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Showing posts from July, 2009

Words on the Wait

Sometimes waiting for our beloved daughter to come home is painfully long. I have always struggled with waiting for anything. For example, at our house we eat cake and open birthday presents at breakfast. When God places a desire in my heart, I jump on it and expect for everything to fall in place immediately. My dear sister who is also on this same adoption journey just send me the following piece by Rick Warren. It speaks directly to what God has been teaching our family. We have seen that even in the midst of the delay, as we long daily to hold our daughter, there is along with it a joy in knowing that God is using this time to prepare us for His calling on our lives. There are words written in the front of my Bible that keep running through my mind. At the time I did not record who actually said these words, but they have given me hope many times since. "Commit your ways to the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (ps 37:4) Sometimes your "loves"

Hands

this was recently sent to me, hope it speaks to you today: Thanksgiving was near and a school teacher asked her first graders to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful. She thought of how little these children from poor neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys on tables with food - and most did. The teacher was taken abackhowever with the picture that Douglas handed in...a simple childishly drawn hand. But whose hand? Her class was captivated by the abstract image. "I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food," said one child. "A farmer," said another, "because he grows the food and the turkeys!" Finally when the others were back at work, the teacher bent over Douglas's desk and asked whose hand it was. With the simple love and gratitude that only a child can express he said, "It's your hand, Teacher." She recalled that frequently at

and this week...

21 referrals this past week. So the momentum continues in the right direction. I know that at any moment the pendulum could swing in the opposite direction, but for today I am very excited! If this continues our baby girl will be home much earlier then the end of next year.

29 referrals

Yeah! 29 referrals were made this week from our agency. That is a huge increase in number. for example last week was only 5. Hoping this is a new trend!

Fighting for our kids

This week Kevin and I were talking about the delay in receiving our children. We trust God's timing and His providence. And we also recognize that there is a spiritual battle going on. And the enemy does not want these precious children to be a part of a family where they will hear the gospel of Truth. My dear Ethiopian friend once told me,"We have to pray more than you do." There is an intense spiritual battle going on and the Ethiopian Christians that we have met are so very aware of it and spend much time in prayer with one another. We ask you to stand with us and put on the armor of God as it says in Eph 6: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The

Prayer Needed

Please be in prayer that the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia will reopen soon!! The following is an update that we just received from our agency. CHSFS confirmed today that the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) and its regional bureau offices have closed for two weeks to evaluate staffing needs. The return-to-work date is currently scheduled for July 23rd, but our past experiences lead us to believe that this could change. For our adopting families, this means that the federal court is not assigning new hearing dates for pending cases until MOWA staff is back to work and able to prepare opinion letters on cases registered with the court. At this time we are not able to predict how this work stoppage by MOWA will affect individual cases. In addition, we don't know whether this will affect the number of pending cases to be decided and/or approved before the courts adjourns for the annual closure period. We will continue to monitor and update you as new deve

The DMV of Adoption

The waiting period of an adoption feels much like being at the DMV. As you look around the room and note the ratio of people waiting to the number of windows open, it seems that things should be moving much faster. The wait continues to drag on and on and though you know in your intellect that there will be an end, your emotions keep screaming that you may be sitting here for the rest of your life. As my friend recently said, "the wait is long and long and long". Our hearts long for our little girl. And so we continue to trust God's timing when it doesn't make much sense. I was thinking recently about when we were trying to conceive our first child. The months dragged on and on turning into years. The doctors said that my body would not be able to make a child without some outside assistance. Then the medication was giving me horrible side effects with no results. My heart cried out to God....when will this longing of my heart be answered, when will I be able to have