Wait Mail

I am super excited. After families become DTE, the agency sends out wait mail which is helpful information to read while waiting. Up until now we have received 2 of the 3. The 1st one was Transracial Transcultural Parenting and the 2nd was Injera, Coffee, and More! It describes the history, religion, language, economy, education, coffee, cuisine, and holidays in Ethiopia. Today, we got the 3rd and final of the wait mail. This one talks about what to expect when you're expecting a referral. I know it's not quite as exciting as getting a referral, but it definitely boosted my happiness level. Having now received all of the wait mail makes me feel like we are there. To my knowledge, the timing of the last wait mail does not indicate anything about the referral, but it shows progression and makes me feel like we won't be waiting much longer. Here is to hoping that Friday is a big day with referrals.

one year adoption anniversary

Oh boy, where do I begin. We had such a great weekend with friends of ours who's daughter and ours are in the same class at school. They have a cabin about an hour and a half from home that is on a gorgeous river. We intended to tent camp in their yard since the cabin has one bedroom, but they let us sleep on their pull out couch on the screened in porch which had a panoramic view of the river. The weather was perfect and the view was breathtaking. Hanging out with friends is always nice too. We relaxed, grilled, went for a ride on the river chasing after the many alligators, the boys went mudding in the truck, we saw lots of wildlife including turkey, gators, deer, hogs, etc..., bike riding on the withlacoochee bike trail, and much more. On the way home, Brian stopped at a triathlon store that he had wanted to visit for a while and I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to check the adoption blog to see if there were referrals on Friday. Woo Hoo, there on top was a title that listed one of the families did in fact receive a referral on Friday (the exact one year anniversary of when we started the adoption journey by submitting our application to the agency). Very excited Anna just had to investigate about the referral. I should have been ecstatic that they were one of the families ahead of us on the toddler boy list which means we are now tied with another family for number 5. Upon reading more, they were DTE about a month and a half before us and were requesting either gender up to 24 months. They were the unofficial number 2 on our list. So far so good, right? Well, only God could see what was about to happen next (you know, like when you witness something happening to your kid and you just know they are about to erupt and come crying to you that something very unfair happened to them). In their announcement they disclosed that their family coordinator called them to say that a 2 1/2 year old boy is available and while it was older than their request, they wanted to know if they would be interested. They said of course. This is not standard operation. Usually, if a child does not fall in someone's range, they offer it to the person next in line requesting that age. THAT WAS US!!!!! I sat there in disbelief, anger and sadness, ranting to God and trying my hardest not to loose it. There goes Brian run by in front of me trying on a pair of running shoes giving me this huge grin and a thumbs up. Ohhhhh, if he only knew. I shot back a very fake smile and a thumbs up back. He probably thought I was mad at him for taking so long. Well, since he wasn't there to talk to and I didn't want to vent to the kids, I decided to talk to God some more, which should be the first person I go to anyways. I felt myself coming to Him as a child runs to their parent for understanding and comfort. I sat in His arms asking Him why. I felt His comfort as He so simply told me I am sorry that you are sad, but Anna, I have a special child picked out for your family, and this little boy is not him. You will need to trust me and wait. Uhhh, well what am I going to say to that but OK. Thank you Lord for being in complete control and for giving us the best of everything even when it is difficult for us sometimes.

update on MOWA

I knew our great God had big plans up His sleeve that were disguised as something bad with the MOWA situation. He gave me His peace with the situation which I happily accepted. Well folks, I don't know what the outcome is yet, but we are getting glimpses of His great work already. I am getting giddy to see what will happen. Here is the latest email we received from our family coordinator:

Dear Brian & Anna,

We are writing to update you on the current situation in Ethiopia. While meetings between Ethiopian government officials continue, we have seen positive steps. Within MOWA, there have been significant and positive personnel changes which have resulted in overall staff turnover and changes in the adoption unit. This unit is now called the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA). We are hopeful and expectant that the new leadership will not only support processing an adequate number of favorable recommendation letters, but also implement policies that will best serve the children. Due to the staffing changes, we anticipate much transition over the next few weeks. However, we expect that once everyone is settled into their new positions, MOWCYA will work to process a higher number of recommendation letters than they currently are able to process.

