Sunday, April 27, 2008

A bit of Ethiopia in our home...




Chris' birthday was today and I got him this photograph from etsy.com seller Chiana Arts. It is a beautiful print of a door in Ethiopia, taken during a trip in 2007. This is as close as we will get to Ethiopia for a while. Patiently, we wait.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Can I borrow your lederhosen?



Our dossier is in Germany! It's half way to Ethiopia! WOOT!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Coincidence? I think not....

I sat down to check my emails this morning and had received the monthly e-newsletter from Children's Hope International, another adoption agency. I am on their automatic email list and I normally just hit DELETE, but today, something jumped out at me:

New Hope Revealed During Mother's Long Wait to Adopt

A waiting mother's Dare to Hope.
"For a while I had felt guilty, thinking that I must not have enough faith if I couldn't wait in a serene state of mind. This verse revealed to me that it's OK to be passionate and to yearn for something while waiting and hoping. It is very freeing."


I clicked on the article and continued to read,

"God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear."
(Lamentations 3:25-33 The Message)
This hit me in so many ways. I can be still and quietly hope, but I can also passionately wait. For a while I had felt guilty, thinking that I must not have enough faith if I couldn't wait in a serene state of mind. This verse revealed to me that it's OK to be passionate and to yearn for something while waiting and hoping. It is very freeing. I was reminded that I needed to persevere for the child who needed me, even though sometimes I wanted to quit.


Thanks God. I needed that.:)

Monday, April 21, 2008

I feel like throwing a fit.





You know. One of those two year old types. Screaming, kicking, thrashing about, crying uncontrollably, that kind of fit. It's just NOT fair!!! It's not fair that we have extra hurdles to jump in this process. Why us? It's long and hard enough without the additional stuff! I want to go to Ethiopia. I want to get my girls. I want to meet them, touch them, hug them and tell them they have a family now and that they don't have to worry about grown up stuff anymore. Heck, I just want to know WHEN I am going to Ethiopia- that would be great. At least there would be a light at the end of tunnel.

This is only the beginning of the waiting, I am such a wimp. Today a handful of families with our agency have passed through the Ethiopian courts. They are official adoptive parents of Ethiopian children, now they can make their travel plans and go get their kids! I am so happy and excited for them! Especially knowing that we will get to experience that one day. But I want to be one of those families now. Not fair.

I know, I know. Just wait on the Lord. I know. I am waiting Lord, not very patiently, but waiting. Today I have tried to keep myself motivated and busy to complete some projects around the house that NEED to get done. In addition to our normal Monday routine of laundry, housecleaning and getting Gracie to art I have been going through the kids winter clothes, organizing the attic, getting rid of stuff, some basic spring cleaning. It is not working. How much busywork can one person do!? My mind is still racing and thinking about Ethiopia and our girls. ARGH! UG! EEK! BLAH!

Okay, I already feel a little better. I think a girl just needs to rant every once in a while.

I am trusting you God. I know you are at the center and know the hows and whys and whens. All I can do is trust that. Help me to be the best wife, momma, daughter, sister and friend that I can during this really hard time of waiting for the next season you have planned. May you receive all the glory in the end. Amen.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Not Just Africa....



Visit the Children's Hope Chest website to see how you can help....

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Praise the Lord...it's done!!



Our dossier is officially done and on its way to the US Department of State. I cannot believe that I actually got it done and its not sitting on my desk anymore! It should be on it's way to Ethiopia by the end of the week for translation and approval. We are still waiting on news about the girls paperwork, and will hopefully hear something soon. This being patient thing, it's hard.

We also sent off a package yesterday to a friend of our agency who is traveling to Ethiopia on Saturday. She is going to pick up her precious little one and will be visiting the girls at their orphanage. We sent coloring books, crayons, a fun beaded necklace and bracelet for each of them and some new pictures. We also sent a soccer ball for the orphanage. We hope they have fun with it!

Please continue to pray that the paperwork will move through the Ethiopian system smoothly and that our girls are safe and well taken care of.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Secretary of State....CHECK!

