3 Months

Its now been three months since we formally submitted our Dossier to Ethiopia. I wish I could say that there has been tons of activity, several court dates assigned and a few referrals this month....unfortunately that's not the case.

The courts in Ethiopia close every year in late summer for the rainy season, and this year they've been closed since early August. When the courts are closed, things in "adoption-land" really slow down. The great news is that the courts will reopen on Monday (September 27th), so we're hoping that there will be some activity late next week. For now, we'll celebrate one more month down....and we're hoping we're at least halfway through with the wait!

Indianapolis Gathering

Have you ever met a group of people and it just felt good -- like in an "I hope that I know you for a really long time" kind of way? That's the best way to describe how we feel about some people we met this weekend.

Let me fill you in on a little background information. We found out about a church in Indianapolis who has started an outreach ministry to Ethiopian adoptive families. The pastor of this church, Pastor Yosef, immigrated from Ethiopia and truly has a heart for adoption. Once a month, he and his congregation organize a gathering for anyone who has adopted or is in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Each meeting has fellowship time for the families to get to know one another, a lesson about Ethiopia (culture, cooking, language, etc), and refreshments.

We went to our first gathering this weekend, and we met some of the most welcoming people. We met two families (one from Avon and the other from Danville) who were so sweet and supportive. We also met another family adopting from our agency who we hadn't met yet -- small world! It just felt good to be there in a room full of people who know exactly what we're going through. They've been through the same anxiety, excitement and frustration and are now on the other side -- home with their sweet children.

I look forward to the day when Mike and I are taking our child to these gatherings. They'll play with other kids who look like them and share his / her heritage. We'll learn more about the culture of the country who gave us this amazing gift, and we'll offer encouragement to other families who are where we are now...waiting. I'm so excited for that day, and I'm so grateful for Pastor Yosef and his congregation and all of the wonderful families that we met this weekend who I hope will all be life-long friends for us and our child.

Happy New Year!

No, I haven't completely lost my mind with all of the waiting -- yesterday really was New Year's Day in Ethiopia! Ethiopia follows a completely different calendar than we do. Its called the Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar, and the new year begins on September 11th (except in leap years when its celebrated on September 12th). My favorite thing about the Ethiopian calendar....it has thirteen months as opposed to our twelve, so yesterday in Ethiopia they celebrated the beginning of 2003! That means I'm seven years younger in Ethiopia!