The Story Isn't Over

Once again we need to apologize.  We've just left this blog sit on the shelf.  We've been living life.  Figuring out what it looks like to be a family of 5 instead of 4.

I have every intention of writing more here.  The story didn't end when E came home.  There's more to tell.  We have just been bad story tellers.  There are more bits of E's story...God's story....that you need to hear about.  We're sorry we haven't shared those.  We will.  Soon.

If for some reason a couple weeks goes by and nothing new is up here....bug us about it.  Seriously.  You HAVE to hear more of the story.  It's so good.

And to keep this cool...here's a picture of E....being a stud.

HOME!!!!!

Yes.  We're home.

It was a great trip.  We have our son.  FINALLY!

We have lots to tell you about.  LOTS.  We plan on having a bunch of posts here over the next little bit to fill in some of the story that is important.

We're all pretty tired.  E is a bit sick.  There is LOTS of adjustment that is going on....for all of us. 

I would encourage you to re-read a post we put up at the beginning of November called Nesting and Cocooning.  The Cocooning part is particularly important right now for us.  We know you're all excited to see us and E....we are going to need some time and space to work on our attachment. 

We promise to take pictures and keep you as updated as we move throughout this coming weeks. 

WE'RE GOING TO GET HIM!!!!!!!

We received official word.  The wait is over.  We're going!!!!!!

We can hardly believe it.  However this is real.  We have an appointment at the US Embassy next Thursday. 

So many plans to be made.  Lots to do.  SO EXCITED!  He's finally gonna come home!

Thank you for your prayers to get us this far.  Please continue to pray us through.

Stay tuned here for more updates in the coming days and weeks.  This journey is just getting started!!!!

Update 11/22: Operation Ivy

Back in my younger days, I was pretty big into metal and then punk.  There was a band way back when called Operation Ivy.  They had a song called Knowledge.  It's not an amazingly well written song, and I'm not linking anything here because they drop the F bomb....and more importantly because the song itself has nothing to do with anything relevant to this blog.....EXCEPT.....I started singing the chorus to it this morning.

All I know is that I don't know
All I know is that I don't know nothing
All I know is that I don't know
All I know is that I don't know nothing

Beyond the grammatical error (it's punk, come on)....this is pretty much what we have to share with you this week.

It seems that we have been asked by everyone this week what we know, and when are you going, and why's it taking so long.

Friends, we don't know when we're going.  We thought we'd know by now.  Heck we thought we'd be there and home already.  We're not.  We don't.

There have been some delays.  The Embassy has asked that some things be re-done.  It's completely out of our hands.  There's nothing for us to do physically.  Some pieces need to fall into place to make this happen.  We have an inkling that it's moving forward, but we can't put a time table on anything.

We promise that when we know something we will be shouting it from the mountains.  You will know.  We will post here, blast e-mails, post on Facebook and Twitter.  You will know.

As for now....

All I know is that I don't know
All I know is that I don't know nothing.



Prayers appreciated.  As frustrated as you might be with these setbacks, know that we are more so.

News Update and Thoughts 11/16

So this week there was an interview at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa on our behalf.  When others have had this type of interview the Embassy has cleared them to bring their child home within 24 hours.  Some, within 2 or 4 hours.   So we totally expected to wake up Tuesday morning to an e-mail from the Embassy telling us that we had cleared and come pick up E.

We didn't get that e-mail on Tuesday.
or Wednesday.

We heard that there was a mis-translated date on one of our papers and that that was re-submitted on Wedneday and we should hear Thursday morning.

Sure enough we got an e-mail Thursday morning.....but it was NOT the e-mail we were expecting.  This email said that some other pieces of paperwork needed fixed.  This will take a few more days to get all those together.

So we wait again.


Marjorie was reminded this week while reading Tobiah his nightly Bible story, that Jesus waited days before he went to his friend Lazarus so that God's glory would be shown.

God show your glory in our story too.  This was your plan from day one, not ours.  If we need to wait a little more, then His plan is going to pretty awesome on the back end. 

