6 Months Waiting

We are officially 6 months waiting today. It doesn't get any easier, possibly it gets harder. March has been a great month for referrals and court. There have been a ton of referrals (a lot of girls) and quite a few families have travelled to pick up their little ones. We continue to pray and dream of the day we get "the call" that says today is your day, we have a little boy here just for you! Time is coming, I know we need to wait patiently for God has a plan and it will happen in his time and according to his will. We are going to celebrate and praise God like there is no tomorrow when we get that call. Meanwhile we continue to prepare, decorating his room and putting toys away. Keep praying with us for more referrals and passing of court so as families rejoice in picking up thier children we are one step closer to seeing our sweet baby boy for the first time!

Moving Court Dates

Praise God - court dates are moving again in Ethiopia!!!!! Several families posted on the YG (yahoo group) that their dates have moved from the end of April to the end of March. There are approximately 19 families with court in March that we know of. This is truly a work of God. MOW@ decided to process more than 20 requests a day and another judge has just come back to work. The faster families move through court, the quicker they can pick up their kids making more room for kids at the TH (transition home) which means more referrals YEAH!!!!! Keep praying with us that with this transition - more referrals will be passed out and moved through court before court closures from August-October. We do not want to get caught up in court closures. Praying for a referral in the next couple of months!!!!!

Age Request Increase

After talking about it Mark and I put in a request to increase our age range for a boy. We were requesting 0-6 months and we have now changed to 0-14 months. Most requests are within the 0-12 month range so maybe this will cut down the wait time a little bit. We know God already has the child and their age picked out that he is going to provide for us, we just have to be patient!

There was another referral for an infant girl yesterday, keep praying for those referrals!!!! We need to see some referrals for boys now!

Where You Least Expect It

Sometimes God puts people in your path in the places you least expect. Mark and I went to a conference in Kentucky this past weekend with our Jr high kids from the church. I go every year it is an amazing experience and lots of fun. The conference is for two days, we go swimming at the Y and then do a homeless outreach project in downtown Cincinnatti on Sunday. While we were there Mark met a couple from Cleveland that just came home with thier little boy from Ethiopia, he was 2 and so cute. It was nice to talk to a person face to face about their experience of traveling and bringing their child home. (which by the way just made me want it to happen even quicker) They told us they had also met another family that was in the process of adopting from Ethiopia from America World (our agency) earlier in the weekend. You never know where you are going to meet the people that are on the same journey as you. It is all in God's plan!

So we will officially be 5 months waiting tomorrow. The first 4 months seemed to go by quickly but now the time is dragging, I am ready to see at least a picture of our baby boy. I know all in God's time it will happen. Sometimes you have to just keep telling yourself that. Keep praying for referrals for February, there were 10 referrals in the first two weeks mostly for girls and older children. We also need to pray for families to pass court so they can travel to pick up their little ones which will open up more room in the transition home for more children, which means more referrals.

4 Months Waiting

We were officially 4 months waiting for a referral yesterday. The wait times are estimated about 9 months for an infant boy right now so we are approximately 1/2 way there. January was a good referral month so far for AWAA - if I have counted right there have been approximately 19 referrals total. What a good start to the year, praise God! We keep praying for God to continue moving through this process as quickly as he has in the past month, who knows maybe it will be less than 9 months for a referral for us!!!!

Please Pray

Friday January 16th, 2009

Please join us in praying tonight for various families that have recieved referrals from AWAA. They found out today that the ET government representative has "changed her mind" about writing their recommendation letter because of a license issue with this particular orphanage. They are to go to court on Tuesday and if there is any hope in them passing there will need to be a miracle by the hands of God. Please pray with us because he is almighty and can make miracles happen. Please pray for the following, we know from experience that there is power in prayer!!!!

*Pray that God will change "M" at agency's heart
*Pray that the case worker in Ethiopia will find documentation of prior cases similar to theirs that would ease "M" hear and make her willing to write the letter of recommendation
*Also pray that the families will remain faithful at this difficult time
*Pray that God will bring these children home to their Forever Families

More Vaccinations

Second round of vaccinations is complete! We got our second shot for the Hepatitis A & B. One more to go!!! Yesterday 4 referrals came through 2 boys and 2 girls, praise God! We are praying that 2009 brings lots of referrals. The more that come in the quicker we get to meet our son. It is hard to believe that sometime this year we will be parents. It seems so unreal.

