We are heading across the Ocean...... (or at least our dossier is)

 We are heading across the Ocean (or at least our dossier is) 

                

The last few weeks have continued to hold some uncertainty for our little family as we have been faced with the challenging news out of Ethiopia that they may not continue to be open to international adoption.

Ben and I, along with our family and many of you have been praying and asking for the orphans in Ethiopia, as well as orphans all over the world and also for the Ethiopian government,  as they make a very challenging decision.

Through it all, since we sent our dossier to Virginia on December 24^th, the Lord has reminded me of many BIG truths:

* He is in Control; even over governments and ruling bodies of authority who hold such power:

Romans 13:1

There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

*He LOVES those in need and those who are orphans and fatherless more than my little mind can ever fathom or understand:

Psalm 68:5

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation

*He is a God who Sees and Hears and is In all things and Above all things and Through all things.

1 Colossians 1:16-17

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

So we have been holding fast to these Truths and have felt His peace over our lives at a time that could have been rather Unpeaceful J

He is a God who loves. One of my favorite things about the Lord, is when I take the time to really listen to Him, the first words that I hear are most often “Erin, I love you.” 

It is to this God, who gave His son Jesus to die for me when he had done nothing wrong and deserved none of it (another way that He clearly says “ I love you”) who Ben and I  rest our Hope and our Life on. 

He is Faithful. He doesn’t always give us what we want, but as a loving Father, He gives us what we need.  Today held one of those times, He is giving us what we need and want J  ( Insert Happy Dance here)

We received word from our agency in Virginia today at 1:30p.m that at this time Ethiopia does NOT plan on shutting down the country to international adoption. Instead, they plan on working towards the elimination of bad practice that happens in some adoption, while pressing forward with current adoptions.

With this news in hand, and after talking to our agency representative, we are sending our dossier across the ocean J  (Insert  2^nd Happy Dance here )

First, it will go through another check by our agency, since it has been in their hands since December, they want to make sure all of the I ‘s are dotted and T’s are crossed. They will then send it to the Department of State and then to the Ethiopian embassy here in the USA, who will then certify it and authenticate it before going to Ethiopia.

If all goes as planned, our official DTE (DOSSIER TO ETHIOPIA) will be February 14^th, 2014.  The official day of LOVE. J  It made my heart again stop and praise Him who holds it ALL.

We are certain that the future will hold many more character building moments as we wait for Zoey to come home but we know that God is good and that He is holding us in His hands and I am learning that though that is not always the easiest place to be, we are most FULLLY ALIVE when we Live in Him. I don’t want to be anywhere else.

Please continue to pray with us:

1.   For the orphans in Ethiopia who are waiting and hoping for forever families and for orphans all over the world

2.   For the government of Ethiopia as they move forward in implementing changes as they see fit

3.  For our family and  all the families waiting . Patience is oh.so.hard at times. At this time they are telling us to still expect 30-36 months from our DTE till we are holding her in our arms. That is not an easy sentence for this momma to swallow, but again,  we are praying for God’s timing. He is God and I rest there.

We can’t wait for Zoey to join our family full of people who will love her like crazy! 

Grandma Jeanne and her boys 

Short Family Christmas
Only missing David 

Aunt Emily and the boys with Grammie

Grammie and Grandpa Allred with their boys

Waiting.... and all that has happened in between....

Today is a big day for the Allred family. We are waiting for a possible decision from a government that may change the course of our future. But you know what? My God already knows what today will hold and I am so so grateful that He is holding us and our future daughter and this whole story. 

   

Let me recap on the last few months and all of His goodness and provision as we walked through some tough stuff J

Back in August, the 31^st to be exact, we sent our application to America World adoption association. We were asking to be accepted into their Ethiopian adoption with the hope of bringing a little girl into this outnumbered family of 3 to 1 (boys to girls) .

As many of you know, my sister has adopted three sweet girls from Ethiopia and I had the opportunity to travel with her to bring her second daughter, Tad, home and love the country and the people, especially these three girls who have brought so much joy to our family. We felt as if Ethiopia would be a great fit for our family, because as our daughter grew and had questions, she would have three cousins to ask those hard questions to and with and also have them to walk through life with as well as travel back to their home country one day too.

Margo and her girls

** Ethiopia is an African country located on the East coast of Africa, in the horn of Africa. It is rich in history and dates back thousands of years, with a rich Christian heritage and a country full of architectural wonder.

