Tuesday, September 23, 2008

just dreaming.



When I was pregnant with my kids I would always have really vivid dreams about them.

Last night I dreamt about the girls. In my dream we received an email saying that we were finally going to get all the information we had been waiting for. Our court date and when we could travel to Ethiopia. The next thing I knew we were standing on our front porch, getting ready to walk into our house. M had already walked in and had a huge smile on her face, but G looked sad. For some reason in my dream, M's name was no longer M- but Carrie. Weird, I know. So I asked G. if she wanted an American name like M. I got down on her level and looked her in the face - I was so close to her- and said "Would you like to be called Lilly?" She just looked at me like I was crazy and shook her head no and walked into the house with a smile on her face. Then I woke up.

Dreaming about them made me want them here even more. Are they dreaming of us? Our family is waiting to grow...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Seasons



Summer is leaving us and fall has arrived. Warm days and cool nights are here, reminding us that winter is right around the corner. This time last year, we thought we would be a family of 6 by now. We are not. We finally talked to Shimeliss, our adoption agency director, and when asked the question "Will this happen in 2008?". He said no. He felt much more confident looking towards March 2009 as a goal to have the girls home. His words were "I am very sure your girls will be home with you by March." From our past conversations with Shim, he has always been very straightforward and careful not to give us false hopes. We like that. We just want a light at the end of the tunnel. He knows our heart for the girls and wants them home too.

The downside to all this is not only more waiting, but some of our paperwork starts to expire beginning in December. Our home study and our immigration paperwork. These things cost money to amend and re-do. If that's what has to happen, we will deal with it, but we are praying that the situation would all work itself out in regards to the timeline of of our official paperwork.

And we wait. Summer turns into fall, fall turns into winter. We wait. One more Christmas with part of our family missing. The Lord has not forgotten us, just as He has not forgotten our girls and all the orphans in Ethiopia. He is with us. Our Father and Comforter.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

Monday, September 8, 2008

Patience My Child....



Our agency director comes back from Ethiopia this week.
Will we get any new information?
Will the quiet wait continue?

We don't know them, but we miss them.


Friday, September 5, 2008

More love from Ethiopia--

Today we received notes from the girls. Jaclyn (our Hopester friend) sent us drawings and letters that the girls made for us, while she was at Bethel. G's is written in English and is so sweet and full of -I Love Yous. M's was written in all Amharic (the language of Ethiopia).

Tonight we attended a worship concert at our church, put on by a local university ministry. As soon as I walked through the front doors of our church I met a beautiful Ethiopian student. She was so happy to know of our adoption and was excited to translate the letter for us! God is so good! Our super-techie pastor-and his super-techie phone captured it all on video-Love it!

Yodahe reads it first in Amharic and then translates-- Go HERE to watch.



New Pictures and Long Distance Hugs...






Bethel Orphanage, Ethiopia, Africa


A fellow "Hopester" (another woman adopting from our agency) just got back from Ethiopia and took a surprise trip to Bethel Orphanage, where our girls are! She came back with precious pictures and a few more glimpses into who our girls are. This long wait would be unbearable without these little pick-me-ups and reminders that our girls are waiting too. It's not just us.
Here's the email I got from Jaclyn about our girls (THANKS AGAIN JACLYN!):

I was at Bethel to work on Sponsorships for the other children there and interviewed each kid a bit. Here is how each of your kids answered my questions:

Becky-
G told me she was 7 years old, her favorite color is orange and she loves to eat pasta.
M said that she is 8 years old and yellow is her favorite color. Her favorite food is oranges. Both of your girls were ALL SMILES! They are happy happy little girls. Neither one of them seemed shy but G was a bit more outgoing. They really put a lot of effort into your surprise. Each of them went page by page through the books that you sent even though they were the same. They did have a tiny spat over who would go first. G won.


The little spat cracked us up! Looks like we might have another beautiful strong-willed one! :)
Got this later in the day too:

I forgot to mention in my email that I also hugged both of your girls and said it was from mom and dad. They were so happy and told me to tell you that they love and miss you both. They also said to hug Jack and Grace for them.


Our hearts are longing....