FAQs: What's Next in the Process?

I've been getting a number of the same questions recently about what's next since our dossier is completed, so let me attempt to answer a few of the most pertinent.

What will be the ages and gender of your little ones? We're adopting 2 little ones under the age of 4. Most likely, they will be under 3 years old and under 1 year old. And we're open to either 2 girls or 1 boy/1 girl. Our bold prayer is that God would give us biological siblings: older brother and younger sister. We're not sure why we want this, but Brian & I both had this vision for our family. God inspired? We'll see.

How long until they come home? Don't know yet. We need to get an estimate from our case manager. But I'm guessing late spring 2010. We'll probably wait for a referral for 6-9 months. Once we accept a referral, we'll travel 5 weeks after our court hearing approval. Feel free to pray they come home sooner than that!

What happens between the referral and travel? Craziness! In those 5 weeks, we will need to prepare the baby room, register for baby stuff, make work arrangements for travel & April's maternity leave, make travel plans, and OH do life. Stresses me out just thinking about those 5 weeks!!

How long will we be gone to pick up our babies? We'll only be gone 10-12 days, including travel. It will be a crazy quick, emotion-filled, jet-lag intense trip!

Will your babies be in good health? We don't know. That's another act of radical faith. Ethiopia is one of the top 10 poorest countries on the planet, so the risk for a number of diseases, medical issues, and conditions is possible. Our bold prayer is that God would physically, emotionally, and spiritually protect our little ones before they come home. We'd love for you to pray with us that they would be free from ALL diseases, conditions, and medical concerns.

If you thought about donating, now's the time!

We are getting down to the wire before sending our dossier to Ethiopia. Before we do, all our balance must be paid in full.

If you've considered donating to our process (tax deductible, eternal impact!), now would be the time to give! Here's how much we have left:

$10,350 if adopting 2 unrelated kiddos
$7850 if we end up with 2 biological siblings

If you'd like a further breakdown for how our expenses have been paid, here's the update. Adopting our little ones will cost a total of $30,000.

• Over $9000: Brian & My Contribution. We've pretty much drained our assets on this.
• $7550: Friends & Family Contributions! We've been OVERWHELMED by the gifts - large and small - toward our little ones.
  
• $2500: Newsong Contribution
• Airfare: Someone's offered to cover our airfare to/from Ethiopia.
  
• We are applying for 3 grants to help with our balance. Please pray with us that we'll be granted money from Shaohannah's Hope, Lifesong for Orphans, and ABBA's Fund.

Thank you for being a part of our journey in every way!

Is 2 Better Than 1? Decision

In mid-June we asked you to specifically pray for our decision to adopt 2 kiddos or 1. We have decided, but before I share the verdict I wanna share our process. In June I asked you to pray that we would:

• come to the same decision separately
• process the decision along the way well together and separately
• have peace
• make a decision with the best interest of the child in mind
• not make the decision out of fear but out of love

Looking back on the past 2 months, God's answered those prayers greatly. He's used your prayers on our behalf. Thank you for not offering your own opinions but spiritually carrying us through the process.

Over the course of the past couple months I've fearfully wavered between 2 and 1. Brian never really did waver. He was always sure it would be 2. God spoke to me a couple times over the past two months, but one significant part of the process for me was meeting up with my co-Ethiopian adoptive friends, the Howver's, in Washington D.C. My intent was to ask them every question I could think of about what it's been like these past 2 years with their 2 Ethiopian daughters. They adopted them at the same time when the girls were 10 months and 2 1/2 years old (similar to what we'd get with 2). I was looking for something to help me make up my mind. Within 5 minutes of hanging with the Howver family, I was sure. Peace. Confidence. Courage. Boldness. Clarity. In my spirit I knew...

It was 2 kiddos. I told Brian. He wanted more time before we decided. Later he told me it was because he wanted to know if I was for real or just on an emotional high from spending a few hours with the Howver's 2 beautiful girls. It wasn't a high. It was for real.

A couple weeks later, Brian said "yes". It was a moment in the Diaz casa. Tears. Joy. Pure happiness. We are under no illusion that this could be very, very hard. But we know that we must adopt 2 little ones. We can. We have been given everything we need. We need to place greater trust and dependency on Jesus. We need to walk on water a bit. We need those little ones probably more than they need us. But we know that we can care for 2 orphans and for that reason we must. So, overnight our family will double. We'll need your help...that's for sure!