Are you still adopting?

I know it has been. for.ever. since I have updated. But yes, we are still fighting.

For awhile now, we have been in limbo, so it has been hard to know what to update: We learned a few months ago that our agency was unable to renew their accreditation in Colombia. We were given the option to wait while they work to try to get it back, or request to be transferred to a different agency. So far we are waiting. We believe in what Bethany is doing, and have met some amazing people there.
We are not expecting any [further] delays because of this issue, but we have felt "in the dark" about what is going on in regards to our case and the stability of the adoption program in Colombia.
The last update we were able to receive about our case number is that on February 5, we were number 1028 on the wait list. It has been communicated to us that this list is for all families waiting through ICBF, for any age range. So it is hard to tell where we really stand as far as time to go. The most recent estimation we got from another agency is possibly another two years.
thud.
That was my heart just stopping. I hate that word : years.

Have we thought about other options? Yes, but we haven't felt the push to follow them yet. Which makes this stillness so so hard. We want progress, we want updates, we want the call, we want a name, we want to see that first picture.

Almost four years ago we started this journey. Four years ago a child we never met weighed on our hearts. Four years ago we started praying for this.
We are tired of waiting. But we aren't giving up. We will fight through the speed bumps, and we will not stop until there is a road block in Colombia. Our only alternative: maybe some day we will have to adopt another way. But maybe not. And it doesn't matter, because we believe the outcome is what matters.

At the end of it all, there is a child waiting for us.

That does not weigh lightly on my soul.
Please. Pray with me. For this child, and for the hole we feel until they fill it.

1202

Our new wait list number: 1202
we moved 40 spots in the last month. progress is progress- just wish it was quicker! :)

Wait List Jump!

I was surprised when I received a message from our adoption agency today that they had an updated number for us on our wait list. Colombia recently decided that they were going to start tracking and updating the wait list electronically and were still getting the system up and running, but weren't giving verbal updates in the meantime.
But today our agency got an updated number for us! We are now number 1282! that is almost 100 spots moved in about four and a half months. We are amazed and praying that things continue to progress!
Please pray that we trust God's plan, as it is a daily struggle for me to truly trust so blindly. He has already shown us He has great plans for us, we are just anxious to know them!

Adoption Fundraiser

Heard about this adoption fundraiser that I wanted to pass along! Of course, we would be honored/grateful if you entered on our behalf, but if you know someone else who is adopting, please pass it along to them as well! This really cool company, noonday collection, sells all kinds of awesome stuff that helps benefit women all over the world.

And for a week in February, a portion of their sales is going to go towards an adoptive family!
Here is what you would need to do:
Place an order, for yourself or another family in the process of adopting, the week of Feb 20 through Feb 28. Make sure in the comments section on the checkout page that you put the name of the family adopting. For every order placed on behalf of that family, they will be entered to win the grand prize which is 15% of total sales for that week of February. (check to be sent to adoption agency) 
Not only are you helping someone with their adoption but you are also helping woman all over the world feed their families, send their kids to school and just live a better life!

Rules
1. Family must have a completed home study
2. No minimum or maximum entries
3. If your mother, friend, aunt, places an order for you they will contact them and then follow up with the winner.
4. Drawing will be March 1st
5. Make sure you order directly from their site to qualify for this promotion
(http://www.jenniferwickstrom.noondaycollection.com/)

1,322

We have moved 21 spots on the wait list in about two months.
That does not seem like a lot, but Colombia's adoptions usually slow down a lot during the holidays, so I am looking at it as decent progress (slow, but decent). We are hoping that our progress will pick up since we are supposed to be moving faster than most families due to Los Pisingos closing. (is it weird that I feel guilty about that and awesome at the same time?) We still don't really know what this wait time will look like for sure, so we are just praying it will pass quickly!

On other news: in regards to Los Pisingos, we are hearing that they are in the last stages of "finalizing" their documents needed to be re-licensed. We are still thinking about and hoping to switch back to this adoption house if they re-open soon. A lot of it will depend on if they will even except our case again (adoption houses have recently made changes on ages for referrals- and they have not been able to tell us yet if we will be considered a "new" case and therefor ineligible, or if they will be able to except us since we were with them before).

Our immigration paperwork (submitted on behalf of our child-to-be) will be expiring this spring. So soon we will have to update some things (medical evaluations, home study, etc) in order to request an extension.

So we will keep waiting, updating paperwork, and praying right along side all the other families waiting! :)

1,343

That is our number on the list. 1,343 people are ahead of us, waiting for a child in our same age range. What a staggering number to think about! No wonder it takes years to process all these families! So what does this mean and what is next?

Bast case scenario: we are able to transfer back to Los Pisingos within the next few months.(as no matter what: this will give us the shortest wait. And we just love Los Pisingos anyways!)

Next best case scenario: If we have to stick with ICBF/the government wait list route, it sounds like for every two regular ICBF cases that are moved to a region as referrals are processed, they will also move ONE Los Pisingos family as well. From what I can gather, this means that we will move along quicker than people who submitted to ICBF directly, but the wait will still be longer than if we were with Los Pisingos.

Overall, this sounds like pretty good news, but yet still very confusing and a lot of details that we really don't understand or know. We will continue to trust that God will guide us!

an update is close!

Just heard that a meeting should be taking place this week with the Colombian governement (ICBF) to give an update on where we are on  "the list" with them now.

It also sounds like Los Pisingos (the adoption house we were previously working with) is working to get their license back, and hopes to have everything worked out in the next few months? We are praying this is true, and praying that we will be able to move our dossier back to them! Otherwise, we will have to continue with ICBF and pray that thew long wait ahead of us will will pass quickly :)