How He Loves......

I got a request today to blog on a particular subject. A friend of mine and a mom of several bios wanted to know how we dealt with the fear of not loving our adopted kids as our own. Her family has considered adoption but this question haunts her. Her raw question hit on a layer that I have been avoiding visiting in this adoption story-but I am thankful that the Lord used her question for me to peel the layers of this stinky onion down to the core.

 

Our homestudy had us read books on connecting with your adopted child ( Dr Purvis is the go-to on the subject-if your agency or homestudy does not require this reading...Do. It. Anyway. It is one level~maybe two~ below Holy Scripture to adoptive fams). It is a very common issue/concern. But we now find ourselves in the middle of reality.  We have two kids that look like us, that I rocked and bottle fed(no I did not breast feed-haters gonna hate)...that I have driven to ball practice for umpteen years. We have two kids that grew up on the other side of the world...their eating and personal hygiene habits are foreign-they dress differently(given the opportunity...which is becoming fewer and far between), they have coping mechanisms developed from living in an orphanage that kinda grate on your nerves. We constantly need to make sure we are not putting too much pressure on our bios with the ways they cope with these two new additions-while at the same time not letting the two new ones rule the roost and get everything they want. It is definitely a circus balancing act. I would venture to say that our bios may be feeling a little second class right now-while the whole family dynamic is adjusting and settling in to the new norm. While I would have told you the training portion of our homestudy and adoption was bogus 3 months ago-I am glad we have that under our belts now. It is a good thing. I will return to those books and notes.

 

A couple of months ago, a friend and I started a "secret" Facebook group that we moderate called Christ-Centered Ethiopian adoptions. We saw a need for a page that honored the Lord appropriately in our adoptions-and was also an honest and "real" discussion zone. It is a safe place where no agency employees are allowed...people are "vetted" before they are allowed to join to protect the members who are participants. People can ask raw questions about the process, ethics, agencies, anything.  Another member organizes a virtual prayer vigil every week at a certain time for anyone who has requests(lots of requests mind you-adoption is tough....bathing it in prayer is the only way to go). This group has been a huge blessing to our adoption journey and there are families there who have adopted numerous times-there are adult Ethiopian adoptees, and there are families still waiting on referrals. The Lord uses Facebook-don't care watchya say. I mean how cool is it to connect on the internet...and then actually MEET someone on the other side of the planet- who is actually from your side of the planet --but they are adopting from the same country as you-- at the same time as you? That has goosebumps written all over it. This was the perfect place to "float" my friend's question.

 

My first reaction was to answer her with this morning was "the Lord makes it work"...in fact, I did. I know without a doubt that I love the Lord and the Lord made this possible and that He has "got this".  What I didn't tell her is one of the most common phrases in adoptive circles is "fake it till you make it". I'm telling her now behind the safety of my keyboard. I am not going to lie...we have dug in and will fake it till we make it. Sometimes the Lord blesses us with that mentality-the ability to ride it out. Fake it till you make it isn't giving up on the Lord.  I fully believe it is a strategy..a  tool that He gives us. If we weren't faking it some days...we would not be too God-honoring. There, I said it.

 

This is not to say that we do not love our two new children. I love them enough that I will go all momma-bear on someone else who picks on their inability to understand a game under their breath among other youth. I love them enough that I have an intense need to protect them(particularly in Wal Mart parking lots). I love them enough that I understand the need for the fine ratio of discipline vs. compassion in their young broken lives.  I love them enough that I cry for them.  I cry about their stories and I cry with their stories. I love them differently. But I do not love them any less. I love them differently. Just as in a marriage-sometimes you have to work at it. Love takes work. Can we all agree?

 

This is one of those subjects that the writer in me is having difficulty finding the words to describe. I don't want to take away from the love that is there-but I don't want to sugar coat it and tell a potential adoptive parent it is all rainbows and unicorns. Adoption is hard. Ain't nothing about it easy.

 

A quote from a good friend of mine sums it up: "A lot of adoptive moms that I have talked with have been afraid to be honest about this topic for fear of judgment. Sometimes it's just a different kind of love".

