holy moly

How about this...
One of my favorite hotties- Gerard Butler.
Movie bringing awareness about my future son's country.
Win-Win in my book.

TGIF!!

I'm not sure how to creatively start this post so I am just going to jump in and give the details!! Yeahhh for having details to share!!!!

I mailed off our initial agency agreement paperwork on Monday. I was really bummed that we had to wait those few extra days because Ryan and I were really busy during the weekend. So I mailed it after school on Monday and saw on Wednesday that it had a confirmed delivery on the USPS website. I thought well I hope I will hear something before this week is over. I was secretly hoping for our Family Coordinator (FC) this week, but thought it was a long shot.

Then at around 5:45 yesterday (Thursday) I got an email saying they got our paperwork and we should get a FC within the next week or so. I was happy about it! I love that America World has been so great about constantly updating me!!

Work was crazy today and I thought surely I won't hear anything until next week. In case you missed it there was an earthquake and the America World offices were slightly effected by it. So anyway!! To make a long story short I got a phone call around 2:45 this afternoon from a long distance number! It was our FC!!!! Yahhhhh!!!!!

A perfect way to end a looooong week!!! I seriously cannot believe this is real and really happening!! I have been waiting a long time to write these words....

Now to start our DOSSIER!!!!!

Why Ethiopia?

-Ethiopia is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world

-It is mentioned 45 times in the Bible

-The main religions are Orthodox Christianity and Islam

-The population is close to 70 million

-One third of the population survive on less than 1 USD a day

-Amharic is the national language

-Children are orphaned as a result of extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and child abandonment 

-There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia

-Malnutrition affects a large portion of the population

-Access to clean water and sanitation facilities are inadequate

Facts Found: http://www.noordinarylove.org/about

Created for Care

This video is a promotion for an adoption conference (Created for Care) in Georgia. We aren't going, but the video was just too precious to pass not sharing!

Please sign here!

Today we mailed our paper work to get assigned our Family Coordinator.

We signed a bunch of papers saying we agree and understand that lots could happen between now and getting a baby. The next step is to get assigned our Family Coordinator. Once we get her we will get started on our dossier. The dossier is the mountain of paperwork that will be sent over to Ethiopia. This is also what we have to wait until I am 25 to submit.My personal timeline goal for this would be my birthday January 19th!   Once we send that off we will be on the waitlist! Then the fun part begins!! After our dossier makes it to Ethiopia we will be officially in the second part of the adoption. Our second trimester :) Pretty much every single family I have seen has had a different time of waiting so I honestly have no idea how long we will wait. Obviously we pray it won't be too long!! The third trimester begins when we get that magical phone call that we have been matched! We will get to see a picture of our baby and accept or reject him or her. We requested a boy, but I have seen when people get a girl. Rare, but I guess you never know! If we accept, (I can't imagine not, but then again you never know) we will have to wait for a court date in Ethiopia. Once we get our court date Ryan and I will get to go meet our sweet baby! I believe it is about a week in country. That will be the first of two trips. We will come home, honestly I am not sure why this is, but I will find out! Then we go back and pick up the baby for good. Our
"gotcha" day. Ohhhhh what a great and wonderful day that will be!!

So there is a brief outline of the process we are beginning!!

Our first wedding as "expecting" parents :)

Adoptive Father and Adoptive Mother Signature!!

First of many checks!

Couldn't say it any better...

This blog post is by a lady is taking her family to be missionaries in Guatemala. Her post is about trusting in Jesus and how different your life will look when you follow Christ and not the world. Check it out here: Eyes Fixed on Him. My favortie part is "We are no stronger, no better equipped, no braver, or more faithful.
We can't do this...But He can. And so it is that every.single.day we get up, with our eyes focused on Him. His strength, His goodness, His abilities, His holiness... and we plant our feet on the ground, taking one step, one moment, at a time."

Our story...

I have been waiting a really long time to write a post like this and now I am soooo excited to be able to!

Part 1:
Ryan and I have decided to adopt a baby from Ethiopia. We have both been on the same page and officially wanting to start our family this way since February. However, about that time was when I was informed that we could not even start the paperwork for our baby until one of us is almost 25. So I was really bummed and upset. I actually prayed for God to take away my desire to adopt a baby. Life continued and (TMI) we decided to give God full control and see if we got pregnant before we were 25. I got a little caught up in that and passed the time with obviously no baby. I remember even telling my friend that I don't even want to adopt right now. That was like the magic phrase because I instantly realized that God had been at work. He literally answered my prayer by letting me be occupied with trying to get pregnant. Well the summer came and I just was floating along. Then one morning about a week before I went to Venezuela I woke up with a mission. I wanted to know why I thought I had to wait until two months before I was 25 to start the adoption process. I looked through all of my adoption emails and they all said to wait until I was six months from 25. Enter me spazzing out realizing that we are in the six months window and we could possibly start the process. It was an exciting day.

