Orientation Call

So here's the latest. We had our orientation call with AGCI yesterday. Brian was selected for jury duty and we had to reschedule at the last minute. I thought that might really put us behind but we were able to reschedule with no problem. Brian and I were able to have all of our questions answered. We went into the phone call with an entire page full of questions. Our contact at the agency was extremely patient and answered each and every question thoughtfully and completely. We ended the conversation being very excited, completely reassured in all our concerns/questions, and feeling very good about the agency we have selected. Here are some examples and highlights from the conversation:

We have stated a preference of an infant boy. This decision was made for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, we read that most adoptive parents request infant girls leaving more boys available. We really wanted to meet the greatest need since we didn't have too much of a preference gender-wise. We were able to confirm that this was true in our phone call which really confirmed to us that stating a preference of a boy was right for our family. Another reason we feel led to an infant boy is because this is who God had placed on each of our hearts and minds individually. When first thinking of adoption I had this picture of a little boy in my head and he was always African. When Brian asked me early on what country I was leaning toward, I did not share with him this picture I had in my mind because I didn't want this to be something I had all figured out that he was just supposed to say "yes" to. I gave him the names of a couple of countires that I would be "open" to but never shared with him my desire of Ethiopia or a boy. Brian's reply was "well ever since you first mentioned the word adoption, I pictured a little African boy." We feel God gave us both the same desire individually for a reason.

We also learned more about the referral process which is the only part of the process I was uncertain about. We learned that once our dossier is submitted we are put on a waiting list with AGCI. Once we are at the top of the waiting list AGCI matches us with a child they feel is right for our family and refers the child to us. This process for Ethiopia is different than in many countries where the government refers you a child. I was very pleasantly surprised by this information as this means the person matching us with a child is staff of AGCI and truly is seeking God's direction and prompting in this process of referral.

Right now our contracts are ready to go - we are just waiting patiently for God's timing and provision.