Ethiopian adoption teleconference

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time on a government run teleconference addressing Ethiopian adoption. The call ran from 9-3 and was open to the public. Many of the speakers were government officials (US embassy, USCIS, etc) and others included a social worker, an international specialist pediatrician, and more. Going into the call I was a bit anxious, fearing what the government was going to say and worst of all, would they push to shut down adoptions. You just never know what people are thinking. I was pleasantly surprised that most of what they said was very positive and no they don't want to shut down Ethiopian adoption. Many statistics were given and most of the speakers said they wished to build on adoption and the great things happening with it, while making orphanages less horrific and reducing risks of fraud and corruption. They discussed humanitarian aid and educating the Ethiopian people of ways to provide for their families without necessarily rushing to give their children up for adoption. All in all I agreed with most of what was said and was encouraged to see how many people were working to improve things in Ethiopia, while making adoption safer and more efficient. After the call was over, I learned that the US embassy in Addis Ababa has now made appointments more readily available (every Wedn. vs. every other) and made some other changes which should reduce our wait time between court and embassy by as much as 2 weeks. Great News! Finally, I noticed on AWAA's blog that there have been 8 Ethiopian referrals so far in January and the referral for the toddler boy was 4 months after DTE. We just passed the 2 month mark. I am in awe of how fast things are moving. In the mean time, I will do some more blog stalking, praying, chatting on the wonderful yahoo group, and looking into baby sign language. I would be happy to hear any suggestions on a good book or site for this. One of our friends who adopted many years past mentioned how great baby sign language was, especially for toddlers. Frustration grows when we can't communicate. Basic sign language is easy to learn and can be used until our son learns English so he can communicate with us his basic needs and wants. Have a great day and don't forget to take time to enjoy God and all of his glory.

2 mths DTE

Today is our 2 month anniversary of being DTE. While I anxiously wait for referrals to happen and see us move up on the list, I have surprisingly been less anxious than normal with the slow down in Ethiopia. I am trusting that God will bring on the referral flood soon. In the meantime we will wait, pray, and prepare. I lift up the families who have been waiting much longer than us. I can only imagine what it would be like knowing our time is near and yet being let down each week with a lack of movement. God's got a big and awesome plan that I can't wait to see in the near future.

Why Ethiopia?

I have had a few people ask why Ethiopia and not the United States. I would love to see ALL orphans have a home and family regardless of race, ethnicity, location, etc. I just love to see people adding to their family through adoption. James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Knowing that so many of God's precious children are without homes is just heartbreaking to me. Since God does not rank his children on race, ethnicity, location, etc. I was not about to let those factors influence me. There were so many factors that led us to Ethiopia, but one of the biggest factors for me were the statistics. I have posted these on the right side of my blog. In addition, I have included an incredibly eye opening video about a dump in Addis Ababa where so many live. I agree that there is need in the US, but these statistics show that there is a much greater need in Ethiopia. Hopefully this will help some understand our decision. Do you have room to add one of God's children to your home? Psalm 127:3 "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him."

The Village of Korah - A short documentary

I just love how eye opening this video is. What is absolutely remarkable to me is the joy on these precious people's faces as they know that any food they find will help their chance of survival another day. When was the last time I had joy like this? I feel ashamed to say that many times I feel entitled to things that I want, not need. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

This is the year we will hopefully be adding our new precious son to our family. There is no progress as of yet to report. Referrals have slowed down quite a bit, but will hopefully pick up soon. There were only 4 referrals in Nov., 3 in Dec. and none yet in Jan. This follows 15 referrals in October. Selfishly I would love to get a phone call now from our family coordinator saying we have a son, but I am taking great comfort knowing that our almighty creator has perfect timing and is guiding every detail in this whole process. In the meantime, I am excited about the spiritual goals I have made for myself to begin this year. I am going to make an effort to start listening to more sermon's (in the car) to stay focused on different aspects of my spiritual walk throughout the day. This is in addition to my morning quiet time with God and small talks with him throughout the day. I also am bringing out the family veggie tales devotional in an attempt to help the children with their spiritual walk. Stay tuned for more later.....

Anna

Merry Christmas!!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. We began our festivities this morning by singing happy birthday to Jesus and then opening some gifts, playing baseball in the street, watching the kids ride their bikes, visiting with Uncle LJ, and just enjoying hanging out as a family. My awesome husband got me the most awesome necklace shaped of Africa from junkposse and I just can't stop looking at it. It is just my style and has special meaning to me. We are also styling our really cool simply love T-shirts from mycrazyadoption. Oh yeah, how could I forget..... one of the families in our age category got a referral, bumping us up to #7 for a toddler boy. YIPPEE!!!! Anyways, I have lots to do so bye for now..... and as our little guy likes to say, Happy Christmas!!!!!

prayers

I have been thinking the last couple of days on where our son might be. There are 6 families picking their 8 children up to go home this week from the transition home. Also, one of the orphanages our agency works with had their license renewed which is now allowing those families to pass court and wait for an embassy appointment (2nd & last trip to Ethiopia). I am excited about the movement and these children joining their forever families. Friday's are referral days and we have now gone 1 month without a family receiving a referral. From my understanding, the transition home was full and therefor, they were unable to bring in new children to be referred. With these 8 children leaving and many of the remaining children being able to pass court, I am hoping to see some more families receive their referrals soon. We have not been DTE for long, so we probably have a few months before we would get ours, but am hopeful for all the families in the process of being able to move forward. This week, as usual, I viewed the adoption from my perspective, but also thought about it from our little boy's perspective. I lifted up many prayers and will continue to do so for our son and all the other children that are experiencing change and loss, without realizing that they have a family waiting for them already. I was wondering where our son is, if he is with his biological parents and if so, have they made the decision to place him up for adoption. How are they handling the decision, are they sick from some disease that would be manageable in the states or can they not afford to feed and care for our son. My heart breaks for them and the sadness they must be facing. I long to thank them for their gift and just give them a hug because of their hurt. Then I think some more about our son and all the loss he will face. How much sadness has he had to endure? He will have to go through loss of parents, loss of a home and caregivers at the orphanage, and loss again when he leaves the transition home and caregivers there. These are all necessary steps in God's perfect plan for us to be united into the family God intended, but I just want to hold him while he is scared, hungry, not feeling well, sad, etc.