Blessings

We are approaching our 6th month home and having an absolute ball! God continues to bless us in so many ways. The kids have all adjusted well to our new family size of eight. Tim and I too feel like this is what the Psalmist meant when he said, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD... How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..." (Psalm 127:3,5)

Blankets and Legos are probably the most popular toys in our house right now. In the picture below you can see how much fun we had with the large washers Tim brought home yesterday. He challenged the kids to use them in creating something. He, of course, had the hardest job judging the winner. Chernet made a weight dumbell, Tommy- glasses, Mulu- a person, Ruby- tap shoes, Vanessa- modern art, and Victor- a dinner bell. After much consideration, Mulu won the grand prize (a Nestle Crunch Bar) for artistic expression and creativity. You can clearly tell from the last picture that she is the most concerned with asthetics. Who else comes to breakfast with a purse that coordinates with her pajamas???

Happy at Home

Three months home. The smooth transition is evidence of God's working. Too many good gifts to list! "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is not variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

Ethiopian Adoption

Our sweet friends, Matt and Katie Beebe, put this video of pictures together for us. You will probably want to pause the playlist (down on the right) so you don't hear two songs at the same time.

Joy Inexpressible

I Peter 1:9 "...and though you do not see him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

When the pediatrician walked into the room to examine our kids she smiled, shook her head and said, "God love ya!" She was exactly right! It is only because of God's great love for us that we even have the desire to share our love with Chernet, Mulu and Ruby.

This first week home has been so full of blessings and joy. It really is hard to express just how loved we are feeling from the incredible support of family and friends through meals, gifts, pictures, house cleaning, and prayer. You can see in the pictures how much fun we're having in the adjusting. The picture of all the kids in front of the horse was taken at the airport when we welcomed another family home whose adopted kids are friends with ours (Helen and Yared Stotts). It was just 5 days after we got home!

Waiting Eagerly

We are counting down the hours to boarding the plane that will take us to Ethiopia for our reunion with Chernet, Mulu and Ruby. The day and time will be Saturday, March 12th, 3:08 p.m.. Matthew 24:36 says, "But of that day and hour (Christ's return to earth), no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." I. Corinthians 1:7-8 says we are to be "waiting eagerly (for) the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." I have never been so eager for something to happen as I have been for the completion of our adoption processes. I have to confess though, that I have never felt that same kind of longing for Christ's return. I want that to change. My hope and prayer is that God will place in me an eager expectation for His coming to take us to our eternal home that will be as strong as the longing we have of welcoming these three children into our earthly home. Consider these messages from His word:

Philippians 2:9-15 "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved,... work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you , both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and inocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I (Paul) will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain."

I Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

I Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."

Matthew 25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne."

I Thessalonians 4:17-18 "Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

My hope is that you may be comforted with these words as together we learn to wait eagerly for the return of Christ.

Finally, a date!

"Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established."

God has established plans for us to bring Chernet, Mulu and Ruby home on Saturday, March 19th. We just got the call confirming our embassy date of Tuesday, March 15th and are ecstatic! We can now breathe a little easier and finally zip up those suitcases as we plan to leave Saturday, March 12th.

The Waiting is Over!!!

We are so happy to announce that we have been given clearance to travel to Ethiopia to bring home Chernet, Mulu and Ruby. This means we could be leaving as early as this Saturday, March 5th. Praise God! Thank you for all of your prayers. We couldn't have made it through this LONG 10 weeks of waiting without them!

Psalm 100:4-5 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; and His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations."

More Waiting

Lamentations 3:25 "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him..."

We found out a couple nights ago that the EARLIEST possible date we could return to bring our kids home is March 2nd. It was a little disappointing because we were hoping for an earlier February date. We have seen throughout our process, however, that God's timing is perfect, so we will continue to trust in Him to bring our kids home at just the right time.

God's Timing

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Like many adopting families, we have questioned God’s timing along the way. “Why is this taking so long? Why are other families passing us in the process?” Though often we don’t get to see God’s purposes for delays, Tim and I received the answers to these questions on our trip- another gift!

Before going to Ethiopia, we heard about Woudeneh’s (our facilitator's) sister who, just a few months ago, collapsed at the transition house while working as a nanny. We prayed with other adopting families from our agency for her healing and protection. Therefore, it shouldn’t have surprised us when God answered. The people He used to answer, however, were what blew us away!

You see, there was a couple staying in the transition house while in Ethiopia for their court visit who just so happened to be in the medical field- he a doctor and she a nurse. Had they not been there to correctly diagnose the problem, Woudneh’s sister very likely would not have made it. Not only did they order the correct medication, they arranged for her to be flown to New York where a specialist could perform an emergency heart surgery that saved her life. By God’s grace she is now recovering here in the states while gaining energy to go home.

As Woudeneh told us the story from his perspective, we were reminded of how personal this was to him. We had no idea how we too had benefited from God’s timing in this couple’s process. Woudeneh went on the explain how this was a couple that frustrated him last spring by turning down a referral for three children – OUR THREE CHILDREN! They had initially accepted the referral for Chernet, Mulu, and Ruby and were preparing come for their court date, but knew immediately they weren’t theirs when they saw an updated picture that showed Chernet was clearly older than 5. Their request had been a sibling group of 3-younger than 6. At the time Woudeneh couldn’t understand how they saw our kids’ picture and knew they weren’t their children. “How could they say no to these precious children who need a family?” Of course now he understands how, and we told him how we can completely relate because we knew from the moment we laid eyes on Chernet, Mulu and Ruby that they were ours!