 

She is in a tough place with kids that she adopted several years ago. For lack of a better word, they  may not have "attached" yet. This is real.  This happens-more than we care to discuss. Adoptions do fail by the way. There are sites that exist to re-adopt/re-home children from failed adoptions. But guess what-my friend is in it for the long haul. She has bios, she has another adopted child that is not so "hard to love".  The saddest thing I grieve for in this friend's situation is that she currently does not have a church family to help her with this part of her journey. My prayer for her is that the Lord will send her support in the form of a church family, one that will come along side her in the trenches and offer her some respite  ....believe me-it makes a BIG difference. I really want her to come park an RV on our property and live here( I am not kidding)...but an RV would be hard with 6 kids and a hubby-especially when his commute to work was 18 hours one way.  

This is one thing I would say to my friend who posed this question today....surround yourself BEFORE you start the process with God-fearing, Jesus-loving, not-gonna-dump-you- if- your-are- honest friends that can help. Adoptive mommas get it. Special needs mommas get it. Keeping up with the Jones,' gotta get my kid on the varsity team and in the latest fashions, and into a good college mommas don't always get it. Get you some mommas who "get it" in your circle now. Mommas that don't care if your 10 year old adopted daughter wears a Christmas sweater out to dinner in July in 90 degree heat because it is "prutty'.  The Lord uses these wise women in HUGE ways in adoption. Their wisdom is like a soothing teething ring in the early stages....a warm blankey in the stages to follow. Get you some. And you are welcome to move your RV to Easter Creek Farms anytime. I am honestly thinking about starting a commune.

 

 

 " I always knew I would love my daughter as my child...it just wasn't immediate. And I will try to explain better: I loved her from the beginning: I loved her sweet face and her story, I loved that a long journey was coming to an end, I loved her eating Cheerios from my hand the first morning she stayed with us. But she was a stranger and that's just the truth with adoption."

 

and more from David-

"With adoption, you have photos, you have reports...but the reality is one day you don't have a kid and then the next you do. So it takes a while before that becomes a normal part of your life. I just don't think there is a way to process it that is similar to pregnancy and birth. It's different.

For me, about three weeks after we got home our 13 month old was getting blood drawn, and the nurse kept missing her veins and she was screaming bloody murder. I wanted to punch the nurse in her throat and that's when I realized...oh yeah...she's my kid! I'm about to punch a stranger (a woman even!) in the throat because of what's she's doing to my kid!"   

On the other end of the spectrum, an adult adoptee friend said this "It doesn't matter what anybody says. Any child who is adopted into a family that has a biological siblings ALWAYS feels second."

This makes me sad. I honestly shed tears over this. The only response I can generate is this-this child  probably also felt second when one of their siblings got to stay with their bio family but they got dumped at the orphanage. They probably felt second when other kids got adopted from the orphanage before they did. Even in  a family of no bio kids...this child will have feelings of being second, unworthy, unloved because they are "different". This is the broken, fallen world that creates the need for orphanages and adoption in the first place. This is just a clearer picture to me of the need of a Savior-the desperate need for a redeemer in all of this. How do non-believers even deal with this process? Insert the obligatory "smh' here.  Once again I will defer to the Holy Father to heal those wounds.  Nothing I can do will be sufficient...whether I have zero bio kids or 30 when I adopt. My prayer is that I am able to do precisely what the will of the Father is in this child's life for His greater glory. I will leave the child's feelings of being second to the Creator, the Healer, the Father. He can deal. He can work masterpieces out of torn apart hearts and weeping souls-He can take a second place citizen and make them a King or a Queen. I defer.

 

And perhaps the most poignant response to the question I posed to the group was this:

 

" Our fears are what stand in the way of loving an adopted child...not our capacity to do so. It is there. God put it there" Clairissa

 

Thank you wise-adoptive momma that "gets it".

 

And it is with this attitude I move forward. This same friend reminded me that humans are such creatures of comparison. What difference does it make if we love them differently?  God put the ability for me to love that child there. I love each of my bios differently don't I? So-whether it is a different type of love than I have for my bios or the same...it was put there by my God-which means I have no right to question it. The same Father who adopted me in to His own family although I was unlovable, unworthy, and undeserving put the ability in me through His Holy Spirit to give this child the type of love required. If it is not the same as my bio children-so be it. It is of Him and that is all that matters.

For Such a Time as This...

Esther 4:14

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this."