News Update 11/2: Bipolar

The adoption process can be incredibly bi-polar.

A few days ago, I was in a very dark mood.  Frustrated.  Angry.  Bitter.  Ready to get on a plane and go do something about it.  Within the last 20 minutes, things got resolved, and several blessings fell into our laps.

It is so hard to be even keeled.  It's hard to keep your emotions in check.  It feels like you are on a roller coaster.

So what has happened is this:  Last week we saw signs of movement.  Lots of friends who cleared court with us back in August, got cleared by the Embassy and are traveling.  We heard from the Embassy that they wanted to interview a lady involved with our case who lives in the town E is from (Awassa).  So our agency needed to find her and set up the interview.  As of yesterday they still hadn't found her and I was getting upset.  Because, while Ethiopia isn't the United States....there are resources in place that would facilitate this faster...at least I believed so.  So I was incredibly frustrated and ready to fly over and find her myself (with the help of some friends).

Then I got an e-mail from our agency.  They found her.  She has her interview at the Embassy November 12.  What has been happening lately, is that the Embassy then clears the child (E) to come home within 24 hours of that and gives us potential dates to travel.

Let me be clear:  That's what has been happening lately, but that is NOT a guarantee for us.


Then my mom called me.  My parents have asked if we need a new car seat for E.  We said yes but we'd like one of the detachable ones with the booster so we don't have to keep buying stuff.  So my mom went looking and couldn't find what she wanted, got frustrated and went home.  Only to have a neighbor, come to her door with a near brand new one that she had for her grandson.  She GAVE it to my mom because she's moving and can't take it!


Also.....If you notice we hit our 2000 dollar goal that we set for this next trip!!!!!!  Some friends helped us over the last little hump and we're there!!!!  Thank you God for working in the lives of friends and family to help us get to where we are! We have been super blessed by you all.  A simple Thank You can not do justice to our gratitude and humbleness through this whole process.

So we're done then right?  Well.......sort of......

If you've been following regularly you'll remember that back in June we had a post called Gray Area.  We talked about how we had a rough idea what things were going to cost, but until we actually go and do, it's hard to hammer that down to the exact dollar.  So on one hand we're pretty sure we won't need more money from our trip....we can't say that with 100% certainty.  We still might need to purchase tickets last minute and pay more than we want.  We just don't know......but we've met our initial goal.

HOWEVER....any money that is raised that we don't need will be donated to BRING LOVE IN.  We've talked about them in the past.  We love them and what they're doing.  We're excited to partner with them in what they're doing.  If you're unfamiliar with them, you need to check out what they're doing.

So within 20 minutes we got an Embassy interview date.  We got a free car seat and we reached our goal.  How do I change my emotions that quickly?

Thank you God for blessing us yet again!

FOR YOU:

1.  We are still coveting your prayers.  We need the Embassy to clear us on or about the 12th of November.  We really want E to be home now.  While we see that we're taking baby steps forward.....we're not done yet.

2.  Pray for us as we attempt to handle this bipolar ride of adoption.

Frustration and News 10/11

I had planned to write a post for this week no matter what.  Earlier this week, I thought that it would have a much different tone, than I'm able to write with right now.  I'm not good at it, but I'll try hard to not tell a story and instead cut to the chase.  Long story short.  That sort of thing.  Trust me, this is the SHORT version.

The past week has been rough.  Really rough.

There's a document we needed to fill out.  To do so we needed some numbers from the government....to fill out THEIR document.  So after two e-mails that were never answered, I found a number to call.  I sat on hold for 1/2 hour to be told that my birthday wasn't right in their computer....not my fault, but I scanned my passport and sent it back to them....via e-mail which they never replied to.  The next day I sat on hold for another 1/2 hour and they gave me the info I needed.  So I filled out the document.

I was then told by our agency that they (government) should've sent me a confirmation letter.  Monday I called for a third time and another 1/2 hour on hold to be told that now E's birthday was wrong in their computer and they didn't want to talk to me.  To which I got a little riled up. 