We have continued to receive optimistic feedback and have seen how the Ethiopian government is very committed to adoption. I hope this information is an encouragement to your family. We will continue to update your family with any confirmed information we receive.

Blessings,

Food, Inc Continued

A couple of weeks ago I was very excited to get better quality chicken on sale. I bought many packages to freeze, which I still intend to use. As I was making my chicken last night, proud of my purchase, a lightbulb went off in my head. My lightbulb is one of those that flickers a bunch before actually turning on :) Anyways, I decided to look at the wording on the package which says cage free and my lightbulb turned on. The chickens I saw in the movie were cage free, but they were still piled 5 high in a barn with no windows. I decided to do some investigating (what I do best). I found a really informative sight that defines those labels we see on packages. The sight is: http://www.nakedfoodcooking.com/truth-isfree-range-eggs-healthier-store-bought-eggs/

This is what it states:

Conventional (i.e., no special label) – Typically less than half a square foot of space per hen, giving not even enough room to spread their wings.

Cage Free – As it says, the hens are able to move about inside a barn without being confined to cages. A better life, but not optimal as parts of beaks are often burned to prevent pecking at themselves and others (a sign of distress, by the way).

Free Range – Implies chickens on lush green pastures. Actually is not a regulated term for eggs so this can be used by absolutely anyone. Really all that’s needed is a door to the outside that gives the chickens “access” to an outdoor area, whether they actually use it or not. This is a meaningless term.

Organic – This means the hens were fed organic feed, whatever that feed consists of. I think it also means no animal by-products in the feed.

Vegetarian – The hen is fed a vegetarian feed. I only mention this to point out that chickens are omnivores, not vegetarians, and will naturally eat bugs, grubs, etc. This term is used to imply “healthier” in our anti-meat culture.

What I learned is that if you want naturally raised chickens, then you should look for the label to say "pastured." This means that the chickens were raised on pasture, with access to the sun, grass, bugs, and possibly supplemented with grains and other feed. Ta da. I found what I was looking for. Well it's never that easy. I need to go to some health food markets to see if they sell this, but the websites point to no. ARRGGG. I did find a farm about 4 hours away that sells the meat individually (by desired part, not the whole or half of an animal) and they make a delivery to Tampa once a month where I could meet the truck to pick up my order for the month. While this is WAY more work than walking a few steps to the closest supermarket, I will consider it. I was at least glad to learn that the labels that appear to be better products really are not and therefor not worth the extra money.

Food, Inc

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - About the Issues

Last night while I was in bed nursing an upper respiratory infection, I decided to watch Food, Inc. It had peaked my interest on netflix several weeks ago and I decided to finally watch it. As Brian was walking out the door, he looked at the TV and said "I don't think you are going to want to watch that." Well since I am obstinately stubborn, I chose to ignore. Yikes!!!! I had heard some of the stuff before and had taken notice to the jumbo size chicken breasts in the store, but this movie was still very eye opening. I did not like the mass production of animals or the way they were kept up, but am not hung up on this aspect. What really made me sick and concerned was how much genetic engineering goes into all of our food. I definitely recommend all to watch. Am I going to turn vegetarian? No, although I would take a bowl of brussel sprouts to a steak any day. Am I ever going to eat fast food again? Yes, but I may not enjoy it quite as much. Changes I would like to make are going more organic, eating less processed and fast foods, switching to free range meat from local farms and finally getting around to putting a vegetable garden and a much desired orange tree in our backyard. I have begun growing tomatoes and green beans in an earth box that was given to me, and have potted zucchini, squash, spinach, lettuce, & sweet peppers. I DO NOT have a green thumb and this will definitely be a learning process for me, but I am going to try. Over the past several years, starting with my husband, we have been making an effort to improve our overall health, and I am ready to take it up a notch. We have been introduced to and somewhat consumed (in a good way :) and mostly Brian) with triathlons. I am so inspired every time I watch Brian's races, but have decided after this next race I will just train and not race, and cheer on my inspiring, amazing hubby while he keeps bringing home the awards. Man I can get so sidetracked here...... Back on topic.... We have been eating out much less. Although this was mainly to save money, there are serious health benefits to cooking your own food if you don't add all the garbage to it like the restaurants do. Last night I located a few farms not too far from here that I'd like to visit. One of the organic vegetable farms sells their produce at the local Saturday morning market which I would like to start regularly visiting. There is even an Ethiopian food booth where we can eat lunch and a coffee booth that sells at least 3 different kinds of Ethiopian coffee. I am excited about trying a few new things to improve our health. Who knows, maybe if all this goes well I will join a few of my friends by having our own chicken coop in our backyard...... Don't worry Brian, I'm not there yet..... :) Alright, well, I am noticing my house is a bit of a disaster and it's already 1:30.... oops...... I guess I better get to work. I sure wish there was a movie to motivate me to clean. Let me know if you find one :)

