The McDaniel Memoirs

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-20T21:41:00.004-05:00

Yes, yes, I’ve been terrible about keeping this blog updated. I’ve had, I think, two people mention that they checked and I hadn’t updated in so long, so, for those TWO people, I’m going to attempt to fill you in on the last six months!

Well, picking up from the last update, our house DID sell, and we DID close on our new home. We knew we had two weeks in between closings . . . basically 2 weeks of homelessness, when we planned to spend a week at Joe’s parents’ and a week with our wonderful friends, the Hulls. So, almost through our first week of homelessness we got a call and found out that the 2 weeks was actually going to be six. Hmmm . . . a big hassle at the time, but looking back, it was worth it for the house God provided. Seriously, I still can’t get over the blessing of the home God has given us – 3 yr. old home, 4000 square feet, for $128,000 . . . seriously!! Now before all of my east coast family and friends start hyperventilating, this is a GREAT price even for Indiana. Once again, I am amazed at God’s blessing to us! We have enjoyed SO much being able to have big groups in our home, and are so thankful for the space, now, to be able to expand our family through adoption, if that's God’s plan for us!

Since this is now turning into our “Christmas letter”, the kids seem to be doing well. Top question answered: Isaiah seems to be adjusted. We get that question still, and it kind-of surprises me, I guess, because it just seems like he's always belonged. He's one of us, he's a McDaniel. I can almost forget sometimes that there's even had to be “adjustment”. We are thankful for God’s continued grace to us and to him!

Joey is in 6th grade this year, Gracie in 4th, and Madie in 2nd. Madie started piano lessons this year. Josh started K5, and he really is a lot of fun to teach – he loves to read and gets so excited about the things he’s learning :o) Isaiah is watching and can’t wait until it’s his turn next year.

Joey and Gracie participated in a local church’s flag football league this fall, and they had so much fun. It was really fun to watch them, too :o)

Okay, well, I guess that pretty much brings us up-to-date . . . not nearly as hard as I thought it would be! As we close out 2011, I am amazed once again at what God has done – what He has taught, the blessings He’s given, the mercy He’s shown. I look forward to seeing what He’s got planned for 2012!

A Long Overdue Update

2011-04-28T16:03:00.004-04:00

I guess that's the story of my life lately. I know many who check my blog are family, family, or friends via Facebook, so this is old news. But just to get it officially blogged ;o) As the last post stated, we officially put our house on the market on March 9. We had several showings, and then, less than two weeks later, on March 21 a buyer accepted our counter-offer and a purchase agreement was signed for the sale of our house. Wow. I'm amazed at what God's done, and then, I'm amazed at my amazement . . . surely I should know by now that God is capable of unfathomably greater tasks than getting our house sold quickly??

Of course, nothing's final until those closing papers are signed, but closing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so it's looking good :o)

Now the more "fun" part of the story. I'll just admit it right now . . . YES, I did buy a house all by myself, while Joe was out of the country, a house which Joe had never seen prior to his leaving the country! Joe was scheduled to travel to Guyana in South America to visit our missionaries and help teach/train local pastors. We had a signed purchase agreement on our house on a Monday night, and he was scheduled to leave Thursday afternoon. So we called our real estate agent and scheduled to go house shopping on Wednesday a.m. We saw four houses, three of which weren't options - one was too far away, and two were stench issues. So, we crunched some numbers and our agent got an offer done for the fourth house, we signed it, and she submitted it just before Joe left for the airport . . . then 20 min. after he left for the airport I got a call from our agent . . . the house was bank-owned and had had an offer on the table for a week already and had just accepted it that a.m. Hmmmm . . . so the craziness began. I spent the week house shopping from scratch, planning, trying to communicate with Joe as much as possible, which was not very much - he could call a couple of times, but the connection was bad. Email worked when he could get online, but that didn't always work, and there was usually 12-24 hours between an email and a response. Praise the Lord for His guidance, His peace, wonderful friends and family who helped all they could (even if it was just to try to put out my "crazy" when I needed it), and an awesome real estate agent (and now friend) that I know God lead us to for that week - He knew I'd be house shopping without my husband (aka my sanity)! By the end of that week, the Lord allowed us to have our offer accepted on a great house that we believe will work very well for our current and future family. He is so good, even in the temporal little things!!

I'm also very thankful that we know the buyer so all of the work we put into getting it ready for sale will be for her benefit . . . again, the little things!

And so we're almost all packed up and ready to be out of this house. We have two weeks between the closing on this house and the scheduled closing on the new one . . . again, nothing's final until the closing papers are signed . . . so we will be "homeless" for a little while. And, again, we are so thankful for family and friends who are willing to put up with us during our time between houses.

So, we're excited, and we're ready to go!

Change of Plans and . . . Waiting . . .

2011-03-14T11:37:00.004-04:00

Haven't been doing much blogging lately, but it's not like people are waiting on the edge of their seats waiting for a post ;o) It's been a crazy busy season for us (and continues to be), but for those who are following and praying for us, I wanted to give a quick update.

So, in a nutshell, we still feel God is leading us to continue in adoption. We're not sure when and where that will be, but we know that, in order to adopt more children, we need to have more bedroom space. This is a state of Indiana requirement. So, if you've read previous posts, you know the options we entertained, and the way we thought God was leading - toward renovating our current home.

Well, after much more prayer, research, and the necessary numbers coming in, plans have changed. We spent the last two weeks in February and first one in March working what felt like 24/7 to get this house ready to go on the market. And, on March 9, it was officially put on the market, sign's in the front yard. (If you're interested, you can click HERE for a virtual tour of our house.) And now . . . we wait. We've had one showing so far, but no feedback or additional showings. We don't know for sure what God's going to do, but praying for strength and patience to "trust and obey" while we wait. If you're like me, even in light of the hardest work, just sitting still can be much harder! Fortunately, our God cares for us in the work and in the wait!

One Year!

2011-01-21T16:13:00.006-05:00

One year ago today, we passed court in Ethiopia and Isaiah officially and legally became our son. Of course, God knew that Isaiah would be our son before he was born. And we knew he was our son from the moment we first laid eyes on his beautiful face. But this day made it legal! What amazing things have happened in our lives since this time last year.

God took a "stranger" and made him our son, and in unexplainable ways, He has knit our hearts together as a family. And through it all, He has given us a deeper knowledge of and love for our indescribable Heavenly Father! Words are not enough . . . words are never enough . . .

Our video announcement from
January 21, 2010

Isaiah Tamrat McDaniel, today,
January 21, 2011

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T16:09:00.004-05:00

"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation."
~ Psalm 95:1

"What heavens are laid up in Jesus! What rivers of infinite bliss have their source, aye, and every drop of their fullness in Him! Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, You are the present portion of Your people, favor us this year with such a sense of Your preciousness that from its first to its last day we may be glad and rejoice in You. Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus."
~ Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

2010-12-22T10:40:00.000-05:00

The First Snow

2010-12-19T19:02:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of our first real snow of the season . . . and, of course, it was Isaiah's first time ever seeing and playing in snow. There was a bit of leftover snow on the ground when we first arrived back in the U.S. with him in March, but I don't think he noticed it ;o)

So, where are we going?

2010-12-01T23:22:00.015-05:00

If you’re like me, you like to have an answer to this question. You like to make plans and you like to know where you’re going. And, if you’re even more controlling (like me) you tend to not handle it well when those plans don’t go the way you expected.

Unless you have your computer volume muted, right now you’re probably hearing one of my current favorite songs, “If You Say Go”. I posted the words to this song in the previous post. It’s my favorite right now, because it’s my (our) heart’s cry. God has grown me and taught me and shown me things I never knew were possible. I’m humbled, I’m amazed, and I’m a little nervous!

You see, I know that God’s ways are much wiser and better than mine. His plans are perfect. They always go as He expects them to. But I also know that sometimes what is wise and good can hurt, a lot. I know that the hurt is for my good – I truly and sincerely believe that – but, as I know I’ve said before, that doesn’t mean I look forward to the possible (and inevitable) smack in the face of pain.

I like to make plans. Sure, I consult God on them. I pray for wisdom and seek Godly counsel. But then, somewhere along the lines they mutate from God’s plans into my plans. I hold on with both hands to my plans rather than keeping my eyes on the Planner. I think God is trying to teach me how to live without holding onto plans – even the good and right plans – to hold on to only Him.

And so the question, “where are we going?” The answer, I DON’T KNOW!!! And I’m on my knees asking God to help me be okay with that! We have some ideas. As I’ve said before, we deeply and sincerely believe that God wants to continue to expand our family through adoption. We’re absolutely thrilled and would love to have our lives be spent on loving “the least of these”, just as Christ does.

In order to expand our family through adoption, we need to expand our home. We could try to sell our house and move to one with more bedroom space. Or we can stay here and renovate. We think it’ll probably be stay here and renovate, and we’re praying, planning, and stepping forward in that direction. But, once again, I think the Lord is trying to encourage me to loosen my grip on those plans. He wants me to hold more tightly to Him. He wants me to be okay with not knowing, but trusting that He knows.

If you’ve ever wondered why we adopted our son, or why we would be crazy enough to want to do it again (and again . . . ), this video says it all. You’ve spent at least 7 minutes of your life doing some pretty worthless things – this clip is well worth the 7 minutes!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You'll need to scroll down to the bottom, right side of the page to mute/pause the music player before watching this.

"If You Say Go"

2010-11-23T11:55:00.021-05:00

If You say go, we will go
If You say wait, we will wait
If You say step out on the water
And they say it can't be done
We'll fix our eyes on You
and we will come

Your ways are higher than our ways
And the plans that You have laid
Are good and true
If You call us to the fire
You will not withdraw Your hand
We'll gaze into the flames
and look for You

Performed by: Rita Springer
Written by: Diane Kay Thiel
Vinyard Music USA

A Good Read

2010-09-29T10:31:00.004-04:00

If you've got a minute to read, here is another excellent article by Russell D. Moore, the author of "Adopted for Life".

Click HERE to link to the article.

It's Legal

2010-09-21T14:00:00.005-04:00

Just a short update. Back in June we filed our re-adoption papers with the state of Indiana, which included the name change and birth date change. It takes a couple months for them to process, but we now have Isaiah's Indiana birth certificate with his name and birth date legally changed. This doesn't change anything in regard to his status either as being in our family, as this was legal when we passed Ethiopian court in January. It also doesn't change his citizenship status. He's still considered a "permanent resident" of the United States. It's just something that has to be done. Now that we have the birth certificate, it makes doctors appointments and handling health insurance a little easier, and now we can move forward toward making him a citizen. The next step is applying for a Certificate of Citizenship for him, which we did last week. That could take several months to receive back, but once we have that, we can then get him a social security number.

We had some family pictures taken while we were out in PA at the end of August. The Smiths did a really great job! Here are a few of our favorites:

Doctors, Health Insurance & the Unexpected

2010-09-17T21:57:00.006-04:00

If you're like me, doctors appointments are necessary and bearable, and health insurance is necessary and fine . . . when everything goes as it should . . . you go to the doctor, they submit the claim, the health insurance pays their portion. And, if you're like me, you know that little feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when there's a hiccup in that process - you get the bill again that was supposed to have already been paid. Well, I was having one of those moments this week when I received a medical bill for a doctor's appointment that Isaiah had back in March. Now, I wasn't too concerned because I had been going back and forth with our insurance and the billing department for a few months now trying to get everything worked out. I had been talking to one lady in the billing department every time I called, and she always seemed understanding and helpful. But I was wondering why we were receiving this bill again!

So, after some phone tag, and some voicemail messages explaining again in detail what I felt like I have explained to them at least 10 times before, I finally got to talk to someone. Like I said, I had always dealt with one lady, and even on the bill, the number listed to call goes directly to this girl's line. But this was a different lady. So, she let me know that finally they had gotten everything cleared up and they were able to submit the claim to insurance. Whew, done!

