So What's Next?

August David Cleland is officially and legally our son. The only problem is that we can't bring him into the US just yet. Over the next week or two our agency will be gathering the necessary documents for submission to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. Once those documents are submitted the embassy has 10 days to decide if they need any further investigation into his situation. Because he was abandoned we don't have much reason to suspect that they'll need to do anything. At that point he'll be issued a passport and a visa and then we can bring him home.

Because he has now been adopted he could be with us (in Ethiopia) at any time. It just occurred to me that there is an illustration here about our present state of adoption in Christ but I'll save that for another post. Every now and then the thought enters my mind that we should just go get him and wait there. We'll see. We do have two kids here at home to take care of.

It is absolutely thrilling to be at this point in the process. This has been a long ride and it's been hard at times. But the thought that we're weeks away from having him home with us makes it all worth it.