What you don't know is that Tuesday is the day that paperwork gets submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  So if we didn't want to wait another week, it needed done now.  Basically we resigned ourselves to not getting into Embassy.  We were told that they would take our papers with them and plead our case.

So I woke up Tuesday morning to find an e-mail from the US Embassy saying that our paperwork was accepted!!!!  Thank you Lord!  I just don't think I could've taken much more.  I was so frustrated.

Beyond just us though....2 other families who we're friends with and also had paper problems also got in on Tuesday too.  I was probably as happy for them as for us. 

So what's next?  We wait.  More.  Longer.  The Embassy now researches E's story. And at some point in the future they tell us to come get him.

So out of all of this, I have been profoundly impressed by this:  I know you're reading our blog right now....probably because you know us.  But there are a bunch of other families who are as stuck and hurting as we are.  Some we know and keep in touch with.  Some we don't know.  They're crying at night because they're seeing their child grow up via pictures without them.  They're gritting their teeth when they sleep.  They're clenching their fists.  They're putting on a good face when people ask them "if they've heard anything or when's he coming home".  They're hurting.  All the while...they're jumping through ridiculous hoops only to be put on the back burner. 

I say this because from day one this blog has been about sharing with you not just our story....but the story of adoption.  It's not always pretty or happy.  While we rejoice with friends that we all got in this week....none of us probably should have....and others probably didn't. 

So this week as you pray for us (please continue to do so, because we're still desperately in need of your prayers) please pray for some other families in the midst of waiting. 


Finally...in the midst of a frustrating week, we got new pictures of E. 
On one hand it's good to see him.  It's good to see his half smile.  It also hurts me to my core.  He's not in my house.  He's not half smiling with toys from our play room.  He's not here.  He needs to come home now.

Minor News Update 9/20

NOTE:  We have a new fundraiser that we're going to introduce VERY soon (maybe even tonight)....and it's cool.  So you're going to want to check back in on the blog soon.

Relax, we still don't know when we're going. 

HOWEVER....we got something awesome today....actually minutes ago...and we wanted to tell you.

E has a passport!!!!!  That's a really good thing.  We're one small step closer.

What happens next?  Monday morning has a physical for his visa application.  That'll take a couple days.  Then the following Tuesday all his stuff goes to Embassy.

One step closer to bringing E home!!!!!!

Ethiopia Trip #1: Perception of Ethiopia

So what do you know about Ethiopia? 

You probably know it's in Africa.  But where?  East?  West?  South?  North?  Could you put your finger immediately on it if you were given a map?  Is it on the coast? 

What about the weather?  It's Africa right?....so it must be pretty hot.  Right?  Every movie you've seen of Africa is either deserts or jungle....so it has to be either hot and dry or hot and wet.  Right? 

How about animals?  Africa means Elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and monkeys. 


OK let's be done with the guessing game.  Let me tell you about the country of Ethiopia that we continue to fall deeper in love with.

Ethiopia is located in Eastern Africa in an area referred to as the Horn of Africa.....because it looks like a horn.  See that was easy.   Ethiopia is a land locked country.  This creates some problems for the country....which you can probably imagine.  Importing things isn't easy or cheap. 

We talked to several people about cars particularly.  Most vehicles are old Toyota's.  Taxi cabs are early 90's Lavda's from Russia.  HOWEVER....a nice shape 92 Toyota Corolla would still cost 15k US!!!  There are a couple Chinese car manufacturers in country, but everyone says they're garbage and parts are hard to come by.  If you can figure out how to cheaply import Toyota's to Ethiopia you're golden!

Ethiopia is not a desert.  Though there are tiny parts of the country that are the edge of deserts.  It is not a jungle either.  I think of Ethiopia as lush.  It's green.  When I was a kid in the 80's we saw the massive drought in Ethiopia where thousands died of malnutrition......that's not Ethiopia today. Check out this picture we took just outside the city.   Be honest, if I hadn't told you where I that was...would you have guessed?  Doubtful.

