Drumroll please...

We are finally on the list! Our agency assigned us number forty-four today. That means there will be forty three other referrals made before we receive the special call from our case manager, Julie, when we will hear the words, "I have a little girl I would like to talk to you about." The referral should take anywhere from 8-10 months. After we receive "the call" we will immediately be given access to her picture, her story and any health and background information our agency can provide. So getting on the list means we have made it through all the hoops to get to the point of being ready to adopt from Ethiopia when the right child is meant for our family.

Going through an entire redo of all paperwork in less than a year certainly has presented us with challenges but the paperwork is done. There will be little for us to do now except wait and pray. We can now begin to prepare for her. We can slowly begin to prepare her space, further prepare our boys and prepare our hearts to endure the joy and challenges that international adoption can bring. Waiting to know her will be hard but now it feels real. We really are adopting our fourth child, a little girl from the beautiful land of Ethiopia, into our family and into our lives forever. To many it is only a number, but for us it is a milestone and a marker as we continue on our faithful journey.