Drawn From Water

I stumbled across someone else's blog post about this amazing organization and just had to share it with you. Drawn From Water is rescuing children in Ethiopia. These children are born into the Kara tribe in southern Ethiopia. The tribe is intensely superstitious and believes they must kill children they believe to be cursed. It is heartbreaking. Go to their website to read the whole story.....those who started this orphanage for these children and rescued them from being drowned in the river are an incredible example of what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I am inspired by their story and challenged to be more like them. They saw a need in these children and did something about it. Amazing. Be sure to click on "get involved" to see what you can do to help!

Drawn from Water from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

More Kiddos....

AWAA has several families in Ethiopia to pick up their kids this week!! If you'd like to follow along, their blogs are listed below:

Kulps
Luncefords
Kobys
Joneses
Rovangs
Crowells
Moffatts
Bartels

YAY!! :)

Worthy

Acts 4:12
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

I borrowed the following post from the "I Support Adoptions" website......we've heard some of the statistics before, but I think is important that we remind ourselves so as not to lose sight of the reality of the orphan crisis.

Abandoned and Orphaned The best available estimate is that 143 million children are abandoned and orphaned worldwide. Less than 1% of orphans are adopted.

Can you make a difference in the life of just one?

Orphanages There are anywhere from two to five million orphans in orphanages worldwide, an estimate that is in-line with the Human Rights Watch World Report. The vast majority of orphans are found in third world nations.

Child Trafficking and Slavery There are more slaves today than any other time of history, many of whom are children. It is estimated that 1.2 million children are trafficked every year for exploitation purposes such as forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of slavery.

Orphans In Africa Since 1990, the number of orphans from all causes has decreased in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, but has risen by 50% in Sub-Saharan Africa (from 30.9 million to 53.1 million). The government of Kenya predicts that within the next 10 years, 1 out of every 5 children will be an orphan.

The Most Vulnerable and Alone Every 2.2 seconds, a child loses a parent due to war, natural disaster, poverty, disease and other causes. Every 15 seconds, a child somewhere in the world dies from a water-related disease such as parasite and worm infection, diarrhea or typhoid.

At-Risk Children More than 1 billion people live on less than a dollar a day. One of our goals at I Support Adoptions is to prevent children from being abandoned or placed for adoption and help biological families care for their children.

Resources: UNICEF, UN, SOS, Feed the Children

Six Months

Yep, that's right.....we've been waiting for 6 months now! So, I am guessing another 4 months or so before our referral. The most recent referrals have been given out approximately 10 months after people's DTE dates. Now, of course, if you'd like to pray that it is sooner, we won't stop you!

We follow an "unofficial" list on our Yahoo group of people waiting for referrals. We say "unofficial" because there are some people who are working with our agency who don't choose to be a part of the YG, and so there are always mystery families. Our agency does not put out an official list, so this is the best we can do! (we have some pretty good spies, though!)
Anyway, according to that list we are approximately 13 in line for an infant boy and somewhere around 20 for an infant girl. Pretty exciting to watch your name slowly creep up the list!! Here's hoping for lots of April referrals!!!

Passed Court

We've had some exciting times with our agency recently - LOTS of referrals in March and several who have passed court recently! Below are a few of the blogs with pictures of their kids that I could find. Enjoy!

The Kulp Family
The Rutland Family
The Rothermund Family
The Van Druff Family
The Jones Family

from ashes to africa

I spent part of my Spring Break this past week reading this amazing book! Josh and Amy Bottomly have written a very candid memoir about their marriage, infertility, their journey to adoption and their love for Ethiopia. Along the way, they discovered God's heart for the orphan and their own hearts for social justice and to follow God's call to care for "the least of these". They discovered the blessing of adoption and ultimately their son, Silas.
I love to read people's stories. I also love honesty and realness. This book has both! Whether you are adopting from Ethiopia or not, you will love their story and be inspired by their journey. I definitely recommend!