 

Here are pictures from outside our house and from the top of a mountain looking down on Addis. 

Average temperature most of the year is in the mid-70's.  In rainy season (when we were there....Aug, Sept some of Oct) it's in the low to mid 60's and damp.  Since it doesn't get super cold few people have heaters.....so damp is everywhere.  Not exactly what you think of when you think Africa huh?

While we're at it, let's talk elevation.  Addis Ababa is HIGH.  You know when it's football season and everyone talks about playing in Denver and how the teams need oxygen and so forth.  Addis looks down on Denver.  Elevation in Denver is 5,690 ft.  Addis elevation is 7,726 feet.  I would get winded jogging up stairs.

 OK animals.  Yes there are giraffe's and elephants and hippos and so forth....but not in the quantities that you think.  When most people think of African animals, you're really thinking of Kenya.  Kenya is known for it's Safari tours.  So yes they're here, but much like the jungle that's not really here....neither are the animals like you think of in Tarzan movies.

But speaking of animals.....there are goats, and sheep, and cows all over the place....including walking across the city.  Actually the night we left there was a traffic jam because a cow was killed crossing a road by being hit with a car.  Boys about Corban's age take care of these flocks that roam around.  We actually called this trip.....the whip trip.  It seemed like all these boys discovered whips.  They cracked them for fun from dawn till dusk. 

Ethiopia Trip #1: Our little man!

I call it "the moment".  It's that instance when we get to meet our child for the first time.  The moment that someone puts our child in Marjorie's arms.  Each has been different.

We woke at 7.  Showered and got ready.  Our awesome cook at our guesthouse made us breakfast.  It's one of those days that is going to change the rest of your life.  I was way more nervous than Marjorie was.

We got our ride to the St. Thomas Center where he's staying.  We met the sister who took us up to his room.  The toddler room has 10 or so cribs lining the walls.  As soon as we walked in we saw him across the room.  There's our son.  The sister asked if we remember which one he is.  We point to him and she smiles...we know our boy.  She walks over and picks him up and carry's him over to Marjorie.

He just sits.  No tears.  No noise.  Just sitting, looking, watching.  We gave him some cars which he held on to.

 And then slowly he was OK with us.

That first day was just OK.  He kind of flirted around the room playing with toys.  He'd stop in with some of the workers to get hugs and kisses and tickles.  He'd hide in corners waiting for us to "find" him.  He was hesitant with us....which was OK.  We didn't want to push things that first day.

What we loved from that first day was feeding him lunch.  This boy can EAT!  We were given a big bowl full of squished up pasta and tomatoes.  We're talking a portion size that I would eat.  This dude ate the whole thing!!!  I don't know how he can open his mouth this much!  (sorry for the dark picture)

Day 2 was way better.  He was much more engaged with us on day 2.  As soon as we walked in the door he recognized us and smiled.  He came to us willingly.  We gave him a picture book of our family and the boys and he played with those pictures all morning.  It was awesome.  Daddy and E played with a ball for awhile.  He's a quiet little guy, but he giggled and smiled when we played.

 

 Toward the end of the morning we tried hard to get a picture of the three of us (the one we used in our announcement post)....he didn't really wanna look at the camera.  So we had a lot of bad ones.  HA

 

We want this guy to come home soon.  It was great to get to know him a bit.....but he needs to be in our house now. 

Ethiopia Trip #1: The Basics

My goal is to have a blog a day this week....or close to it.  We've been running crazy since the moment our plane landed in the states and we're honestly still struggling to just do real life....but we know we need to update you all on what went down.  So let's start with the basics.

-First off, I've been telling everyone.....the trip was FABULOUS!  Such an awesome time.

-We got to meet our son for the first time.  We spent a few hours on Monday and Tuesday of our trip with him (more on all of that in another post).  Suffice it to say that HE IS AWESOME!

-We cleared Ethiopian court (which we shared with you from Ethiopia).  This basically means the country of Ethiopia recognizes Elias as our son now.

