We received a call from our social worker Faith last week - she is on the fourth rewrite of our home study due to the continual changes needed by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Servives). She wanted to reassure us that she is working! So what does that mean for us? We need a completed and approved home study before we can do anything else in the process, so we are waiting! We are confident that all this will happen in God's timing!!
NEXT STEPS: We can finish up our photo pages and application letter for our dossier. We can also do research about agencies that offer international adoption scholarships (but can't actually apply until the home study is completed).
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise for Faith's hard work and dedication! Pray that God's hand would literally be on our home study and that it would be finished (by the end of the month?) and approved (by the end of November?) soon, so we can send our dossier to Ethiopia by the end of 2008!
10/15/08 - We've Been Fingerprinted
We had our fingerprinting appointment this morning at 8am in Waukegan and were done by 8:30am! The lady working the machine was amused that I am a Cubs fan and Mike is a Packers fan!
NEXT STEPS: Faith, our social worker from Lutheran Child and Family Services, is putting the finishing touches on our home study. Then three people/offices need to approve the home study before it can be sent into the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). At that point, it will take 4-6 weeks for us to get our approval letter (the I171-H form) from USCIS which will be the last thing we need!
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that we are one step closer to getting our babies!! Prayer that we would be confident of God's timing in the waiting for approval time frame.
NEXT STEPS: Faith, our social worker from Lutheran Child and Family Services, is putting the finishing touches on our home study. Then three people/offices need to approve the home study before it can be sent into the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). At that point, it will take 4-6 weeks for us to get our approval letter (the I171-H form) from USCIS which will be the last thing we need!
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that we are one step closer to getting our babies!! Prayer that we would be confident of God's timing in the waiting for approval time frame.
10/06/08 - Fingerprint Date
We received a date for our fingerprints - next Wednesday, October 15th! We'll head to Waukegan for our 8am appointment!
NEXT STEPS: Keep waiting, reading children's picture books about adoption to decide which ones to add to our library, and praying for our Ethiopian children!
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that even in the waiting times God is at work. Prayer that Mike will be able to get some sleep next Wednesday. We don't know how long the appointment takes and he has class at 1pm.
NEXT STEPS: Keep waiting, reading children's picture books about adoption to decide which ones to add to our library, and praying for our Ethiopian children!
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that even in the waiting times God is at work. Prayer that Mike will be able to get some sleep next Wednesday. We don't know how long the appointment takes and he has class at 1pm.
10/03/08 - Paperwork Update
We had our last piece of paperwork notarized today! Yeah, we are basically done with the paperwork chase!! Now all we need to do is write our application letter (to Ethiopia asking for a child), complete our photo pages (fun pictures of us and our house), and make a color copy of our passports.
NEXT STEPS: We'll fax the remainder of our gathered paperwork to Duni for approval next week.
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that we were able to gather the necessary paperwork so easily! Praise that we are almost done with what they call the "paper pregnancy!" Pray that God would give us the words as we write our application letter.
NEXT STEPS: We'll fax the remainder of our gathered paperwork to Duni for approval next week.
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that we were able to gather the necessary paperwork so easily! Praise that we are almost done with what they call the "paper pregnancy!" Pray that God would give us the words as we write our application letter.
9/26/08 - I600-A Form Has Been Filed
We received a letter from the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration) saying our I600-A form has been received and filed! Now we wait to receive a fingerprint date. Once we have been fingerprinted and the USCIS receives our home study, they can finish the process and send us our I171 - H form. So what does this mean - we need permission from the USCIS to adopt internationally and that is what this whole process is.
NEXT STEPS: More waiting - for the home study to be finished and approved and for our fingerprint date.
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that our paperwork was received safely and that this process is underway. We have been told approval is taking approximately 4-6 weeks, so please pray that is accurate (or even quicker) for us!
NEXT STEPS: More waiting - for the home study to be finished and approved and for our fingerprint date.
PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that our paperwork was received safely and that this process is underway. We have been told approval is taking approximately 4-6 weeks, so please pray that is accurate (or even quicker) for us!
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