AWAA Families United with their Children over the Last Year

This video is full of families who have adopted through America World from Ethiopia over the last year. It gives me hope that it will, in fact, come true for us some day as well! Enjoy!

What if all lived like this.......

"Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!"

from "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson

More to Give

This family decided they had "more to give" and discovered the blessing of adoption. Enjoy their story....may we all contemplate what more we have to give.

Global Food Crisis - Will You Help?

We are in the middle of a global food crisis. In all of our abundance, you and I may hardly realize it. The fact is, though, it affects the world's poorest families everyday. The current crisis is being called more rapid and devastating than any other in history. The cost of food has increased dramatically and it affects the poor in the most profound way. Here are some hunger facts:

• One person in seven goes to bed hungry every day.
• One-third of the world's population is undernourished.
• There are 25,000 starvation related deaths each day.
• Each night more than 300 million children go to bed hungry.
• More than 4.4 million children die from malnutrition each year. (taken from the Compassion International website)

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Compassion International has set aside Wednesday, March 11 as Global Food Crisis Day. Click on the link below and it will take you to their page where you can do your part to donate to help fight the global food crisis. Donate what you can - big or small - and make a difference!

Just to keep it interesting....

We are requesting an infant of either sex. In the past, this has always meant that we would most likely get a referral for a baby boy. Lately, though, there have been two families (that I know of) who have requested either and then received a referral for a girl. Hmmm.....I guess nothing is certain with international adoption! We are completely fine with either one, so it doesn't really matter. It just keeps things interesting!

Purposeful Waiting

Well, I'm a day early, but as of tomorrow (March 3) we will have been waiting for 5 months for our referral! I cannot believe it. We should be a little more than half way on that wait! I hope the second half of the wait will go as quickly as the first.

While we wait, I have had lots of time to soul search and think about what is next for me. I will be resigning my position at the school I teach at to focus on our family. I have mixed feelings about this....I am more than thrilled to be home again (I was home for almost 9 years when my kids were little) and am excited to be home with our new little one as well. I also have loved my time at Judah and have made lots of good friends there. I will miss my days there.

Ever since we started this adoption journey, I have felt God tugging on my heart to do more for the cause of the orphan. This has sometimes been dismissed by others as "just needing to get my baby", but that's not it. I feel a strong desire to be purposeful and to work towards helping these children - even if it's only a few. I, of course, cannot even put a dent in the number of orphans in the world, but I long for God to use me to make a difference to the few I can help.

After much prayer and thought, I am stepping out to begin an orphan ministry at our church. I do not yet know exactly what it will look like or who will come along side me, but I have a passion and excitement about the possibilities. We are in the baby beginning planning/brainstorming phase and I will be attending the Orphan Summit in April to learn more about how to get started.

I know that many of you reading are also adopting or care about orphan causes and are possibly involved in similar ministries yourself. If you are, I'd love to hear your ideas and stories. If you are local and want to get involved, let me know that, too!

My hope and prayer is that this time waiting will not be wasted. My hope and prayer is that somehow God will use our experiences and our adoption to intrigue others and that they might consider the possibilities for their own family. My hope and prayer is that we will make a difference.

Four down....

Our dossier has now been in Ethiopia for four months!! Four months down, maybe 5 or so to go until we see a picture of our little one! In some ways the time has gone quickly and in others it seems so long ago that we sent our dossier off. It is encouraging to know that we are almost half way there,though!
Please keep Ethiopian adoption in your prayers. Ethiopia is definitely experiencing some growing pains....their court system is struggling to keep up with all the requests for court dates for adoptions and it seems that more people are not passing court the first time they go through. (Reminder: our agency will go to court for us in Ethiopia after we receive our referral - we must pass court in order to travel) The laws and expectations of judges in Ethiopia are changing all the time as they figure out how best to serve the children of their country. It is a challenging and exciting time to be a part of Ethiopian adoption. It is wonderful that more families are adopting these precious children, and yet difficult to be in the middle of it and have the process slow down.

