The Journey Begins

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had something good coming in the future to post about that would be even better than the laundry room project. I think it's time to put my cards on the table. After several years of discussing this idea and a few weeks of really serious consideration, Monica and I have decided we'd like to add a third child to our family. We've even started the process and I've got the picture to prove it. Right now you're thinking, seriously we don't need to see that. Well don't worry, it's not what you think, or at least not what I've tried to get you to think.

We've decided to go the import route for our next child and adopt a little boy or girl from Ethiopia. We've applied and been accepted by an agency called All God's Children International ("AGCI"). There's a lot of good information on their site if you're interested. If you go to their Media page there are several videos and photo galleries that you may enjoy.

So, why adopt? Well, we'd like to add another child to our family and there is already a tremendous number of kids out there who need a family to love them. The need is great. As I mentioned, this is something we've talked about for years and we've decided to stop talking and start doing. So here we go.

Why Ethiopia and why AGCI? In the process of checking out numerous adoption agencies websites I would look at the various country programs that they offered. When I found AGCI's site and began to learn more about them, I was really impressed by their story and how God led them into the work they are doing. Looking at the pictures of the children in Ethiopia, we were just drawn to them. AGCI has their own orphanage in Ethiopia called Hannah's Hope. Knowing that we'll be working with people from AGCI here in the US and when we eventually travel to Ethiopia means a lot to us. It's also good to know that our son or daughter will be staying at the Hannah's Hope orphanage until everything can be processed.

What age and gender are you looking for? We're going to let God make the call on a boy or girl. At this point we're saying we'd like to adopt a child who is between Brennan (4 years) and Sawyer (9 months) in age, but we'd like to stay on the lower end of that range. We've been fortunate enough to have two babies biologically, we don't need to get the youngest child possible. We'll let others experience that. I like the idea of adopting a slightly older child who may not have quite as great a chance of being adopted because I think most people want a baby. I personally will be just fine if we skip the baby phase, but I also recognize that there will be unique challenges to bringing a toddler into the family.

How long is this going to take? We're not exactly sure but AGCI's website states a time frame of 12 - 16 months from application through finalization of the adoption. However, things could go more quickly for us because we're going to be open to a toddler. At this point, we've got lots of paperwork ahead of us. We need to get going on completing a home study and getting our Dossier (fancy French word for a whole bunch of documents). There is more information on AGCI's site regarding the adoption process.

Anyway, that's a lot of info for one post. We're excited to begin this journey. I'll try to keep the blog updated along the way regarding where things are at in the adoption process.

As promised, here's the picture of our efforts.