Through many ups and downs, changes in direction, faith-testing walks for our whole family and so many tears of both sadness, fear and joy, these last 2 years are going to bear so much fruit for a little orphan boy named Ashagre and our family of 5 that have the humble priviledge of calling him ours!!!!!!! We get to see our son in less than a week. Oh my WORD :) AHHHHHHHH!
Early on in our adoption process, I found this "prayer" on-line. It brings me to tears every time I read it and think about all the little children all over this great, big world, praying these words and willing them to be truth... an estimated 147 million children worldwide. Open your heart, and read this....
An Orphan's Prayer...
I am waiting...somewhere...far...far... away, on the other side of the world. I may not know who you are or what you look like, but somehow, deep in my heart, I know that you are out there. One day, you will come find me. It's a long journey, and it takes a lot of time... I wish it could be easier. But I know that the ones who come for me will not count the cost. They will only see the joy of finding me. For now, I abide in the fields of the fatherless. Day by day wondering why I was born here and not somewhere else. Asking... why couldn't my life have been different.
It is so lonely... even though I am surrounded by many other children. I know something is missing... I know in my heart I need a place to call home. My arms long to be wrapped in a father's embrace... I long to be saved by a mother's love.
Gazing out the orphanage window, I offer up a prayer of hope, "Oh, God, please help them to come quickly." Even as I lay there in the darkenss each night, somehow I feel assured, that no matter how lost I appear, I am not alone."
"Holy hands guard my steps, sacred fingers wipe my tears, touching my lonely heart. The one who made me, the God that knew me before I was born, hear me every time I call." He whispers His promises in my ear. I listen with hope to His voice.
But what I worry about most is that no one wants to look for me. The fields are vast and there are so many of us scattered all over the earth. I wonder how one little child, so lost can be found?
Yet, He calms my heart and assures me that He will find you! That He will make sure that you hear His voice clearly. He has promised me that He will make a way through the fields. That He will personally cut a path for you and lead you right to my orphanage door.
My prayer is...when He speaks...please don't forget to listen... When He calls, don't be too afraid to go. For I am waiting somewhere far... far... away, on the other side of the world. TO COME HOME!
And... just like that... He found us... Just like that, our path has been cut... Just like that, Asher, once waiting and in need of a family... is now an orphan NO MORE!!!!! June 19, he will legally be ours. We won't and can't count the cost, because I know on that day, God WILL only show us the JOY :)
Please pray for my husband and I as we make the journey to Asher - for safety and that our hearts would be open for the Holy spirit to work, as we connect for the first time. I know we will glimpse Jesus in that face. We are all ready so in love! Please pray for our kiddos in our absence and for family that is managing tournament baseball schedules, soccer try-outs and just the plain busyness that comes with having 3 amazing sons :) Thank you so much!
Blessings!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Impossible Journey
Our long-awaited birth parent court date came and went last week, May 22, without much fan-fare. We were told that Ashagre's dad did not show for his court appointment, which meant, at that time, that we were all in a holding pattern. Life in the adoption pipeline is very much about waiting, and it is about patience. I am not very good at either; still working on getting better at both, but, thankfully, God has taught me, that, through the waiting and in the patience, as I try to control less and loosen my grip on what can't be controlled, as I trust His control and His plans for us, I have released a huge burden in my life. Control is just selfishness that we can make things turn out our way. God is perfect; we are not. I am so glad He is in control, and that He has taught me this lesson and released this burden through this wait. So the court day came and went, and we waited.
We were all disappointed and pretty sad, but we knew it was a part of God's plans for us and for Ashagre. It is not unusual for a birth parent not to show to court. With such a vast country and without phones, computers, home addresses, calendars, snail mail, etc. how does any birth parent ever make it to court at all?? I am thinking it is sort of like looking for a needle in a haystack, but God controls that; I do not!!!
So, a father made the impossible, difficult, 10-hour journey to a far away city in Ethiopia, a week later, to make the ultimate sacrifice of love... waiving his parental rights to his son, never to see him again, so that his son could have the chance at a better life. This sacrifice is not our control; that is God's control. Oh, our hearts have been heavy about this for weeks, thinking about that scene in the courtroom, playing out while we slept, half-way across the world. What must it have been like for him? Did he think of his son? Did he cry? I can't imagine! Bless him Lord and keep him firmly in your grasp; fill the hole in his heart. Take away his grief and pain. I pray for the ache he must feel. I pray that the Lord shines His face upon him, as he makes the long, hard trip back home and in the coming months and years to come, that he will have peace!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, Mr. Himdali for making the ultimate sacrifice, so that your little boy, who you have watched grow up for the last 5 years, can be a part of our family.