God's Call to Care for Orphans

I started this blog for a couple of different reasons.....first, to keep our family and friends updated on our adoption. But, I also want to address God's call to care for the orphans of this world. God does give a clear call for Christians to care for "the least of these".....it's not something that's "nice" to do and it's not something that is a choice. We are all to have some part in it. So, today's post will focus on giving you opportunities to be a part of this great call.

There are several things we call all do to care for orphans:
- Pray. Pray for provision and for how God would use you to care for them.

- Be the one God uses to provide for their needs.....this might mean to send money, to send supplies or fill another need. There are lots of organizations you can do this through. I will post some links at the end of the post.

- Support those who are taking part in orphan care.....this could be a missionary, a foster care family or someone who recently adopted. They'd love to have your help and prayers.

- Provide a safe place. Become a foster family.
- GO - Go to where they are and show them God's love. You can take mission trips through your church or other organizations, such as Children's Hopechest and Compassion International.

- Sponsor a child. This includes monthly financial support as well as your letters and encouragement.

- Become a big brother or sister with a local agency and spend time with someone who needs a good role model.

- Become their forever family.....discover the blessing of adoption. Don't let your fears and reservations rob you and a child of the blessing of being a family.

- Mobilize others - gather those around you and brainstorm how you can work together on behalf of the orphan.

Ready to get started? How you start isn't important.....that you do somethinig is.
Here are some reputable agencies that all have wonderful opportunities for you to serve:

Red Letters Campaign
Children's Hopechest
Vision Trust
World Orphans
Warm Blankets
Shoes for Orphan Souls
Compassion International

Our adoption agency:
America World

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
James 2:15, 16

Darling Baby.....

The Joner family has passed Ethiopian court and has posted a video of their beautiful baby on their blog - you must check it out. She's adorable....
This family has already been through so much. They received a referral last summer for a precious little girl named Julia who passed away before they could go get her. Since then, they received a referral for this little cutie, Jalene. We are so happy for them!
Here's their blog:

http://www.babyjalene.blogspot.com

Praying for Abby

Hi Friends,

I have been following the journey of a little girl named Abby..... the video below tells her story. Please join us in praying for Abby and for her complete healing. I pray that God will choose to glorify Himself in the healing of this little girl and provide she and her family the strength and peace I'm sure they are needing.

Three Months!

Today marks our three month mark of waiting!
For those of you who are keeping track - our curent wait time is 8-10 mos for a referral.
So, 5-7 months before we will see a picture of our little one! (Those of you who follow international adoption knows that this can change at any time and referral tends to happen on the longer end of things!)
Three months down.......???? to go!

Food for Thought

This video is not intended to make any of us feel guilty for the good lives we enjoy. It IS intended to make us think of how we can make a difference and about being good stewards of what we have been given. If each one of us made small sacrifices, the impact could be great.

Happy New Year!

Well, here's to 2009! I am thankful for my blessings in 2008 and that God has led us down this path of adoption! Here's hoping that we will ring in 2010 as a family of six instead of five!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Not much new on the adoption front for us......it seems that wait times continue to get a little longer. There's really no way to know if this trend will continue or not. During this time of waiting there will not be much to report about our personal adoption - we will not really hear anything until the day they call us with our referral. We are involved in a great yahoo group where we can follow along with other families who are also adopting through our agency from Ethiopia. Through their journeys and wait times coupled with the information on wait times our agency gives we can try to guesstimate what our wait time will be. Right now, the wait (from the time our papers went to Ethiopia (DTE) until we get a referral) is about 9 months which would put us at getting a referral sometime in July. There is really no way of knowing for sure, so it's just a guess.

While we wait I continue to contemplate what God would have me do on behalf of orphans. He has certainly given me a heart for them and I feel there is something else for me to do...I just don't know what it is. I will continue to seek out what it might be. In the meantime, I hope to encourage all of you to also think about the same.