-So why didn't he come home with you?  Well the United States government now has to have their say.  All our paperwork (and some more that we're adding to it this week) goes to the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  They go through it and make sure everything looks good.  They've already approved us to bring A child in the US.....now they have to say that THIS child is the one.

-Any idea how long that will take?  They tell us 6-8 weeks.  Could be sooner.  Could be longer.  We've done this enough to not put time tables and hopes on things. 

-This will sound silly.....but bear with me......if you could take out the fact that we got to meet our son for the first time, and take out the fact that we cleared court......this would've still been an awesome trip.  We got to see things we've never seen in Ethiopia before.  We got to go places we haven't gone before.  We met new friends, we caught up with old friends.  We tried new places to eat and new foods.  We'll try to share some of this side of our trip in the coming days as well.

FOR YOU:
-Prayer.  We aren't done yet.  We need you to pray us the whole way through this thing.  There are still lots of details that need to be worked on...which we'll be sharing in the coming days.  Today literally we're finishing more paperwork....cause you know we haven't done enough yet.

-Also pray for little E.  We want him home now.  We want him to be safe and loved up on.

Who's in the details?

Not much longer and we're off to Ethiopia.  The last 5 days have been frantic, stressful, joyful, hopeful and wild (probably a bunch of other words that end in ful). 

They say that the devil is in the details.  I get the expression and all.  I'm not a detail person.  That's why I married Marjorie.  Details frustrate me to no end.  That said, I've seen nothing but God's hand working in the last 5 days.

We shared with you in our last post that we were struggling to find a flight.  It was easy to fly into Addis Ababa, but extremely hard to get out.  I literally spent most of two days looking for flights.  We needed to get there, but we also wanted to be good stewards of the money that has been donated.  This was extremely hard because of the season that we have to go, and the quickness that we had to go. 

We found a flight.  Round trip out of Washington DC.  Good connection.  Not too long of a layover in either direction.  AND it stays out of the Middle East, which if you read the news, you know is a "no go" zone for American's right now.

Not only did we find a flight.....but later that day we got a call from a travel agency that we've worked with to fly internationally before.  They asked what I found and I told them.  I also told them the price.  She was very impressed.  She said I got a very good rate and that they were struggling to find anything that good.  MAN does that make me feel good.

We have a place to stay.  We have drivers.  Just a few minutes ago, I found out we have a cell phone while we're in Addis.  We have connected with other families who will be going to court with us.  We're hoping to have a celebration dinner with them after court next Wednesday.  We have free wifi so we should be updating you from Addis.....but then again....it's Ethiopia....so who knows.

Where I was overwhelmed last Friday and Saturday, I've seen detail after detail fall into place.  We're not done yet.  We're not on the plane yet.  There are still lots of things that we have to do in the VERY near future.....but man it's been amazing.  God is good!



FOR YOU:
-Prayers are still needed and appreciated. 
That all the details work smoothly. 
That all our travels will go smoothly.
That our court appearance goes super smoothly and we can report back to you.

We're Going!!!!!!

I was at home cleaning the basement of all things. The phone rang. I charged upstairs to get it.

Hello?

Aaron this is K from Children's House. Are you ready to go to Ethiopia? Because you need to go now.

What?


THIS IS FOR REAL!!!!!

You've been praying and we've been praying and now we're going.  We have a court date in Ethiopia in a week and a half.  We have to fly there in a week.  Our brains are overloaded with information and details that need done, and freaking out.

We get to meet our son face to face in a very short time.

We'll obviously let you know what's going on.....when we know more.
God is GOOD!

FOR YOU:

-As we're looking into tickets, and it is crazy!!! They significantly more expensive because they're last minute and because of the time of year.  Also....there seems to be few flights coming home.  One airline gave us the option to come home in early September because that was the first flight they had openings on......and were kind of shocked we weren't OK spending 3+ weeks in Ethiopia.....which would be nice....but not very practical.  HA

-We are stressed.  We have lots to do in a very short amount of time.  We also don't want to lose our focus.

