Drowning in Applications!

Wow! Applying for adoption grants is a lot of work! I bet I spent four hours on this project today and I don’t even feel like I made much progress. I do have at least 6 different organizations I have applications for – and a few more on the way. I have compiled a statement of faith for Bob and I and also wrote out my conversion story. I am really going to try to keep plugging away at this instead of letting the papers sit in my 3-ring binder. The home study is supposed to be done within a day or two and then I can officially begin mailing in these applications, and completing the online applications that some of the organizations require. I’ll post the places we are applying to as I get the applications sent in, and we will continue to pray that God may use this as an avenue to help us cover all the costs!

On another note – I just found out that a friend is expecting her first child. So I decided to sift through the big bin of maternity clothes and pregnancy books to see if she could use any of it. What an interesting feeling to look at all those clothes I wore, and the books I would read over and over. The memories of pregnancy and childbirth came flooding back and I couldn’t help compare those years to what we are experiencing now. Sometimes I forget we truly are “expecting” because this adoption process is so very different than what I was used to.  I am excited to be “expecting” right along with my friend, in such different and wonderful ways!

Am I Getting My Job Done?

This spoke to my heart this morning:

Are you getting your job done? “What job?” you may ask.

God had you in mind when He inspired Paul to give this charge to “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2). We usually save the word preach for preachers, but it actually means “to publicly proclaim, to herald.” It’s the job of every follower of Jesus to get the Word out – to proclaim it. To tell someone at every given opportunity about what Jesus has done for you. What your pastor does week after week is what you and I should be about every day of the year.

-James MacDonald

Priorities

Those of you who check our site regularly have probably noticed that the frequency of our postings has diminished some during the past few weeks. This is due primarily to the fact that summer has officially arrived and even though it seems like I have fewer things on my “to do list”, many days still feel more busy than usual.

Also, I have finished almost everything I can on the adoption paperwork, we are waiting for more papers to arrive in the mail, and then we wait until September to submit the dossier. Consequently, there has not been much to share as far as adoption progress goes.

But there is another reason for the change. I set up this blog, knowing that it had the potential of being an incredible waste of time – an addiction of sorts (I have talked to many people who joke about being blog-addicts). While it can be fun to read other peoples blogs, and spend time writing posts, I need to be sure the things I spend my time on, and the priorities in my life are God glorifying. I noticed lately that I was having too many moments when I wanted to go post on the blog but I knew I needed to spend time in prayer-or read my Bible-or spend time with my husband and kids. And I realized that I need to check myself to be sure that new idols are not creeping into my life, pulling me away from what I need to be doing to grow, to mature, to learn, to serve, and to love.

When days come and I can truly grow by organizing my thoughts and spelling them out in a post, or by typing out a verse I love to help me remember it, or by quoting a favorite author to remember more of what God is teaching me, I am thrilled to use this blog as a tool. But if it becomes a waste of time, something that is keeping me from where I should be (which I admit has happened lately) I need to keep myself away.

And, I want to say thanks. Thanks for sharing in this journey with us. I pray this blog can continue to be a tool for growth and learning in my life, and maybe in the lives of others, but I expect that I’ll  be posting less often in the coming months….because I need to keep my priorities straight.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  -Colossians 1:13-16 

Where is the Solution?

It is the first recourse of everyone ethically involved with intercountry adoption to place orphans with relatives, with friends, or with families within their home countries; no one imagines or pretends that adoption is a solution to a generation of children orphaned by disease. It is one small and modest option, a case of families in industrialized nations throwing lifelines to individual children even as their governments fail to commit sufficient funds or to free up the medicines to turn back the epidemic. -Melissa Fay Greene, from There Is No Me Without You

We have chosen to adopt, yet we know it is “one small and modest option” in the struggle to reach out to the millions of orphaned children. And so, we continue to pray and search for other things we can do….

Heartache

I think often about the pain that is inherently involved in adoption.

And my heart aches.

Because of illness, poverty, abandonment, famine, persecution or death, millions of children have lost their parents and millions of parents have lost their children.  But “millions” can seem so vague, so generic. In order to get to millions, there has to be one person, then one more, and one more after that. It is absolutely beyond my comprehension the despair and pain experienced in the life of these individuals. Men, women, children, and babies all suffering so deeply.

And so we come to this place. As we prepare to welcome one or two of these “millions” into our family, I realize they come to us only after experiencing a devastating loss. A loss I cannot comprehend. A loss that makes my heart ache.

Yet amidst the unspeakable and gut-wrenching pain, there is hope.