Then she began apologizing for the mix-up, and I so I explained to her (for the first time) that I understood why, and tried to explain to her the reasons we don't know Isaiah's actual birth date. She was very inquisitive, and after more conversation I had mentioned my other children to which she commented "How many children have you adopted?" When I told her I had four biological and only one adopted, she seemed a little puzzled.

And then, the UNEXPECTED . . . she said to me "so then why did you decide to adopt?" Really??? Ya wanna know??? I'll admit, I was completely taken by surprise - an opportunity to share Christ with a total stranger was hitting me in the face! And so, I told her why! I told her of Christ's love for the fatherless and of my adoption in Christ. I'm sure not very eloquently as I fumbled over my words and my thoughts all trying to put themselves in order! But I got to share Christ, and prayerfully the seed was planted!!

Now, if you are a blog reader of mine, I pray that you know exactly what I'm talking about. I pray you have been adopted into God's family. But if you haven't, it's the most important adoption there is. It's why I live. It's why I do what I do. It's the driving force behind my life.

You see, I was a sinner, separated from God because of my sin. Because He is completely Holy, He can have nothing near Him that isn't . . . and I was not. God could've left it at that. But He didn't. He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price that I could never pay. To be the pure, sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty for my sin. He watched His Son go through unspeakable torture and separation from Him, because on the cross, God looked at His Son and saw my sin. And then He gave His Son victory over death. So now, I can come before a Holy God, not because I am any better, but because now when He looks at me, He sees Christ's pure sinlessness . . . and He sees me as His child! He wants to do the same for you!

And so tonight, I am praising God for the unexpected, the extraordinary. He put my sin on His Son, and clothed me with His righteousness. And this week, He gave me an opportunity to share that with someone unexpected!

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
II Corinthians 5:20-21

Here, There & Everywhere . . .

2010-09-01T21:04:00.010-04:00

Okay, so it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted a family update. I’ve been wanting to, and planning to, and even written a few in my head . . . but, unfortunately, it hasn’t gotten further than that for quite a while. I started this blog a few years ago to keep out of town family up-to-date on the kids . . . then my sister talked me into joining facebook and the blog died off. Then I restarted when we began our adoption journey a little over a year and a half ago now, to keep those interested updated on our process. Since we’ve been home, I guess I’ve been too busy?

In just a few days, September 6, we will mark six months that Isaiah has been home with us in the United States. It’s hard to believe. On one hand, it seems like it was just yesterday that we were going through all of the adoption paperwork, etc.; but on the other hand, it’s hard to believe it’s only been six months! One of the most common questions I get these days is “How do you think Isaiah’s doing/adjusting?” Which, to be honest, is really a hard question to answer. We’ve never done parenting from this starting point before. And, frankly, even if we had, every child and background can be so varied, it’s just really hard to tell. And so my answer usually is, we think he’s doing fine and adjusting well. He really is a pretty easy going kid, and almost immediately fell into line with the “crew”. Of course there are some differences in that we need to do more assuring him of his place in our hearts and family, while at the same time trying to set clear and consistent boundaries for a 3 yr old boy. By this time in their lives, our other children may not have liked their boundaries, but they had no doubts that we loved them and that they belonged in our family. He does seem to know that we are “his” and has a clear preference of us over anyone else, which is great in regards to the attachment/bonding that we pray will continue to grow between him and us. Of course, Isaiah is only 3, and he is a boy, so he doesn’t seem to have much thought past what is in the “right now” of his life, which I think is probably a good thing for him. But really, only God knows what is coming down the road for him and us, and we pray He will continue to equip us to be his and all of our children’s parents.

Over the past few months, we have been able to see Isaiah through a lot of “firsts”, and he seems to take it all in stride. Even some of the scarier medical things like doctors, immunizations, etc., he seems to deal well with. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll scream like you're cutting his leg off when he gets a shot, but he seems to get over it fairly quickly. Back in June, Joe’s two sisters and their families came out at separate times, so Isaiah was able to meet them and get to know them a little bit. Then at the end of August, we took our first long road trip out to PA to introduce Isaiah to my side of our family. He actually did really well for the 10+ hours in the car, although he does like to make non-stop repetitive noise to entertain himself . . . but he was always good about it when mommy or daddy just had to say “Okay, Isaiah, enough!” to which he would just reply “Okay!” . . . and then he would wait about 5 min. before finding a new noise to entertain himself ;o)

The week in Lansdale went well, and Isaiah seemed totally good with everyone and everything. Just taking in and enjoying everything. Then we spent a second week up at my parents’ mountain house, which all of us thoroughly enjoyed. Isaiah just loved riding and watching the four wheeler! Of course, if you spend any amount of time with Isaiah, you’ll quickly realize that he is absolutely enthralled with any type of vehicle. I mean, my other boys have liked to play with cars, but this kid is obsessed with them!

The other kids are also doing well. They love Isaiah and he loves them. Joshua and Isaiah are my favorite two to watch together – they’re hilarious! They laugh and joke together, and, somehow, Joshua seems to have absolutely no problem understanding exactly what Isaiah is saying. Of course, put the two of them in a room, if something bad “goes down”, they’ll deny it and blame each other to the death!

We just started school this week after an unusually long summer break. The kids were dreading it . . . and I’ll admit I was, too, but we are using a new curriculum for some of our subjects, which I think all of us are enjoying. And Joshua and Isaiah are again getting back in the routine of having to entertain themselves a bit more with the older kids and mommy busy with school. Joshua will be four at the end of the month, so he is talking daily about whether he will have chocolate cake or brownies for his birthday. I’m sure it will change at least 26 more times from now ‘til then!

We are also so excited to see what God continues to do! Some good friends of ours who walked closely beside us during our adoption journey have recently announced that they are beginning the steps toward adoption! So very excited with and for them!! We also had the opportunity while we were in PA to meet with some adoptive families who we’ve been sharing our journey with over the last several months, which was really so special! We’ve seen God continue to do amazing things in our lives as well as those around us . . . we are humbled to be able to serve Him!

Joe and I talked about this while we were Ethiopia, but we just didn’t think that we were done with adoption, or that God was done with it in our lives. We knew for sure that we didn’t want to go back to living “ordinary” Christian lives. We don’t want to be comfortable in our little corner of the world, with our comfortable “Americanized” Christianity. And thanks to reading “Radical” by David Platt, that mindset continues to be impressed on our hearts. We know what our desires are, but we also know that even things that look good and right may not be God’s best for His glory. We continue to pray toward what God has for us, and continue to feel that we are not “done” . . . now what exactly that will look like for us, we don’t know. But we’re praying and seeking God’s leading, and we have full confidence that He will direct our steps.

Wow, I guess I really should update this a little more often ;o) I’ll close with one of the funniest things I’ve heard one of my kids say in a long time – the kids were sitting down to lunch yesterday. Some of the kids were starting to eat and I was in the kitchen getting the last few lunches ready. Isaiah was one of the ones already eating, and he was eating spaghetti, which is his absolute favorite meal that we know of so far. And then I hear it . . . my 6-yr.-old Madie exclaims, “Wow, if all the kids in Ethiopia eat like Isaiah, no wonder they don’t have enough food!” Still makes me laugh! Anyway, enjoy some pictures!

I have no words . . .

2010-07-14T01:45:00.000-04:00

Looking Back . . . Friday . . . FINALLY!!!

2010-06-25T14:27:00.008-04:00

So, we've been home from Ethiopia for about 3 1/2 months now, and I'm FINALLY concluding our pictures and recap for the week! I did have to go back and look and found that I did actually already give the day's events and travel home in pretty good detail, so this post is mainly to post some of our pictures from our tour of the coffee factory, our travel group, and a few last snapshots we got on our way out.

Don't know if I've said it here before, but I miss Ethiopia. We don't know what God has for us in the future, but my heart is tied to that country and people!

I don't know why these pictures always upload in opposite order, but with this many, I'm not even going to try to rearrange them!!

In Dubai - watching our plane come in

Our travel group

David & "T"
. . . and don't laugh at my sloppy clothes and washed-out face,
you know what kind of a week we had!!! ;o)

Who loves coffee? We do!!

The one roaster for the entire factory -
the coffee we bought was still warm!

The "lab" where they taste-test different coffees from around the world (even Starbucks!) and compare to their own.

sink for spitting coffee in after they taste - kinda looks like a dentist sink!

Ladies who's job it is to sit all day picking out "bad" coffee beans. They have about 2 minutes for each batch before it zips away and a new batch slides in front of them.

Looking Back . . . Thursday

2010-05-23T19:53:00.006-04:00

Yes, I know it's been almost an entire month since I posted last, and I don't know that many people are even bothering to check here anymore, but I am determined to finish posting through our week in Ethiopia!

Thursday was an interesting day for us. By this time we had our luggage and were able to get everything delivered. This was also the day that it was clear that Isaiah didn't want anything to do with mommy.

Thursday morning all of the traveling families loaded into our vans to go visit the first orphanage, Kids' Care. We drove into the court yard and saw the beautiful old buildings, and were greeted by some amazing, beautiful, and happy children! We passed out many granola bars, crackers and balloons. On a whim on one of my last shopping trips before we left for Ethiopia, I had picked up some punching balloons and some rocket balloons. Well, the rocket balloons were a HIT! Basically long, thin balloons that you blow up w/ a little pump and then let them go whistling and flying into the air - so fun and the kids were going crazy!

We met this guy working at Kid's Care. He could care less about the Colts, but we still had to get a picture with him in his Colts shirt :o)

I walked into one of the baby rooms inside the buildings. We were only allowed to take pictures in the courtyard, so there were no pictures in here. I started blowing up some beach balls and sea creatures and handing them to the children. There was one very petite little girl sitting on the floor who kept shaking her head at me with her bottom lip sticking out. The nannies there didn't speak English, but they let me know that she wanted a toy. So I blew one up and handed it to her. What happened next happened so quickly - I handed her the toy which she immediately and forcefully tossed away, scooting on her tush over to me where she stood upright (I didn't think she could stand up) with her hands in the air to me. I picked her up and she immediately clasped both hands on the collar of my shirt. I tried to ask the nannies about her, and from what I understand, they said she was seven. I said, "seven months" and they said, "no, years!" I was amazed. She looked no bigger than a 2 year old, and a petite 2 at that. She continued shaking her head w/ her lower lip jutting out, and one nanny said "she want go to America". I can't even type this here without the tears coming. I've heard many parents say it, but you want to take every child home. You want to help more.

After we had a fun time visiting with the children, one of the head nannies there prepared us a traditional coffee ceremony, which was basically sitting in a circle and being served very strong, black coffee in tiny tea cups along with popcorn that tastes like kettle corn - pretty good actually! It is very humbling, when they have so little, to sit and be served by them. I'm wearing a Kid's Care t-shirt right now that we bought while we were there - they sell them to help with their needs at the orphanage.

After this visit, we all went back to an art gallery for lunch. After lunch, whichever families wanted to, split into two vans to visit one of two orphanages. We were scheduled to meet with Isaiah's birth mom at Kingdom Vision International - the orphanage where Isaiah lived before he was taken to our agency's transition home. It was a tough choice, but we decided that I would have to do this by myself. We didn't want for Isaiah to be further traumatized if he caught a glimpse of his birth mom, and we knew it would be better for me to meet with her mom-to-mom, than Joe. I won't get into details here on this meeting, but it was absolutely one of the best and hardest things I have ever done. I would do it over a thousand times for Isaiah, but for me . . . . We were able to get a picture of her that we will put in a file for when Isaiah is older and starting to wonder about where he came from.

We spent our last evening in Ethiopia in the guest house. Realistically, since we were so emotionally and physically maxed out, and in a different time zone, and waking wide awake every morning between 3:30-5 a.m., most evenings, we ate dinner and crashed. We did stay up a little later this night to finish packing up. An amazing day.