Below is part of an article I found about Ethiopia and it's orphans:

Ethiopia to see sharp rise in orphans running households: NGO

Nov 7, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Ethiopia will by 2010 see a four-fold increase in the number of orphaned children aged between nine and 19 who are heading families due to AIDS, poverty and conflict, a local NGO said on Friday.

Some 225,000 households will be run by children, up from 77,000 in 2005, Addis Ababa-based African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) said in a report.

"This is going to be an explosive problem," said Assefa Bequele, the agency's director.

"In some households, the oldest child is also the principal care-giver to a terminally-ill parent," said the report.

Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest countries. The government estimates that 1.5 million Ethiopians are infected with HIV, while the World Health Organization says nearly 2.8 million are infected.

Can you imagine? Children running homes.
My intention is certainly not to sound preachy here, but it is to make you think. It's to make us all think. I really do believe that God wants to use us to care for "the least of these". He tells us so. Children and those who cannot care for themselves are closest to God's heart. They are the people Jesus spent most of his time with. Do our lives look like Jesus' in this way?

Please join me in searching for how God wants us to respond to what we now know. If you are interested in continuing the dialogue and sharing ideas, please leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you!

Merry Christmas

I did not manage to get Christmas cards out this year.....so please consider this our holiday greeting!! Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Shoes for Ethiopia!!

TOMS shoes is donating a pair of shoes to Ethiopians for every pair you buy - One for One. They are working towards raising 30,000 for Ethiopia! You can help by shopping - get a great pair of comfy shoes for yourself while helping someone else out - Just in time for Christmas, too! This video will help explain why it is so important to have shoes to stay healthy.


So help by shopping.......talk about an easy way to help!

While I'm Waiting....

It's been two months since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia - we're so busy the time has gone quickly, but waiting isn't easy. The current wait for an infant is 7-9 months. (more like 9!) So, we are looking at waiting another 7 months or so until we see a picture of our baby.

I found this song (from movie Fireproof) and it describes perfectly how I feel about our wait. Enjoy.....

Counting my Blessings.....

Jesus and his sacrifice for me, my wonderful husband, three great kids, my parents, my siblings, family, friends, church family and the freedom to worship, God's grace, peace, days at home with my family, dinners spent together, home, music, our school, health, purposeful employment, God's calling to Ethiopia, our child there and their family, lazy summer days, girlfriends and good conversation, chocolate, sunsets, walks on the beach, education, opportunities to serve, the kids in my class at school, godly co-workers and their friendships, a warm sweater on cold days, hot baths and hot cocoa, fires in the fireplace, cool fall days and the changing of the leaves, snow days, the freshness of spring, holidays to gather together, my Wednesday night Bible study, beauty of all God has created, His promises, my marriage, cookies, good smelling candles, cell phones, hearing my kids laugh and watching them grow, forgiveness and God's faithfulness......just to name a few.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wondering What You Can Do To Help?

Traveling Families

This week is an exciting week as several families will be traveling to pick up their new little ones in Ethiopia! I only have blogs for a few of them, but if you'd like to check in on their journey next week, here they are:

Armstrongs
Gambles
Juvinalls
VanWettens
Pridemores

(Note: The Juvinalls are from Normal, Illinois for those of you who live close to us. The VanWettens just traveled a couple of weeks ago to get their 1 yr old daughter and are now going back for their older daughter!)

Enjoy!

Disappointing News

Today we got some disappointing news about our possible wait time. It may be longer. :(

We had been expecting that we might get a referral in May and travel sometime in July. While that is not completely out of the question, it is looking less likely that that will happen. Referral times have slowed down as of late. Let me see if I can explain it to you.....

