Where have we been? It's been a long time, hasn't it? Yes. it. has. I struggle with where to even begin this post. Have you noticed? It's been a YEAR AND A HALF since I last blogged. That's a long time, folks. You know what else has taken a long time? OUR ADOPTION.
Where have we been? Teetering between despair and hope for the last year and a half. The last time I blogged was in July 2013. That was right before Ethiopian adoptions came to an unexpected standstill for over a year. Due to some restructuring in-country, adoptions came to a halt. And so we have been waiting. And orphans have been waiting. And we teeter between hope and despair.
Today we have hope. Over the last few months, movement with adoptions in Ethiopia has increased, and we are creeping surprisingly closer to the top of our agency's waiting list. If things keep moving at the current pace, we could have a referral before the summer. This could be it. Do you hear the hope?
Would you pray for us? Now that receiving a referral and being shown the face of our newest child seems more possible, I am trying not to freak out. There is hope, but now there is a little panic. We've been waiting so long that I am not sure how to handle the reality that this might actually, finally happen. Pray for us and for our hearts - that the Lord would prepare us to see our child(ren) on the day he has ordained - and that we will be ready to unabashedly say "yes" to this child(ren) who will become fully a Friederichsen. Adoption. It's beautiful. It's scary, but it's beautiful.
Where are we financially? Well, that is not easy to answer. Since the process to adopt in Ethiopia has become sooooo long, many of our fees have increased. The most significant fee is the referral fee if we are referred siblings. We are open to adopting siblings, but fee increases could prevent us from saying "yes" to a referral of siblings. To be able to say "yes" to a sibling referral, we will need to raise around $10,000 in addition to what we have already seen God so generously provide through grants and through many of you. This week I will begin writing new grant requests and seeing how God will provide for our every need in this process. We are saving like crazy and waiting to see how the Lord will provide. If you would like to come along side and help meet this need, you can make a tax-deductible donation to Lifesong for Orphans on our behalf through the link in the top right-hand corner of this blog. 100% of your gift would go to our adoption.
Please pray for us. In some ways I feel nervous to begin to hope again and to begin to fund raise again, because I wonder if it really is going to happen. And there goes the teetering again. I will put my hope in "him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think." (Eph. 3:20) May I ask and hope boldly as we wait for him to finish this process he began in us 2 1/2 years ago. Thanks for walking this journey with us.