From heartbreak and sacrifice to our excitement and love that has grown over the last 2 months... the last 2 years, really. Oh, how we have fought for Ashagre! We will now get to see the child that we have prayed so hard for for the last 2 + years. I can hardly believe we will get to touch him, hold him, tickle him, squeeze him, hug him, and get to look into those big, brown eyes. Surely, we will glimpse the face of Jesus!!!!!!!!! THIS IS REDEMPTION. This is where the wait and our patience and trust in Him will bear its fruit... that is LOVE. Love for us; love for Ashagre. Ashagre passed court. Now, we get to go meet our son, an orphan no more!!
Praise the Lord!
We were all disappointed and pretty sad, but we knew it was a part of God's plans for us and for Ashagre. It is not unusual for a birth parent not to show to court. With such a vast country and without phones, computers, home addresses, calendars, snail mail, etc. how does any birth parent ever make it to court at all?? I am thinking it is sort of like looking for a needle in a haystack, but God controls that; I do not!!!
So, a father made the impossible, difficult, 10-hour journey to a far away city in Ethiopia, a week later, to make the ultimate sacrifice of love... waiving his parental rights to his son, never to see him again, so that his son could have the chance at a better life. This sacrifice is not our control; that is God's control. Oh, our hearts have been heavy about this for weeks, thinking about that scene in the courtroom, playing out while we slept, half-way across the world. What must it have been like for him? Did he think of his son? Did he cry? I can't imagine! Bless him Lord and keep him firmly in your grasp; fill the hole in his heart. Take away his grief and pain. I pray for the ache he must feel. I pray that the Lord shines His face upon him, as he makes the long, hard trip back home and in the coming months and years to come, that he will have peace!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, Mr. Himdali for making the ultimate sacrifice, so that your little boy, who you have watched grow up for the last 5 years, can be a part of our family.
From heartbreak and sacrifice to our excitement and love that has grown over the last 2 months... the last 2 years, really. Oh, how we have fought for Ashagre! We will now get to see the child that we have prayed so hard for for the last 2 + years. I can hardly believe we will get to touch him, hold him, tickle him, squeeze him, hug him, and get to look into those big, brown eyes. Surely, we will glimpse the face of Jesus!!!!!!!!! THIS IS REDEMPTION. This is where the wait and our patience and trust in Him will bear its fruit... that is LOVE. Love for us; love for Ashagre. Ashagre passed court. Now, we get to go meet our son, an orphan no more!!
Praise the Lord!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy, Happy Mother's Day - What an amazing Year It Has Been
Last year, at this time, my boys surprised me with a new Iphone. At that point in our adoption journey, we were almost done with our paperwork with our old adoption agency. We weren't even on the wait list then. We could only dream about our little one - faceless, nameless, genderless, without an age, without any information. We were only connected by God's rising passion in our hearts to accept this litte one, whenever that would be, whoever that would be. I remember the kids coming to me, after they had time to mess around on my phone, exclaiming that they could pull up Addis Ababa's daily weather and time to save to my phone - that was our connection to Ashagre then... Daily weather and time for where he was. Not much to go on, but we felt attached even then. Oh, what an amazing year it has been...
Our year in review... we completed our paperwork with our old adoption agency and got on their wait list in July of 2012; we waited for 3 months on that waitlist before God nudged us to go in another directionand we received news that our 2 year wait would increase to at least 3-4 years; we got on our new agency's waitlist on March 20, 2013 and had our dossier touch down in Ethiopia on March 27. We accepted the referral for little Ashagre last month - April 24 - and, we have been overwhelmed by God's timing yet again with a, sooner than expected, birth parent court date for May 22 - that is less than a month since we accepted his referral - wow! AHHHHHHHH! That is only 10 days from now!! What an amazing Mother's Day gift. This court date will determine our time to travel to Ethiopia to meet our son for the first time. Our adoption agency was not expecting this date to be until June some time. Now, we will get the opportunity to be able to travel any time between June 3-June 30 to meet Ashagre and see his home for the last 2 months... Jane's House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ashagre, once nameless and faceless to us, will be an orphan no more!!!!!!
We are crazy excited, in awe of the Lord's humbling grace and mighty power to not only speed up this process for us but also for Ashagre. For me, to be honest, because I am such a planner - oh, God is working on me every day - LOL, this excitement is tempered with a bit of anxiety over the speed of all of this, as we have to pack, get our kiddos squared away with coverage from family to watch them and their busy schedules, get immunizations, make quicker than expected travel plans, etc. etc, but, we focus on the fact that we are that much closer to hugging, kissing, holding, and hearing Ashagre's laughter. Oh, how I have longed to hear his laughter :)
When May 22 rolls around, we have to be prepared to possibly go less than 2 weeks later. When we go to Africa for our court date and pass court NEXT MONTH, Ashagre will officially be ours... but, then we have to leave him in Addis. When we leave him, even though in the eyes of Ethiopia he is ours, our paperwork has to go to the American Embassy to clear Ashagre to be an American citizen to come home. This could take weeks, so that is why we don't stay there. When we clear embassy, we will get to make travel plans again to go back to Africa to bring Ashagre home :) As this process has happened so very quickly so far, we are hoping that we won't even have to wait a month, before we go back.