Ethiopian courts close for 2 months from August - October. Families must pass court before they are able to go and get their children and bring them home. If they are not able to get court dates due to court closure, the transition home they send the kids to once they are referred stays full (because people aren't able to travel to go pick up their children). As long as the transition home is full, they cannot move any more children there to prepare them (paperwork, physicals,etc.) to refer to new families. So, there is a slow down in referrals. In a nutshell, this is what has happened. So, we are looking at a longer wait time because of this slow down.
Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, except for the timing for us. It is likely that we may receive a referral too late to receive a court date before courts close next August, which means we would not travel until this time next year. Yikes!

Our agency is making some changes in the program and we are hopeful that this might help, but no one really knows.

Am I disappointed? Of course. Do I wish it were sooner? Yes.
Heres the thing: I have zero control. Nada. Zip. Zero. What are you going to do?
There really is no hurry except I want to know our baby - I want to hold them and have them here. I can't wait for that day. Until that day I'll just have to trust that it's all in God's timing....He'll work out the details and the day will in fact come!

Ways to Pray

Lately, several people have asked me about where we are in our adoption and how they can pray for us (I LOVE that question!). So, being ever so grateful that people want to pray for us, I have compiled a list of things that we would appreciate prayer for:

• For our baby's health (probably in utero....?) and for proper nutrition and provision for all it needs for healthy development
• For our baby's birth parents. I cannot imagine being in their shoes and wonder often what it is they are going through.....do they know they will have to give their baby up, are they living in extreme poverty, are they sick, will the mother die in childbirth? Adoption is a wonderful thing, but unfortunately it always begins with a loss.
• For peace and patience as we wait and anticipate the many changes that will be yet to come for our family.
• Financial provision for this adoption. God is so good, and so far we have always had the money we needed when the next payment came due. We are fully expecting that He will continue to take care of us in this way!
• That we will enjoy these last months as a family of five and not wish our time away!
• Lastly, pray for the orphans of this world and how God might use all of us to care for them.
  

As for the other question of where we are, the answer is: WAITING
We will not hear anything else or really have any new news until next spring - probably May at the earliest.
Thanks for your prayers - Have a great week!

One Month Down!

It has been one month today since we were officially DTE!! One down, six (+ or -) to go until we receive our referral!

Ethiopian Food!

Our family went today to try our first taste of Ethiopian food. I am both happy and relieved to report that we liked it - all of us! I was a bit nervous because I am not all that adventurous with my food tastes, especially with spicy food, but it was great. We tried different dishes with beef, chicken and lamb. Yum!

Ethiopian food is served on a sour flat bread called injera. You use the injera to grab or soak up the stews, meats and vegetables. Some of it is quite spicy, but we told them we were first-timers and I think they went a bit easy on us! It was a lot of fun to experience this little piece of the culture. There were some other Ethiopian men in there eating at the same time, so it was fun to try to listen as they spoke to one another in Amharic (one of the main languages in
Ethiopia). We told our server (I think also the owner?) that we would be traveling to Ethiopia, hopefully next summer. He said, "Oh, you must be getting a baby!" I told him that we were and he replied, "Well, I hope you'll get more than one!" We left promising to be back someday with the newest member of our family!

Happy Halloween!!

(Disclaimer: We did NOT carve this beautiful pumpkin - We saw it and loved it so much we just used the image! Sorry for all of you who were temporarily impressed with us! You should know better! :)

Families in Ethiopia

Our agency has some families in Ethiopia picking up their children this week! To follow their stories, go check out their blogs:

Redfern
VanWetten
Lusse
Schmidt

143 MILLION

That's the number of orphans in the world. (estimated, of course) It's a big number. Children whose parents have died or who have been abandoned. It's a staggering number. Too big to comprehend, really. Let me put it into perspective for you.....

• This number is half the population of the United States.
• If you lined up all the orphans shoulder to shoulder, (1700 per mile), there would be enough children to go around the equator of the world 3 times
• If you drove at 60 miles per hour past this line of children, 24 hours a day, you would still be passing children after 60 days
• Every 18 seconds a child becomes an orphan
  
• In sub-saharan Africa, there are 13 million orphans because of AIDS alone. (predicted to grow to 40 to 50 million AIDS orphans in Africa by 2010)
  
• Every 13 seconds another child is orphaned due to AIDS in Africa.