Email from our family coordinator

Dear Brian & Anna,

Thank you again for your prayers on behalf of the adoption process in Ethiopia. We are continuing to pray and would ask you to do so as well.

We wanted to share some of the information currently being provided from the US Department of State as well as the National Council For Adoption regarding the current situation involving MOWA. Yesterday, the US Department of State noted the announcement MOWA made last week on their website. The full article can be found at:http://adoption.state.gov/news/ethiopia_alert.html. Additionally, the NCFA statement issued yesterday evening can be found below.

As noted by NCFA we are also excited to highlight the positive reports we are hearing regarding meetings in Ethiopia this week and are hopeful they will result in the continuance of a higher number of favorable recommendation letters being written by MOWA for families in the court process. We know God can move mightily and are continuing to trust His hand over the Ethiopian adoption process and your family’s process as well. As an additional note of praise, we received favorable recommendation letters from MOWA today for 4 families currently in Ethiopia resulting in them successfully passing court today.

During this season we would ask for your continued prayers and will be joining your family in this. We will continue to inform your family of any new confirmed information we receive.

Blessings,

MOWA defined

This was posted on our adoption agency's yahoo group by one of the other adoptive families. Their question about MOWA's role in the adoption process is answered by one of the agency's family coordinators and I found it to be pretty insightful.

Here is our question (just to give you an idea of where she is coming
> from in her answer): It is my understanding that MOWA basically
> approves us (the family) for adoption. Not that they actually do any
> research on potential orphans. If this is indeed the case, isn't it
> possible that we are past the point of MOWA approval as we have been DTE
> for over 6 months now?
> Here is her answer: "Thank you for your question. MOWA is the central
> authority on all children's issues. On paper, they are the
> approving party for both dossier and children's documents (whether a
> child should get a passport, birth certificate, adoption, visa, etc).
> Thus, they are the authority on anything relating to a child in
> Ethiopia. Regarding MOWA and the recommendation letters: These letters
> are not sent to court until the actual day of a family's court case.
> However, these letters are a necessity for a family to pass court. If
> MOWA does decide to significantly decrease the amount of recommendation
> letters signed and sent per day, this means more families will not be
> passing court on the first attempt (which could slow down the overall
> process). Currently, about 60% of families pass court on the first
> date.
> To answer your question, this letter is not sent until the day of court
> and "not sending" the letter does not necessarily mean your
> family is rejected. It may mean your family's case needs to be
> re-submitted to court until they do submit one. Before this change,
> MOWA neglected to send recommendation letters for families often, which
> resulted in families not passing court multiple times.
> We are unsure how long this decrease will be in place, in addition to
> how significant of an impact it will have (depending on the amount of
> cases they actually decrease per day). We do know that the judges and
> the Ethiopian courts are major advocates for adoption and are presently
> pushing MOWA to continue to process many cases per day.
> Right now families will still travel for court dates, but may not pass
> if MOWA does not send a recommendation letter. The family would then
> give their consent to adopt the child at court, and our Power of
> Attorney would go to court for the family on the subsequent dates.
> This all being said, we are unaware of timelines at this point. We will
> need to watch and see the effect over coming weeks/months in order to
> see if it will impinge on timelines. At present, meetings are taking
> place between MOWA and the Ethiopian courts. Once we have confirmed
> information, we will relay this to families."