2 Peter 3:13: According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1, 4: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. . . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Acts 3:19-21: Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

For more on present pain and future glory read The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel

Eight Similarities Between God’s Adoption of Us and Our Adoption of Children

Listen to or read this message about adoption.

I pray that whether you have adopted, or are engaged in assisting adoptions, or are pondering an adoption, God will use these comparisons to heighten your confidence that God is graciously involved in our adoptions. He has done it himself. He knows what it costs. And he stands ready to support us all the way to the end. -John Piper

We’re Back

This week really felt like summer with 90 degree weather, sprinklers in the yard, hoses in the sandbox, VBS, and our first trip to the beach.

We made it through VBS week exhausted, unharmed (except for one bloody nose for Will, and colds for all three kids), and especially grateful for this coming weekend. Bob started early today (4:00 a.m.) so he was able to be home by 2:00. We had a nice afternoon, an early supper and then a trip to the beach. It was so fun to swim through the water on a hot summer day. In my minds eye I was transported back to summer camp at Fort Wilderness - such precious memories!

Our final draft of the home study report is close to completion. We are still waiting for my parents to go for their USCIS fingerprint apt. on June 30th.  And we expect that our passports should be coming in early July. Remember those grant application forms I was supposed to have completed by last weekend? Well they have been sitting in my 3-ring untouched these past two weeks. I’ll get those done soon, hopefully around the same time the home study report is finalized.

Another Change

I got a call from the agency on Monday, and per their advice we are changing the wording in our letter of request…again. We will be requesting a sibling group or a single child, and eliminating the alternate request for two unrelated children. The agency spoke with the in-country representative and recommended to us that an unrelated set of children, with one being adopted out of birth order would probably not be approved by the Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs in Ethiopia. With this development we move forward with our revised request and an absolute trust that the Lord will work this adoption out according to His sovereign and perfect plan.

VBS keeps us busy, I’ll try to post more next weeek.

Catching up on USCIS

This post is just for the records. As I have long since stopped logging adoption events in my 3-ring binder, this blog has become my primary journaling location for all adoption related progress – the exciting, and the not-so-exciting. So, here we go:

Weeks ago Bob and I received our apt. notices in the mail for Friday June 8th. After the little mix-up, we were still waiting for the apt notices for my parents apt. The mail came at 12:30 last Friday with apt. notices for my parents for June 30th, and new apt notices for Bob and I for June 26th. I decided to “ignore” the new apt. notices for us and go ahead and drive down for our previously scheduled apt. That worked out fine and we were able to have our fingerprints taken. We tried to talk to them about the duplicate notices while we were down there, but we were told that we should try to resolve it by e-mail. So, I am going to try to get my parents fingerprint apt. changed to the 26th instead of the 30th, because they were planning on being gone on the 30th. I’ll be sending that e-mail of sometime today.

I know, not-so-exciting, but progress none the less.

The Rollercoaster

I have moments – sometimes days – when I find myself wondering what we are doing. Why have we decided to take on the challenges of raising adopted children? How will we communicate to them that we love them fully? How can we embrace their African heritage while simultaneously teaching them that they are truly our children during this time on earth? How will we explain to them the reasons why we don’t look the same? How will we help them grow into their racial identity in the midst of this very racially divided society? How will we explain the reasons why their birth parents were unable to care for them without them feeling rejected? How will we handle the potential problems with RAD and other adoption related disorders? How will we handle discipline with children who have had a very traumatic and painful past? How will our adopted children interact with John, Will and Grace – and will they all accept each other as siblings? How will I handle the offhanded remarks of those who don’t understand or agree with what we are doing, and especially how will our children handle those same remarks? How…? How….? How….?

All these questions and more swirl around, along with all the many parenting related questions that we already struggle with! I mean, this parenting thing is hard enough already, right?

O, that I would learn to trust the Lord in all things, at all times! Why do I question His ways? Why do I worry?

Right now, there are two precious children on the other side of the world. And my heart aches for them to come to the home God has planned for them. We are ready and willing to take on all these challenges and more because, Lord willing, the children belong in this family. I am humbled and amazed by the beauty that exsists in adoption and the struggle and pain that is inherint in it. My heart breaks for orphans around the world.

This is “the rollercoaster”. The lows come with fears and doubts, and the highs come with peace and trust. Up and down, up and down I go!

To my precious children, when you read this someday, know that I LOVE YOU!!