Ethiopian Christmas Eve

Tuesday January 6th, 2009

Today is Christmas Eve in Ethiopia. Someone posted this link for a website that gives ideas how to celebrate.

http://www.ehow.com/how_10775_celebrate-ethiopian-christmas.html

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

Merry Christmas

Friday December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!! We had a wonderful holiday of eating and spending time with family and more eating. There always seems to be an overabundance of food at the holdiay season. Mark and my dad got Ethiopian coffee as a christmas present that I ordered off Ethiopianspices.com. We made it at 6 in the morning as we were opening presents. It smelled really good, it was a little strong for me but everyone else really like it. For those of you who don't know coffee originated in Ethiopia. You can actually buy the coffee beans from this website and when you get them you have to roast them and grind them before you can make coffee. I can't wait to try some while we are actually in the country.

Today we are officially 3 months waiting to receive a referral for our baby boy. As the holidays came and passed (well almost, one more party tomorrow), the presents are unwrapped and put away and the food is almost all gone we realize how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends to support us through this adoption process. The holidays were harder this year as we don't have a referral or a timeframe has to when we will but we know that it will happen in God's time. There is a beautiful baby boy he has picked out to join our Forever Family and we can't wait to bring him home. We don't even know who this child is but we already love him so much!

As we start this new year please pray with us that things will start to move a little quicker for the process. There are many changes being made within America World and the program to make it more efficient and better. A new transition home has been purchased in Ethiopia that is bigger and will hold more kids, a physician and a nurse has also been hired to work at this new home. Please pray for the paperwork mountains to move through the proper channels and for families to pass court and also for the babies and kids themselves as a lot of them come into the transition home malnurished and extremely underweight. We look forward to an exciting new year on this journey to bring our baby home.

Merry Christmas by Third Day

This song Merry Christmas by Third Day was posted on our Yahoo Group we belong to. This song is about a little girl that is waiting to come home to her family. It is such a sweet song that describes how anyone waiting for a referral, waiting for a court date, or waiting for the time to travel to pick up their child during this holiday season feels. I definitely speaks to the feelings in my heart as we await a referral this holiday season. We pray for all the children that are waiting to come home this holiday season. I hope you enjoy this song as much as we do.

Waiting Expectantly

Friday December 5, 2008

We got news this week 7 families have passed court in Ethiopia and will travel before Christmas and will spend Christmas with thier children! How awesome is that. We are praying for referrals for this month, courts are back open and families are travelling, let the referrals roll in. It might sound strange that I am so excited for people that we don't even know passing court and getting referrals. We get excited because children are getting to go to their forever families and feel loved and cared for (plus it moves us up in line to get our wonderful baby boy). It is so funny how you can love someone so much already and you don't know anything about them! But we do!

Anyway, someone posted this article on the yahoo group we belong to and I thought it was a great article and thought I would post it on our blog for all of you to read! Enjoy, keep praying for those referrals and successful court dates, our turn will come before we know it!

Waiting Expectantly
Margaret Manning

Waiting is never easy. In our day of high speed internet, instant messaging, and fast food, waiting for anything seems like an eternity. I remember the days as a child, when the season turned the corner towards Christmas day, how difficult it was for me and my siblings to wait to open our presents. We had such a hard time waiting that we would often coax our parents into allowing us to open some, or all of our presents on Christmas Eve. We couldn't wait any longer, and our parents couldn't abide another day of our whining and begging.

The season of Advent begins a season of waiting. It marks the beginning of the liturgical church year and asks us to wait expectantly for the coming of Christ, the King. Each new Advent season stirs our expectations as we wait. Will we see the return of the Lord in this Advent season? But, it also leads us to a time of
reflection concerning how we wait because waiting, by its very nature, is demanding and difficult for all of us. Like children clamoring to open their presents early because they cannot wait any longer, we often wait impatiently, rather than with expectant hope.