We all have inherent personality traits.  I am convinced that these are planted in us for God's glory and His glory alone. His providential timing as evidenced in the Book of Esther, is always right.

 

10  years ago(even 5 years ago)...my strongest set of personality traits were being tenacious....pushy....goal-oriented....won't-take-no-for-an-answer. These were traits that got me in trouble. These were traits that made me look like a lost soul(which I was). These were traits that made me look like the world. They were traits that helped me in business(to an extent).  They helped me get what I wanted at the time. I spent a lot of time refining them-for the wrong reasons.

 

Then He saved me. The Holy Spirit came to live in me....and it all changed.

 

These same traits helped me through this adoption process. I am convinced they were planted in me years ago in my mother's womb to help me through this season of our lives. The difference is-I was able with the help and direction of the Holy Spirit, to use them with His guidance and for His glory. If you have ever been through an international adoption process...you know the amount of obstacles that can come up-the bureaucracy-the amount of phone calls and emails to push things through and keep your file out of a pile. You also owe it to the children you are adopting to make sure that ethics are in the forefront with how they came in to the care of the orphanage, etc. This takes hours of research about your agency, the orphanage and asking of a lot of hard questions. You cannot feel defeated...you cannot give up.  You cannot get your feelings hurt. I mean we were fighting for the future of two children on the other side of the planet. The difficulty I experienced at first had to do with reconciling wont-take-no-for-an-answer with humility and meekness.  Guess what folks....they CAN coexist. There is a such a misperception of what meekness and humility means. Paul describes to us how the traits can coexist in 2 Corinthians 10 where he discussed meekness, but he also lets us know that he was capable of being bold if necessary.  The humility that was watered and fertilized came about in the form of my submitting to the Lord...NOT a lost world. The Lord was in control of the situation-not us. The meekness that developed was a result of the fact that although I was provoked endlessly during this process, I needed to submit to the Lord  and ask for His direction and not be confrontational. My need to be in control was turned over to Him. In return He reminded me that He was in control-I was in His will- and I had no reason to worry. And let me tell you-when it is soooo obvious that you are in the middle of God's will...there is a peace in all of the actions necessary to see it to the end. He directs your paths. By no means do I have this humility and meekness thing totally accomplished(I can hear my family giggling when they read this-and also my real estate clients)...they are fruits that will need constant fertilizing in my life with the Word until the day I die. But what is so amazing is to see AGAIN and AGAIN how the Lord can use what could be used for evil in this world for His good and His glory. I mean who else can take a control-freak personality and tweek and twist it to actually work for His glory....

 

 

And just to drive home the point-the Lord has let me see personality traits in the rest of my family that are quite clear were planted there for such a time as this. Hannah's nurturing spirit and her "mothering" personality have been HUGE in the first weeks of these kids being home. Crosson's and Tony's patience have been out of this world. The fact that Tony himself was adopted cannot be overlooked....surely the Lord has used this part of his story to plant another level of compassion in him that exceeds my understanding. These traits and details that have taken a lifetime to develop are being used for His glory. I simply cannot imagine going through this process several years ago when I first felt the tug to adopt-before I was saved.  The Lord had work to do...and His timing is perfect. I am grateful that He has revealed this to me in hindsight.

 

I posted on facebook the other day that it was so cool to see how God doesn't leave out any details when he writes an adoption story. He has it all covered. He has made provision, He has prepared hearts and personalities, He has placed all of us in the same family on purpose with a purpose and He has equipped us for it.  Let me never forget-even when the going gets tough-that He wrote this story. Before the beginning of time He wrote it, for such a time as this. I am trusting in the Author of Creation.

Kindehafty Easter 9.28.2003

Hagos Easter 4.20.2002

 

Preparing Hearts-as only He can do.

For 13 years of my married life, and several years as a child, I attended a very liturgical church.  The 40 day season of Lent that begins the day after Mardi Gras (as it is known in Louisiana-Ash Wednesday to the rest of the world) was celebrated with  traditional services that commemorated various days during this season. Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday...all culminated in the Easter Sunrise Service either at the cemetery or at the lake. This season of Lent was one where you prepared your heart for the Risen Christ through fasting and liturgy. 