The amazing thing is – no matter how weak I am, or how far I let myself go on “the rollercoaster ride” – The Lord always brings me back to His unchanging, steadfast love and truth. As always – all peace, all purpose, all glory, all honor, all praise – is from Him and for Him and through Him. 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. -Romans 12:1-3

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? -Matthew 6:25-27

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. -Isaiah 43:6-7

A Wild Ride Through God’s Word

VBS starts tonight. And so we begin the crazy week where we hardly feel like we are a family anymore. It started as we sped home from church today…to shovel in lunch….to drive to the Ministry Center to set-up the drama…to Bob speeding away to go to a grad party….to Grace getting a very late nap….to a messy house….to shoveling in a less than well-rounded supper….to improvising scripts at the last minute…to us all getting readay to leave to kick this VBS week off. And on top of all that we all seemed to be exceptionally cranky while we worked this afternoon. So a few minutes into the set-up we had to stop and pray together as a family. Thankfully God was gracious and helped to get our hearts back on track. Praying for seeds to be planted in the hearts of these children and for God’s name to be glorified!

Here we go….

The Dangerous Book for Boys

A surprise package came in the mail yesterday for John and Will, and I don’t remember the last time I saw them so excited about a book. Aunt Martha sent them The Dangerous Book for Boys along with a bag of Twizzlers and they were thrilled! It was fun for me as well because I had just read this review by Dr. Al Mohler a few days prior. Consequently, the book had just gone onto my wish list….and then it arrived in the mail. John amazed me once again. As we opened the book for the first time he exclaimed, “Look, the Battle of Hastings!” We had to turn back a few pages to check, but sure enough, he was right, it was a painting of the Battle of Hastings. I don’t know how he absorbs so much information - young minds are absolute sponges for any and all information!

Home Study Meetings Complete!

Stacy just left after our final meeting – which means we are officially done with the home study paperwork and meetings. She is still waiting on background checks to come back as well as two reference forms. We can expect a finalized draft of the report shortly and then the notarized copies will be sent to us for our records and for the dossier, to the adoption agency, and to USICS. Another step closer.

Yeah!

And tommorow we are off to St. Paul to be fingerprinted.

Ethiopia Photographs and Other Information

I have come across some sites with photographs of Ethiopia. I can’t vouch for the photographers themselves, but some of the images are quite stunning (and be prepared for some traditional tribal dress). It takes some time to sift through them, as you’ll have to click on the links to view the different galleries. I though it was worth it…but I suppose that’s because I’m a photography nut!

Jonathan Goering          Gabriel Openshaw

Also, it is my understanding that SIM (Serving in Mission) is the largest missions organization in Addis Ababa/Ethiopia. Their website has a great overview of Ethiopia along with an informative video.

Glitch Resolved and Other Details

I have been unable to get through to my blog service for a little while here, hence the small delay in postings.

Not much happening. I am trying to motivate myself to finish off the grant application forms….but it isn’t working very well. Our conversions stories, statements of faith, etc, etc, are all things I love to talk about, but for some reason sitting at the computer to type it all out doesn’t seem as fun. I’ll get it done by this weekend though, because last we heard our home study will be done then and I will actually be able to send in the applications – with much prayer and hope for a positive response from any of the wonderful organizations we are applying to!

USCIS did respond to my e-mail about the fingerprint apt mix-up with my parents. They initially scheduled an apt for this Friday along with Bob and I which I was excited about….until I found out that my dad will be in California on business. I quickly e-mailed them and they replied again with another apt. date. Hopefully I’ll get their official appointment notices in the mail soon.

I received news through our social worker of a support group in the metro area for families who have adopted from Ethiopia! It’s called the Ethiopian Kids Community and it looks like a fun and exciting opportunity. I hope that we are able to go to the upcoming event planned for July 28th. They will have a book reading with Author Jane Kurtz, Coffee Ceremony demonstrations thanks to Limu Coffee and the music of Danny Wolde.

And finally, I am very excited about a book that is next on my list to read called There Is No Me Without You. I have been reading rave reviews of the book and finally decided to check out the website. Backing up a bit – I have been communicating by e-mail with a friend of my grandparents who served for many years as a missionary in Ethiopia. In the correspondences she shared of a woman she worked with who started taking in a few children and now runs an international adoption group. We were interested to find out if maybe we would be adopting from the orphanage run by this woman. – Anyway, after reading through the website, I think this book is about the woman that my grandmothers friend worked with. I know it is a distant connection, but for some reason I think it’s pretty cool  . When we were considering adoption, I read the book The Hospital By The River, which I absolutely loved, especially for its rich history and glimpse into the culture of Ethiopia. I can only imagine how much I will enjoy reading this book….I can’t wait!