It's hard to take in. Hard to imagine. Harder yet to imagine that we can even begin to make a difference. None of us alone can make a difference to 143 million children. Why even bother?

Because we can make a difference to one. (or two, or three....) Because God tells us to. Because if we all do it together, we CAN make a difference.
Do you know that approximately 1/3 of Christians contemplate adoption, but only 2% ever do adopt? Do you know how many more children could be helped if more would act on their contemplation? If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. All children would have a family.....think about that.
The thing that might be going through your mind right now is something like, "We aren't all supposed to adopt children.".......well, we are all supposed to have some part in taking care of the orphans of this world. Maybe it is to adopt, maybe it isn't. That is between you and God, but I think you will agree that the statistics are mind boggling and something needs to be done.
What will your part be?

This is a sweet video of a family being united with their newly adopted son in Ethiopia. Also has some great footage of Addis Ababa, where we will travel to get our child.

Ethiopian Cuties

Yea!! Several families from our agency passed court in Ethiopia today making their children legally their own!! If you'd like to take a look at some adorable Ethiopian babes, take a look at their blogs!!

Laughners
Brittons
Terwilligers
Hammonds
Nunezes

Enjoy!!

African Children's Choir

WOW!! That's all I can say after seeing the African Children's Choir this past weekend. Nathan and I were in Wisconsin while he was attending a continuing education course and I was looking in the phone book for a church to attend on Sunday morning. I found one I thought I was interested in, so I went to the church website and I couldn't believe it - the African Children's Choir was singing the next day!! I have been interested in seeing the choir in the past (I love vocal music and obviously African children!:) but had never had the opportunity. The children were amazing - full of energy and joy as they sang and a real picture of hope for the African countries they come from.

The children in the choir are from very poor villages and many have lost either one or both parents. Their future in Africa without this organization would have been very bleak. The parent organization of the choir, Music for Life, helps these children break away from the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. Once the children are selected for the choir, they are trained for several months before they go out and begin touring. They travel to many European countries, Canada and the US.

The work this organization does is invaluable. Through the donations they collect at their concerts, the choir is able to support numerous schools in Uganda and other African countries. Donations also support emergency relief efforts to ensure destitute children and their families receive the food, clothing, medical assistance and counseling they need to survive and flourish.
Choir children return to their homelands to attend primary and secondary schools sponsored by Music for Life Institute. Many of them will go on to college or technical or vocational schools and develop skills that will enable them to lead full, productive lives while contributing to their homeland. Some of the children have gone on to be teachers, doctors, engineers, social workers and other professional leaders in Africa.

What a world of good this organization is doing! I encourage you to check out their website:

African Children's Choir

There are two touring choirs - check it out and see if they will be in your area anytime soon! It is well worth the trip - the children are precious!!

Roller Coaster

Well, one thing is for sure - this adoption thing is a roller coaster!

Yesterday, we received the wonderful news that our dossier had been approved and sent to Ethiopia - It was a time of feeling God's faithfulness and knowing that He would bring us through this adoption and provide for all our needs! It's easy to feel that way when things are going well.....

Later that afternoon, we received an email from our agency that our adoption fees were increasing and will affect us to the tune of an extra $3000 we weren't planning on. Hmmmm.......where did that feeling of certainty and celebration I had earlier go? Now, $3000 may not be a lot to some of you, but at this point, it is huge to us considering what we were already needing to come up with. I felt so discouraged and even angry that this would be happening. I mean, we're trying to do a good thing here, and these obstacles just make it harder!!