Part 2:
I called Ryan and we starting re-evaluating agencies we wanted to use. Originally I wanted to use Gladney, however I realized that they were not a strong faith based agency. This process already has God all over it, so I wanted an agency that would focus on God at the center of our adoption.  We did some more research and talked to some references and decided on America World Adoption Agency. This agency seemed so God focused it was just perfect! An added bonus and big plus is that we actually know a couple using this agency!! We filled out the pre-application and requested an information packet. Then we left for Venezuela. During our trip I know God was affirming this choice in our life. I had four different adoption comments made towards me that really just sealed the deal for me! We came home and found out we were allowed to apply! On Thursday night around 6 we sent in our application and fee. (I point out that we had to pay for the sole reason of showing that this is a committed decision. My engineer-minded husband would not have paid if we weren't serious about this!)  The website said they would contact us within 10 business days. I was excited, but a little nervous and scared. This was real!! Honestly, I was probably more scared than excited. That allllll changed the very next day, Friday. I was about to get ready for school and I got an email. That email said that it was rare they never have follow up questions, but our application looked great and she was sending it to the officially people! She said that we should be getting some exciting news early the next week. I went bananas. I am sure this is possibly what it feels like when a women gets two pink lines.

Part 3:
We decided it was safe to say that we would be officially starting the process and we started telling our family and very closest friends. God definitely answered some of my huge prayer requests. Overall, it was a really exciting weekend. We got some unsure emotions, but that was to be expected. We know that any doubts and fears will be erased the minute we see our sweet baby!

Part 4:
This week started and I was super busy at work. Another blessing from God. We didn't hear anything until Wednesday! I was starting to worry and then I got a phone call right before they were closing their offices for the day. We were sent an email with about ten documents attached that we have to fill out and mail in. Once AWAA receives those documents we will be assigned a Family Coordinator and a Social Worker.

So that is where we are right now.  It is just the beginning of our adoption journey!!!
I will answer some common questions in another blog post soon! I think this one is long enough :)

Baby Thompson!!!

Just your normal game of fishbowl....

I am the body.

I have blogged this video before, but I watched it again today and I thought it needs to be remembered. This message pumps me up. My blood pounds during this video.
"Remember you call yourself my body, I’m not there except through you. Your hands, Arin, those are my hands, your feet those are my feet, that heart that's my heart if its not beating its not beating on this earth anymore. I work through my body.  I work through you. "

Amor.

Last night as I was going to bed I was "processing" our trip. I was thinking what is one word that could sum up my experience in Venezuela and I think it would have to be Love. I experienced love in so many ways in such a short time. The people were the best thing about my trip. They are sooo loving and caring. When I went to Nicaragua one of our team members said that the leaders were part of her family and she needed her husband to meet them because they were part of her heart. I was like hm, okay. I didn't understand what she meant, but her comment has stuck with me. I didn't know what she meant, until now. I feel like the Mogollons and the kids at Cristo Vive are a part of my heart forever. I seriously miss them. I also have a new love for Ryan and our marriage. I respect him and trust him so much. We really grew so much this week together. I can't describe this feeling, but I know we are such a better couple for it. The people at Cristo Vive also have a love for each other that I want to have for my friends and family. They love without expecting anything and give each other their all. I saw such examples of unselfishness. People are their priority. I also have a love for God like never before. I know that I can do all things in Him. I know that he has such a great plan for me. I know that He is in control and He knows best. I have such a peace knowing that He is going to lead me and I will follow Him and in the end I will be with Him.

Venezuela- Love.

Venezuela

Venezuela was an amazing trip.

I felt so wonderful and loved there that it is kind of hard to be home. God answered so many of my prayers. We were so blessed on this trip!!

For the first time I was not embarrassed of my skin color. I am not talking about being white, I'm talking about my very pale, almost translucent white skin. I always think I need a tan, or wish I was darker, but this trip I felt like my skin was just different not a flaw. I felt pretty.  Blessed.

The family we lived with were amazing. I got a sister that I have always prayed for, and another amazing brother. The pastor and his wife were so polite and giving. They treated us like kings and queens. Our crazy mexican brother was a blast as well. Ryan learned so much from him, and we both hope to love people like he does! Blessed.

Ryan and I were together literally 24/7, and it was amazing. I was so greatful to have him on this trip and to grow with him through this experience. We have a better marriage from this trip. I have never been happier to have him as my husband. Blessed. 

God also answered all of my big prayer requests.

I was a nervous wreck about being split up from Ryan. We were split from our church group, but we were together. God definitely had a better plan than me!!

I always have an irrational fear of getting sick. Neither I nor Ryan got sick one time of the trip. We never even felt bad.

I actually prayed to not be very hungry during the trip, and God was good! I didn't eat very much, yet I was never hungry. We hardly ate any of our snacks!!

I also am biggg scaredy cat, and God literally gave me a spirit not of fear. I was honestly not really scared at all after the first night. We were evangelizing in a dangerous neighborhood, yet I never once felt scared. It was really peaceful knowing that God had it under control. 

God was good, and God is good.