Julia here. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes on the adoption front. We were thrilled to make our appointment to get our fingerprints done (March 15- woo hoo!) putting us just a few tiny steps away from finalizing our paperwork and being officially on the wait list...and then began to see disturbing bits of news out of Ethiopia. Apparently the Ethiopian government is taking steps to cut the number of adoptions they process daily by 90%, and has already begun that process. That seems to be all we know for sure - from what we are reading this could be permanent or temporary. Some comments we have read say this is politically motivated, some say it is to cut the work load of those in the office that processes adoptions. Some say it is an attempt to cut down on corruption within the adoption process. Very little seems to be known for sure!
For us, there is certainly the temptation to fear...of course we want our baby girl home with us as soon as possible! And we know there are hundreds, if not thousands of other children and families affected by this as well. I can truthfully say that so far, God has kept us from despair - we just aren't going there. I woke up early Sunday morning thinking about this whole situation, being a bit weighed down by the possibilities of what this means for us. I opened up the book of Isaiah and immediately read words that I believe the Lord put there just for me, for that moment. I realize that I am totally taking these verses out of context, but I still believe these words were for me!
"I (the Lord) will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save...Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." (Isaiah 49:25-26)
I confess I left out the weird verse between these two about cannibalism - not exactly sure what God meant by that one! But the point is, I think God was reminding me that in this journey to our baby girl, it often feels like a battle. We are fighting to reach her, to take her out of a life of suffering and to bring her home. It has not been easy, and we haven't even begun the hardest part! But the Lord Himself is the one who called us to her, and He is the one who will save her. It is all for His glory...most definitely not for ours. We don't know the end of this story, but He does! I know there will be a day when we will look back with 20/20 vision and know without a doubt why He brought us here and what He was teaching us. In the meantime, we are learning where to put our hope. If we hope in the solution to this problem, we will be frustrated. If we hope in ourselves, it will be even worse! But if we hope in the Lord, we will not be disappointed (Isaiah 49:23). Learning to trust in Him alone is tough. I think in this situation in particular, I will have to continually take my thoughts captive & be obedient to him - with every new piece of news I will have to choose Christ instead of fear. And I believe He will continue to give us joy in every stage of this process if we let Him. You may have to remind me of that along the way :).
So, I know many of those who read this are not currently adopting, and may or may not relate to what we're going through specifically. But the question is there for you too - whatever you're facing today, you have a choice as well - to trust in the Lord (not just what He will do in your situation, but in HIM!), or to fear. What will you choose???
PS - We would love for you to join us in signing a petition to fight the decision by the Ethiopian government in the only way we can. We don't know if or how God will use this, but we want to make our voices heard!
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714.html
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Fingerprinting & Dancing
Corey here...
We were ecstatic yesterday to get our appointment for fingerprinting...mainly because it is only about 10 days out! We had seen where one family received their date for fingerprinting and it was 8 weeks out, so you can imagine how we had been preparing ourselves for a much longer wait. We (and several of our friends) have been praying that this part of the process would go quickly and we are thankful that it is. So, we expect that a short time after we get fingerprinted, we will receive the final piece of paperwork that we need to be able to send our dossier to Ethiopia (DTE). Once we go DTE, we will then officially go on the wait-list and the paper-chase part of our adoption will be complete. Then the real waiting begins (currently estimated at 7-11 months) before we get a baby girl referred to us. We are resting in God's timing to bring us the daughter He has chosen for our family. We pray and are confident that during this time He will be preparing our whole family for the road ahead. That doesn't mean that there aren't times when the waiting is tough and we have moments of sadness as we think of our baby girl being without us on the other side of the world. But we try to remind ourselves to "be still and know that [He] is God." Prayers for that are always welcomed and appreciated.
I was having lunch with a friend the other day and was recanting our "adoption story" to him. I was explaining how at first we were really apprehensive and concerned about what God was calling us to do. It was somewhat of a burden if I'm being honest. But God is good and He does some amazing things. He takes a burden and turns it into a longing and a passion. We now feel like our family isn't complete and we really do ache for this little one to come home. All praise to God for that kind of transformation! If I'm also being completely honest, there are still moments when I think we are crazy. But then when I stop thinking of the process, struggles and challenges for us ahead and really focus on that little girl; it's as true and right as it gets.
Switching gears here..
We had our first Father/Daughter dance last weekend at our church. I took Emma and Addie and as you can see, they were looking so cute in thier fancy dresses. They were really excited about it and so was I because I was going to to spend that night totally focused on them. Our church did such an awesome job putting this on. We had 3 different crafts, dinner, dancing, horse-drawn carriage rides and ice-cream sundaes. It's hard to say what their favorite part was, but I think dancing to YMCA was a highlight. I sure do love these girls - such a great night and memory for me. I did have a moment when I was thinking that one day I'm going to have 4 dates on that night...I guess I'll be quite the ladies' man!
We were ecstatic yesterday to get our appointment for fingerprinting...mainly because it is only about 10 days out! We had seen where one family received their date for fingerprinting and it was 8 weeks out, so you can imagine how we had been preparing ourselves for a much longer wait. We (and several of our friends) have been praying that this part of the process would go quickly and we are thankful that it is. So, we expect that a short time after we get fingerprinted, we will receive the final piece of paperwork that we need to be able to send our dossier to Ethiopia (DTE). Once we go DTE, we will then officially go on the wait-list and the paper-chase part of our adoption will be complete. Then the real waiting begins (currently estimated at 7-11 months) before we get a baby girl referred to us. We are resting in God's timing to bring us the daughter He has chosen for our family. We pray and are confident that during this time He will be preparing our whole family for the road ahead. That doesn't mean that there aren't times when the waiting is tough and we have moments of sadness as we think of our baby girl being without us on the other side of the world. But we try to remind ourselves to "be still and know that [He] is God." Prayers for that are always welcomed and appreciated.
I was having lunch with a friend the other day and was recanting our "adoption story" to him. I was explaining how at first we were really apprehensive and concerned about what God was calling us to do. It was somewhat of a burden if I'm being honest. But God is good and He does some amazing things. He takes a burden and turns it into a longing and a passion. We now feel like our family isn't complete and we really do ache for this little one to come home. All praise to God for that kind of transformation! If I'm also being completely honest, there are still moments when I think we are crazy. But then when I stop thinking of the process, struggles and challenges for us ahead and really focus on that little girl; it's as true and right as it gets.
Switching gears here..
We had our first Father/Daughter dance last weekend at our church. I took Emma and Addie and as you can see, they were looking so cute in thier fancy dresses. They were really excited about it and so was I because I was going to to spend that night totally focused on them. Our church did such an awesome job putting this on. We had 3 different crafts, dinner, dancing, horse-drawn carriage rides and ice-cream sundaes. It's hard to say what their favorite part was, but I think dancing to YMCA was a highlight. I sure do love these girls - such a great night and memory for me. I did have a moment when I was thinking that one day I'm going to have 4 dates on that night...I guess I'll be quite the ladies' man!
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