All in all, even given the horrendous hassle of the luggage issues, as I look back, and as other families travel and I see their pictures . . . I miss Ethiopia. Our trip was hard . . . really, really, REALLY hard . . . but I'd do it again in a minute.

One of my absolute favorite pictures from our week in Ethiopia - when we left Kid's Care . . .

Looking Back . . . Wednesday

2010-04-27T20:53:00.004-04:00

Okay, WOW, so it's been way too long since I've been back on this blog!! I do want to get some more pictures on here of our trip, and since I stopped at Tuesday of our week in Ethiopia, I'm now onto Wednesday. I don't actually have many pictures from Wednesday because the main event for that day was our appointment with the US Embassy to get visa approval for Isaiah to be able to come back to the U.S. This was the appointment that was holding up our travel plans for a few weeks because they waited until the week before to confirm with our agency that we could have the appointment.

When we showed up for our appointment Wednesday morning we went through security (no electronics allowed). After all five of our AWAA families had passed through security, we all sat down to find out that they had decided to close the day before, so our appointment got moved to the afternoon (par for the course for the "bumps" in our trip!). So, we all loaded back into the vans and headed back to the guest house. There we decided just to flip-flop our day. We did more shopping in the morning, had lunch out and then went to our embassy appointment. The appointment basically consists of waiting for a few hours in a crowded, stuffy room (glad it was "winter"!!) until they call your name. Then we go up to the window where they ask you a few questions (literally 5-10 min. total) before they give you approval. Fortunately for us, Isaiah fell asleep on me shortly after we got there and was sleepy the rest of the time . . . some of the other families with us weren't so lucky and had to chase kids around for hours!

Besides knowing that we had Isaiah's visa approval, the most exciting thing of the day was FINALLY GETTING OUR LUGGAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to finally be able to get our donations sorted for the transition home and orphanages. As I mentioned in my post while we were in ET, the only things missing from our luggage were a box of latex gloves and a large bag of candy (meant for a gift for some of the people who helped us while we were there). I wish I had had more time to get stuff more organized for pictures, but below is what I got in the chaos of sorting and separating. I wanted to take these pictures and share them with you because they were donations from you - so many of you prayed and sacrificed financially so we were not only able to complete Isaiah's adoption, but also be able to bring around 150-175 lbs. of donations for the orphans!

Who's Your King??

2010-04-06T13:51:00.000-04:00

A New Easter

2010-04-04T21:27:00.004-04:00

Easter is not really new, but I feel like I'm seeing Easter in a new way this year. I'm not who I was last year at this time. God has changed me, the way I think, the way I see the world, and I pray that I never lose the vision He's given me. I pray that, by His grace alone, I will remain open and yielded to Him so that He can continue to make that vision clearer - to see how He sees!

Earlier this week on facebook, I shared a video of another adoptive family and included the caption "Easter IS adoption" . . . and I've been continually brought back to that thought throughout the week. God gave the ultimate price - the life of His only and perfect Son - for His glory and our good. If you're like me and you've grown up with the "story", it's easy to gloss over that statement. God has taught me SOOO much this past year, but if nothing else, He has given me a deeper understanding of my adoption in Him. He paid this price and now I'm adopted into His family - not as a servant or even a good friend (both of which positions I am unworthy to occupy) - He chose to watch His Son die an excruciating death. He was beaten, abused, beyond recognition. And as if the physical wasn't enough, He was mocked. He chose to take our sin on Himself. And by doing that, in the time of His greatest misery and agony, He was also separated from His Heavenly Father. All of the hatred and disgust due my putrid sin . . . He CHOSE to bear that, from His Father . . . in my place. Because of my sin. Now, I am a child of God - in His family, permanently, with all of the unfathomable rights and privileges that that includes!

So, as I sat this morning with our church family, singing all of the beautiful songs about what God has done for us through His victory over death, I literally felt my breath taken away as God took me back a few weeks. This thought has struck me this week, but even more so this morning. Remember my posts earlier of how Isaiah was really not liking me for the last few days in Ethiopia and the entire plane ride home? That was so painful. My heart still hurts to think about it, it's still so "fresh". To be there, ready, willing, and able to be his mom . . . I knew what we had done these last several months to get there. I knew I had what he needed, if only he would let me. But anytime I got near him . . . well I can't even describe the look of disgust with the accompanying scream he gave me if I got anywhere near him. I knew it could happen, but it still broke my heart when it did. I wish I could describe to you the depth of the pain I was feeling in my heart . . . and I felt this week like God was saying to me, "Sarah, how do you think I feel everyday when the children I love, the children I DIED for, think they don't need me? They reject me, they mock me, they run screaming the other way. Or they say I'm just a figment of someone's imagination." My heart is broken. He has allowed me to feel His pain in a small, but very real way.

Okay, so I know you came here for pictures of the family, and not for a sermon ;o) We are doing well, as far as we know, Isaiah still seems to be doing well and finding his place in our family. We are so thankful for God's continued grace and mercy to us. He truly gives us the strength for each new day! So today was Easter, and, as far as we know, the first Easter that Isaiah has ever celebrated. Here's a short video of Isaiah with the legos he got for Easter, and using a few of his English words - jellybean, doggie, and bye-bye ;o)

Josh was SOOO excited about our Easter egg hunt, and that he found the egg hidden in the trickiest spot ;o)

Medical Update

2010-03-25T15:16:00.003-04:00

I tried to get on here earlier today to post this update, but for some reason I couldn't get on. Isaiah's appointment with the dr. at the International Adoption Clinic went well. Of course, he didn't enjoy the blood draw, but other than that it was no big deal for him. They're running a lot of test on the blood, and he will also be tested again for intestinal parasites. We're not sure the last one is completely cleared up or he may have something(s) else. Overall, she said he's in good health. A lot of interesting information. She said there seems to be evidence of Rickets in the past. She wants us to see a dermatologist about a birthmark on his arm. Since the Ethiopian medical records show him having had malaria, he will need to be tested for that. Unfortunately, malaria "hides" in the blood unless he has a fever, so we have to wait until the next time he gets a fever. And he needs to get a TB test and start an immunization schedule. We'll go back in 6 months for her to evaluate his growth/progress.

The more interesting news, is the dr. agreed with us that he seems he is closer to turning 3, not 4 as the Ethiopian birth certificate shows. So we picked a birth date of May 16, 2007 . . . why?? Well, we went with May because that's the month on the Ethiopian certificate, so we thought why not? Then Joe wanted it to be the 8th so he could remember (Joey's, Gracie's and my birthdays are all the 8th) ;o) So, I suggested we make it the 16th since Madie's is April 16 so maybe it'll help him remember hers, too . . . so now I guess I'll just have to remind him of Josh's birthdate ;o)

Playing in the waiting room at Riley

Looking Back . . . Tuesday . . . and this past weekend

2010-03-22T12:56:00.012-04:00

First, looking back. Tuesday in Ethiopia was the day we were assured we'd have our luggage - they even gave us flight numbers. We went shopping with our group Tuesday morning, which was quite an adventure. Many little shops in a row - most no bigger than a walk-in closet, stacked with stuff and very pushy sales people! We had a great time and got some pretty neat souvenirs . . . and only got "taken" a few times ;o) But it's all good - they need the money more than we do, right? ;o)

After shopping, we headed back to the guest house where the group was dropped off for lunch. We, however, skipped lunch to take a ride to the airport, where we got to spend over an hour to find out that our luggage was still in Dubai . . . to laugh or cry?? It was definitely a toss-up at this point! I will say though, for those of you who don't know Joe, it takes A LOT to get him angry. In fact, I don't know that I can remember ever seeing him truly angry . . . let's just say, he was a man with a red face and very few words on the ride back from the airport that day! I know this was such a big stress point for both of us during this week, and I am so thankful for him being my "rock" by dealing with all of this baggage and airline mess. I truly would have had a mental breakdown if I had to do it!

Then we headed to the transition home to get Isaiah. While it was exciting, it was emotional for me, as well, thinking of what little we had to help care for Isaiah. We were able to visit the second transition home, where Isaiah actually lived, for a short time. Isaiah loved the van ride and, as you'll see in the pictures, he loved the little flashlights . . . Praise the Lord, one of the few things for Isaiah that I actually did pack in my carry-on. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to pick up some supplies that we needed until our luggage got there.

Isaiah almost instantly warmed up to us once we were in the hotel room that night. Here is the video of the first time we heard him giggle . . . I was in tears on the other side of the camera!

Isaiah in his bed at the transition home (not sure why this pic didn't rotate??)

Talking with one of Isaiah's nannies at the transition home, with our translator, Fami.

In front of transition home #2

Reaching out to one of his friends at the transition home (the Ballard's precious daughter!)

Playing with the flashlights

playing at the guest house with some little animals we picked up shopping that morning

He LOVED the big, soft bed!

More of the amazing scaffolding they build and work on . . . no safety harnesses here!

view from the top of the guest house . . . forgive me if this is a repost ;o)
--------------------------------------------
And now, back to today!

Isaiah had a chance to meet his McDaniel grandparents at the airport when we arrived home, but that was just a short meeting. They were able to come down this past Friday and spend a few hours getting to know him, and him them. We played in the backyard with the bubbles and toys they brought, grilled dinner, and then went to Ritter's for Isaiah's first taste of ice cream . . . well, technically custard! He liked it better than I thought he would since he's not big on sweets, but he was still much more interested in trying to run into the parking lot ;o)

Then we took him to meet our church family for the first time on Sunday. Joe took the older three to Sunday School, and Josh, Isaiah and I joined them for church. Isaiah was shy and silent, but he did well and sat quietly and pretty still the entire time Daddy was preaching. One of my first thoughts as we began to see God clearly leading us to adopt, was how wonderful it would be, not only to bring a child into our physical family, but also into our amazing church family! I am so excited for them to get to know him, and for him to be a part of God's body at Grace Bible Church!!

Many of you have asked how Isaiah is adjusting. As far as we know, things seem to be going well. But only God knows what is coming down the pike, and we are so thankful that He is also the one who will give us the wisdom, strength, and grace to handle whatever that is! The kids are great with him, which is a huge help to us. Josh is the only one who seems to be going through some "transitions", but he'll be okay ;o) Although the pictures below may look staged, they're really not. The only thing I told them to do was stop walking so I could get a picture!

What's Happening Today!

2010-03-18T21:32:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I do plan to get back to posting pictures from our week in Ethiopia, but I wanted to post some current pictures. My parents were here from Monday night through Wednesday night and we had a really nice visit. Isaiah warmed up to them pretty quickly. He wouldn't leave my dad alone ;o) But, as we already know, he seems to prefer men at this point. From what we know, he has never had a consistent male figure in his life, and the women always leave him, so from that standpoint, it makes sense.

Isaiah seems to be adjusting well to our family. His meltdowns have decreased in number and duration. He seems to understand us well, even though he's not able to communicate in English a whole lot yet. But it's coming! He is also being more vocal about asking for things like letting us know when he wants to eat, and when he is done - but, man, can that little guy eat!! :o) He's not a big fan of desserts in general, doesn't seem to like chocolate, but he loves jelly beans! We continue to pray for wisdom and discernment with all of our children, but particularly as we seek to parent this little guy!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our visit!

He loves all vehicles, so the trains and cars were a big hit!

Looking Back . . . Monday

2010-03-15T22:56:00.011-04:00

Monday, March 1, started out with our "paperwork party" at the hotel. We met with Fami, finished some paperwork, and were given a folder with some more information on our children. In our folder for Isaiah were some medical reports as well as a schedule for what his days looked like at the transition home. What almost knocked me over was looking in the left-hand pocket of our folder and seeing two pictures that Isaiah had colored!

Duni on the left (with Dale & Kristi Hall) and Fami on the right.

We were joking around about how the women were all doing the paperwork, so I had to get a picture of Joe writing his signature ;o

"T" and Robel

Robel was cold. It was 70 degrees, but that was chilly for the Ethiopians. I offered to lend him my jacket, and he said that'd be fine, as long as it wasn't pink ;o) I had to get a picture!