Our new church home of a couple of years does not participate in these traditional services...in fact our sermons have been verse by verse through the book of Philippians for the past several weeks-that will preach! But one thing is certain...we have been preparing our hearts for the Risen Christ! In our household, that has come through some amazing parallels that only the Lord could have orchestrated.

You see, we are in a season of preparation like none other in our lives.  We are preparing to welcome two new children in to our home. We are preparing paperwork, sleeping arrangements, finances, and travel. But we are also preparing our hearts for the unknown. Step by step through the process, the Lord has made Himself real to us and has reminded us of our purpose. Step by step He has reminded us of our need for Him.  He has reminded us of His love for us that was made so excruciatingly evident as He hung and bled on the cross. And without doubt, He has reminded us of His power and sovereignty through the empty grave! 

"The preparations of the heart is man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.  Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.".  Proverbs 16:1-3

As we work within the limitations of our human abilities to prepare by decorating rooms , reading books, making rag dolls, and learning about the Ethiopian culture.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rely on the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts, to do away with fear, to comfort and console the lonely-these things only He can do.
.

As we pray and ask for guidance, direction, freedom from fear, and peace as we prepare for our new children....
...we are reminded in Matthew 28 that an angel of the Lord told the women "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He is risen, just as He said."

The most important preparation has already occurred for those whom the Lord has called.  The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we may be adopted in to His family and share in His inheritance. How can we even fathom being afraid when the same Spirit that raised our Lord from the dead lives in us!!!! This has prepared us for all He has called us to do and we are thankful.

In Matthew 28:19 our risen Lord tells us  " Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  As we prepare our hearts to remember the Risen Christ by reading and meditating on Scripture and prayer during the Lenten season, we pray that He goes before us to prepare hearts as only He can do in Africa.  As we prepare to be obedient in following His command, we pray that He alone receives the glory. As we ponder the enormity of the risen Christ-the world-changing, history changing  event that took place two thousand years ago, we pray that He chooses to resurrect two lonely children out of the dusty mountains of Northern Ethiopia and calls them to a relationship with Him. He alone is able.  He alone is worthy.

His mercies are new every day

Lamentations 3:22-23

 

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness. (NASB)

 

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (KJV)

 

 

 

His mercies are new every morning.

According to the notes in my study Bible, Lamentations conveys the idea of "loud cries". Loud cries have indeed been what I have been in the midst of the past couple of weeks.  Back in January, our agency told us to be cautiously optimistic about traveling to meet our kids this week. Our case had been rolling along very smoothly. The birth father had made appearances at an embassy interview and at court and we were waiting on the next step which would be our court date-where we take legal custody of our children. Then we hit a wall. The letter that is typically issued after birth parent court was not issued.  This is pretty much unprecedented so our agency is currently trying to accommodate all requests of the ET government in an effort to get us to the next step. The uncertainty of the situation is consuming. It weighs on me like a pile of bricks.  It hurts.

 

I went back through my prayer journal and some of my blog posts this week. Through this process I was reminded of how much the Lord has worked in this adoption already. So many things could not have happened already to this point if His hand was not in it.  Great is Thy faithfulness. I was also reminded by a post that I made a couple of weeks ago about praising Him in the hallway.  We are definitely staring at a closed door right now and are in the middle of a hallway. So I need to heed my own advice. Thy compassions they fail not.

 

What do I praise Him for?  I think of our two children who currently are living in an institution away from any family -they know there is a family across the ocean that wants them but hasn't come for them yet. They go to bed without a mom to tuck them in.  I think of all the corruption that bad agencies have capitalized on in the country-making it hard for the ethical agencies to work without being lumped in to the mess. I think of people who do not have the best interest of the children in mind, but are concerned with reputation, money, or power. I think of the more than 147 million orphans in the world. What do I praise Him for?

 

I praise Him for this hallway. It has reminded me that His mercies ARE new every morning. All I need Thy hand hath provided. The simple fact that I am awake and drinking coffee and typing this are mercies. The King James translation tells us that it is because of His mercies that we are not consumed. Not. Consumed. If I got what I deserved, I would be consumed in a pit of fire for eternity.  Only because of His mercies am I alive.  Only because of His mercies did He choose to save me. Only because of His mercies are our children in an institution-yes... this is a mercy. Only because of His mercies did we learn about them. Only because of His mercies did adoption-this roller coaster that rips your heart out and shoves it back in and rips it out again- get planted in our hearts. How dare I sit in self pity or worry or second guessing. Every breath we are given is a mercy. What we do with this breath should be praising Him for He has granted me Parden for sin and a peace that endureth...Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow..."

