The Monica Binder

If you know me very well, you know that by nature I am not a super organized person.  Since I have been married, with the encouragement of my husband, I have made an effort to become more organized.  Sure things in my house have a place, and some things drive me crazy if they are not where they belong, but I don't need the towels to be folded a certain way and don't spend my entire day following my kids around picking up the trail that follows them.  However, when things are important (ie this adoption!) an odd OCD trait comes out.  I have spent the past few weeks creating what I affectionately call "The Monica Binder".  If you watch Friends, you will know exactly what I am talking about! It has tabs, folders, copies, and paper clips with colored tabs that are neatly labeled.  It is ridiculous...ridiculously important. 

My binder is waiting for our 2010 taxes and a reference letter.  Then we can move on with our home study! I'm trying to remember this is the least painful waiting I'm going to have to do.

One of my favorite songs is "Something Crazy" by Steven Curtis Chapman.  Our blog is named after it :)  "...it's crazy when love gets a hold of you, and it's crazy things that love will make you do....you don't know love at all until it's making you do, something crazy..."  Some might call what we are doing crazy.  But God sent his son to die for us because he loved us so much.  We want to have that kind of crazy love! 

So we decided to adopt and love orphans from Ethiopia for a few reasons.  One we decided to be open to adopting older children, as in not a newborn.  Adopting a toddler in KY requires going through the foster care system and fostering a child before they are able to be possibly be adopted.  While I believe this an important job and a great way to care for orphans, we want to adopt a child, to make them a Jenkins forever.  This is not always possible in fostering.  Also, children in the foster care system in the US still have opportunities when they grow up to go to college and have a great, long life.  International orphans, if not adopted, will in the vast majority of cases, become homeless, possibly be kidnapped and made servants or prostitutes, and likely die at a very young age.  I'm not at all trying to downplay the importance of foster care or domestic adoption.  But these are things we considered when deciding that in this season of life, it best fits our family to adopt internationally.  Between the few countries that we meet all of the requirements to adopt from, Ethiopia is the fastest, least expensive, and currently the most stable in their adoptions.  We also know several families who have adopted from there.  We like having the ability to hear about their experience and gain some wisdom!

So I'll keep waiting and praying!  Hopefully our home study will be this week or next.  Then we can start fundraising and get our dossier submitted.  Thanks so much to everyone who has already helped us with paperwork and recommendations!  Also, we REALLY appreciate those of you who have passed on your kind words of encouragement and prayers.  So thankful for our family and friends!