Then we met Duni, who is the in-country director of AWAA. It was neat listening to her talk about alot of the aspects of adoption. A couple of things stuck out to me. In talking about the possibility of meeting birth parents, she told a story of one man who could not care for his child and so, had given that child up for adoption. In his village, the people did not understand what he had done and told him he had given his child to the devil. They told him it would've been better for his child to stay there and die than to be given to the devil. After meeting his child's adoptive parents and receiving a photo of them, he was able to show that picture to his village and spread the understanding of what was really going on. It was neat to hear this from their perspective.

She also mentioned a new program that they are implementing over there. I have learned so much about Ethiopia and their adoption process over the last year. One thing I have been impressed with over and over is their care, as a society, for their children. They do not take the giving up of or the adoption of children lightly. There is a long investigation into each child's background to be sure they are truly orphaned. If they are a "true orphan", meaning their parents are both dead, they look for a family member to care for the child. If a parent feels they cannot care for their child, they have to prove that to the government, and bring three witnesses to that fact. The child can then be declared adoptable and matched with an adoptive family. That parent and the witnesses must then, also, appear at the court date in order for that child to be adopted. The question has been brought up to us of why they wouldn't just help the parent to then care for the child themselves. What we learned is that every effort is made to do that. If the government (who gets no money from international adoption, by the way) feels the parent can take care of their child, they refuse the parents request. The program that Duni mentioned is that she is raising money to be able to try to help get mothers back on their feet to be able to care for their children. We bought some scarves and books while we were there to support that ministry. She wants to provide some financial help, but mostly counseling for these women, as there are usually more and deeper issues that just not having money.

Whew, anyway ;o) I could talk for hours on adoption, let alone our experience on this trip. Of course this was the day we met Isaiah for the first time, but I have already written about that in my post on that day. This is a short video of Joe getting Isaiah to smile for us for the first time - playing basketball ;o) Be patient, I had the lens closed when I first started filming - oops!

In the afternoon, the ladies went to a spa and had our nails done. Maria, who's 8, got her hair braided and looked adorable! Joe didn't think I should try it ;o) Joe got to spend his afternoon on the phone with the airlines. Later in the evening, we all went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner.

They come around and wash your hands before and after the meal, since you eat with your hands. Notice my hot pink nails ;o)
injera - you use the bread to pick up the food and eat. Theoretically, the plate should be completely clean when we were done, but I guess us Americans didn't have big appetites that night! Apparently the egg in the middle is a special treat. And "T", David and Robel said they eat it with raw meat. Ewww!! Ours was all cooked meat, but they tried to talk Joe into having it with them. The cooked food was more than enough for his stomach to handle, so he passed on that offer!

Below are some short video clips of the entertainment for the evening. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our video camera with us to dinner, so these are not as high quality b/c they were on my digital camera.

Just some more scenery!

Looking Back . . . Sunday

2010-03-14T10:48:00.013-04:00

So, as I promised before, I want to work back through our week in ET to post some of the pictures we got along the way. It just took too long to upload them on the internet connection we had over there.

Before I do, an update to our last post: I probably could've included this in the last post, but things are going really well with Isaiah. Pretty much as soon as we got home, I stopped getting those looks from him. And more recently, he has been seeking me out to be held, or just to come and sit with me. But, he still follows Joe around the house whenever he's home saying "daDEE, daDEE!" :o) He has really warmed up well to the family.

I slept on an air mattress in the boys' room the first night, Joe did the second night, and he's been doing fine by himself ever since. Of course, he is a 2 1/2 -ish little boy, so there are always struggles. Like, he hates going to bed. My guess is that he has just learned to cry himself to sleep. He would cry every time we laid him down, and continue moaning even after the tears stopped until he was asleep. We've worked with him on this, and he's probably coming to realize that it's all okay, and last night he went to bed for the first time without so much as a complaint!

While he's not speaking English regularly, except for "Daddy", it is very clear that he understands a lot of the basics. If he's in the right mood, he will try to repeat us. I guess the same as a baby, I'm very anxious to be able to understand what he is saying and singing - he likes to sing VERY loudly ;o) We have been amazed, though, at how quickly he understood basic words and commands and transitioned into his new name. Probably within a day or two he was responding to "Isaiah". The speaking thing is just going to take more time.

The blister/sore under his nose seems to be improving. We got some of the test results back as far as parasites, so he is on meds now for that.

Okay, so onto the pics ;o) In case it's confusing, I'm putting the captions under the pictures.

Sunday afternoon/evening was the only bad weather we had while we were there. As you can see, it was kind-of foggy/misty. We went with the Halls and Rings to a museum for the oldest church in Addis Ababa . . . we were all exhausted, so we tried to look interested ;o) The sweet guide was trying so hard, but his English was really hard to understand!
There was very loud singing/chanting coming, I believe, from this building, and could also be heard from our guest house on most mornings . . . especially when you wake up at 3:30 a.m. and can't fall back to sleep!

Our room at the guest house. We shared a suite with another family. We had our own bedroom and bathroom, and shared a living room and kitchenette. Our bedroom had a door to the front balcony.

The view from our balcony of the kindergarten across the street. On Monday morning we had so much fun watching the parents drop their little kindergartners off, and then watch as the teachers gathered all the children on the front porch to sing songs . . . in English! It was so adorable!! My favorite was listening to them sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hand-es" . . . I could've listened to them sing all day!

The front view from our balcony, and the courtyard of the guest house.

As we left the museum, the Hull's had some treats to hand out, and a huge crowd gathered around Ethan. This happened all week whenever we handed out food to street children. Unfortunately for Ethan, this day the Halls were the only ones with snacks with them. If you know Kristi, you'll have to ask her about the boy that came running up to our van when she tried to give him some candy :o)

The gate to the church. One woman was moaning very loudly and throwing herself all around - you can see her there by the tree.

Old graves . . . and T's head ;o)

A huge eucalyptus tree, that was a gift from Australia, way back when . . . I don't know, I wasn't listening that well ;o) It was interesting, though, to learn that the king made sure that his house was lower than the church (the church is higher on the mountain) because they believed the king was not above God.

I think this was the actual first church of Addis Ababa . . . but, again, his English was hard to understand!

I LOVE these trees . . . this is one of my favorite scenery pictures from the week.

Don't know why this pic is purple - I think my camera is dying.

The dogs that hang around the guest house - had to take pictures for my animal lover, Gracie!

Right side of courtyard of guest house.

Left side of courtyard of guest house.
The front of the guest house. Our room was the first-floor balcony, and our bedroom window is to the left of the first balcony in this pic.

Man herding donkeys down the road in front of the guest house.

Some views from the roof of the guest house. They also have a room on the roof with a play room and a nanny. We didn't know this before we went, but it was a huge help, especially the first night with Isaiah when we had no luggage and very few toys to play with him!

"I don't want my children to be happy"

2010-03-12T10:50:00.002-05:00

If you're reading our blog, please take a minute to click on this LINK. It's an awesome post by another adoptive mom, who was able to put into words, so sweetly, what God has done in our hearts, as well as many other adoptive parents. You won't regret the few minutes you spent reading it!!

Home Update

2010-03-11T20:36:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I guess it's pretty bad when Joe lets me know that I haven't updated the blog! I told him I just hadn't been feeling too "wordy" lately. Which, I guess is true. I've never really traveled far enough to experience jet lag before, and it hit me pretty hard. Joe seems like he was back to himself a day or so ago. I'm still a little tired, but today is the first day that I haven't felt like my head is in a cloud.

So, to go back to my last post, yes, obviously we did get home safely. We visited the coffee factory last Friday in Ethiopia and bought about 35 lbs. to bring home. Our luggage smelled great! We then got back to the guest house to pack up. We had a short time of pictures and prayer with our group, and then we headed to the airport.

Now, to start our travel home story, you need to know that probably about Wednesday of last week, Isaiah had decided that he wasn't a big fan of me. He only wanted daddy, and nothing to do with me. I was prepared in my head for this - knowing children sometimes fight against their adoptive parents or can bond more with one initially than the other. But, knowing it in your head and experiencing it are sometimes two different things. Especially given the intense emotions of the week and our exhaustion, I had a really hard time with this. No matter how much I knew in my head, after everything that went on that week, my heart just wasn't ready for the "take-a-long-walk-off-a-short-pier" look I got from him pretty much every time I got near him. So, I was pretty emotional, and praying for God to give me clarity. I was happy that he was happy with Joe and that Joe was able to take care of him, but my heart hurt that I wanted to be his mommy . . . I was ready to be his mommy, but I couldn't be. We knew that to prevent a melt-down at least until we got home, it meant Joe was pretty much going to have to be Isaiah's main caretaker for the trip home. So, Joe was struggling with keeping Isaiah entertained, and the fact that he felt bad for me knowing how much my heart was hurting. And I was struggling with all of the thoughts/feelings I mentioned above, and with the fact that I couldn't help Joe with Isaiah.

Isaiah actually did pretty well on the way home, except for having to buckle up on take-off and landing . . . on four different flights ;o) He pretty much screamed at the top of his lungs for the entire time he had to be buckled in. But, thanks to Benadryl, he did sleep about 8 hours out of the longest 12-hour flight.

So, after all of our hassle from the time we got to the airport in Indianapolis on Friday, until Wednesday in Ethiopia when we finally got our luggage, you'd think we'd get a smooth ride home, right??? Well, by this point, we didn't expect anything close to "smooth" ;o) We had called and confirmed the flights (that were rebooked after the confusion on our flight there), and they assured us we were good. So, it started right off the bat at the airport in Addis Ababa when they couldn't seem to print out our boarding passes. When we finally got them and we tried to board the plane, they said they weren't right and we had to wait until the guy over at the ticket counter came and confirmed. Then, when we got to Dubai, we got stopped for a security check on Joe's passport . . . I always suspected something with him ;o) Then when we got to JFK, we had to get all of our baggage to go through customs . . . I should've known something was up when that all went smoothly, and we got through customs so quickly. Then we trucked our luggage over to the United terminal to check it in there and get our boarding passes for our remaining two flights . . . they took our luggage and then informed us that there was a problem ;o) Somehow, we had our flights booked from Dulles to Indy, but the one from JFK to Dulles was revoked because of a problem with our credit card??? Then she made a call and did some computer stuff, but was only able to fix Joe's, but not mine. They had our reservation and could check our luggage, but couldn't get my ticket cleared. She wanted us to head back to the other terminal to talk to Emirates about fixing it (really, again?!?) We asked her if she could please call them because we didn't want to go all the way over there only to miss the flight we were trying to get on. She looked really annoyed, but then she did. We discussed having to buy my ticket again, but after about 20 min. on hold, they did fix it and we were on our way.

It was so great to see our kids at the airport. We were so ready to be back home with everyone again!

The first several days at home have gone relatively smoothly. We've had some more emotional ups and downs, as is expected, but we're getting to know each other. We're getting to understand Isaiah more each day, and he's getting to understand how things work in our family. Isaiah had a cough and runny nose when we met him (and has for a while from his medical information), but that has cleared up since we've been home. He developed some type of a blister under his nose on Tuesday, so he had his first trip to the pediatrician yesterday . . . we also took advantage of the trip to get a lab order to test him for parasites . . . all I can say is eww! ;o) He's got an appointment with his doctor at the international adoption clinic at Riley Children's Hospital in a few weeks. They should be able to help us figure out an accurate age for him as well.

So, that's what's been going on around here ;o) We're looking forward to a visit with my parents the beginning of next week, and some time with Joe's parents later in the week. Hopefully over the next several days I'll get to post some "recap" posts with pictures from our week in Ethiopia. It really was an amazing week!

