, we have yet to do, see, hear, and experience with our guy.
But, it makes the future that much sweeter. We now have so many things to look forward to. Moments that we will cherish more now knowing what we've missed out on.
We have hope that we will spend the majority of his second year with him than apart, and we will get to make up for all of the things we've missed.
Barry and I wanted to find a special way to celebrate his first birthday. So, we went to Build-A-Bear and we made this fuzzy friend for our TJ.
We decided we will take him on his 2nd birthday to pick out an outfit for his bear, and we certainly can't wait to celebrate his 2nd birthday in a BIG way!
Happy Birthday TJ, we love you very much and we can't wait to meet you!
An update on where we are in the process:
There is finally some movement happening (yay!). We were held up for the past month due to a couple of different issues (we can't really go into details on what those issues are right now). But, we heard back from the embassy and they are moving our case forward which means (hopefully) that we will be able to move onto the next stage in a few weeks or so. Our other issue should be sorted out this week, we had to change agencies, so new fees will be required, which is a little stressful. But we are very grateful that after a very long month to have answers and to see things moving!
In case you missed it, some very talented friends of ours wrote a song about our adoption journey. You can take a listen by clicking on the link below. If you feel inclined you can even purchase the song, all of the money goes to help fund our adoption.
We can't begin to thank you all enough for your love & support is genuinely amazing!
https://tjs-song.bandcamp.com
Friday, August 5, 2016
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Anyone who knows me will tell you it is no secret that I am a lover of music. Music, singing, and guitar (off an on), have played a role in every season of my life. The good times, the bad times, and all the times in between. My taste in music varies with my emotions. I will hop from genre to genre depending on my mood/season of life, and most of the time what I am listening to will have an affect on my mood.
It is also a source I use to connect with God. I often feel Him speak to me through lyrics; this adoption journey has been no exception. As I mentioned in my last post, I am in a season of clinging to hope, and in order to do that I have to listen to music that fills me with hope. As I have been doing that, I have felt God remind me of his faithfulness: "You move mountains, you cause walls to fall" and that he his a fulfiller of promises "If he did it before, he'll do it again". He has spoken to me about his greatness "My God is Big, so strong, so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do!"
But, today it hit me the hardest when I was listening to "Hope Will Rise" by Warr Acres
We stand here in your presence
Lifting up the name of Jesus
A strong tower meant to save us
And now nothing will defeat us
We are boldly interceding
For our children lost and bleeding
We'll see slavery bow to freedom
And the sick restored to healing
So we fight for those who've fallen
And we take back what's been stolen
From our families shamed and broken
Hope will rise and hearts will open
We'll see joy defeat depression
Liberation from addiction
For when we are at our weakest
Then your power is completed!
Faithful forever are you God, are you God
That line, "For when we are at our weakest, then your power is completed!" hit me SO hard. I definitely feel like I am at my weakest, but that next line, like sunshine after the rain reminded me of how mighty our God is.
God sees me(us), he sees our hearts, he knows our pain in the waiting, but he hasn't forgotten us. His plan and timing are so, so, perfect. Even when we don't get it.
So if you are going through the adoption process, or even the process of waiting, I want to encourage you, not only with this post but with a playlist.
In my adolescent days I used to jokingly say that mixed CDs were my love language. I pretty much had a mix CD for every mood/occasion. Ask my parents ( I may or may to have forced them to listen to all of them). Well technology has advanced and Spotify is the new mixed CD lover's paradise. I made a playlist on Spotify, called Adoption:Encouragement in the Waiting.
If you have Spotify (if you don't, I highly suggest you download it, it is AMAZING!) and are interested in listening to the music that has been encouraging me in this season of life, feel free to search for the playlist. There is a lot of worship music on there because that's where I ultimately find my encouragement, but there are songs from other genres as well. I hope you enjoy it and feel encouraged.
Speaking of music, our wonderful friends collaborated and wrote a song about our adoption journey. You can click here to hear the song, and if you feel led you can purchase and download it. It would mean the world to us if you shared it one your social media accounts. Thank you!
Thursday, June 9, 2016
So When Are You Going To Bring Your Baby Home?
"So when are you going to bring your baby home?" or some variation of the question is probably the question we get asked the most. I would say we answer it at least 2-3 times a week. And, even though it's briefly addressed on the FAQ page I felt expanding on it would help paint a picture of what the process is like.
The honest answer is: We don't know.
I wish we could tell you a specific date or even a time frame but we really truly can't. In each step of the process we are given a very vague timeframe of how long the step will take. For example the step we are on right now can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 weeks (or more!) (For those wondering, we are in week 7.) And every step between now and bringing our little guy home has the same kind of timeframes.
