So what do we do now?

There was a comical moment during a call with our agency caseworker several weeks ago when she was explaining some of the remaining steps in our adoption process. She said once we got on the waitlist there was a "quiet period" where you don't hear from the agency as much as when you were turning in paperwork and getting feedback on it. She began telling us all the things we could do to "pass the time" while we were waiting to be matched with a child. Then she stopped herself mid-sentence and said, "Of course, you guys have three children, I'm sure you don't need ideas for how to fill your time!"

Exactly!!!!!

But, even so, as we were swamped in paperwork we did begin a "to-do" list of all the things we wanted to do once we got to the green pastures of "the waitlist".

So here it is,

13 Things we hope to do over the next several months we are waiting on our referral for a child in Ethiopia:


1.
Complete our remaining adoption training via on-line training courses.

2.
Learn more about the Ethiopian culture

3.
Read the book There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Her Country's Children by Melissa Fay Greene about a woman who took in hundreds of AIDS orphans in Ethiopia.

4.
Read the stack of books we have on parenting an adopted child and trans-racial adoption.

5.
Eat at the nearby Ethiopian Restaurant.

6.
Learn to cook some Ethiopian foods.

7.
Do more research on caring for and styling African hair

8.
Continue cleaning out our home to get ready for a 4th child to live here.

9.
Learn to speak Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) - a lofty goal, I know, we are aiming high with the realization that we'll probably only learn 10 words! But hey, we know 2 already! Passport and credit card are pronounced the same in English and Amharic!

10.
Start an adoption support group at our church (we've joined one at a different church, but strongly believe there should be one at our home church, too)

11.
Get passports for our 3 children and make countless pros & cons lists regarding if we should take any of them with us on either of our 2 trips to Ethiopia and which combination of kids to take (no kids, only oldest, oldest 2, or all 3)!

12.
Pray for God's perfect timing and provision over our referral, court, and travel steps!

13.
Pray for God to comfort, care for and protect our little girl in Ethiopia until we can bring her home!

Find more Thankful Thursday, Thursday Thirteen