So, after feeling anger, fear, and bewilderment, I came to this: I cannot control this. I cannot change the fees, even if I wanted to. (and BTW - the fees are being raised because of increased costs everywhere and our agency's desire to provide good care for the children in Ethiopia before they come home as well as add more staff there, etc. The cost of food in Ethiopia has gone up by 400%!) The only thing I can control in this situation is my response, and so, I have a choice. I can sit in fear and entertain my anxiety, or I can choose to trust Him. God knew about these fee increases from the beginning - nothing surprises Him. He is our provider and so even when we can't see where all of this is going to come from, we have to trust that it will in fact come. (although I'd really love a post it note letting me know the plan!)
We believe that this is God's plan for our family and He isn't going to leave us now. I cannot tell you that I won't have moments of stress and anxiety, but I am going to do my best to not let that overcome me. I will choose to trust!

Our Dossier is IN ETHIOPIA!!

We got an email from our family coordinator today that our dossier was sent to Ethiopia on Friday!! So, our official DTE is 10-03-08!! I went to track our package today and found out it is ALREADY in Ethiopia!! It is so exciting to think that the hands that are handling our dossier now are Ethiopian hands!

Many people have asked me, "What is next?" Well, we wait. That's it. We've pretty much done all we can do for about the next 7 months.....now our official wait begins. Our agency estimates that we will wait about 5-7 months for a referral of an infant of either sex.....although I've never seen anyone wait only 5 months, it tends to be closer to 7 months. (BTW - this can change at any time - the wait can become longer or shorter). This is just a guestimate - their best guess based upon past referrals.

Thank you for your prayers - Thank you, God, for seeing us this far!

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 57:9,10

Prayer and Provision

Well, I've been waiting to post because I really thought we were going to get an email from our adoption agency on Friday saying that we were officially DTE (dossier to Ethiopia). Unfortunately, I have no exciting news to report. We received no such email.....maybe next week. I do know they received the dossier and it was supposed to be reviewed this week. I also know that once your dossier is reviewed by the agency and approved you have "marked your place in line." So, even if it hasn't been sent to the Ethiopian government, our agency still has us on their waiting list - make sense?

As we wait, I have been thinking a lot about our child (most likely in utero) and their parents. What is happening in their lives that will bring them to have to give up their child? Do they know of their future heartbreak now or will it come as a result of something yet to come? Is the mother sick? Will they give up their child due to poverty......because they can't care for their child themselves? It breaks my heart to think of any of these possible scenarios. How could it ever be easy to give up a child?

I pray for our child - for God's provision for it's health and nourishment. For provision for the parents and God's presence in their lives. That He will comfort them through whatever they are going through. And most importantly, that they will know God in a real and personal way.

It's weird to feel a concern and affection for people you've never met. To want to help and know that you can only pray. (the best thing to do anyway). I would ask you to also pray for this family and whatever their circumstances may be when you think of our adoption.

Thanks for checking in....more later. :)

Promises to Rest In

Our family is going to have to make some big decisions in the next year. We are about to change a lot of things about our lives....sometimes that is exciting, sometimes it's scary. It gives me great peace to trust that as long as we look to God for guidance and direction, He will order our steps. I found this poem below, and it speaks to that. (author unknown)

“One day as I was out walking - a thought occurred to me;
Perhaps the Lord up in Heaven is making plans for me.
Maybe he’s planning my every step - what I will do and say;
Maybe he’s planning some glorious things - if only I follow His way.
Dear Lord, I call - I give You my all; please mold my life lest I fall.
My vision is clear, and now I can see;
I know that the Lord up in Heaven - is making plans for me."


11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13

Here's hoping that this promise brings you hope and peace today, too!

Accessories....

Most people who know me know that I love accessories. (jewelry, purses, etc.) Well, my blog is no different.....I love to change the look and play with colors and accessorize! So, yes, my blog looks different again...check back often to see if I have a new look. I'll probably change it every so often - it's just like jewelry! :)

Out of our hands....