Of course we have hopes of when we will get to, but any time frame we give you is just that. Hope.
But hope is what we are clinging to because, without it, it would be easy for us to get discouraged.
In fact, lately, discouraged is exactly how I have been feeling.
The process of adoption (like many things in life) is hard and it takes time. It's one of those things that is often sugarcoated and romanticized, like marriage in a way. Both are beautiful adventures, but they both come with hard challenges. And the hard stuff is what people often don't talk about.
This waiting is hard. Really, really, hard. This waiting is a challenge. It requires so much patience, and there are times when I just want the waiting to end. There are times when I want to fly over there and bring our son home. There are times when I ask God, "Why does this have to take so long?" And there are times when my heart is so full with love, and so tired of waiting that I just cry.
That is where hope comes in.
That is where I am reminded, even when it is hard to believe, that God's timing is perfect. That is where I remember to not be anxious and to put all of my trust in him, even when I don't understand what He is doing. And, that is where He reminds me that He has walked us through to this point, and he will carry us through to the end.
Hope is not always easy to cling to, there are times when I have to take my thoughts captive and choose not to let the enemy win. However, when I choose hope, I choose to find the joy in this process. I can watch the videos and look at the pictures of our son and see his smiling face, and choose to have that joy. I can choose to be optimistic about the timeline and I can choose to be hopeful about when we get to bring him home.
So, we may not know exactly when we will bringing this little boy home. We do still hope that it will be the late summer or early fall, but we really don't know.
*Side Note* We don't mind answering this question, it's okay if you ask us, we are in no way annoyed by it. We love how involved everyone is, and how much they want him home as much as we do. Just know that when we are saying we don't know, that is the honest truth. :)
The honest answer is: We don't know.
I wish we could tell you a specific date or even a time frame but we really truly can't. In each step of the process we are given a very vague timeframe of how long the step will take. For example the step we are on right now can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 weeks (or more!) (For those wondering, we are in week 7.) And every step between now and bringing our little guy home has the same kind of timeframes.
Of course we have hopes of when we will get to, but any time frame we give you is just that. Hope.
But hope is what we are clinging to because, without it, it would be easy for us to get discouraged.
In fact, lately, discouraged is exactly how I have been feeling.
The process of adoption (like many things in life) is hard and it takes time. It's one of those things that is often sugarcoated and romanticized, like marriage in a way. Both are beautiful adventures, but they both come with hard challenges. And the hard stuff is what people often don't talk about.
This waiting is hard. Really, really, hard. This waiting is a challenge. It requires so much patience, and there are times when I just want the waiting to end. There are times when I want to fly over there and bring our son home. There are times when I ask God, "Why does this have to take so long?" And there are times when my heart is so full with love, and so tired of waiting that I just cry.
That is where hope comes in.
That is where I am reminded, even when it is hard to believe, that God's timing is perfect. That is where I remember to not be anxious and to put all of my trust in him, even when I don't understand what He is doing. And, that is where He reminds me that He has walked us through to this point, and he will carry us through to the end.
Hope is not always easy to cling to, there are times when I have to take my thoughts captive and choose not to let the enemy win. However, when I choose hope, I choose to find the joy in this process. I can watch the videos and look at the pictures of our son and see his smiling face, and choose to have that joy. I can choose to be optimistic about the timeline and I can choose to be hopeful about when we get to bring him home.
So, we may not know exactly when we will bringing this little boy home. We do still hope that it will be the late summer or early fall, but we really don't know.
*Side Note* We don't mind answering this question, it's okay if you ask us, we are in no way annoyed by it. We love how involved everyone is, and how much they want him home as much as we do. Just know that when we are saying we don't know, that is the honest truth. :)
Monday, April 25, 2016
FAQs
We often get asked a lot of the same series of questions, so I thought I would take the time to list a few of our FAQs.
Q: Why adoption first?
A: For us the answer is why not? Adoption has been a topic of conversation in our relationship pretty much from the very beginning. We know that God calls us to take care of the orphans and we felt the best way for us to do that was through adoption. We spoke with several different couples, and weighed the options. It didn't seem like one way was better than another so we sought God, prayed about it, and felt him telling us to do it now. We did, and that has led us here.
Q: Do you want to have your "own" kids?
A: This is verbatim the way we have been asked this. I know people don't mean any offense by it but we prefer to use the term biological kids since any child we adopt will be our own. The short answer to that question is yes, we want to have biological kids. We haven't tried, right now we are just taking it step by step and trying to listen to God and his plan in all of this.
Q: Why Ethiopia?