ANSWERS TO PRAYER:
-We found out yesterday that we have to do an extra piece of paperwork because of some changes that are beyond our control.  That single piece of paperwork is going to cost a couple hundred dollars.  HOWEVER....yesterday morning someone donated some new appliances to us to sell.  Bill taken care of.

-C and T were already going to my parents house to go camping the week that we need to be in Ethiopia.  Childcare taken care of.

Court Update

We told you last week, in our news update, that our paperwork was going to court in Ethiopia this Wednesday. 

We'd first like to say thank you for your thoughts and prayers on Wednesday.  We've heard from so many of you asking what we know.

On Wednesday the boys and I woke up and went to eat breakfast.  I reminded them that the paperwork was going to court today.  I also realized that even as we were praying about the paperwork....whatever was going to happen already had happened.  With Ethiopia being 7 hours ahead of EST, when we were praying at 9, it was already 4pm there.

So we heard from our agency that it looks like we passed through court.  We are another step closer.  Unless something was really wrong with our paperwork we were pretty confident that we would pass.  We didn't get all excited when we found out.....and then we were reminded that this is a big deal.  This is a step closer to bringing our son home.  We needed this step to go well.  We're still moving in the direction we want.

So what's next?

We're waiting on a letter from WoMA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) telling us when our next court date is.  This next court date is when Marjorie and I fly over to physically take our paperwork to Ethiopian court.  We need this letter NOW.

The problem is that even when things are running smoothly, WoMA is slow.  We've heard that they're particularly slow and backed up right now.  So if we're going to get to Ethiopia before courts close, we need a bunch of paperwork (not just our own) to clear through them FAST.

We are being guardedly optimistic that this can happen.  We know God has a plan.  That may be that we go now.  We also know that the way things are working right now, there's a very real chance that we're going to have to wait until October for our first trip.

FOR YOU:

As always, we still need your prayers.  Obviously right now we need to hear that we are headed to Ethiopia to meet our son sooner rather than later. 

Beyond that obvious prayer, please pray for our hearts.  That they wouldn't be hardened to the process and not be cynical from past adoption struggles.  That we would continue to be open to what God is speaking into our lives.

Also pray for C and T's hearts and minds in this adjustment.  Corban particularly has been having dreams about traveling to Ethiopia right now to pick up his brother.  They are excited, but I'm sure they don't fully grasp what changes are going to come to every day life.  Pray that their hearts would be molded for their new brother.

News Update 7/11

Hopefully by now you've read our BIG news from a couple weeks ago.  If not, you better start there.

A couple small updates.

1.  We just wanted to clarify....yes we do have pictures....no you can't see them.....at least not here.  If you see us in person, we'll gladly show you.  We're not allowed to put pictures of Elias up here until he's officially ours via paperwork.  Please know we're giddy to show you his giant eyes.  When we can we will.  

2.  That being said....if you've already seen a picture of him.....we have new pictures!!!  You should ask to see them.

3.  In our announcement post we explained that the Ethiopian courts shut down for August and September for rainy season.  At the time we were still holding out a little hope that maybe just maybe we could get in before they closed.  Then we more realistically realized the time frame doesn't work....we're not going till October.  In our e-mail tonight we have this news to share.  Our first court date (just paperwork in front of an Ethiopian judge) goes to court July 17 (next Wednesday).  Our agency says that "since they've been slow in writing their acceptance letters, it is too optimistic to think you will be able to travel before court closure a few weeks after that....but really one never knows."  Well to that I say, "I serve a God who specializes in 'too optimistic'".  We know that it's not likely.....BUT.....how awesomely crazy would it be if we had to make a mad dash to Ethiopia in a couple weeks?  I'm willing to take on the stress that would come with a whirlwind trip like that!!!  

