Let the Timeline Begin

Written by Kimberly Hartwell

We have officially mailed in our adoption application as of yesterday - October 7!!! We are going through All God's Children, Int'l based out of Oregon. We are so excited to be at this stage - even though it's a beginning stage.

This is something that has been on our hearts for 5 years now. We often hear about the typical adoption process  - hurry to get something completed, then wait, hurry to finish the next step, then wait. We have already experienced some of the waiting process that has brought us to this point. We knew that we should probably birth our 2 children before beginning the process - as we're not getting any younger. Then, God laid on our hearts to adopt from Ethiopia - and we knew where we wanted to adopt from. Last fall we did our research to find which agency to use, knowing that we needed to wait until Jonah was at least 9 months old. Throughout these last few months, we have done the research to choose which home study agency we would use - and we have chosen Lutheran Family Services.

So - we have begun! The next 'waiting' step, is to receive a call from AGCI notifying us that we've been approved to continue the process.

Over the last few years God has continued to bring people and organizations into our lives that have adopted, or help others to adopt. Jay has had multiple orphan/adoption care agencies connect with him for help with their websites and marketing, and we have met many families who have adopted or are in the process. 2 friends are actually going through the process now - both on waiting lists for their girls - one from Rwanda and the other from Ethiopia. What a blessing to have others going through similar processes. We love the thought of our children being able to spend time with others that are originally from the same area of the world.

Through this all we know that God will use this process and then our lives with these children to grow us, stretch us and bring us closer to Him. Please keep us all - our children with us now, Jay and I, and our children over in Ethiopia, in your prayers. We'll continue to keep you all updated through this site.