Lyrics & Waiting

Isn't it funny how words when put into a song can make you see the bigger picture better than someone telling you face to face? This "waiting" time we are in right now is starting to test my patience. We are waiting for a referral, waiting for a job opportunity, waiting for warmer weather, waiting for the sun, etc. It just seems like we are waiting and waiting but nothing is happening. Everyone keeps telling me (including myself) that everything will happen in God's timing, in his plan. In my heart I know that is true but for someone who pretty much needs to be in control at all times, waiting is the hardest part. Anyway, back to the lyrics, I just bought this cd by Richie McDonald "I Turn to You". There is a song on it that I listen to everyday since I bought it on my way to work and on my way home called "Hey God". I turn the stereo up loud (probably to loud) and sing at the top of my lungs with the song. The lyrics that really get me are:

"You have your ways, you have your plan
Sometimes mysterious and hard to understand
I am humbled by your grace and everything you do
Hey, God, hey God, I just wanna thank you

Sometimes I forget to stop and bow my head
And remember that I have been blessed

Oh, you have your ways, you have your plan
Sometimes mysterious and hard to understand
I am humbled by your grace and everything you do
Hey, God, hey, God, I just wanna thank you

Thank you"

Sometimes I think we get in our own way to the point where we can't see the joys and blessings God has already given us. We only see what we are waiting for and what we want to happen now. Our plan and God's plan most likely are not the same, or maybe they are and the timing is just off.

So I will go back to waiting patiently with a cheerful heart, thanking God for everything he has blessed me with and for his love and grace.

Video of Ethiopia

A family made this video montage of pictures from Ethiopia. They are already home with their cute little boy. I can't wait to go! Praying for more referrals! Enjoy!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=88cf010963f55dd4854cfb&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

What is a Referral?

We have been asked many times what is a referral? When we finally get the referral we will receive a picture, medical information and what background is available for the child. We then will make the decision to either accept or not take the referral. Once we accept a referral then we wait for a court day, but we will know the age and size and have pictures (that we will not be able to post until we pass court). Once we pass court we can post the pictures and information on our little boy. Right now the time from accepting a referral to going to court is about 2 months. Once we pass court we should travel 2 weeks after. Hopefully we pass on the first time, right now about 30% of people do not pass court the first time due to some paperwork issues.

Do Dreams Really Come True?

The anxiousness is starting! So far for April there have been 3 girls and 4 boys referred this week. We are around number 7ish for a boy (give or take a few mystery families not on the yahoo group). Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday we were saying we are around number 30ish. Even though the waiting is getting harder and I have officially become obsessed with checking the YG for referral posts and on deck emails, we are getting extremely excited. Everytime I log in my email and it tells me I have 1 new email, my heart almost stops and I think could this be our "On Deck" email. Everytime my phone vibrates or rings once again my heart skips a beat until I see that it is not AWAA calling. I can not even imagine what it will be like when we do receive the on deck email and we are at the top of the YG for a boy. I am going to have major OCD. I am ready to start packing and planning the shower and buying stuff! Oh the things we learn from waiting. I am getting major lessons in patience from God. (not one of my best talents at all) I will keep you posted I am sure everyone will hear me screaming when the time comes.

I can't imagine what it will be like to see that precious baby's face. I have seen him in my dreams the last few months. I can see the big brown eyes looking at me and that smiling face. I even dreamed him in the pajama's that we bought for him. Do you think he will look anything like my dream? Only God knows, he has the perfect child picked out just for us. Someone who needs a mom and dad that will love him to pieces. Like I have said before, how can you love someone so much already that you haven't even seen or don't even know. Is it just the love of a mother?

March Referrals

What a great month March was for referrals and court dates. There were around 21 referrals in March and a ton of families that passed court. The week of 3-25 5 families travelled to pick up their children, the week of 4-11 7 families (possibly more) will be travelling and so far the week of 4-23 4 families are travelling. One family that has had their referral and stuck in the court process for 6 months passed court today!!! Praise God, he can truly move the mountains. Keep praying with us that April will be just as good. From my count we are around number 11ish for a boy (could me a little more due to mystery families that we don't know about on YG (yahoo group)). We could potentially have a referral in the next couple of months, though I am trying not to set my expectations to high. But the Lord knows I am ready to see my baby boy's sweet face. I know God has the perfect child in mind for us, we just have to be patient and wait (I am so not very good at the waiting part).

Why Adopt From Ethiopia

~ 1 in 10 children die before their 1st birthday
~ 1 in 6 children die before their 5th birthday
~ 44% of the population in Ethiopia is under 15 years old
~ Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school
~ 88% will never attend secondary school
~ Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
~ Ethiopia has approximately 4.3 million orphans and the country is twice the size of Texas
~ Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
~ 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
~ A child adopted in a christian home is a child who will know the love of Christ!
~ 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
~ 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
~ The median age is 17.8 years old
~ Per capita, receives less aid than any country in Africa
~ In the 90's the population grew faster (3%) than food production (2%)
~ Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
~ In 1993, after 30 long years of war, broke from and became an independent nation leaving landlocked without any major seafaring ports

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.