We could bring Ashagre home before school starts and have a great deal of family time together before the busyness of a new school year sets in. I am daring to think that way, as things have gone so well. I am allowing myself the untempered joy to think that!! The boys want to teach him to swim, of all things, because, since Ashagre is from a dessert tribe, they think it is so amazing that he has never seen a pool before :) Oh, there is so very much Ashagre hasn't ever seen or experienced before! How amazing to get the opportunity to see things we take for granted every day around us be fresh and new through his eyes!!!!!!!!!!!
We are still fundraising, if you feel led to give financially in any way. We are so close to our traveling expense goal of $10,000, so very humbling that so many are helping us to get our son home!!!!!!!
There are numerous ways in which to help...
1.) You can send a check to our church (tax-deductible), which will be earmarked for our travel to Africa... Make checks payable to Haven Church - memo Holwerda Adoption to:
Haven Church
541 Alice ST
Zeeland, MI 49464
2.) You can make a donation to our on-line charity, via secure paypal credit card payament @
www.acharityproject.com/c/tentotravel
3.) You can donate diapers (up to size 2), baby formula small toys for all ages (matchbox cars, coloring books and crayons, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, beanie babies, etc), and/or clothes and shoes for children 0-7 years old. to bless the orphanage with. We are hoping to take at least 2-3 suitcases full of donations to leave with the orphange. There is a great need!!!
As always, your prayers are coveted for our family, little Ashagre and the nealry 160 million orphans that need forever families!! Prayer has moved mountains - we are testimony to that :)
Thank you so much :)
Our year in review... we completed our paperwork with our old adoption agency and got on their wait list in July of 2012; we waited for 3 months on that waitlist before God nudged us to go in another directionand we received news that our 2 year wait would increase to at least 3-4 years; we got on our new agency's waitlist on March 20, 2013 and had our dossier touch down in Ethiopia on March 27. We accepted the referral for little Ashagre last month - April 24 - and, we have been overwhelmed by God's timing yet again with a, sooner than expected, birth parent court date for May 22 - that is less than a month since we accepted his referral - wow! AHHHHHHHH! That is only 10 days from now!! What an amazing Mother's Day gift. This court date will determine our time to travel to Ethiopia to meet our son for the first time. Our adoption agency was not expecting this date to be until June some time. Now, we will get the opportunity to be able to travel any time between June 3-June 30 to meet Ashagre and see his home for the last 2 months... Jane's House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ashagre, once nameless and faceless to us, will be an orphan no more!!!!!!
We are crazy excited, in awe of the Lord's humbling grace and mighty power to not only speed up this process for us but also for Ashagre. For me, to be honest, because I am such a planner - oh, God is working on me every day - LOL, this excitement is tempered with a bit of anxiety over the speed of all of this, as we have to pack, get our kiddos squared away with coverage from family to watch them and their busy schedules, get immunizations, make quicker than expected travel plans, etc. etc, but, we focus on the fact that we are that much closer to hugging, kissing, holding, and hearing Ashagre's laughter. Oh, how I have longed to hear his laughter :)
When May 22 rolls around, we have to be prepared to possibly go less than 2 weeks later. When we go to Africa for our court date and pass court NEXT MONTH, Ashagre will officially be ours... but, then we have to leave him in Addis. When we leave him, even though in the eyes of Ethiopia he is ours, our paperwork has to go to the American Embassy to clear Ashagre to be an American citizen to come home. This could take weeks, so that is why we don't stay there. When we clear embassy, we will get to make travel plans again to go back to Africa to bring Ashagre home :) As this process has happened so very quickly so far, we are hoping that we won't even have to wait a month, before we go back.
We could bring Ashagre home before school starts and have a great deal of family time together before the busyness of a new school year sets in. I am daring to think that way, as things have gone so well. I am allowing myself the untempered joy to think that!! The boys want to teach him to swim, of all things, because, since Ashagre is from a dessert tribe, they think it is so amazing that he has never seen a pool before :) Oh, there is so very much Ashagre hasn't ever seen or experienced before! How amazing to get the opportunity to see things we take for granted every day around us be fresh and new through his eyes!!!!!!!!!!!