Thank you so much for your prayers all throughout this last few weeks, and this last year. We were never so aware of our need of God's grace as throughout our trip! We appreciate your continued prayers as we seek to be the parents that God would have us to be for all of our children!

2010-03-06T15:53:00.001-05:00

We're home!

2010-03-04T12:50:00.001-05:00

Well, today was a long and emotional day. We started our day with a walk down the street to purchase a DVD and CD with some Ethiopian music. Then our group traveled to visit one of the orphanages that our agency works with called Kids' Care. It was a neat experience being able to spend some time visiting with the children there and sharing some treats and toys. One of the nannies there then served us in a traditional coffee ceremony . . . I think there may be an official name for it, but I don't remember what it is!

Then we went to lunch at a restaurant/art gallery. After lunch we headed back to the guest house and re-divided the group to visit the two remaining orphanages, one of which was Kingdom Vision International, where Isaiah Tamrat spent some time before the transition home. This was also the place that was arranged for us to meet his birth mother. Joe stayed back at the guest house with Isaiah Tamrat, and I went on with the group to visit with Isaiah's birth mother. It was an extremely hard and emotional meeting, but one that I am glad that I was able to do for Isaiah Tamrat's sake. After that, we made one last stop to the transition home so I could deliver some care packages and donations that had been in our late luggage.

Just before dinner we decided to take a walk . . . and Isaiah Tamrat decided he didn't want to put his shoes on . . . and thus began the hour long (at least), kicking, screaming, crying tantrum. We just sat with him and then he eventually fell asleep. We have no idea what's going on in his head, or how hurt and confused his little heart may be right now. We are praying for the wisdom and grace to be what he needs for us to be.

Tomorrow we head to a coffee factory, then packing and some pictures and prayer time with our group. Then our long trek home. We are so thankful to have come and love Ethiopia, but are very anxious to have our family all together. We appreciate your prayers as we begin our journey home!

2010-03-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

Isaiah Tamrat slept very well last night. Probably as a result of sleeping in a house with many other toddlers, he is a VERY sound sleeper. He konks out almost instantaneously and then it seems no amount of noise will wake him up. He will wake up with movement, though.

We started our day with a drive to the US Embassy for our appointment to receive Isaiah Tamrat’s visa. Shortly after we arrived we found out that because of a holiday yesterday, they had moved yesterday’s appointments to this morning, and we were bumped to this afternoon. So we ended up doing our shopping in the a.m. instead, and then spent the afternoon at the US Embassy. It was a long wait, but Isaiah slept on me for about 45 min. and then was tired, so he just kinda sat on our laps for most of the afternoon. The embassy approved us, so we should be getting Isaiah’s passport and visa on Friday. We don’t have many pictures from today because no cameras (or other electronics) are allowed in the embassy, and we did everything back-to-back.

Then, the best part of the day was going to the airport to PICK UP OUR LUGGAGE!!!!!!!!!!! At this point we only have two days left in Ethiopia, so it almost seemed pointless, if it wasn’t for the fact that at least 75% of the 200 lbs of luggage that we brought was gifts and donations for the transition home and orphanages. We got back just before dinner and then went through and organized all of the stuff for where it will go tomorrow. Isaiah was having a ball with the toys we had packed for him, and we're excited to be able to wear something "new" tomorrow! Only two items were missing (that I remember packing anyway) . . . so somewhere between Indiana and Ethiopia, some luggage handler is enjoying a big bag of candy while wearing latex gloves??? A little annoying, but at least everything else is here! Thanks for your prayers for us!

2010-03-02T12:41:00.001-05:00

We started our day today with some shopping, which was fun and a little eye-opening. (sorry if this is brief, but we're a little tired!) Then we went to the airport while the other families ate lunch to go pick up our luggage, which we were assured would be on the plane from Dubai to Addis Ababa this morning. We waited for the plane to land, we waited for them to unload the luggage . . . we waited, and waited . . . no luggage. So, we're told (again) that it will be on tomorrow's plane . . . we'll see.

Then we rushed back from the airport so everyone could get to the transition home on time. Today was the day to deliver care packages . . . two of which are in our suitcases . . . and bring donations for the transition home . . . which are also in our suitcases. So I was able to take pictures of all of the kids, do footprints & handprints of some, and deliver one care package. Then we changed Isaiah Tamrat into his own clothes (fortunately I had packed an outfit for him in my carry-on bag), visited the transition home where he lived, and then we all headed back to the guest house with our children. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to pick up some diapers since all the ones I packed are, well, you know, in my luggage. I've been told the Ethiopian diapers are pretty poor quality, but they'll have to do until our luggage comes . . . Lord willing!

So, a day of emotional highs and lows, but hearing our son repeat his brothers' and sisters' names is priceless. He wasn't so excited to see us today, but once we got in the van and within 5 minutes of being in our room, well, hearing him giggle was priceless! I tried to post a video, but I couldn't get it to upload, so you'll have to trust me on this one!

2010-03-01T14:41:00.002-05:00

Wow . . . not much more can be said about our day!! We started the day with a “paperwork party” where we filled out the rest of the needed paperwork for our embassy appointment on Wednesday, where we’ll apply for Isaiah Tamrat’s visa. Then we had lunch and orientation with the in-country director of our agency. It was a nice lunch, and very informative talking with Duni.
THEN, it was time to go to the transition home to meet our children. Pretty much all of the buildings here are surrounded by gated walls, usually with barbed wire on top. When we pulled through the gate, there was a nanny shoeing some kids off the front porch. Our mouths nearly dropped open – there was Isaiah Tamrat!!!! It was just a glimpse before the nanny hurried him back inside, but we knew it was him! Then we all got out of the vans and waited outside. The nannies bring the children out to their parents one at a time in alphabetical order. We had already arranged with each other who would take whose pictures so that everyone got pictures of their special moment.
It was amazing! He came walking down the steps and we got to pick him up and hold him and hug him and kiss him! And he gave us that same look that we’ve grown to love in all of the pictures taken by other adoptive parents, kinda like “who are you?” ;o) He is definitely very reserved at least for now – taking it all in! And he was giving EVERYONE that look, including the in-country staff that he knows! So many amazing moments from today!
A few of our highlights - he wouldn’t respond to us or anyone. Understandable in this situation, of course, but we still tried to find out what he wanted to do. It seemed that all he wanted to do was for us to hold him, but we weren’t sure if that was just because he was scared. So I decided to try to give him a granola bar . . . first change in expression . . . he scrunched up his little nose ;o) Apparently granola bars are NOT a favorite ;o)
Then we met with the dr. that works in the transition home. He had to get down off my lap for the dr. to show us something, but as soon as they were done, he inched back to my lap ;o) Then, he was very tired so we sat out on the front porch where he fell asleep on me ;o) No matter what we did, though, we couldn’t get a smile until . . . and all you who know Joe will LOVE this one . . . Joe took him to the little b-ball hoop and had him drop the ball he was holding through the hoop ;o) It was hilarious to watch him actually try not to smile, but we got a few out of him. And then a special moment, but not fun, was leaving again. Joe put him down and he didn’t want to walk away. Joe asked the nannies to tell him that he’d be back, so in Amharic they said “Daddy will be back.” Joe said his expression seemed to “drop” and the nannies said he didn’t want to leave us ;o)
Wow, tomorrow, Lord willing, our luggage is supposed to arrive, and then we go to pick up Isaiah to bring home with us – we can’t wait!!!
I’ll try to post some pics with this post, but I apologize in advance if it won’t go through.

2010-02-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

Well, it's about 5:45 a.m. here now. I've been up since 3:30 a.m. We were able to visit the first church and museam in Addis Ababa yesterday afternoon, and then came back to the guest house for dinner. The food was great, and we were both pretty wasted. Unfortunately, Joe still had to spend another couple of hours on the phone with airlines trying to figure out who had our luggage and who was going to send it. Basically, because our itinerary required switching airlines, the two airlines in JFK had been sending our baggage back and forth saying it was the other one's responsibility. Frustrating to say the least, while we're sitting in Ethiopia with no luggage. But, at around midnight last night, we did finally get an email letting us know the arrangements for our baggage and the flight numbers. Lord willing, we should be able to have our luggage tomorrow afternoon. Of course, we have been given "good" and hopeful news a few times throughout this only to call back to find out "nope, they're still in JFK". Praising our Lord that we can place our confidence in Him . . . there truly is no confidence in men!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, today we get to finally meet our son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart is filled. This baggage junk has been overwhelming, and I have been praying for God's grace to "get over it". Somehow I know that seeing Isaiah's face and holding him will make all of that just melt away! The plan is to spend a few hours today with him at the transition home where he is living, get to see where he's been sleeping, talk to his nannies and the doctor there. Then, tomorrow, we take him with us!

We came here for our son, and we are so thankful to be here. But in the details of things, there are many things in our baggage that will be difficult to find while we are here - diapers, meds, clothes, etc. - things we could find a way to do without, but things that make my mommy heart hurt because of the planning and thought that went into them for our son and the other orphans here. Parents want to make things "all better" for their children. And while it is only for a time, my heart has been struggling with the possibility of not having our luggage when we take Isaiah with us tomorrow. BUT, God is good, He is faithful, and He is in control!!!!!!!!!! We are still praying for God to get our luggage here, but also praying for His grace to accept His timing and let go of my plans, no matter how "good" I thought they were . . . man, you think I would've learned this lesson by now!!!

Thanks so much for your prayers and loving support! Lord willing we'll have some great pictures to post on here tonight of our beautiful son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-28T07:54:00.001-05:00

We made it safely to Ethiopia, we're at our guest house with no luggage except our carry-ons. It seems that our flights are worked out for the return trip, but after all of the "fun" the trip, here, we won't really know until we're sitting in our seats on the airplane! ;o) We feel like we've talked to everyone and their brother at two airlines, and we'll keep making calls until our luggage gets here. God knows, and we're obviously praying for the luggage to get here soon, but my struggle really is to handle this all in a way that honors God. Gotta go - appreciate your prayers!

2010-02-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought yesterday's travel woes were crazy . . . I had NO idea what we were in for!!! Right now I am sitting in the airport in Dubai, waiting to board our flight to Addis Abab, Ethiopia.

So, we had about a 4 hour layover in Wash/Dulles airport before we flew the 12 hour flight to Dubai. That was uncomfortable, but bearable, especially knowing we were done with our big travel gliche, right?!? Since we had a 12 hour layover here, our airline was supposed to be giving us a complimentary hotel. Knowing this, we tried not to sleep much on our flight over so we could sleep in the hotel and get our bodies on Ethiopia time. Also, because of the long layover, they were unable to check our luggage all the way through to Ethiopia. We would have to pick up our luggage in Dubai and recheck it. This is where the FUN begins!! ;o) So we made it to Dubai, but not our luggage. So we had to fill out a report with United (who we did fly with) and then take a shuttle bus to the Emirates terminal to check with them on our luggage. I was exhausted, disappointed, and fighting back tears already. When we finally find where to go and who to talk to, come to find out that since we were a "no show" for the Emirates flight from JFK to Dubai (see previous post), they cancelled our ENTIRE booking for our flight to Addis Ababa, AND our returning flight back to Dubai, then to JFK . . . and the flight was booked. . . seriously! Now, for those of you who know me (unless I'm self-deceived), I don't think I'm usually what you would call a dramatic person, but I literally got light headed and had to sit down when I heard this! and trust me, no amount of fighting was going to hold back those tears! After much time and confusion, and repeating our story 50 times, they printed us boarding passes and assured us we have flights on the way back . . . of course, we had assurances that we would have our same connecting flight to Ethiopia, and that our luggage was rerouted with us.

This really is the short version, and we are about to get on the plane, so I will have to tell you it all later. Right now, we will have to keep calling back to confirm our return flights, and have no idea where our luggage is - PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR LUGGAGE GETS HERE SOON!! Thanks - gotta get on the plane . . .

