Dossi-YAY!

"Pardon me, would you happen to have any Grey Poupon--and a notarized document for my dossier?" Here's the dossier for your next mission: Ride an emotional rollercoaster for the next 8-15 months, then travel to Africa on 2-4 weeks' notice to bring home your third child. Are we the only people that feel a little snooty or secret agent-ish every time we say the word "dossier" to anyone not familiar with adoption lingo? And what's the official pronunciation anyway? Even with the professionals, some say dah-SEE-ay, others say DOE-see-ay. There's also the Georgia peach pronunciation (my Mama comes from a long line of southern belles) of DAWL-see-yay.

Whatever you want to call it, however you want to pronounce it, we are so excited and relieved to say Glory Hallelujah, Praise the Lord IT'S FINALLY DONE! What a relief! We had our first "adoption curve ball" thrown at us in mid-February when we ran into some unexpected snags which resulted in a frustrating delay. With the hand-off of our package to the FedEx guy, we're officially putting it behind us and excitedly looking forward to the rest of our adoption journey. We know God has already chosen our next child. We have placed the process in His hands and believe that when we look back, we will see that the timing was perfect.

Here's what our "collection of documents required to be submitted by prospective adoptive parents in connection with an international adoption" looked like:

It's all photocopied, tied with a ribbon, sealed with a kiss, and ready for the afternoon FedEx pickup.

What's next? Well, the entire package will arrive at our agency's Portland office on Monday morning. It will be be reviewed by our agency (PRAY with us that nothing needs to be re-done), forwarded to Washington D.C. for authentication by the U.S. government, and then forwarded on to Ethiopia, where it will be translated into Amharic. It will then be held until our court date when it will be presented to the Ethiopian Court, together with the file for the child we get matched with, for review by a judge whose decision to grant or not grant the adoption will forever change the course of our family's and one little girl's lives.

How long will this all take? We have been approved for a girl, age 0-24 months. We've been advised by our case worker to anticipate waiting approximately eight months to get matched with a baby girl in that age range. Why so long? Although there are over 4 million orphans in Ethiopia and many that are 0-24 month old girls, there are comparatively few Ethiopian case workers and adoption judges. They can only handle so many cases at a time. So we will have to wait our turn. Once we are matched, we will be placed on the docket for adoption hearings. Since there are only a few judges that hear adoption cases, and since the courts often close for months at a time during the "rainy season", our court date will likely occur several months after our referral. Because these judges realize how much weight their decision holds, and because the Ethiopian government is very concerned with keeping their international adoptions ethical, it is not uncommon for additional documentation to be requested (which may require testimony from a relative or retrieval of additional documents from a far off village to confirm the child's orphan status or that no coercion was involved in his or her relinquishment) and a second court date to be scheduled, meaning a couple of more months of waiting. As soon as the adoption is granted by the Ethiopian court, Diamond will be legally ours and we will quickly schedule travel to Ethiopia to bring her home. We would love for all of this to take place within the next 12 months, but it could potentially be substantially longer. And although this wait will undoubtedly wear on us, any difficulty we experience in the process will not hold a candle to the agonizing decisions that some woman or family somewhere in Ethiopia will be making and the emotions they will be experiencing.

"But these things I plan won't happen right away.

Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled!

If it seems slow, be patient!

For it will surely take place.

It will not be late by a single day."

Habukkuk 2:3

Let the waiting begin!