4.  We get regular updates on Elias from our agency.  He's a little small for his age....but so were both C and T before they came home.  So what.  They say that he is a delight and plays well with the other kids.  He is walking, running, potty training....and is talking....but no one can understand anything he says.  That's cute and all....but I want him to be doing those things in my house.

Actions for you:
 1.  Would you join with us on Wednesday to pray for the court to clear our paperwork?  Also that if the follow up is suppose to....it'll be pushed through before courts close.  And mostly that we'd have a peace about however that turns out.

2.  While interacting with people both in person and online, we've realized that large groups of people haven't heard our news yet.  Can you help us with that?  Can you spread the word about what's going on with our adoption.  God is moving.  Things are happening.  We begin to see glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel.

As always......thanks for partnering with us in this journey and continuing to pray for us regularly.  We feel it and know you are with us. It means the world to us.  Thanks.

T-shirt SALE

Because of the recent news, we want to kick some things into high gear.

As you probably know we've been selling T-shirts to help fund our adoption.  We still have a bundle of these.  We'd like to have zero.  SO....to not only help fund the adoption, but close out our stock of shirts...we're putting them on SALE.

If you are local we're going to drop the cost of a shirt from 20 dollars down to 15 dollars.

If we need to ship you the shirt, we've said 23 dollars would do it.  We'll now ship you a shirt for 18 (and that's even with the USPS postal price hike).

Currently we have Youth small, Youth medium, Youth Large, Adult small, Adult medium, Adult Large and Adult X-large. 

First come first serve.  These are super comfy shirts.  All the cool kids are wearing them.

It's a........

We are very excited to share with you all.....WE HAVE A CHILD!!!!!!

Introducing........drum roll............NOBODY.....Unfortunately we signed a paper legally binding us to what we are and are not allowed to share on the internet until our child is officially ours....which happens after the courts grant our actual adoption in Ethiopia......so we can't post a picture.

Here's what we can tell you.

1.  For everyone who have been praying we'd get a girl.....you can start crying.  It's a boy!!!!

2.  He's  2.  He's healthy.

3.  He was given an Ethiopian name by his caregivers.  Much like both our boys we will be keeping that name as a middle name.  We will be calling him Elias ( E-LIE-us).

4.  We don't know when we will be able to travel.  Rainy season is coming in Ethiopia.  The courts shut down for months.  Our agency is pushing and we're hoping to get in before courts close.  If that doesn't happen, we're waiting until October before our first trip and later before he can come home.

5.  What do the boys think?  Honestly.....they're really excited it's a boy....and that's about it.  It doesn't really impact their world of summer fun right now....so it's gonna take awhile for them to grasp the implications.



We're excited.  Lots to think about.  More blog posts coming.

The Desert

We've become quiet again.  We know.  I think it's because our hearts are crying out...and we don't want to be seen as whiners or complainers.  Because truly we're not.

Personally I feel that this is the hardest part of the process.  We are in a wasteland.  Parched.  Wanting refreshing and hope.

We have nothing we can do.  No more paperwork.  No more running around getting things signed or notarized.

But we also don't have anything to hold onto.  We have no picture.  We have no smile or eyes to look at.  We have no hope that someday THIS child will be in our arms...even if it's painful to wait for that day to come.  We are in no-man's land. 


Yesterday Marjorie wore one of our shirts (this isn't a plug, but you can still buy them, we have plenty)...and I was reminded of the verse we picked out.  This chunk of Isaiah 43 (check our the entire thing and some thoughts...it's crazy amazing)

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
²¹     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise. 

I've been forgetting that he's making a spring for us in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  He didn't bring us to the dessert to leave us here.  He brought us here to bring newness to us.  

There is a lot of heart ache in adoption.  When you're on your 3rd adoption, there are some feelings and hurts that become familiar.  You remember what it felt like before to LONG for that little one. To be impatient.  To cry.  But vs. 18 says DO NOT DWELL ON THE PAST.

God give us the drink that you promise.  Remind us of the cool waters and the newness you have for us.  I'm sorry for not seeing you in this time.  Help me to rest in your peace.