2010-02-26T20:49:00.001-05:00

So, we've had a crazy day already. We were supposed to fly Iny - D.C./Dulles - JFK - Dubai - Addis Abba, Ethiopia . . . well, we started out with a 2 hour delay on our flight out of Indy! I was doing a lot of praying!! We flew to Dulles, knowing we had already missed our connecting flight to JFK, and got off the plane as quickly as possible thinking we had to try to get a connecting flight to JFK. It was 6:30 p.m. (the time we were supposed to be landing in JFK) and we needed to be on our flight to Dubai by 11 p.m.

Wow! United rebooked us onto a flight from Dulles flying directly to Dubai. Think God was in control of this one?!?! So here we sit in Dulles waiting to get on our direct flight to Dubai! Don't know whether I passed this "trust me" test, but praising the Lord that He is good regardless!!

A Note to Our Family & Friends

2010-02-26T10:14:00.002-05:00

As we take off, we just have a few thoughts we wanted to share.
First off, we are so thankful that you have chosen to join us throughout this adoption process. You’ve wept with us when we’ve wept and rejoiced with us when we’ve rejoiced. You’ve supported us through your prayers, your encouraging words, and your wallets. We have been amazed to watch God work, not only in our family, but in the lives of all of you!

We are thrilled beyond words to be going to meet our son and bring him home to his family, his extended family, and his church family! Please trust us when we say that we are probably more anxious for you to meet him than you are! However, we want to be sensitive to what is best for him, particularly during the first few weeks home.

This is new to us. We’ve done some research, but we’ve never done this before. What we do know is that Isaiah needs to know who his family is, and be assured of our love for him and his place with us. We know this will take time, but we have been told by those who have “been there, done that” that these first few weeks are critical. And so, we’re going to pray for wisdom, and “play it by ear”. Our plan is to take the time needed to get over the jet-lag for us, help Isaiah get on Eastern Standard Time, help him get healthy, and begin adjusting to our new family structure.

So, that being said, we hope that you will be understanding to all of this. We’re not going to hide ourselves in a bomb shelter or anything ;o) but we’ll need some time. We don’t want to overwhelm him with crowds during this already scary time. And practically speaking, his little immune system is going to be stressed out, and he may not be able to fight off the virus you might be carrying. And he may be carrying something that you could get from him.

As we said, we are anxious for you to meet Isaiah and rejoice with us in knowing him. We just ask that if you want to visit once we get back home, that you please call first . . . and please be understanding if we need to tell you “no” for now.

As we go, we still are so appreciative of your continued prayer support. Here are a few specific prayer requests for this week.

For our flight schedule with all of this nasty weather out east
For Joey, Gracie, Madie and Joshua as they spend such a long time away from daddy & mommy
For Grandma & Papaw McDaniel as they care for the children
For health & safety for all of us involved
For God to put Isaiah’s heart at peace, His peace that passes understanding
For all of our donation-filled luggage to get there safe, relatively undamaged, and at the same time that we get there ;o)
For all of us as we come home and transition into the family that God has made us

WE'RE LEAVING IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-23T13:43:00.002-05:00

As my husband so wisely reminded me this a.m., as I about went insane waiting to hear from our agency, nothing is "final" until we're home from Ethiopia with our son. But, our travel dates we're CONFIRMED by the U.S. Embassy, so, Lord willing, we will be on a plane out of Indy, headed to Ethiopia, on Friday afternoon!!!! It doesn't quite seem real yet, since it's been a "maybe" for so long!

If you are reading this, I request that you pray for orphans in general, but specifically right now for Ethiopia and this new policy they are seeking to institute that will affect the lives of so many. I understand the reasons for the policy change, but my heart breaks for the children who will have to wait longer for their family, and the families on this end who have to keep waiting. There are even some who were supposed to travel with us this week who will not be able to. So while we are rejoice, there is still sorrow for those who still wait.

This Psalm was brought to my attention by another family in our travel group - it has been a huge encouragement to me as I've read and prayed through it over these last few days!

Psalm 145
Great Is the LORD
A Song of Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Seriously?!?!?!

2010-02-22T10:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, so, sure, in my brain right now I know that I should be just completely emotionally maxed out and frustrated right now! And, apart from God's grace, I would be! But my blog post title was truly my first reaction to the email from our agency, as I laughed! I know it's not funny . . . but it kind-of is right now!

So, we still don't know if we are going to travel this weekend or if our travel will be delayed. The meeting between our agency's staff in Ethiopia and the U.S. Embassy was supposed to take place on their Monday, which was last night while we slept, but for some reason the embassy was unable to meet. They are supposed to meet, now, on their Tuesday, which is tonight while we sleep. So, we should ;o) know tomorrow morning whether or not we can travel this week or if we are delayed. If we are delayed, they should be able to tell us how long the delay will be.

Thank you so much for all of you who check here for updates and who are faithfully praying. We need the prayers (I need them), and we are so in need of God's grace! It is only by His mercy on us that we can keep the "big picture" in mind in this situation. We know His will is best and have full confidence in that . . . just kind-of wish we knew what that was right now ;o) But, I guess, it's obviously His will for us to not know for now!

A reminder for myself - "For God, alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from HIM"!!! Psalm 62:5

Guess what?!?!?! . . . more waiting!

2010-02-19T14:33:00.004-05:00

So, we still do not know if we are going to be able to travel next week. Our agency expected confirmation from the US Embassy today, and we received an email from them basically saying they're still not sure, but to prepare our hearts as it is looking more likely that our travel will be delayed. They are having some type of a meeting with the US Embassy on Monday and said they would email us Monday letting us know what transpired.

Some of you may have seen a story that was recently aired on CBS regarding an apparent "bad" adoption from Ethiopia, where it seems there was recruiting of children that went on and at the very least, some significant misunderstandings. (This was not through our agency.) That story aired in Australia, I believe, about a year ago, at which point there was concern among adoptive parents that Ethiopia might close their doors to international adoption. But rather than ignoring the problem and just shutting the world out, as other countries in similar situations have done, Ethiopia continued to realize the need of their, literally, millions of orphans and instead stepped up their game with more significant investigation into every adoption. I don't know all that this entails, but I do know that for each adoption court hearing, they search for any known living relative to testify as to the legitimacy of the claims that the child was either a true orphan, abandoned, or willingly given up by the parent(s). That relative is required to be at court in order for the case to be passed. Apparently now, the US Embassy is lengthening their investigation process before issuing visas for these adoptions.

So, the boat we are in at this point is that Isaiah is legally our son through the Ethiopian court, but without approval from the US Embassy, we cannot receive a visa to bring him back to the United States. Lord willing we will hear on Monday whether we will travel as planned or have our travel delayed. We are resting in God's goodness . . . this has not rattled Him, He has not changed! Whatever the news on Monday, He IS good!!! Please pray for us as we wait through another long weekend!

These verses are all too familiar, I know. So much so, that it's easy to glaze over them in our reading. But, as I'm sure you have experienced in your walk with Christ, there are times when God makes our eyes ready and able to see His Word in a new and deeper way . . . these verses have been my heart's prayer and lifeline throughout this adoption process! I just love how this passage starts out . . .

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."

> Isaiah 40:28-31 <

Yay! It worked!!!

2010-02-17T15:35:00.002-05:00

(see previous post)

TESTING!!

2010-02-17T15:34:00.001-05:00

Sending a test post to see if I can email updates to my blog. If this works, I may be able to post updates while we are in Ethiopia!!

More news about, well, really nothing . . .

2010-02-16T13:40:00.003-05:00

Okay, so we just received an email from our agency, basically stating that they still don't have confirmation from the US Embassy in Ethiopia. They still don't anticipate that they will not confirm our appointment, but don't have official confirmation from them yet. They anticipate receiving this confirmation by Friday . . . one week before we are supposed to be getting on a plane to Ethiopia. They also don't have confirmation yet regarding whether we will or will not be able to meet Isaiah's birth mother . . . they expect confirmation on that by Friday as well.

If we don't receive confirmation within the next 24 hours, we will have to decide whether to go ahead and book our flights, with the realization that we could have to cancel or change our flights if we don't get confirmation from the embassy. If we decide not to take that risk, then we will be risking flight prices going up and, more importantly, that we won't be able to get the flights that we need. Oh, that life would be a little bit more easy ;o)

Oh well, we'll continue to pray and plan toward our trip, trusting His goodness and care for our family!

Nothing yet . . .

2010-02-16T11:30:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are checking here for updates, we haven't heard anything from our agency yet on confirmation of our travel dates. So, we're trying to wait patiently. We've been in contact with a travel agent and have some tickets on hold. If God allows, we hope to get confirmation very soon so we can go ahead and purchase the tickets.

Our agency is located just outside of Washington D.C., so with the massive amounts of snow they've had, our agency was actually closed from Friday afternoon, 2/5 until around 11 a.m. on 2/12 . . . and then yesterday, of course, was President's Day. I'm sure they're overwhelmed today with correspondence from many adoptive families, but I'm still hoping we'll hear something.

I'm trying to focus on a verse today, the same one I've had up at my computer desk for the last several months . . .

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him." Psalms 62:5

In the grand scheme of things, this is just a little blip in time . . . praying for eternal perspective! :o)

"Follow You"

2010-02-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

Updates . . .

2010-02-10T12:52:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are wondering, no, we do not have our travel dates confirmed yet. We don't really know a whole lot about all of the government workings with all of this, but here is the little we do know. When we go to Ethiopia we have an appointment with the US embassy. In the past our agency has always just had a set appointment time with them, so when they got our paperwork completed, they could confirm our travel dates for us. But, because of an increase in US families adopting from Ethiopia, the embassy has set up a new policy and must confirm our appointment. So, now we are waiting for them to confirm that we can have the set appointment time in order to confirm that we can travel on the planned dates. Perfectly clear?? ;o) Apparently we are the first travel group from our agency to be affected by this new policy - lucky us ;o) - so I don't think they really know when to expect confirmation. The travel coordinator at our agency said she doesn't anticipate us having to be delayed, but can't confirm our dates until they get confirmation from the embassy. My heart is so ready to go bring Isaiah home!!

As an update to our previous post, Gracie was doing well yesterday. She was tired, but that seemed normal as we didn't get back from the ER until around 11 p.m. and then woke her up twice during the night to check on her. She had a mild headache for most of the day and a little nausea in the a.m. She was feeling much better in the evening and went to bed around 8 p.m. last night. Then at 9:45-ish she came out crying and holding her head and said it hurt worse than when she fell. I immediately called her pediatrician and got her some Tylenol. While we waited for the return call from the doctor on call, I got us both ready for another very cold trip to the ER. As she was literally writhing in pain, we decided not to wait for the pediatrician to call back and just took off to the ER (which ended up is what he would've told us to do anyway). I was praying the entire way as I could tell she was in a lot of pain, but I was trying not to get into a wreck on the snow drifted roads.

When we got there, they took us back immediately. Since her catscan from the night before showed no issues and she wasn't having any dizziness or blurred vision, they gave her some stronger pain meds and did another x-ray on her neck (from a different angle) to check for muscle or ligament damage. The x-ray didn't show any damage, but the doctor concluded that she has a concussion and maybe some mild whiplash. So, she is feeling much better today, and we will see what tonight holds. I'm really hoping I don't have to spend another night in the ER :o) We praise the Lord for His care of our daughter, and protection of both of us on the roads last night! He never leaves us or forsakes us . . . ever!!

Happy 8th Birthday to Gracie . . . and what a day it was!!

2010-02-09T11:18:00.005-05:00

So, she started her day with a bang, literally, slipped down her ladder while trying to climb down from her top bunk and hit her head. "Happy Birthday, Gracie!" After that her day picked up with her favorite breakfast (banana bread) and a trip to the library for our little bookworm. Then mommy and Gracie went to get her hair cut, which she has been committed to and growing for about 2 years now because she wanted to donate it to Locks of Love. She HATES having long hair, but committed and stuck to it, so as much as it pained me to see her hair getting cut so short, I truly admire her heart and commitment. She was thrilled, and then we all joined daddy down at the church building for lunch. After lunch Daddy took her on some errands and she got to exchange some books she had gotten for her b-day (ones she already had) and spend some of her b-day money. She was having a great day! Then her favorite dinner (chicken, mashed pot., gravy, corn, corn muffins), cake, and present time. She got mostly books as reading is what she loves to do most. She also got The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian on DVD.

