Where we stand.

Friends and family have asked us, "What's next?"

Everything for our dossier is basically done, at this point (can I get an amen?). However, we are still awaiting our CIS (Immigration) fingerprinting appointment. So far, we've been waiting about 2 weeks to hear from immigration about our appointment--we've been told to expect 6-8 weeks just to get the appt. date. After we get fingerprinted, (yes, we've already been fingerprinted, but this is different,) we can expect to wait a number of more weeks to get the ever-elusive I-171 document, which states that Immigration has approved of us. That I-171 is the last document that will go into our dossier. The dossier will then make its way through several levels of authentication, which will take several more weeks.

We'd be thrilled if our dossier were headed off to Ethiopia by late Jan./Feb. It could take less time, or it could easily take more. We're praying for the former. :)

Thanks for praying.

Fun Stuff.

Here are some fabulous ways to give a special gift to someone you love this Christmas:

Ten Thousand Villages: Run by the Mennonites, this fair-trade website has all kinds of lovely gifts made by men and women all over the world--from home decor to jewelry.

Heavenly Treasures: Recommended by Natalie--it's somewhat similar to Ten Thousand Villages in its offerings. The most fun thing? They have pretty Ethiopian Coptic crosses--for the home, and as necklaces.

Heifer, International: This is a fun idea--in your loved one's name, give a goat, a pig, or little flock of chicks to a family in poverty. Or, of course, a heifer. :)

World Vision: A lot like Heifer: You can even buy fruit tree saplings so a family can start an orchard!

Happy Shopping!

Imaginative is not the same as imaginary

One of the things that I look forward to the most about having a daughter is introducing her to the life of the imagination. C.S. Lewis once said somewhere that while the intellect is the "organ of truth," the imagination is the "organ of meaning." In light of this insight, it should not be surprising, then, that so much of what passes for children's literature--or any literature, for that matter--lacks any real contact with reality. By "reality," I don't mean the "facts" of everyday life, but the old "verities," as William Faulkner called them--the permanent things that have always been true: justice, mercy, forgiveness, hope, courage, etc. These "verities" seem to have gone missing in much of our literature because the imagination, or "organ of meaning," has been either suppressed or abandoned in an attempt to be politically correct or to produce literature sensitive to particular psychological, sociological, or political agendas.

I found this interesting piece written by Anthony Esolen at Touchstone Magazine's Mere Comments blog. In it, he writes about a book he owns called The Young Folks' Shelf of Books, published in 1938. William Allan Nielson, former president of Smith College, writes the introduction to the volume and says that many of the fairy tales, adventure stories, and other more contemporary stories selected for the volume belong there because they "deal with certain permanent and fundamental elements in our common nature." Nielson goes on to add: "It is fundamental for the ethical as well as aesthetic development that the imagination should be given wide scope in youth and kept free and flexible as long as possible." It seems to me that many people today would not put this much stock in the power of the imagination (perhaps that's because they confuse imaginary with imaginative). If we want children to grow up to not only believe in justice, mercy, courage, etc., but also to love those things, then we must expose them to great works of literature and nurture their imaginations. They must be brought away from their own worlds and into, as Esolen puts it, "realms far away or long ago...to sweep their hearts the more swiftly into the world, I mean the only real world there is, the one wherein there are such things as good and evil, and brave and handsome men, and lovely and steadfast women..."

--Michael

Thankful.

Thankful for the time off I have with my husband. Thankful for the cool, sunny weather. Thankful for God's specific provision for us. Thankful for our dear friends and family, who have cheered us on through the adoption process, who have prayed and are still praying for our little daughter. Thankful for you, the network of blog friends from whom we're learning so much, and by whom we are encouraged every time we post--hopefully we will meet some of you someday.

Thankful for growth and change, for rest and renewal.

Another one pertaining to Bono...

I received a link today from iLike (a Facebook add-on) for a sneak preview of a song U2 will be releasing with the remastered 20th anniversary edition of The Joshua Tree (one of my personal favorite albums). The song is called "Wave of Sorrow." Bono wrote it after he and his wife, Ali, visited Ethiopia back in the mid-80's. Consequently, the song is about Ethiopia and full of references to its culture, history and the famine of the 1980's. Here's the video. Bono explains the inspiration for the song and then sings along with a demo. Enjoy.

I'm not going to lie....

Today has been one of those kinda lonely days, one of those infrequent days when I acutely sense/feel the hole where our little child should be.

So, I admit I burst into tears when I opened this email from Anne, entitled, "CONGRATULATIONS."


Dear Michael and Jana,

Congratulations, you are now Gladney approved and ready to begin the dossier and ultimately the referral phase of your adoption process. I am mailing you both an approval packet with your approval certificate and quarterly training information for your “approved and waiting” period.......



(Thankfully we're already well into the dossier process!!!)

Bono and the RED campaign

I watched an interview this evening that Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News did with Bono. It it, Bono provides some encouraging statistics in regards to the effect the product RED campaign is having upon the issues facing Africa. For now, you can find the interview here. Sorry there's no direct link to it yet. I guess it's too soon to find it on YouTube.