There are 4.6 million orphans in the country of Ethiopia. To give that number a more conceptual understanding, that is the same amount as the population of the  city of Boston, Massachusetts, which is the 10^th largest city in the United states. Imagine that: instead of the entire city of Boston being full of citizens of the USA, it is full of orphan children who need a forever family? Crazy…. And Huge…..

**Another side note, the orphan population in the entire world is at a staggering 210 million. To put that into something more tangible, the population of the entire USA is 313.6 million. That is a lot of children without a family.

We were approved and began the process of a home study and the paperwork “pregnancy”.  We met our home study coordinator, Amber Lewis, whom we adore, in Stillwater at the beginning of September and she quickly laid down the next few steps for us as we began our international adoption. She informed us that from the time we met her to the time we got our dossier sent to Ethiopia would be around 6 months. 

** The dossier is the collection of documents that tells all about Ben and my life as well as all we have to offer to a child. This is the document that the Ethiopian government, along with our agency, reviews and decides which child should be placed in our home.

 Well, 6 months was a bit long for Ben and I, who are neither full of patience, so we pressed ahead and prayed that the Lord would move us through the paperwork process as quickly as possible. Along with the paperwork also came the financial need, which for the first half of our adoption is around $17,000, with another $20,000 for the 2^nd half.

 Again, we prayed about this large number and stood back and watched the Lord work.  He is good and faithful!

We had a garage sale at some close friends home; Chris and Dorraine Hudson (more like an estate sale), where  20 plus families made donations to us of their “stuff”  to our sale. We had everything from fridges to couches, to baby décor to even wrapping paper and printers. It was amazing! Also, we sold headbands and food  too. We had the help of some precious people who came early and helped us get the sale going! We are so grateful!

Garage Sale at the Sweet Hudson's home

All together, we made over $3,000 dollars at our sale: $3,000!!!! God is good!

From there, we moved forward saving and receiving some finical gifts that we were so humbled and blessed by. Also, I continue doing photography and headbands as a way of earning extra money for the adoption too.  The Lord never ceases to amaze us in the way he provides!

Picture of the Crawley Crew 

Headbands

We were able to move through the paperwork process much quicker than expected, thanks to friends who wrote great reference letters and  Ben working countless hours on getting EVERYTHING in order.  So instead of 6 months, we were able to send our dossier to Virginia;  its 1^st stop on the way to Ethiopia on Christmas Eve. He is good! The post office employer who took our dossier from us must have thought we were sending off GOLD with the way Ben and I hovered over it and checked and rechecked it.

The month of December held some very hard moments too, as I left my nurse practitioner position at the family practice that I have enjoyed for the previous 18 months, but we continue to trust the One who will supply our every need.

We got through Christmas with the expectation of hearing from our agency that all was well and our dossier would begin the trek across the ocean to Ethiopia, however that was not the case. L As we drove home from my parents in the panhandle on December 29^th, we began getting word that Ethiopia, who has always been quite friendly to international adoption, was reconsidering their stance. There has been some yuckiness that has taken place with some precious kids who have come to the USA and other countries, as well as the ever pressing need for reform in the adoption of children. Any time that children and money are involved, corruption follows, thus the Ethiopian government is concerned, and rightfully so. Our hope is that they don’t completely close the country to all international adoption because the orphans would be the ones to suffer.

So where are we now?

1.   We are waiting for the Ethiopian government to announce what this “Reform” will look like and if the country will indeed stay open or close.

2.   As such, we are praying: praying for God’s will and for Him to continue to Hold the orphans, one of which may be our little girl.

Would you join us in praying for this country and ultimately the children who need forever families where they can experience Love and begin to understand the true Hope.

Last week, Ben and I, along with some precious friends joined our agency in a fast, as we asked the Lord to hear our prayers and to move in the hearts of the government officials.  We are claiming this verse and know through scripture that God’s heart is for the orphan and so we wait.

Please pray for us! Waiting is not easy. We have been through the adoption process before and we know that it is a rollercoaster and we know He holds our story. Our prayer through it all is that Christ will be seen and that His name will be glorified. Our hearts are heavy but we Hope in Him and will continue to wait for our Zoey.

**While writing this blog, we heard from our agency that Ethiopia has not decided on any action or direction at this time to take in regards to International adoption. Our agency said that they will continue to keep us updated as any news comes. They informed us that in the past 10 days, while we have been waiting for news, that adoptions are continuing to be approved. We remain Hopeful!