We are still fundraising, if you feel led to give financially in any way. We are so close to our traveling expense goal of $10,000, so very humbling that so many are helping us to get our son home!!!!!!!
There are numerous ways in which to help...
1.) You can send a check to our church (tax-deductible), which will be earmarked for our travel to Africa... Make checks payable to Haven Church - memo Holwerda Adoption to:
Haven Church
541 Alice ST
Zeeland, MI 49464
2.) You can make a donation to our on-line charity, via secure paypal credit card payament @
www.acharityproject.com/c/tentotravel
3.) You can donate diapers (up to size 2), baby formula small toys for all ages (matchbox cars, coloring books and crayons, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, beanie babies, etc), and/or clothes and shoes for children 0-7 years old. to bless the orphanage with. We are hoping to take at least 2-3 suitcases full of donations to leave with the orphange. There is a great need!!!
As always, your prayers are coveted for our family, little Ashagre and the nealry 160 million orphans that need forever families!! Prayer has moved mountains - we are testimony to that :)
Thank you so much :)
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Let God Dazzle You... WE Got Our Referral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Since my last post, over a month ago, we finished our dossier with our new agency (and it actually got sent to Ethiopia this time - touchdown was March 27th - whoo hoo), got on the wait list at #45 (we were #99 at our old agency - amazing movement forward), and we have been dazzled by God's amazing love, grace, mercy and perfect timing in ALL things ever since...
God is so good! I had a friend text me on the eve of our church fundraiser to raise money for our adoption traveling expenses last night saying simply, "Let God dazzle you!" I thought that was the perfect statement about what God is doing in our lives through this adoption journey. So many people showed up to offer their support to not only our family but also to our little one so far away. We were dazzled and so very grateful!! It was a great night indeed! JJ elected me to talk to everyone on behalf of our family about our story (God's story really). Sure, give the microphone to the panic attack sufferer - LOL! I had prayed so hard that my words would be the words God wanted me to utter, and I believe God was speaking through me that night. I was clear; I was able to speak of what was on my heart; I have never before been able to share so clearly what this call to adopt has meant to us in our faith walks, in our relationship with God, and in our deepened understanding of trusting in HIS timing and HIS perfect plans for our family. JJ even cried :) We stepped out on a limb with our faith in choosing to follow HIM in this way, and we have been dazzled. It hasn't all been razzle dazzle, but I really would not change a day of the last year and a half of our lives.
At 3:30 the day before our fundraiser, I got a phone call from our adoption agency. I was at work, so I could not answer the call. I called back a little while later, but our case worker was on the other line, so I had to leave a message. I must tell you; I knew something big was about to happen!! While on our way home that night, THE call came. We heard the sweet, dazzling words we longed to hear, "Sara and John, we have a referral for you!" Instant tears, and I fell to my knees. I think I heard every word she said, but I can't be sure. His name is Ashagre. He is 5 years old, and he is the most amazing sight... Beautiful with his big, doe-eyes and a smile that lights up the room. I wish I could show you a picture, but I can't publicly share his picture for privacy reasons. I have a few pics on my phone you can sneak a peak at, if you ever run into me out and about :)
We accepted the referral the same day as our fundraiser - so dazzling and amazing is God's timing of this. In fact, I announced our referral for the first time at our fundraiser - best.day.ever! Our case worker's mom was instrumental in putting together our church funraiser - so dazzling and amazing! A Zeeland Christian family (our kiddos' school) is at the very orphanage where our Ashagre is, and they have been able to send current pics of our little guy. Ashagre's referral picture is very grainy, and he was so malnourished then. You could just see the fear in this little guy's eyes. Daddy, are you ever going to come back?? Ashagre's story for a five year old is so sad to hear - breaks our hearts. We pray for a father that had to make the most awful choice - brings me to tears just to write it down. But, to see current pics of our little guy is so priceless, because you can really see what 3 square meals a day for 6 weeks can do - round little cheeks and a little less fear in his eyes. Ashagre will have a little piece of home just down the street from where we live (literally a few blocks away), not only because of the little girl this family is adopting but also because the dad became buddies with Ashagre the week they were there, and they had no idea of our referral - be dazzled!!! Thank you, God! I have also connected with a family that was at Ashagre's orphanage the day he was brought there. I got to hear that story and get a glimpse into our son's personality before we even meet him - be dazzled!
As you can see, our story has the hand prints of God all over it. Only God could have done such amazing things - all on behalf of one of the least of these in this world to have a forever home. That is love. We serve a God of love!!!!
