For Thanksgiving

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I share a child's prayer of thanks said at meals in the orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It's humbling to understand their thankfulness for what we westerners might find to be so very little. I hope your Thanksgiving tables are bountiful, your circle of friends and family is full of love, and that you work for ways to share that bounty and widen that circle in the coming year.

(Amharic)

Besima ab wold bmenfes-kidus ahadn amlak Amen.

Ig-ze-hab-ehair hoi yehenin megib latu letr-rabu kema-yalkou berakaten ende-miti-seta-chawn-na ber-legha be-Yesus Christos sem Amen.

Yeseru yesetu ejoch yebaracu belegha be-Yesus Christos sem Amen.

(Translation)

In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost amen.
Oh God, for those who don't have food, for the starved ones, for the everlasting gift of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bless those who worked and gave their hands to the hungry and starving. In the name of Jesus, amen.

An Update on Waiting

Ah... still waiting after 10.5 months on the referral waiting list...after 15 months since our initial contact with the adopting agency...waiting....good things come to those who wait?

Talked to our case manager today who said we are likely to receive a referral in March/April (please not as late as May!). And if all goes well, should travel to Ethiopia to finally become parents sometime during May/June/July 2010.

So keep your fingers crossed for us as we hope these timelines don't continue to stretch into the great and endless future...

We are thankful that a big chunk of the wait is behind us, and for our supportive friends and family this Thanksgiving.

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

-- Emily Dickinson

Here's to hope.... we're off to DC Sunday for the inauguration and celebrating our finally being on the referral wait list, as of 1/12/09.

Bonafied

After a little mix-up last week where it seemed the Department of Homeland Security had "lost" my fingerprints (they actually filed them under "Buding" rather than "Budig," no idea how that one came about...), we had good news today. The Boston DHS branch faxed our adoption agency the news that we had passed our fingerprint clearance and that our I600A (advanced petition to adopt an orphan) had been approved! Yea! So we are officially a "waiting family" and on the wait list for a referral. I think our "log-in" date is today, or 01/12/09.

As of last week, the "next family" on the wait list who is waiting for a child referral in our age bracket had a log in date of 3/13/08. So we are hopeful that we will be referred a child before the end of this year. Keep your fingers crossed!

In other news, we have taken in a stray kitten who had come to live under our front porch. She's a beautiful black kitten with yellow eyes. We've named her Zhana and are entranced with her. She's still vacillating between being a snuggler and an under-the-bed-hider.