Waiting for God is difficult enough; but, waiting in the wilderness can make the most staid soul waver. The whole history of Israel is a history of waiting, waiting in the wilderness to enter the Promised Land, waiting for a king, waiting in exile for return to the land of Israel, and waiting for God to deliver them from all their
oppressors. The psalmists cry is their cry, and our cry: "How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?" (Psalm 89:46)

Imagine, then, how their hearts stirred with expectation when a glimmer of promise arose. We can feel the hope rise as the prophet Isaiah cries out: "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low...Then the glory
of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together" (Isaiah 40:3-5). Yet, generations came and went and the years ebbed and flowed with no sign of the promised one. Israel went into exile, and the voice of the prophets became silent. Would there be a way in the wilderness, and a smooth path cut through the desert? Or would God leave his people as exiles in the wastelands?

For over two-thousand years, we have seen Advent season come and go, each year igniting our hopes and expectations for Christ's return. Unfortunately, as happens to so many, we lose hope and heart in waiting. We grow tired and weary, and we, like the false prophets of old ask, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:4). Our temptation in the exile of waiting is to lose hope, to grow weary and faint. Our temptation is to give up rather than hold on. Rather than fill us with expectation, waiting can dull our hope and desiccate our yearning for God. Yet the Advent season calls us back to watch and to wait in anxious expectation for the return of our Lord.

Indeed, those who wait upon the Lord "shall gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary" (Isaiah 40:31). May our Advent waiting fill us with hope, renew us with strength, and raise us up with hope in our coming King.

Vaccinations

Tuesday December 2, 2008

We went to the Board of Health today to get our vaccinations started so when we get the call that it is time to go we are ready. We had to get 4 shots each plus I had to get a Tetnus shot on top of that. We are now vaccinated from Polio, Meningitis, Typhoid and we have started our series of 3 shots for Hepatitis A and B. This was a great start to a day for someone who is terrified of getting shots!!! Funny the things we do. Now all we need is that referral.

We have two months down waiting and are into our third month. These three months will go by quickly it is the next 4 to 6 months that I have a feeling will creep by!

Statistics

Wednesday November 12, 2008

I just read an interesting article on the internet on the statistics of orphans in Ethiopia. Currently in Ethiopia alone there are 4 million orphans, that is approximately 12% of the children are orphans, most due to HIV/AIDS. It is predicted that by 2014 the number of children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS will be approximately 2.1 million compared to 568,000 in 2004.

When I read these statistics it saddened my heart. So many kids need loving and caring homes. I wish I could bring them all home. Since I can't I will just continue to pray for their safety, health and that they will be placed in a family that will love and care for them. Until that happens I know that God has his arms wrapped around them keeping them safe. Currently things are taking longer to process referrals and court dates for adoptions, there are so many kids that need loving and caring homes. We need to pray for God to keep them safe and to continue to move the mountains in the Ethiopia program through AWAA to bring these children home to their families. Most likely right now we if unless the changes that are being made within the program help to make the process quicker we won't be travelling until summer maybe even fall depending on when our referral comes in. Pray with us that we will be able to bring our baby home before then. It is all in God's plan and only he can move the mountains.

Baby's Room

Monday November 10,2008

Mark has finished the baby's room. It came out so cute. I went to a conference a week ago for the weekend and when I came home the room was done and the furniture was put together. Went this weekend and bought the bedding. I was so excited I couldn't wait to have a shower.

5 Year Anniversary

Monday October 27, 2008

We celebrated our 5th anniversary on Saturday October 25th. It is so hard to believe that it has been 5 years ago that we got married. We went to Gettysburg, PA for the weekend and visited my favorite place Boyd's Bear Country! We found the cutest, softest stuffed Elephant with long legs and floppy ears. It will go perfect in the babies room. Speaking of which, we have the room painted and the trim up. We are going to finish up this week with minor touch ups and get the furniture!

We are one month down on the waiting list only 4-6 more (at least). I joined an online chat group for Ethiopian adoptions through AWAA. It is so interesting to read everyones trials and victories. It makes us so excited to travel to meet the baby that God has created for us. We continue to pray for all the orphans in Ethiopia and for the birth mother of our son where ever she may be in this process only God knows.

I have found strength in the following verse during this last month waiting (which isn't my strong suit by any means):

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
-Isaiah 41:10

If you want to see some inspirational and exciting videos and pictures of Ethiopian adoptions or Ethiopia in general go to www.youtube.com and do a search on "Ethiopian Adoption" You will be able to see other people who have already traveled to pick up their children and what their journey was like.

Continue to keep us in your prayers as we wait for that call with a referral of a baby boy! It is all in God's hands now.