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.”