Had this family not changed their mind just before their court date with our three children, they would not have been there at just the right time to save his sister’s life. And we would not be adopting these three we feel God has handpicked for our family. Praise God!

Ecclesiastes 11:5 “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.”

Day 4- COURT

Day 4- COURT
Psalm 127 “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for he gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior; So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

This was the day our “house” would grow if it was God’s will. It was the day we have looked forward to for 13 months- the day Chernet, Mulu and Ruby would become Rowes. Needless to say, we were full of emotion as we got up early and prepared for the day. The plan was to have breakfast, shop for berbere (an Ethiopian spice some friends of ours asked us to pick up), have lunch, and then go to the courthouse by 1:00.

All 8 of us excitedly climbed into the van and headed out, hopeful to be back at the transition house with our kids by the end of the day. The hunt for berbere turned into a wild goose chase but it did keep us busy and entertained as we waited for our court appearance. At about 10:30, Woudeneh’s wife, Betey, (our guide that day) got a call from him and was instructed to bring us to the courthouse immediately. Apparently things were moving faster than planned and it was our turn.

We were only a few minutes away and didn’t have enough time to get more nervous about the monumental thing that was about to take place. The next hour we would be moved in and out of rooms in a surreal daze that would build into an explotion of emotion as we later processed it all. There really is no way to describe the thoughts and feelings we experienced on this day – the day our children became ours. We will forever be grateful for each God ordained moment that is etched in our memories.

We walked into a large room with chairs lining the four walls. There were available seats scattered around with some excited adoptive parents standing in the middle of the room. Filling the chairs were not only adoptive parents but birth parents as well. Before being called into the room where the judge was ruling, I spotted our kids’ birthfather. It was unmistakable. So much so that Tim immediately agreed. His resemblance to Mulu was striking, such a handsome man, short like Chernet too. I wondered if, in the moment that time seemed to stop and we made eye-contact, if he knew we were the ones. Could have been he was just thinking, “why is she staring at me!” Hopefully not. He was sitting next to our friends, the Sweeneys. He actually stood and offered Ryan his chair but sat back down next to Lesley when Ryan insisted. His identity was confirmed when the door opened and the clerk called “Kingdom Vision International” and he stood and followed Woudeneh in with two other birth mothers.

In only a few minutes, the door reopened and they walked back to their seats and we were called in by name with two other couples who had children at the other KVI orphanage in Nazaret (our new friends). We sat and waited for the questions. The judge asked us which agency we were working with and if they had prepared us to parent these children. She asked us if we had children and if they were prepared for this life change. Tim’s favorite question was whether or not we understood that this was irrevocable. All three couples answered with a resounding “YES”. She then said something about waiting for paperwork and our agency that afternoon. Woudeneh stood and motioned us to the door. All 6 of us exited with puzzled looks, which of course concerned the other people waiting in the room. “What happened in there?” we all wondered and asked.”What piece of paperwork is missing?” Before we could question Woudneh, he called the two other couples in our group into the room. A few moments later, they returned and we followed them back down the hall to exit the building. When we finally had the opportunity to ask Woudeneh if we passed, he smiled and said, “What do you mean? Of course you did!” He explained how the paper processing is a formality and the judge must have forgotten to say what she usually does, “Congratulations!” Apparently a meeting had been scheduled for her at the last minute for that afternoon and she was trying to clear her calendar by combining families that morning and quickly work through court proceedings. Our tears of joy came there in the stairwell as we were ushered back to the van across the street. Here we would wait to meet with the birth parents if they agreed.

Two of the families in our group met with their chidren’s birth parents at a restaurant just next to the courthouse. When they were finished, they loaded back into the van with us and we were told our meetings would take place at the orphanage. When we entered the gate of the orphanage, we immediately saw him sitting on the curb waiting for us. The next 30 minutes was priceless as we were able to (through a translator) thank him for the opportunity to love and care for his children. We gave him a photo album of the pictures we had of the children plus pictures of their new home, family and friends in Kentucky. We were able to take pictures and even videotape him giving a blessing over the kids. The most touching part was when the sincere love for his wife was clearly seen through tears as he described what happened to her. We initially assumed it was a sickness brought on by the drought in the area they lived but discovered this wasn’t the case at all. She actually died unexpectedly at 9 months pregnant with their 4th child. We embraced and said our goodbyes before getting back into the van that was becoming our emotional processing chamber.

Still reeling from the events of the morning, we were taken to a nice hotel for lunch. A few hours later we made it back to the transition house where some of our kids were already settling in and playing. We loved on them, played with them, took pictures with them, and again had to say goodbye before going to another restaurant- this time a traditional Ethiopian restaurant where we could experience more of the culture. It sounds like a great way to end an amazing day but honestly all we wanted was to be with the kids and show them how God had chosen us as their new family.