 

"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not

As Thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

 

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have need Thy hand hath provided-

great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

 

Parden for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! "

 

 

 

Summer and Winter and springtime and harvest

 

 



Lord, please plant me an orchard. And thank you for overnight mail.

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that I have tasted little of......it is one of those fruits that this adoption journey is watering and fertilizing in abundance.  It is safe to assume by the end of this process I, like many other mothers going through this process, will have an orchard full of it. My personality is such that the Lord typically chooses MAJOR, lengthy things to teach me lessons and generate fruit. He typically immerses me in something.  Sprinkling just doesn't have an affect on my stubborn self. Right now, I am immersed in the adoption of two older children from the beautiful country of Ethiopia. It is all-consuming. When I come up for breath...it is usually to turn to Scripture. It is the only way I can breathe through this.

One of the most common threads I see with folks who are adoptive parents is the fact that they are involved in some form of"waiting". It absolutely amazes me the patience they must practice to wait on a referral of a baby girl from anywhere.  I have heard stories of families waiting for over 3 years...just for the referral. This doesn't count the process they took part in ahead of time with their home study, nor does it take in to consideration the months they will wait for the adoption to be complete after they receive the referral. This isnt just waiting...it is waiting with an enormous amount of uncertainty. It is all-consuming waiting.

In our situation, we have been blessed with a relatively quick process primarily because we chose waiting children. They were waiting on parents to come forward for them instead of the other way around .  Although our process is not over and they are not home with us yet, there have been numerous instances where waiting has been a contibutor to my sanctification. Any time I am involved in a situation that is out of my control but that I care deeply about, patience must be practiced...and let's face it....adoption is full of those scenarios. I have no control over my agency. I have no control over the goverment. I have no way of expediting anything(except perhaps paying for overnight mail when I mail anything to the aformentioned groups-and I can't begin to tell you how much satisfaction this one little thing brings me. It is almost like a "fix" that a drug addict gets when they return to their drug of choice. I get a "mini-control fix" anytime I feel like I can speed anything up). I want my children home now. I want them home yesterday. Insert patience.

Another area that I have witnessed adoptive parents waiting occurs after they bring their children home.  So many of these kids have lived lives in institutions. They were never held or rocked as babies. They ultimately stopped crying when they were hungry because nobody came to feed them. They endured unimaginable hurt and loss. When these children get placed in loving families, they do not know how to attach. They remain distant. So many orphans do not know what it means to be loved and to love back. These adoptive families are waiting.  They are waiting for a sign of  a breakthrough. A sign that a connection has been made. They long for the day that child will willingly approach them to give them a hug. They long for the day that child will just make eye contact.  They are waiting. They return over and over again to James 1:2-8 which tells them;

 

"Consider it pure joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." 



I feel such a burden for these families who are waiting. I feel such a burden for the orphans who are waiting. And when I am overwhelmed and come up for air I turn to the Lord. His purpose in these waiting lives is such an important thing to pray about. There is a reason we are waiting. There is a reason they are waiting. The Lord is working in these moments. We are gaining endurance....some are gaining more endurance than a champion marathon runner. I must constantly remember to turn to Him and praise Him in these times. Instead of water breaks in these marathons...we need to stop and praise Him. We don't need to pour water over our backs. We need to pour into His Word.

  I was tagged in a relevant facebook post a couple of months ago and I shared it with some other adoptive families that I know. It said:

"While you are waiting on the Lord to open another door, praise Him in the hallway."

 

(picture courtesy of Easter Creek Farms laundry room-where lots of laundry is waiting to be done)

There are soooo many doors to go through in this adoption process. In our lives there have been doors closed so that we would walk towards open ones. There have been open doors that seemed to be at the end of a two-mile long hallway...and there have even been a couple of doors we have had to kick down-but regardess of where we are in the process, we need to praise Him. He is teaching us in these moments and we need to press in to Him, turn to His Word, and pray in these moments that we feel we will burst if we need to wait any longer. And these moments that seem unbearable will turn in to moments that we will ultimately cherish because they have brought us closer to Him.