A: This is a pretty simple answer. We knew International Adoptions was the route we wanted to take for many reasons. We really felt God calling us to adopt from Africa, we never felt a specific country, we just knew Africa and knew that we needed to be open while we researched agencies. As we researched and finally picked our agency, we both felt strongly that God was opening the door for us to adopt from Ethiopia. Honestly, after learning about the orphan crisis in Ethiopia the question became why not? If you want some facts about Ethiopia you can refer back to our About us page (here).
Q: When will you be able to bring your child home?
A: We do not know. We are hoping sometime in the late summer/early fall but, if we have learned anything through this process it is that you need to flexible and extremely patient. We pray it will be sooner rather than later and if you feel led to join us in prayer for that we would greatly appreciate that.
Q: Boy or Girl?
A: When we filled out our application we specified for a boy between 1 month-4 years old. At the end of December of 2015 we accepted a referral for a little boy who is currently 8 months old.
Q: What's next in your process?
A: We have submitted all of our paperwork called a (Dossier). Our agency has sent the Dossier to U.S. Department of Homeland and Security and we have received their approval. Now that it is complete, our documents are in Ethiopia for the same process. Their process takes 4-12 weeks (or more). As you can see, flexibility is key in this journey.
If you have any more questions feel free to comment below. As I mentioned in our previous post, we do have to keep some things confidential. So, if we do not answer your question, we aren't ignoring you, we are just protecting the many, many people involved.
Thank you for joining us on this journey, Barry and I greatly appreciate the love and support.
Monday, April 11, 2016
About Us
Hello,
My name is Felicia Jordan and I am married to my amazing husband Barry Jordan. I started this blog as a way to document our process through the journey of adoption. Adoption is something that has been very near and dear to my heart since I was in high school. I felt God calling to adopt at a very young age. When I met my husband, it was a main topic of conversation throughout our dating and beginning years of marriage.
Last February we decided to begin the process of adoption. We researched agencies, spoke with couples who had adopted, and received referrals of various agencies. When we finally landed upon an agency that we felt would fit our family we filled out an application.
Fast Forward to today. It's been over a year since we filed our application and we have thankfully made some progress. In December we were matched with a little boy. He is currently 7 months old, he lives in Ethiopia, and he has the best smile.
We are not sure when we will get to go meet him or bring him home. We do know that the Lord is so good, and he will make everything come together in His perfect timing. We are hoping to travel to Ethiopia sometime in the late summer/early fall but everything is very much up in the air.
Adoption takes time, and it requires an abundance of patience.
Right now we are waiting for the U.S. government to read through all of our paperwork, approve, and then send it along to Ethiopia for their government to do the same thing. This process can take anywhere from 12-24 weeks (or more). As you can see, patience is the key here.
We hope this will be a place for those who are interested to follow us on this journey. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible.
*Disclaimer: Due to the fact that this is the Internet some posts may be vague/some details may be left out. It is not that we are trying to hide anything, it is just to protect our agency, our child, and anyone else involved in the process.
If you want a little more information about us you can look at this wonderful infographic designed by our great friend Eric Crow.
My name is Felicia Jordan and I am married to my amazing husband Barry Jordan. I started this blog as a way to document our process through the journey of adoption. Adoption is something that has been very near and dear to my heart since I was in high school. I felt God calling to adopt at a very young age. When I met my husband, it was a main topic of conversation throughout our dating and beginning years of marriage.
Last February we decided to begin the process of adoption. We researched agencies, spoke with couples who had adopted, and received referrals of various agencies. When we finally landed upon an agency that we felt would fit our family we filled out an application.
Fast Forward to today. It's been over a year since we filed our application and we have thankfully made some progress. In December we were matched with a little boy. He is currently 7 months old, he lives in Ethiopia, and he has the best smile.
We are not sure when we will get to go meet him or bring him home. We do know that the Lord is so good, and he will make everything come together in His perfect timing. We are hoping to travel to Ethiopia sometime in the late summer/early fall but everything is very much up in the air.
Adoption takes time, and it requires an abundance of patience.
Right now we are waiting for the U.S. government to read through all of our paperwork, approve, and then send it along to Ethiopia for their government to do the same thing. This process can take anywhere from 12-24 weeks (or more). As you can see, patience is the key here.
We hope this will be a place for those who are interested to follow us on this journey. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible.
*Disclaimer: Due to the fact that this is the Internet some posts may be vague/some details may be left out. It is not that we are trying to hide anything, it is just to protect our agency, our child, and anyone else involved in the process.
If you want a little more information about us you can look at this wonderful infographic designed by our great friend Eric Crow.
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