And There We Have It

Imagine received enough renewal agreements by today to continue operations. It is fun to read the excitement amongst other Imagine clients, who have been waiting with baited breath for this confirmation.

For us, the announcement resulted in mixed feelings. This morning, we received confirmation regarding one outstanding detail in regard to our situation, and were disappointed to say the least. So, the good news arrived in the midst of a let-down, which is making it harder to join in the celebration. However, when I think about all Imagine clients, and how this all came together - that is pretty amazing, and I am so pleased for everyone that it looks like the agency will be able to really start working on things...like referrals!

Stay tuned...eventually we will make our decision (we just want to feel really clear about WHY we choose a particular course of action, rather than going with an easy default reaction, so are taking our time).

At some point, Imagine clients will be given a list (without names, for confidentiality) showing how many folks are waiting, and where your own family falls on that list. Adoptions do not happen in exact order (due to things like age, gender, and sibling requests), but a list will provide a general idea. The actual referral wait time is to be determined - the new Board developed "conservative" estimates for the next couple of years, but are hoping that referrals can happen sooner and more frequently than proposed in the restructuring plan. It looks like our wait would be on the longest side, since our date of entry will be considered the date our file went to Ghana (February 2009). Sad. That will partly depend on how many family renewals came from folks who already had a file in Ethiopia, and how many were still in the stages before having a file sent overseas. I am not counting on knowing this before we have to make our decision, but it might be nice.

Anyway, same old routine for the next couple of weeks, then - thinking, talking in circles, etc. Hopefully the circles evolve into some kind of direction.