Psalm 25:5 ESV
"Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. "

 

The Lord Loves Adoption

I have made a point not to blog about specifics of our adoption up to this point. My point in blogging was to shed light on lessons the Lord teaches me. However, adoption has obviously been one thing that has occupied the front of my mind over the past year. I wake up thinking and then praying about it and I go to sleep thinking and praying about it. The Lord has used this process to teach me more and direct me back to His Word in many, may ways.

Recently there has been talk of reform to international adoptions in Ethiopia. There has been a lot of concern over the situation in the adoption community as a result. We have taken this information..what little we have....and asked the Lord what we are supposed to do with it. This is information that puts a lot of uncertainty in to an already uncertain process. We don't understand the politics in that country.We are learning. We don't understand what initiated the talk of reform.  We are learning. Not having a full understanding of the subject has driven us to do research. ...to learn more about the beautiful country where our two children were born and still live.  Not having certainty in the situation has driven us to pray.  And what have we learned?  We have simply been reminded that these children are His. First and foremost these children are His. He has the whole world in the palm of His hand.  I think He has got this. I think whatever plan He has laid out will ultimately bring more glory to Him. And isn't that why we began this process in the first place? It is amazing the peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding, that has accompanied us in this recent series of events in Ethiopia. This is truly a peace from The Lord because my anxiety-ridden, human flesh typically in the past would not have reacted this way.

One really cool thing that has happened as a result of research and networking online with other adoptive families through this, is that we have met several folks with different agencies that are in a similar place than us in their process.  Some have adopted before under the old one-trip process...some have even adopted before under the two-trip. Some are newbies like us.  Some are pre-PAIR, some are PAIR like us.  I have learned that is is comforting to share stories and timelines with others so I have decided to put our timeline here so folks can refer to it.

Jan 2013 Began our Homestudy with LA Baptist Children's Home
Held Noonday Fundraiser....really cool company if you are not familiar with it
April 15, 2013 Found our two kids on Rainbow Kids
May 3, 2013 Applied with WACAP
July 2, 2013 Homestudy done

July-Sept continued to work on getting dossier completed, traveled 4 hours to Jackson, MS for USCIS fingerprints. Held three fundraiser yard sales, one Scentsy Party fundraiser with the help of the person I want to be when I grow up-Kasey Ellis, Just Love Coffee fundraiser

Sept 23, 2013 officially accepted referral of our two kids and began PAIR process
Sept 23, 2013 an article honoring the Lord was published in the Bossier Press Tribune about our adoption
This same week we found out about an anonymous $10,000.00 donation to our adoption from someone at our church, and also a $7000.00 sibling grant from our agency. Our fees except for airfare are taken care of. Praise the Lord.
Nov 18, 2013 Received the first video of our children and it was of them receiving our family albums
Nov 27, 2013 Received email that Embassy had made request for Birth Parent interview
Dec 12, 2013 Birth Parent interview held in Addis
Dec 16, 2013 Email stating I-604 investigation complete
Dec 23, 2013 PAIR letters received in mail <<<greatest Christmas present ever

January 1, 2014 Our dossier with PAIR letter submitted to court in Addis
Jan 7, 2014 got word from agency that Birth Parent court date scheduled Jan 27, 2014 and they were going to appeal it to be moved up. Suggested we begin to make preparations to travel as early as mid Feb 2014 for our first trip.

The Lord's hand has been in on this process from the beginning. Why would it not be?  The Lord loves adoption.

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."

Galatians 4:4-5

 

We have received the spirit of adoption. Praise the Lord. What we do with it can honor the Lord more than just about any other act on this planet in my opinion. We can adopt.

We make every attempt to honor Him and sing His praises whenever we can. From sharing little blessings like free-ultra convenient parking in downtown Jackson, MS in a city strange to us when we went to get fingerprinted, to HUGE blessings like good test results after surgery to remove my thyroid in September.

And we wait. More importantly we pray.  We pray that we are able to continue to glorify the Lord in every step of this process.

..picture from NY Times of the Tigray region of Ethiopia where are children are from.

He makes beautiful things.