From here, our paperwork gets submitted to birth mom court. This is where we need prayer warriors, not only praying for Ashagre but also praying for our paperwork to have smooth sailing from here on out. Our birth mom court date could happen any time, but the estimation is in June some time. After birth mom court, our paperwork gets submitted to court. This is the date that will bring us to Africa for the first time to see our little one face-to-face, and Ashagre will officially be ours!! That time frame is estimated at late July. The Ethiopian courts close for August and September, so we are praying for at least the first trip to happen before then, or we wait until October. God can and will dazzle us with the perfect timing of this, too. I am SURE of this! We have seen this perfect timing - it exists!! After court and seeing our precious bundle, we will go home for a few months and wait for the final court date appointment, at which time we will go to Africa to see our son and finalize his situation to come home - what a glorious day that will be. I know I will be DAZZLED then :)
We are trying to raise funds to go to Africa. Our hope is to raise at least $10,000, so we have created an on-line charity called Ten To Travel. If you feel like giving to us, it is via paypal and your credit card (secured site), please simply plug this address into the web, and it will take you right to our charity:
The site is very easy to maneuver. You can also read more about our adoption journey on this page, so just check it out!
At the very least, keep Ashagre and our family and the plight of so many orphans waiting for their forever families in your prayers, as that can also support in too many ways to count!
I pray that you are dazzled by catching a glimpse of our God's amazing love and perfect timing in your lives today and always! He is there every day; some days the dazzle is strong; some days you wonder if the dazzle is really there or ever was. We are testimony that if you look for God's dazzle, and you follow His call for your life, whatever that is, you WILL be dazzled, too!
BE DAZZLED!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
"For I Know The Plans I Have For You," Declares the LORD!! - Jeremiah 29:11
Since November, the month of my last post, we set about to dissolve our contract with our old agency. This, unfortunately has been a difficult process and has taken a great deal of time, most of December until now, the beginning of March. It was easy to sign the contract that dissolved our tie to our old agency, but to get our paperwork back from them and convert it over to our new agency has not been easy. Our old agency asked for more money, which didn't set well with us, as we felt that was just plain unneccessary, but only made clear the new path we were taking with our new agency, who has done nothing but work within all of the fees we already paid. We paid the money, but it has been one problem after another. We know who orchestrates the plans for our lives, and He is allowing these minor bumps to happen for a reason, whatever thoses reason may be... We know God is bigger than these little setbacks. I must confess, however, that this part of our adoption process, at least, for me, has been the most difficult time so far. I have experienced a lot of tears, and all of us have been so frustrated. The adoption process some days beats us down, when I picture our sweet child being stuck because of this red tape. We try not to dwell on the details and think only of the end result!!! We know, through our faith in our Lord and savior and through His promises to us, that we WILL move forward and that it will be the best plan for all of us - plans to prosper us, not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future....
We are encouraged by our new agency's philosophy, people, and shorter wait time. Once our paperwork is converted (we thought we had it all done this weekend, only to find out a date was incorrect, and, as crazy as this sounds, because of this incorrect date, we are stuck, until a new original document can be made - isn't that crazy?), we can move forward with our new agency and finally be done with our old agency - yay! My hope is that by this coming week, our documents can be checked over, sent to Ethiopia, and then translated. Once the documents are translated, we can be matched with our child. We don't even need to deal with waitlists with our new agency, because we are the only family that wants a child over the age of 2. Yay, we went from being #100 on our old agency's waitlist to #1 on our new agency's wait list. This change has saved us at least a year, possibly 2 years of waiting. That is really priceless!!
So much has happened to our family in this wait, though, that has been amazing and can only be from God (all a part of HIS amazing plan).........
Our oldest son, who has severe ADD, who has struggled with reading for years, has really made some amazing strides this year at school. He went from reading at a 4th-grade level at the beginning of 6th-grade to reading at a 6th-grade level this past month. All of his hard work and struggling and our hard work with him and struggling have paid off!! This has been a huge answer to prayer on behalf of so many to get him where he needs to be... Thank you God. We can't tell you what a victory this has been. We credit God for this stride forward. It has only bolstered his confidence and helped him to see and feel his reliance on God for things... Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." He could actually connect a verse in the Bible with his struggles. It was an a-ha moment and very meaningful for us all.
I also have to mention this amazing story, because, as small of an event as it was, it made a huge impact on my faith.... I have had some health issues the last few months, which required me to have to go in to the hospital for an MRI in early February. To say that I don't like small spaces is pretty much an understatement. I freak out. I have had several MRI's in the past and know my limitations. Of course, I was going in to be checked out for MS, which was scary in and of itself, also. I got a card of encouragement from a friend that week before the MRI appointment, and she wrote some of the lyrics from Chris Tomlin's song "Whom Shall I Fear" in the card. At the exact time I opened the card in the car, while the radio was playing, that song came on the radio - wow! That was amazing. If you have ever had an MRI done, you know that they can play music into your ear phones, while you are in the tube. I asked my friend, who is a local Christian radio personality, the night before the MRI appointment, to play a certain song for me at a certain time of the day, so I would know I was half way through the appointement, that her voice would be there with me in the tube, and that I could have that song to look forward to hearing. The song, of course, was "Whom Shall I fear". I went to the MRI appointment armed with my iphone (for radio streaming into the tube), my blindfold, and 2 vallums :) I was ready - LOL!!!
