dossier...DONE.

This is the post I have been waiting to write....the dossier is done! 

Check out the sweet check list. 20 total items that we had to get signed, notarized, and then state authenticated in Pierre. It took about a month and a half to get everything done. Just a side not...of the 20 documents we had to prepare, Travis was responsible for 2 of them. Can you guess which 2 things got finished last? I was "this close" (holding my thumb and my pointer finger about 1 cm apart) to taking over and just doing them myself. But with some subtle...or not so subtle prompting, he got them done! To his credit, he has been very busy lately. The next day, they were Fedexed to Pierre to be state sealed, or authenticated. We got them back from Pierre on Thursday, and I got to work making copies of everything and putting it all in order. 

Here is a picture of all the documents and copies on my kitchen table. It might not look like much, but trust me when I say it feels like a BIG accomplishment getting it all finished. 

I will find out more on Monday, but from here our documents will be sent to Michigan, where the Bethany international office is located. After review, our agency will send our dossier off to country! I will try to keep you posted on when that happens...hopefully soon. Once our paperwork is in-country, we can begin the BIG WAIT, or the wait for a referral. Estimated wait time for a referral is currently 3-12 months. It seems like a pretty big range of time, and we are hoping for closer to 3 months. Once we accept a referral, we can begin to make travel plans. We will have to take 2 trips of approximately 2 weeks each and about 2 months apart...give or take.

We would appreciate prayer for the following:

• That our dossier looks good and will be sent to country promptly
• We will receive a referral sooner rather than later, but in God's perfect timing