Well we have been back 1 week and it is great. After meeting him we definitely walk around the house wondering what he would be doing, toys he would play or comments that he would make. We can see how Alek and Natalie will be such a great big brother and big sister to him. I knnow it is going to be tough at first but I am so excited for this part of the journey to begin.
They received our paperwork. Thank you to an awesome man named Abel. He stopped by the DHL last week to pick it up. Even though it didn't go anywhere last week at least we know that it is safe in his hands. Tomorrow is our rescheduled court date so we are longing to hear the words you passed and now you are a family of 5.
We have a lot coming up in the next couple of weeks. My nephew is getting open heart surgery in 2 weeks. Please lift up my sister and Noah in your prayers. I can't imagine having to have my baby have such a traumatic surgery.
On another note, my rash that I brought back from Ethiopia is going away finally. I was starting to get a little worried. I took a stronger prescription yesterday and noticed this morning it is already clearing up. We have a busy week ahead of us. May yours be filled with love and peace.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Heart is filled
Great news. I think my body is officially on est time. My heart and mind are still in Ethiopia. I don't ever want to forget the things that I have seen or the feelings that I felt. I am so thankful that Ben and I decided to follow God all the way to Ethiopia. We are both forever changed. I would like to share something that God used for us to jump with both feet into this journey.
It is something from Beth Moore's study Breaking Free.
It goes like this (quote from her study)
Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you are born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire: "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when you joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprirnts are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join Me. Sometimes, you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times, your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times, you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take to the next day."
"But, Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."
We are so thankful that we have the chance to receive this beautiful blessing from God. May you all receive yours as well.
It is something from Beth Moore's study Breaking Free.
It goes like this (quote from her study)
Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you are born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire: "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when you joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprirnts are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join Me. Sometimes, you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times, your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times, you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take to the next day."
"But, Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."
We are so thankful that we have the chance to receive this beautiful blessing from God. May you all receive yours as well.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thank you to Birtukan and Nesibu
We were fortunate enough to stay with such an amazing family. we are forever thankful and grateful to them. Birtukan and Nesibu
Our last day in Ethiopia saturday
This morning we went to say good-bye to our boy. I must say we have a pretty funny kid. He could not be more perfect for our family. Today I was holding another little girl and swinging her around and he walked up to me grabbed my arm to put her down and do it to him. The funny part is this whole week he hasn't come up to us. It has been us going to him. I was only able to hold him once before this for the whole week. It was pretty amazing. I think that he connects that we are there for him hopefully he knows that we will back for him....
After our good-byes we went to Birtukan and Nesibu's feeding program. It is a program that they run on Saturdays to feed over 1000 children. What an amazing ministry. Birtukan herself was a sponsored child through World Vision. God has placed this program on her heart and brought her a husband that shares the vision. When we were feeding these children I have never felt so much love and kindness. These kids were awesome. Among this God has never felt so close. After the program, we decided to sponsor 3 kids. This sponsorship pays for school fees, yearly checkups, counseling, a meal on Saturday, school supplies and allows them to stay with their families. There are over 600 kids in the ministry that still need sponsors. if you feel that your family could help out in this way it is only $30 a month. What a great life lesson to teach your kids. They can have a friend completely around the world. If you would like to sponsor a child, please let me know and I can get you the contact info. It is only $1 a day. I think that we all can find a $1 a day.... Grace and Peace everyone.....
After our good-byes we went to Birtukan and Nesibu's feeding program. It is a program that they run on Saturdays to feed over 1000 children. What an amazing ministry. Birtukan herself was a sponsored child through World Vision. God has placed this program on her heart and brought her a husband that shares the vision. When we were feeding these children I have never felt so much love and kindness. These kids were awesome. Among this God has never felt so close. After the program, we decided to sponsor 3 kids. This sponsorship pays for school fees, yearly checkups, counseling, a meal on Saturday, school supplies and allows them to stay with their families. There are over 600 kids in the ministry that still need sponsors. if you feel that your family could help out in this way it is only $30 a month. What a great life lesson to teach your kids. They can have a friend completely around the world. If you would like to sponsor a child, please let me know and I can get you the contact info. It is only $1 a day. I think that we all can find a $1 a day.... Grace and Peace everyone.....
court day friday
We did not pass court today but I have a peace in my heart that God is in control. He knows what is best for our family. When I doubt and want to take over that control I just have to remind myself that His plan is always better than mine. Even though sometimes I think I have a really great plan. after court we went out to lunch. There were no other families here so it was just Abel, Ben and I. We had an unbelieveable time today. Abel took us to the top of the mountain which was 10000 feet above sea level. We saw the track that the runners go to every morning at 5:30 to train, a church at the top of the mountain, the first palace. All over the hill there were women who walked 4-5 miles up and back down to gather tree branches for fire later that day.. It was simply amazing. The women are so strong. This culture has such hard workers.
Court Day Friday
We leave the guesthouse early in the morning to go meet with the MOWA to figure out what is wrong with our dossier. We meet with the gentleman that is working on our file and sure enough there is white out on my police clearance letter. The lady at the desk accidentally checked the wrong box so she whited it out and initialled it. I just sit there and begin to ball my eyes. I am so sad that we are not going to pass court today. The gentleman reassures us that we just need to redo this paper and we will be fine. I absolutely love their culture in the sense that they view everything as a minor problem. I really wish that I had more of that instead of everything being so major. so we will redo the form and get it sent back as soon as possible. so we leave and head to the courthouse. We walk up the stairs and are led into a room full of people waiting to go before the judge. There are birth families, adopted families all sitting together. Racing through my heart is I wonder which one is my sons birth family. The feelings in my heart are so mixed. I am so happy that we are near the end of the process to bring our little boy home but I am so sad that his mother has to give him up. We are the only ones at court today from our agency so the next moment they call her name to come before the judge. I know who she is. My heart begins to fill with pain. I watch her walk into the room to speak before the judge. Moments later the door opens and they call our names to come in. We pass her in the doorway. She now knows who we are. We are in the room before the judge. My heart is torn in all these different directions. We are done with the judge and we walk out of the door into the waiting room and we are standing in the middle of the room I look at up and in the hallway I lock eyes with his mother. Our eyes are both filled with tears. I can't imagine what she is going through. I wonder if she thinks that I am good enough. I can't look anymore, it is too painful so I turn away. when I look back she is gone. I am so overcome with emotions at this point that I run into the hall with Abel and began to just cry. All of my emotions just come out in this hallway with people standing everywhere.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