We made it to Annapolis and had our papers authenticated. It literally took 5 minutes. All this work for a computer generated piece of paper with a gold sticker! Checking in with the security guard took longer than getting our state seal. Tomorrow I will head to Kinko's for copies and FED-EX!! One more day and we are DONE!



After getting our dossier taken care of, we walked back down Francis Street for a picnic near the docks. It was a beautiful afternoon and we found the perfect spot to sit and people watch while the kids fed the ducks. Our afternoon was topped off by a yummy ice cream cone at Annapolis Ice Cream Company! Yum!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Notary, schmotary.

Today the kids and I headed down to Ocean City to meet with our friend Kathy to have our final papers notarized. Chris met up with us at her office and we made it all official. After a quick lunch, and a stop at Starbucks for a potty break (gotta love kids...)(oh, and my Starbucks addiction), we headed to Snow Hill to have our papers doubly certified. This process is so nuts folks. Not only do we have to have our papers notarized, the county in which the notary is certified, has to authenticate their notary. Are you confused yet? It gets worse. Tomorrow we will head to our Secretary of State in Annapolis to then have the notarized, authenticated papers authenticated at the state level. Phew! An added bonus to all this is we have to pay for every piece of paper that is authenticated, fun! Thank God for Kathy, she has offered her service and time to sign and notarize our papers and she even made a special trip to the doctors office to notarized his signature! We love you Kathy!



We are going to take advantage of the trip to Annapolis tomorrow by soaking up the historical sights, and sharing a picnic alongside the Severn River. It should be a beautiful day!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Tonight



Starting at 7:30 p.m. American Idol will be dedicating 2 1/2 hours to raising money for those in need. In 2007 they raised something like $75 million! Many of the charities they have partnered with are doing good work in Africa. One of them being the Global Fund, who is fighting the good fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Last week they aired a clip of how some of the money has helped so far. Two sisters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were taken off the streets and reunited with each other. It got the tears a flowin' for sure. This world is not as big as we think.

American Idol has become one of those reality show successes, bringing millions of viewers to their televisions every week.(my hubby and I included!) It is encouraging to see that in our broken and self-centered culture, people are willing to take the time to focus on the needs of others.

Warning:
Many celebrities will be appearing on the American Idol stage tonight, including a few who I wouldn't consider "family friendly". If your young ones are joining in to watch, have that clicker ready....you just never know these days. bummer.

Monday, April 7, 2008

You have to what?

Follow my instructions:

Read:

We just learned that the word in Amharic (an Ethiopian language that our girls speak) for "to use the bathroom" is "shint".

Play video:



We too, giggled like a couple of little girls. :)
(These cute-as-can-be gigglers are from Ethiopia, and were brought home by their "forever family" about 8 months ago. Their story has been an inspiration to us.)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

He is good

Job 4:3-6
Behold, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?


Have you ever experienced a moment where life changes in an instant? How often do we experience the emotional roller coaster called life and forget about God? We do all the things we are "supposed" to do as Christians; go to church on Sunday, help out the homeless man at the gas station, witness to our unsaved family and friends. We try to live as Jesus would. But in that quick moment when life smacks you upside the head, when you no longer have life wrapped up in a little box who do you turn to? Who comes first? You or Jesus?

I am ashamed to say that for just a moment, after experiencing some scary news the other day I forgot about Jesus. My broken, wretched self tried to lean on my own understanding of things. Although it was literally a flash of time, I felt so helpless. What can I do? Who can I call? A wave of calm came over me and I remembered that I have a God that is at the center of all things. A God who comforts me when I am weak. A God who knew me before I was made. He knew my children, including our Ethiopian daughters! He knows their plan as He knows ours. Praise Him!
We are rejoicing this day as the details change and slowly our Lord reveals His plan for this adoption. Strongholds are being removed and doors are being opened as I type.

This song makes me think of our girls. I have a vision of standing in "our pew" at church hand in hand with my hubby and our four little ones, praising God and worshipping together as a LIVING testimony to what He has done in our lives. I long for that day. Come and listen...