The first thing the MRI tech asked me is if I had ever had a contrast MRI (they insert dye into your body through a needle); well, I was going to have a contrast dye MRI that day - surprise! I had never had one - DEEP BREATH, as I don't like needles and it meant a longer MRI appointment - boo. Then, I asked him if he could stream my iphone into the tube. He said he could - whew. I put my blindfold on as soon as I got in the room - the less I had in my sights the better. The tech put me onto the table, but told me that he could not get my phone to load. I'd have to listen to a Christian radio station from satellite - DEEP BREATH. At least it was still Christian radio... The test began. About 10 minutes into the test, I began to have a panic attack...My heart started racing; I felt like I was being strangled and couldn't breathe; I wanted to scream out that I couldn't continue. Then, all of a sudden, I heard "Whom Shall I Fear" pipe into my ears! Are you kiding me? I started to cry and immediately began to calm down :) I heard my girlfriend's voice come on the radio. The tech got my phone to stream JUST as my song came on the radio - PTL!!! The tech asked if that was my song, and I said yes. How did he know? He said he just knew. We got to talkling about Christian music and if he attended church, and he did attend church. He was so kind and accomodating to me. PTL! I was given the dye injection for the contrast test, and I hardly flinched. I felt a wave of peace come over me like never before. Was it the vallum? I think not!! God had moved me in this small but significant way. Prayer for calm and for a good test were answered. I will never forget being a part of that little miracle in my life. I do not have MS, AND I conquered the dreaded tube :)
These small victories in the grand scheme of life may seem small, but they are significant to us!! In a stretch of months where we have felt like our adoption process is just stuck, we cling to these victories and KNOW that God does move and orchestrate and control and give us peace and love us and want only the best for our lives. We know He can move this adoption process along tomorrow, if necessary, but maybe we aren't ready just yet. We need to see and experience more of HIM before we can move forward. We pray for our little bundle in Africa... We pray he or she is healthy. We pray he or she is being provided for. We pray that our child is loved in a very real way by the KING!
We are coming little one; WE ARE COMING!!
l
Friday, November 30, 2012
So Many Changes
Whew, I can't believe it was August the last time I updated our blog. Soooooo very much has happened in the last 3 months... So excited to update you on our progress and the changes in our family since August!
First of all, at the end of August, we adopted a puppy. He is an adorable Maltese/shihtzu named Otis. Our boys did not know we were going to get a dog, so waking them up that first morning to puppy kisses was truly an experience that my husband and I will never forget. It was so precious to see their truly surprised and excited faces. Otis, named by our boys, has been a wonderful addition to our family and has brought us much joy :) Otis eases our adoption wait a little, at least for the boys!
Here is a bit about the last few months of our adoption by the numbers...
Each month, we get an email from our adoption agency about where our family is on the agency's wait list to be referred a child. In August, we were #112 for a boy and #131 for a girl. In September, we moved up to #104 for a boy and #125 for a girl. We were making so much progress that excitement and spirits were high! We opened October's email to have that excitement fall a bit. Our move was very small, but it was movement none the less. We were still hopeful that it was movement forward. So, here we sat, moving into November at # 103 and #119.
We began to feel little nudges in our heart the beginning of November (after all, November is Adoption Awareness month, so we knew it would be a hard month for us, longing for our little one more than ever) - scripture began to leap off of the page, sermons were giving us restless feelings, conversations with just the right people were too amazing not to see God's leading, family devotions made us stop
and think... We were beginning to feel as though God was leading us in another direction in which to
adopt. Really??? We had so many conflicting questions. Why had we felt so lead to go with our current agency in the first place? Why had we not checked out other agencies? We loved our current agency, they said and did all the right things. Why would we leave them? We would lose a lot of money, if we broke our contract with our current agency. Were we really supposed to lose this
money to go to another agency? After all, adoption is expensive as it is... scary! This was a crazy new development.