News Update 3/11

If you're not already following this blog via RSS feed or by putting your e-mail in for instant notification when we update, you better do it now.....because things are about to get interesting and you don't want to miss out.

There have been a series of things that have gone on in the last couple weeks that we need to update you on.  And here they are...

-OK to make a LONG story short....we've been working jointly with two adoption agencies to make this adoption work.  Within the last couple weeks, there have been some events that have shifted that a bit.  We will now be getting our referral (picture of our child) through CHI (Children's House International) only.  Because of this shift we have had some phone calls with them.  Because of these phone calls, we have clarified a number of things with them.  Most importantly we have clarified, what they need from us (just a couple documents faxed to them)....and once they get those....we get a referral!  That's awesome.  (as you read this documents are being faxed!)

-You will remember that we recently traveled to Buffalo to get fingerprinted for the I-600....which is the US government clearance to allow us to bring a child into the country to be part of our family.  Guess what was in the mail yesterday?  OUR I-600 CLEARANCE!!!  This means that we can move forward full tilt!!!!

-What does this all mean?  It means that we're waiting around for a picture to show up of our child.  We're not talking months.....we're talking days to weeks potentially.  To clarify in case you missed it, a referral means we know age, gender, cuteness, etc. 

-So what does THAT mean?  Once we get our referral, the ball starts rolling with lawyers and paper-working being translated, and courts in Ethiopia.  We were given a rough time line, but I hesitate to share that....because we've been burnt by such timelines in the past.  Suffice it to say that a couple weeks ago I felt like we weren't moving much and now we're clicking along nicely.


Action for You:

1.  We need your prayers as always.  Obviously pray that the next few steps go smoothly.  Also pray that we are patient and don't jump the gun on what God wants for us in this time of waiting....that we would be reminded of who's timeline we're on.

2.  As I said above, if you're not getting notifications of this blogs update, you'll want to do that over in the right hand column.  I can't guarantee that I'll remember to put notifications up on Facebook all the time when a new blog post appears.  We don't want you to miss something awesome.

3.  From day one, we've felt that we are suppose to connect people with this adoption and with what God's doing in our lives in this time.  Please continue to share with others where we're at...particularly those who are a little less tech savvy. 

The Beard Conclusion

I should've probably posted this two months ago. Better late than never I suppose.

So you will remember that for November and December I put my beard up for auction. There were some pretty specific instructions...which confused a lot of people. Many people believed, that which ever fund had the most in it at the end would win...which was not the case. They were excited because the "Cut It Off" fund was winning by about 2000 dollars for most of the two months.

So here's what happened....with only a few weeks to spare a close friend of ours donated a size-able chunk of money to the "Save It" fund. Not only was this a huge blessing, it also saved a lot of confusion. As you can see as of he end of December when the contest ended, the "Save It" fund had just a slight edge on the "Cut It Off" fund. So for all those confused by the rules and hoping to see my chin....I'm not shaving!!!!!!

Someone jokingly suggested that I personally put in the money to save my facial hairs. Let me put that to rest right now...I didn't....and couldn't have, even if I had wanted to. Did I want to shave? No. But I was prepared to if it had gone that way. I wouldn't have offered it up if I wasn't prepared for that eventuality.

So was it a failure?  Far from it.  We raised more than 4000 dollars!!!!  That is awesome.  That is a nice step toward our goal of funding this adoption.  I would personally like to thank all those who donated.....to BOTH funds.  Thank you for supporting us and walking with us in this journey.  We still have a ways to go, but this really helped us along on our journey.

I hold no grudges to those who wanted to see me clean shaven.  I did feel bad for you though since I won't be bald chinned.  I know this isn't what you were hoping for, but the other day I cut 3 or 4 inches off the bottom.  It's much shorter now.  (actually no one has said one word to me about it....including Marjorie)  So it's not what you wanted, but it's something....


EDIT:  Since I wrote this last week, my youth pastor buddy J, noticed that I had cut my beard.  He's still the only one.