Well, our dossier is out of our hands!! I took it to Springfield today to get certification. Then I made copies and sent it off to our agency by Fed Ex! I double, triple and quadruple checked it and I'm still a little nervous that I forgot something. It's out of our control now, though. (not sure whether to make a happy or sad face here!)
So, Terra, our adoption coordinator should receive our dossier by the end of the week and will review it on Monday. Hopefully it will all look good and our agency will send it by courier to the Ethiopian Embassy and the US State Department for authentication. (it's all very official sounding, don't you think?!) After that, they will send it off to Africa! All of this means that we could possibly be DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) by next Friday, Oct. 3 and THEN we can OFFICIALLY start waiting. (approx. 7 months for referral - subject to change:)

Thank you for your prayers as we have completed this part of our process.....now we just wait. I'm sure that will seem easy at first as we are so relieved to be through the first part, but I know that becomes hard - especially in the end. We still covet your prayers!!

Thanks for following along!

WE GOT IT!

Well, here it is.....our I171-H!! Doesn't look that exciting to you? I know it may not look like anything special, but here's the thing - We couldn't do ANYTHING else in our adoption process without it! We are so excited that it's here!! This letter officially states that the US government has determined that we are able to furnish proper care to an orphan and we are approved to adopt.


What's the next step?! Well, we will gather all of our documents, get the final copy of our home study from our social worker, get everything certified by the state, make copies and send it off to our agency! Hopefully, they will find everything to be in order and authenticate our documents and then send them off to Ethiopia - at that point we will receive our DTE date (dossier to Ethiopia) and begin our official wait!! We will wait approx. 7 months for a referral from that date!

We are grateful to be one step closer to our baby! Yea!

Giving it all back

I find this adoption journey giving me lots of opportunity for growth. I have to be honest....not all of it is welcome, but it is there just the same. I have this inner conflict going on that goes something like this...one moment I am trusting God completely, another I am trying to control things and figure out all the details, time scenarios, finances, etc. in my head.....then I will go back to giving it to God only to take it all back upon myself again. Does anyone else do this? Do you struggle to hand things over to God and then leave them in His lap?
Now, I trust Him, I really do - I just like to have control and before I even realize it I have taken back all or part of what I have trusted Him with. I don't mean to. I like to have a plan and I like to know how things are going to work out. (doesn't everyone?) I have gone over every possible time scenario, a thousand scenarios of how we can make it out of this adoption debt free, and countless possibilities of what it will be like once our baby comes home.
When I try to control things, it only ends in frustration. Honestly, it's only when I bring myself back to God and lay things at His feet that I feel better. It's only when I ask Him to help me remember what brought us to this adoption in the first place - an opportunity to be used by Him, to glorify Him in the process and an opportunity to trust Him for all that we need - that I feel better. As we get further into this process I find myself having to remind myself more and more of the reasons we began this journey in the first place, lest it become about waiting for immigration or worrying about some other detail. Ultimately, this is His adoption and so I will continue to try to truly give all the details to Him and stop pretending that I have any control anyway!

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman

Mr. Postman....
So many days you passed me by
See the tears standin' in my eyes
You didn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter

Mister Postman, look and see
If there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, please Mister Postman)

Why's it takin such a long time
Wait a minute Mr. Postman......

Well, Mr. Postman has still not brought our I171-H.....I keep thinking our next post will be that we received this form and we're movin' on!! Someday......

In the meantime, we'll keep watching the mailbox!

Love This

Someone in our adoption Yahoo group shared this and I wanted to pass it on:

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my
own.

-- Rita Laws, PhD

Hope for the Wait

Waiting is hard......no matter what you are waiting on. Some of you reading this blog are waiting for a child, others may be waiting for something else in their lives. Whatever we are waiting on, God is faithful and His timing is perfect. Below is a verse I am using as my life verse during this adoption. It gives me peace that all things are in God's control and His timing. I hope it will encourage you today, too!

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily,
surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it
seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not
be late by a single day."
Habakkuk 2:3