We needed wisdom and prayed James 1:5 for many days in November, as we had when we were questioning whether we should adopt in the first place: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to him." We needed wisdom from
God to make this decision - couldn't do it alone...We got invited to a friend's church for Orphan
Sunday and heard from 3 families that adopted children, 2 families from Ethiopia and 1 family from
Haiti. The sermon, given by those 3 families through their adoption journeys, wasn't so much about
adoption, although that was the obvious theme, it was more about hearing God's will in whatever that
may be and choosing to follow Him in faith. Our hearts are not to be like the Dead Sea... lifeless, still, and have no outlet. Instead our hearts in faith to God are to be living in the word, moving on what we are charged to do, and, most importantly, spreading the word to others, creating that outlet for our spirit to flow over others in our life and whoever we meet. The family car conversation on the way home from that service and later into the afternoon was awesome. The verse that kept radiating, at least for me, like a little light was 1 John 3:18-20: 18. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions in truth. 19. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence 20. whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." Were we just to wait out the time to be matched with our child, or were we to move in whatever direction God was calling us - pursuing the truth of our calling which was to care for the orphan?
God was setting that foundation of wisdom that we had asked for! We were pointed in the right
direction to adopt, but we just needed to change direction a bit and really do this with faith... listen with faithful hearts and trust that God would fulfill more than our heart's desire, when we
follow Him. So we decided to, at the very least, check out other agencies that same week of that Adoption Sunday sermon. We called a local adoption agency, and, to our surprise, they only had a few families on their Ethiopian adoption wait list that wanted a child older than 3. Our age range is for a boy or girl age 3-6. Hmmmmmm! I talked to the adoption director for Ethiopia, and she broke down the costs for us, and she said many of the fees for their agency would not apply to us, as we were far enough along in the process. Hmmmmm! We wouldn't be out as much money as we thought. Then, she said the thing that turned on the lightbulb for us. Our wait to be matched with a child would only be 2-4 months after our paperwork got updated and sent to our new agency! WHAT?!! We could go from waiting 2-4 years to waiting only 2-4 MONTHS?! We had to pinch ourselves. Needless to say, we filled out the new application with the new agency and got the ball rolling this week :) Whoo Hoo!
We are so grateful for God's orchestrated plan in this change in direction. We can't hardly find the words! He gave us the wisdom to pursue this new direction, and we are excited to move along so quickly! God's plans for us are so much better than we could imagine for our lives.
Whew! That is a lot of change in just a few months! Keep praying for the orphaned and pray that the adoption process continues to move along swiftly - God bless!
First of all, at the end of August, we adopted a puppy. He is an adorable Maltese/shihtzu named Otis. Our boys did not know we were going to get a dog, so waking them up that first morning to puppy kisses was truly an experience that my husband and I will never forget. It was so precious to see their truly surprised and excited faces. Otis, named by our boys, has been a wonderful addition to our family and has brought us much joy :) Otis eases our adoption wait a little, at least for the boys!
Here is a bit about the last few months of our adoption by the numbers...
Each month, we get an email from our adoption agency about where our family is on the agency's wait list to be referred a child. In August, we were #112 for a boy and #131 for a girl. In September, we moved up to #104 for a boy and #125 for a girl. We were making so much progress that excitement and spirits were high! We opened October's email to have that excitement fall a bit. Our move was very small, but it was movement none the less. We were still hopeful that it was movement forward. So, here we sat, moving into November at # 103 and #119.
We began to feel little nudges in our heart the beginning of November (after all, November is Adoption Awareness month, so we knew it would be a hard month for us, longing for our little one more than ever) - scripture began to leap off of the page, sermons were giving us restless feelings, conversations with just the right people were too amazing not to see God's leading, family devotions made us stop
and think... We were beginning to feel as though God was leading us in another direction in which to
adopt. Really??? We had so many conflicting questions. Why had we felt so lead to go with our current agency in the first place? Why had we not checked out other agencies? We loved our current agency, they said and did all the right things. Why would we leave them? We would lose a lot of money, if we broke our contract with our current agency. Were we really supposed to lose this
money to go to another agency? After all, adoption is expensive as it is... scary! This was a crazy new development.
We needed wisdom and prayed James 1:5 for many days in November, as we had when we were questioning whether we should adopt in the first place: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to him." We needed wisdom from
God to make this decision - couldn't do it alone...We got invited to a friend's church for Orphan
Sunday and heard from 3 families that adopted children, 2 families from Ethiopia and 1 family from
Haiti. The sermon, given by those 3 families through their adoption journeys, wasn't so much about
adoption, although that was the obvious theme, it was more about hearing God's will in whatever that
may be and choosing to follow Him in faith. Our hearts are not to be like the Dead Sea... lifeless, still, and have no outlet. Instead our hearts in faith to God are to be living in the word, moving on what we are charged to do, and, most importantly, spreading the word to others, creating that outlet for our spirit to flow over others in our life and whoever we meet. The family car conversation on the way home from that service and later into the afternoon was awesome. The verse that kept radiating, at least for me, like a little light was 1 John 3:18-20: 18. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions in truth. 19. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence 20. whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." Were we just to wait out the time to be matched with our child, or were we to move in whatever direction God was calling us - pursuing the truth of our calling which was to care for the orphan?