The overalls and western shirt were a gift from her grandparents - she loves them! In fact, they were a replacement for ones she grew out of and wanted more!

So,we were all done with her party and were settling down to watch Prince Caspian. Gracie was in her top bunk looking at her books and Daddy warned her not to lean on her bed rail - it'll keep her from rolling out of bed at night, but it's not designed to hold her full weight.

Well, Gracie decided to end her b-day with another bang . . . again, literally. Not two minutes after that I hear crying and run into her room where her bed rail is popped down and she's on the floor. Apparently, she sat back against the rail and fell backwards landing on her head! After getting her calmed down and figuring out what was going on with her (how much was pain and how much was fear), she and I headed to the ER for the rest of her birthday evening. She was absolutely miserable, but the head catscan and x-ray of her neck showed do damage. She's not allowed to do any "close eye work" today, which means no school for her today, but it also means she can't read any of her books, which I know is really hard for her!

All in all, a birthday that I'm sure she will never forget! And we are thanking the Lord not only for entrusting her to us 8 years ago, but for His continued care and protection of her!

We LOVE snow!

2010-02-06T14:32:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I really am sorry for all of you who don't like snow, but we really do love it!

In case you're wondering, Joey's eating the snowman's nose ;o)

"Head & Shoulders . . . Hands & Feet!"

2010-02-04T18:06:00.004-05:00

I was so excited to receive an envelope in the mail today from the family who took our care package over to Isaiah a few weeks ago. She sent us a disk with all the pictures she took, but for some reason, Blogger won't let me upload the pictures. (anyone have any insight? the files start "DSC") But we enjoyed seeing them! She also got his hand and foot print for us - priceless! Not only to see them, but to think that his hand and foot were on this paper! It will also be helpful so I can make sure I have the right sized shoes for him when we go.

This is Joshua on the phone to Grandma on January 21 - "We passed court!"

Josh doing his kung-fu moves :o)

Tentative Travel Dates!!

2010-01-29T10:08:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we received our tentative travel dates from our agency. We're planning to fly to Ethiopia the last weekend in February, and return the first weekend in March. There are certain pieces of paperwork that need to be completed by certain deadlines before we go, so when those are completed, we'll be given our "concrete" travel dates. This should happen in about a week, and then we should know whether these are, in fact, our travel dates . . . or at least find out that they're still tentative for whatever reason. We're also waiting to hear back from the in-country staff to see if it's possible for us to meet Isaiah's birth mom while we're there. Once we have all this established, we'll be able to go ahead and purchase our plane tickets.

So why does it seems so close, but still so far away?? ;o)

More Pictures

2010-01-27T09:58:00.008-05:00

The family who took our second care package to Isaiah last week was able to email us some new pictures last night. She said that she wasn't able to email us all of them,and unfortunately, blogger won't let me upload the ones she was able to send. I sent her our mailing address, so hopefully we will be receiving a disk with all of the pictures in a few days. She was also so kind to get us Isaiah's footprint so we can be sure we pack the right sized shoes for him!

We also got an update for Isaiah from the nannies at our agency's transition home where he has been living. They sent us three new pictures (wearing the second outfit we sent him), as well as updates on his size and answers to a few more specific questions regarding his development. And so encouraging to see his smile - hopefully it won't be long before we get to see it in person!

We don't know our travel dates yet, but hopefully soon. We'll see. We're using this time to finish up our list of things we need to do, purchase, and gather before we leave. I'm also working on some very basic Amharic words and phrases to help us communicate with Isaiah and allow us to understand his basic needs. Hopefully this will make the whole transition a bit less scary for him!

So, what's next??

2010-01-22T13:21:00.004-05:00

We were asked this question several times yesterday, so I thought I would post something on here. Right now, officially and legally, Isaiah is adopted, he is our son, and we are absolutely thrilled!

The next step is to get ready for travel. We don't know when we will be going to Ethiopia yet, but our agency is doing all they can to get us there as soon as possible. We should find out our tentative travel dates sometime next week. The dates will remain "tentative" until a week or two before we leave because of all of the paperwork that needs to be done between now and the time we are in Ethiopia. They plan our travel around the expected time line for all of this paperwork to get done, but we're dealing with the government, so there is always the possibility of delay. The usual time spent in Ethiopia is 7-10 days.

Another question that often comes when we discuss travel (and that I'll admit always makes me laugh out loud) is "So are you taking the kids with you?" While I appreciate the sincerity of the question, my initial response is "are you serious?" :o) So, no, they will not be going with us. While this will be hard for all of us since we have never been away from them for more than 2 nights, there is no doubt it is the best option for our family. Besides the added cost of four more plane tickets, etc., it is a 17 hour flight, then there's jet lag, then there's the fact that we're picking up another child while we're there, who will likely be scared and have some huge adjustments to say the least . . . and then there's the 17 hour flight back followed by more jet lag! And it will give us some time with just us and Isaiah before he joins the whole clan.

We are thrilled, we are excited, we are humbled, we are blessed beyond all that we could ask or think! I am amazed to tears when I think of how God has led us to and through this path, that He has allowed us to follow Him, and allowed us to serve Him in this way! We don't deserve His goodness, and yet He has chosen to show it to us in abundance!!

Thank you all, so much for your continued prayers, support, and excitement for us. God has faithfully lead and provided all the way, and we have no doubt that He will continue to hold our entire family of 7 (!!!!) in His hands!

WE PASSED!!!!!! HE'S OUR SON!!!!!!!!

2010-01-21T02:12:00.008-05:00

2010-01-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

Perspective

2010-01-16T20:58:00.004-05:00

This week has been a weird mix of emotions for me. On the one hand I am mind-blowingly excited in anticipating our court date next week. On the other hand, as I look at world events, particularly this tragic earthquake in Haiti, my heart is completely broken. I am struck with the self-centeredness that seems to predominate not only the American heart, but even more sadly, those hearts that claim to know the One who is love. And I include myself in that mix. How easy it is for me to go about my daily life, stop to watch the news with a "how sad" comment or thought and then go on my way, into my life, with no real lasting effect.

For obvious reasons in my own life, I have been struck in particular with the children that are affected by this horrible event - the many who were already orphans, and the many more, I am sure, who are now facing that situation for the very first time. My heart breaks for the many families, I am sure, who are in the process of adopting children from Haiti who are now in emotional upheaval not knowing if or how this will delay the already very lengthy process. I am praying for those children and those families!

On an encouraging note, but still along those lines, another adoptive family - one who is also adopting from Ethiopia through our same agency - posted a note this week telling us how a friend of theirs who is in the process of adopting from Haiti, was able to actually see their child because the Nightline crew went and found their little girl! (you can see the clip on the ABC News Nightline website, titled "The Haiti Miracle: "Tell her we love her'") And how now their Congressman is now involved, and they may be able to get an expedited visa. It just reminds me of how our God works all things together for our good and His glory!

As far as what is going on here, just more waiting ;o) On Monday night I was able to get together with two other women from our area whose families are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia as well, also with our agency. And one of those women invited a friend who has been home since August with her Ethiopian son. It was great! The conversation was wonderful, informative and encouraging . . . and that little boy just lit up all of our faces! It was great to finally meet some families in our area with whom we will, Lord willing, be able to fellowship and give our sons a chance to play with other children in the same situation as they are.

So, Thursday's the BIG day!!! Actually, as I mentioned before, the court hearing will take place while we sleep (or not!!) from Wednesday night into Thursday a.m. Our family coordinator said she will call us Thursday morning with the court results. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep this week, let alone Wednesday night!!!

Right now, I truly feel like I'm about to explode with excitement and anticipation! I told my kids that I know that God knows how very much we want to pass court the first time around and not have to wait any longer . . . but I am also quite aware that this may not be what He wants. And so I am praying for grace, for mercy, for peace. Not only that I can make it to Thursday morning without killing all of those around me ;o) but also that if we don't pass - if God DOES want us to wait longer - that I will be good with that. That, as we're reminded in the book of James, my Heavenly Father will give me the strength to "remain under"!

I know I've posted it on here before, but this is a verse that I've kept up over my desk for the last several months and has been a great challenge and encouragement. Simple, but difficult. But I have found, that it is a whole lot easier to wait when I am not looking at peoples' faces, waiting on human beings to get done what I think should've been done last week - but instead I am looking into my loving Heavenly Father's face, realizing that if I am waiting, I am truly waiting on Him because He is Sovereign in all things. That is comforting because I know He is Love, He is Faithful, He is Good, and He WILL do His best for His children!

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him."
Psalm 62:5

the PUZZLE

2010-01-09T15:11:00.000-05:00

To see updates, click on the link in the right-hand column.

This week in our adoption . . .

2010-01-06T15:39:00.008-05:00

As we wait for our court date to come around - really only 2 weeks from tomorrow! - we are continuing to plan and prepare as much as we can. In addition to the normal household activities, putting all the Christmas stuff away, etc., we have been rearranging furniture, cleaning and organizing to get everything ready for when the Lord allows us to bring our little guy home. On Monday Joe received the 3 shots that I got last week. We've also got some kind of virus going through our family right now, so he's not sure if he's feeling "off" from the immunizations or if he's coming down with something.

This is a care package we got ready and mailed to a family in Pittsburgh who will be leaving next week to go pick up their daughter in Ethiopia. They will deliver this package to our little guy and also be able to take some new pictures for us! (his name is crossed out in the center since we haven't passed court yet, so we can't post it on here.)

Regarding our court date on January 21. This court hearing will take place in Ethiopia and, some have asked, no, we do not have to be there for this. Because Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us, our court hearing will actually take place while we sleep from Wednesday night, 1/20, to Thursday morning, 1/21. If we don't pass court, a new court date will be set. If we do, then plans will be made to travel to Ethiopia about 4-5 weeks later.

This is our stash that we have begun to compile of things we will need for our trip to ET as well as donations for the orphanages and transition homes there.

At some point over the last several years, I have made each of our children a fleece throw blanket of their own. We wanted to do the same for our little guy, so Joe and I picked out this fleece and I was able to get the blanket put together this week. Not a complicated project, but something we wanted to get done to welcome our little guy home.

We were also able to put together the final pieces of "the PUZZLE".
And here's the completed puzzle . . .

And on the back, a wonderful reminder of all those who chose to step out in faith and join us in this ministry of adoption! What an amazing work God has done and is continuing to do!!

In the frame . . .

We are so thankful that God has continued to lead us and allow us to follow Him through this adoption process. It has been so amazing to see Him at work! We are not done, and we know He is not either! Our hearts are filled full with HIS fulness as we reflect over this past year, and all of the support we have seen as our Christian family comes alongside of us in prayer and even giving financially toward our adoption expenses!

I was reading a book this past week, and there was a paragraph that I have read over and over, and particularly this first line, that just hits me everytime I read it. It's from a book called The Strength of Mercy by Jan Beazely.

"[God] writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out. Then with His own great hand, He begins to write the script. Experience by experience through seemingly ordinary days, He supernaturally orders our lives. Only when we look back and reflect on what appeared to have been the ordinary events of life does it become clear what a miracle the Lord has performed."

I don't think I could have put into words any better the process by which God brought us to adopt, and how He has lead us through it. Particularly as I look back on this past year, I am amazed at how God "writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out." (I couldn't describe it any better!) But He doesn't leave that longing and strain in our hearts . . . He works it out for us, and we GET to see it, we GET to be a part, and we GET to grow closer to Him through it all!! Thank you, Lord!!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T14:13:00.008-05:00

A few highlights from our Christmas . . .

