shoes

I have held off on buying much clothing wise for the girls, after learning my lesson when our first court date was postponed. I thought for sure they would be here when it was still chilly out and purchased a few long sleeve/winter type items. Well here we are, end of April with an 80 degree weekend coming up! So much for sweaters!

A while back we received tracings of the girls feet from a family that was able to make it out to the girls orphanage. I have carried the tracings around in my purse just in case the right deal came along to get them some shoes. Today it did!
I found some cute mary jane style Crocs and decided to take a leap of faith. Grace helped me guesstimate the size-- we probably looked like goofs holding up all kinds of shoes to our two pieces of paper. It was fun picking out special shoes for her new sisters, and we actually bought three pairs hoping to get the size right! The thought that the girls have never had a new, pretty pair of shoes really puts the pressure on! Even though Crocs aren't he most glamorous of shoes- they seem to have lots of wiggle room in the sizing- so they will have to do until we get the girls home. I look forward to watching them pick out their very own new pair of shoes, and hopefully it will be soon and we won't be taking UGGS! :)

Don't forget 4/28 @ 4:28!! Keep on praying!

4/28 @ 4:28

Last Sunday our pastor petitioned our church family to pray for us! He thought up this formula for remembering our important day...genius! We had spoke after our April 6th postponement about how we tend to "pray really hard" the day before a big event; that we forget to be as fervent in our prayers ALL THE TIME. For us, the highs and lows get tiring and we tend to try and emotionally detach, forgetting to pray regularly and expectantly.

After this plea- it got me thinking. What do the 4:28's look like in God's word? I looked them up out of curiosity:

Jeremiah 4:28
For this the earth shall mourn and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.

WOW.

Acts 4:28
...to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

DOUBLE WOW.

Although there is no magic in the special number, it helps to keep us in check and has added an excitement and anticipation to our next court date. The verses are also not only good word to meditate on, but an AWESOME reminder of God being in control. We can put our faith and trust in Him and know that whatever happens He's got our back. :)


Another help has been the recent note we received from M:

Hello Mom and Daddy
How are you?
I am very well
I can't wait to see
Your child-
M

"Your child"- this precious young girl who has survived the loss of so much offers herself as our child. We have been praying for the Lord to re-instill in us a passion for this process and for our daughters whom we have never met. This was an answer to prayer. We will not stop praying, petitioning and longing for them like never before. We will not give up.

With a week to go before April 28th- don't forget- 4/28 @ 4:28.

tired

Our april 6th court date never happened. It was rescheduled for april 28th. needless to say - we were very discouraged about the news- hence my lack of posting.

We are in wait mode again, but today we received new pictures of the girls. Getting this set of pictures was bittersweet. Sweet to see their beautiful faces, bitter because they have grown and time is slipping away.

A fellow Hope family just brought home their daughter from Ethiopia and she is from the same orphanage as M and G. We hear that the children are all doing well and are happy. We are glad to hear of this news but pictures show that the time is wearing on them. Many of the children are more disheveled than in past photos. They look tired and dirty.

Folks-- the time is NOW. The time to be in fervent prayer for the orphans of Ethiopia is NOW. The children of Bethel orphanage, along with so many Ethiopian orphans have been through so much pain and sacrifice. Why should they live another day going without the love and protection of a family? I am of course praying specifically for M and G. We want them home. But lets not forget the rest of them.

Looking back

Papa, Meme, Chris, Becky, Gracie and Jack at the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert/Shoahannah's Hope Change for Orphans. March 2008

It's been one year since THIS amazing opportunity.....(click on THIS)I can't believe it.

We're looking back and reminding ourselves today how far the Lord has brought us, the work that He has done in us and anticipating what He has for us in the future.

Only 17 more days until our court date!
We have some specific prayer requests that we would like to ask for...
There is a new TB testing issue that is now a part of the process after the girls pass court. This could potentially add a significant amount of time to our meeting them. It could also only be minor and not add any wait time. If either of them test positive for TB we will expect more waiting. If they test negative things should move along as planned. SO, we are praying that the TB tests are negative! Would you also pray that the timing of everything works out. My brother, Matt, is getting married May 30th, in Austin, TX. It would obviously not be good if we were getting back from Africa or leaving during that week!

We trust in a God who is sovereign above ALL things and holds us in the palm of His hands. Thank you for your prayers! Keep sending them up for our girls! :)

New Court Date

We finally got word of our new court date. April 6. Yup. That's right. 6 weeks. 42 days. The waiting continues. It seemed that we were so close to getting the girls and now they seem so far away again. It's funny how the excitement in this process easily turns into fear. Our first court date was something to look forward to. This second date is one that we almost wish we didn't know about. So many things can go wrong. The anticipation and anxiety of not knowing if we will get to move forward is heart wrenching.

Finding out about our new court date yesterday was hard. We weren't expecting it to be so far away. Especially since it was the courts fault that our first one was just pushed aside. We thought that they would grant some mercy to our older girls waiting one whole year to join our family! But no, we are just another file, sitting in another pile.

Our hearts are broken for the girls. Do they still know that we are coming for them? Do they think we forgot about them? That's what really cuts me to the core.
Honestly, in times like this it makes me question if we are cut out to do this. I get angry asking God, why?! Why is this taking so long!? Are we not the right family for M and G? Is this EVER going to happen? And then- as usual I am brought to my knees. He knows our hearts, He knows that with Him we are cut out to do this. We will continue to walk in Christ, showing His grace, mercy and love daily. We will continue to push through- drawing nearer to Him. And when that day comes, oh what a day it will be. We will REJOICE in our Lord- and know that only because of Him - we will be a family of 6. I can't wait.

After a day of crying, pigging out on some darn good Thai food, and being just plain mad, I have moved on. On to the next phase of waiting.

We are praying for you girls.....mommy and daddy, gracie and jack sure love you and we can't wait to meet you. Please don't lose HOPE.

Prayer Vigil tonight...6:30 pm

Would you please take the time to pray tonight for our adoption process and for the girls? We are joining many families in prayer, across the nation, trusting and believing that God would move mountains and bring our girls home.

I recently found fellow bloggers Sarah and Davis from Much Has Been Given, going through the same trials as us. This idea comes from them and we are joining in prayer...

So here is what I propose. If you too are standing in faith interceding for your children or the children of people you love then let's join forces in prayer this Wednesday. Let us make Wednesday a day of prayer and fasting and ask God to hear the prayers of His people as we cry out to Him for the children of Ethiopia.

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
Matthew 18:20

Lord, give us the grace to have patience, as you do for us.

yellow

Yesterday, Chris watched the kids so that I could get out and run a few errands and have some time to myself. After my errands I decided to check out the clearance racks at Old Navy to see if I could find anything for the girls. As I meandered through the store I got increasingly frustrated about us not knowing any thing new. Will they be here soon? Will it still be winter? Will it be warm? Long sleeves or short sleeves? Argh! I wish I had the answers! Then right in front of me was the cutest yellow ruffled bathing suit. As I picked it up I thought of my Ethiopian daughters and their beautiful brown skin against that bright shade of yellow. I stood there and cried. Oh, how I long for them.

It's been one week and we still don't have any news. No new court date, no light at the end of the tunnel, nothing. It feels like we are back at the beginning, suspended in time. This is really hard.

Please God, send us news.