God was setting that foundation of wisdom that we had asked for! We were pointed in the right
direction to adopt, but we just needed to change direction a bit and really do this with faith... listen with faithful hearts and trust that God would fulfill more than our heart's desire, when we
follow Him. So we decided to, at the very least, check out other agencies that same week of that Adoption Sunday sermon. We called a local adoption agency, and, to our surprise, they only had a few families on their Ethiopian adoption wait list that wanted a child older than 3. Our age range is for a boy or girl age 3-6. Hmmmmmm! I talked to the adoption director for Ethiopia, and she broke down the costs for us, and she said many of the fees for their agency would not apply to us, as we were far enough along in the process. Hmmmmm! We wouldn't be out as much money as we thought. Then, she said the thing that turned on the lightbulb for us. Our wait to be matched with a child would only be 2-4 months after our paperwork got updated and sent to our new agency! WHAT?!! We could go from waiting 2-4 years to waiting only 2-4 MONTHS?! We had to pinch ourselves. Needless to say, we filled out the new application with the new agency and got the ball rolling this week :) Whoo Hoo!
We are so grateful for God's orchestrated plan in this change in direction. We can't hardly find the words! He gave us the wisdom to pursue this new direction, and we are excited to move along so quickly! God's plans for us are so much better than we could imagine for our lives.
Whew! That is a lot of change in just a few months! Keep praying for the orphaned and pray that the adoption process continues to move along swiftly - God bless!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Settling Into the Wait
We are officially finished with all paperwork and fingerprinting that is necessary to make sure we are able to adopt. Our last letter came yesterday, as US Immigration has deemed us a "favorable family" to adopt internationally from Ethiopia :) We are rejoicing that we can now officially move forward. We got put on our agency's adoption wait list 2 weeks ago. Now, all of our paperwork and fingerprinting and family profile information can get sent to Ethiopia to begin the journey of not only our adoption agency but also the Ethiopian adoption agency working to match our family with God's choice for us! It doesn't seem real that this journey is now completely out of our control. From here on out, our prayer is that we always remember to trust in God's timing, which is perfect, as the Lord does NOT make mistakes. God has our family and our new, little one in the palm of HIS hand, and I know, whether or not our child is with her or his birth family still or in an orphanage or not even born yet, that the Lord is watching over this precious little one... Thank you, God, for making this journey possible!
We get monthly updates about our progress regarding that wait list and where we fall each month based on how many children get matched and united that month, so not only does it mean good news for us, when we go up on that list, but this also means that other orphaned children are being referred and/or matched with their forever families and are orphans no more!!!!!!!! That is great news for everyone :)
This month, we made HUGE gains - amazingly thrilling to say the least. We opened up our email last night, and we went from #146 for a girl to #131 and from #125 for a boy to #112 - YIPPEE! 28 children got matched this past month. That is so wonderful... Praise the Lord! The courts close in Ethiopia for the months of August and Sept because of the rainy season there, so I am happy that so many got matched before this happened. We probably won't do much moving in the next 2 months, so it was such a blessing to move up so much in just one month - our first month on the wait list :)
We are bracing ourselves for the months that not much happens and the wait seems too long to bear, as that is going to be disheartening, I am sure, but we are moving forward... to the day we get the call that we have a referral! It is then we will be able to see our child for the very first time! The journey will be worth it :) The settling into this wait will be worth it!!!
Keep praying for the orphaned child! God bless.
We get monthly updates about our progress regarding that wait list and where we fall each month based on how many children get matched and united that month, so not only does it mean good news for us, when we go up on that list, but this also means that other orphaned children are being referred and/or matched with their forever families and are orphans no more!!!!!!!! That is great news for everyone :)
This month, we made HUGE gains - amazingly thrilling to say the least. We opened up our email last night, and we went from #146 for a girl to #131 and from #125 for a boy to #112 - YIPPEE! 28 children got matched this past month. That is so wonderful... Praise the Lord! The courts close in Ethiopia for the months of August and Sept because of the rainy season there, so I am happy that so many got matched before this happened. We probably won't do much moving in the next 2 months, so it was such a blessing to move up so much in just one month - our first month on the wait list :)
We are bracing ourselves for the months that not much happens and the wait seems too long to bear, as that is going to be disheartening, I am sure, but we are moving forward... to the day we get the call that we have a referral! It is then we will be able to see our child for the very first time! The journey will be worth it :) The settling into this wait will be worth it!!!
Keep praying for the orphaned child! God bless.
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