Josh helping roll out the dough for cinnamon rolls.

Christmas dinner

Our set-up . . . in light of our adoption, giving sacrificially to that, and wanting to put a better emphasis on our adoption in Christ, our Christmas was a little different this year. We have so much to be thankful for and had a wonderful Christmas as a family!
I don't know if you can tell in this pic, but our star on top of our tree has an ornament on top - a beaded star with all of the colors of the Ethiopian flag! It was made by another family trying to raise the money for their adoption expenses.

The boys loved the matching Ethiopia t-shirts they got!

The girls loved their "Ethiopian" baby dolls and their beaded bracelets with the colors of the Ethiopian flag - made by the same family that made our star ornament.

Very excited to have gotten new darts for the nerf gun from Joey!

. . . and the penguin he'd been wanting from Gracie!

I think he's opening the gift Gracie got him here . . . I just love Gracie's face in this one! Ha!

Josh getting his stocking.

Josh as Superman - he kept taking flying leaps off the couch!

Madie and her stocking.

Gracie and her stocking.

Joey and his stocking.

Before the Christmas festivities began on Christmas morning at Papaw & Grandma's house.

The girls all waiting patiently to open their gifts from Papaw & Grandma . . . American Girl Dolls!

Joey getting a little help from Papaw opening his new baseball glove . . . love his face in this one :o)

Josh's favorite toy and gift - legos! And of course, it doesn't get any better than Diego!

Madie showing off her fake princess nails.

Kindergarten Volcano

2010-01-06T13:50:00.003-05:00

I started the tradition of doing a volcano with each of the kids when it comes up about mid-way through their kindergarten year. I'll admit, I was regretting that this year, but didn't want Madie to be disappointed. I'm glad we were able to do her volcano, and so was she! Not sure why these pics came up in opposite order . . .

Court Date!!!!

2009-12-28T22:54:00.003-05:00

We received an email from our agency this morning letting us know that January 21, 2010 will be our first court date in Ethiopia!!! Of course we are thrilled. We realize that there's a 50/50 chance that we won't pass court the first time, but it's a step in the right direction. After all, if we're going to pass on court date #2 or #3, there's gotta first be a #1, right?

We had a wonderful Christmas together as a family, and spent some special time remembering our adoption process and our adoption in Christ. The boys each received an Ethiopia t-shirt and the girls each got an "Ethiopian" baby doll and a bracelet with all the colors of the Ethiopian flag.

Sometime early last week, our little guy received the care package we set and saw our pictures for the very first time! The family who so graciously delivered our care package returned from Ethiopia this past weekend and emailed us some new pictures last night!!! So exciting to see more of our little guy, to see him sucking the lollipop we sent, wearing the outfit we sent, holding the toys we sent, and looking at pictures of us! Of course, our hearts ache to see him, to bring him home, but we are thankful for the little glimpses that we get through these pictures. Lord willing, I will be getting another care package ready to be sent with another family who will be traveling in a couple of weeks.

I received three more vaccination shots today. So, my arm's a little sore again, and it's possible I'll get some flu-like symptoms from the yellow fever shot, but we'll see. Joe and I are purposely going a week apart for this shot so that if we start feeling lousy, at least it won't be at the same time!

Well, I'd like to think of a creative way to end this post, but my mind is pretty much fried right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get some Christmas pics downloaded from my camera and posted sometime this week. So that's it, I'm done :o)

Another week . . .

2009-12-21T10:45:00.002-05:00

This week has been a little less busy than last week. Granted, a lot of last week’s business was self-induced with all of the referral-receiving-adrenalin flowing through my veins! But, by God’s grace, that has begun to settle out and I am breathing and sleeping and taking a little bit more sane approach (I think) to the tasks that need to be accomplished.

I am still, although a bit more gradually now, gathering supplies for our trip to Ethiopia. Of course, we still don’t know when that will be, but I’ve started a little stock pile. There are some things we will need for ourselves, some for our little guy, and hopefully we will be taking many donations for our agency’s transition home as well as the orphanages. On Tuesday Joe and I received four of the eight shots/vaccinations that we will need before we travel . . . my arm’s still a little sore!

No news yet on when our first court date will be. I say “first” because there is a pretty good chance that we won’t pass our first court date – not because of any issues we know of, but because that just seems to be the case when dealing with courts and adoption cases in Ethiopia. We realize there is always the possibility that our case will never pass court and that this little guy was never to be ours, but so far our agency has never had it happen that a family didn't, at least eventually, pass court. They say the chances are about 60/40 (60% that you will pass), but from the last few months that I’ve seen, that seems a little optimistic. We are confident that God’s timing is perfect in all things, and we will see what He has for us. Of course, you may need to remind me of that if/when we don’t pass the first time!

Our agency is usually able to inform families of their court date within 2-4 weeks of accepting a referral. For us, it has been two weeks today. Of course, I was hoping we’d be more toward the two week range, but we’ll see! Our agency is just outside of DC, so they are actually closed today because of the snow there, and will have a few more closings the next two weeks due to the holidays. So I keep trying to remind myself that it may be even later than the estimated four weeks until we know our court date. I am so thankful, though, that God directed us to this agency where we are confident that these people are in it to serve their Savior by serving orphans, and that they have the children’s best interest in mind!

And so, another week has passed – in our lives and in this adoption process – and this morning I was wondering, how do our hearts grow to love someone so much that we have never even met? My mind immediately went to my relationship with Christ. How do I grow to love someone so much whom I have never met, whom I have never seen? God reminded me this morning that love is a choice. Throughout my walk with Christ, each time, by His grace and strength, I make a choice to act in a way that pleases Him, my love for Him grows. So, in a way, our love for this little guy in Ethiopia has been growing for over four years now as we began to pray about and seriously consider adoption. Until two weeks ago, there was no face or name to this love, but it was still growing nonetheless. Now there is a face, there is a name! And as our love continues to grow for this little guy, we are so thankful for our Savior’s love for him and for us!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Christ-filled New Year!

Frantically Waiting . . .

2009-12-14T10:53:00.003-05:00

So, it has been a pretty crazy week since we got our referral. Our agency received our referral acceptance papers on Monday and sent us more information on what to expect and prepare for in this next leg of our adoption journey. Wow! My head was spinning once again! If you're anything like me - usually a "type A" planner - then you can understand! I've spent quite a few nights with very little sleep as my mind runs 100 mph. I made a list of all we need/want to get done and supplies needed/wanted to be gathered before we travel, and that seemed to help me settle down a bit . . . also, the frequent, gracious reminders from the Lord that I don't have to get everything done this week ;o) I spent the early part of the week getting a photo album and small care package ready to be sent with another family from our agency who will be leaving at the end of this week to go pick up their child.

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Joe's parents for a few days. Joe was speaking at a banquet at his friend's church (the family that God used to get us started in this adoption), and we had a great time talking with other adoptive parents and getting their encouragement, insight, and advice.

We sent our little guy's profile to the doctor at the international adoption clinic at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis for her review. We should be hearing back from her in the next few days with any help or insights she may have. We also saw an international travel doctor on Friday to discuss what immunizations, etc. Joe and I will need for travel. Ethiopia does not require any immunizations, but knowing that we need to be parents to our little guy in Ethiopia and also to our four children here when we return, we felt we should go ahead and get the recommended immunizations . . . so we'll be getting quite a few shots over the next several weeks . . . the kids were really relieved that it was mom and dad getting the shots this time!

On Friday we did our annual Christmas shopping trip with the kids, but with a little difference. My grandparents usually give all of their great-grandkids some Christmas money. In the past we have purchased gifts for our kids with that money and then wrapped them to open on Christmas morning. This year, with hoping/praying/planning to put more of an emphasis on our adoption in Christ and giving rather than receiving, we talked with the kids about using part of their money to buy something for orphans in Ethiopia that we will take over when we travel. We left it up to them to decided how much they would spend and what they would purchase. They really had a great time planning and buying, and it was fun and interesting to see what each one of them chose!

We don't have any new news regarding our adoption status to share at this point, but hopefully we will be getting a court date in the next couple of weeks. Our care package should be getting to him at the beginning of next week, and hopefully a few days after Christmas we should be able to see some new pictures of our little guy! We also chose a name for him. Early on we had decided that we wouldn't even discuss names until we had a face in front of us. We thought and sought advice on whether to keep his Ethiopian name or change it to a more American name. In the end, we decided to give him an American first name and keep his Ethiopian name as his middle name. Still can't share what those are yet, but Lord willing that will be soon ;o)

So, as I said, crazy week! The Lord has been gracious to me, and my husband very patient with me ;o) as I continue to plan and prepare. Joe is also planning and preparing, of course, but he remains a whole lot more "level-headed" than I am! I've found that in some ways, it's easier to not be able to do anything, but sometimes it sure feels good to be able to "do" something!

Sorry this is kind-of a hodge-podge post of our week, but just wanted to post what's been going on in the "process" this week. We appreciate so much your continued support through your prayers. And we continue to be in amazement at how God has used many of you to continue to provide financially for this process. He is an awesome God, and there is no word in the English language big enough to express how grateful we are to be serving Him!

We Have NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-05T22:55:00.003-05:00

I waited to post this until we could contact all of those who needed to know before it "went public". Yesterday afternoon, December 4, 2009 - exactly three months after our dossier was sent to Ethiopia - we received a referral for a beautiful 2 1/2 - 3 year old little boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can't share any more information than that at this point, but wanted to let you all know (all 3 of you who read this blog :o) ) our big news. My head is still spinning!

Today we FedExed all of our signed referral acceptance papers to arrive at our agency on Monday morning. At that point they will begin working on setting a court date. If and when, Lord willing, we pass court the first time (seems there's about a 50/50 chance of passing the first time), we will then schedule our trip to Ethiopia to pick up our little guy. Also, once we pass court, we will then be able to share pictures with all of you!

We appreciate so much your prayers and support throughout this time. It's just so crazy that all of the "maybes" and "what-ifs" are now replaced . . . with a beautiful face!

Some have asked about the kids. Joey and Gracie are just absolutely thrilled. Joey has been obsessed with names for a few months now, so he is really concerned with what his name is going to be. Madie actually cried when she first found out. She has been concerned since the beginning about us traveling to Ethiopia and being away from her for so long (about 7-10) days. But we've talked and reassured her of what is going on and she is excited now. Joshua just keeps asking when the "boy on daddy's competer" is coming! Of course it will be an adjustment for all of us, but right now we are just rejoicing in God's clear blessing and direction for our family!

"Why Ethiopia?"

2009-12-02T11:37:00.005-05:00

This is a question that we have been asked a few times throughout this adoption process. It's a good question, and I usually give a lengthy answer (I know, shocking!). One of our reasons was that as we (mostly Joe) did research early on, we saw what a great need there is in Ethiopia, especially when compared to that of other countries that are open for adoption. As I was doing a little Christmas shopping yesterday, checking out the fundraisers on the blogs of some other families within our agency who are also adopting from Ethiopia, I came across this entry on one of their blogs.

Why Adopt from Ethiopia?
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

The truth is, there are a number of reasons and influences that moved our hearts to Ethiopia, but the most important is the Holy Spirit's leading and working in Joe's and my hearts to being of one mind in this area. We continue to be overwhelmed with gratefulness that God has allowed us to follow Him on this journey!

IT IS WELL!!!

2009-11-18T19:06:00.007-05:00

Just a little while ago now, my grandpop went home to be with the Lord. Many have been offering their prayers during this difficult time, which I sincerely appreciate. This time, however has not been the hard or sad part for me. My grandpop was diagnosed with Parkinson's just a little over 14 years ago. The hard and sad part has been seeing my energetic, passionate, bigger-than-life, fire 'n brimstone preachin' grandpop gradually lose the ability to preach, talk, walk, stand, and take care of any of his own physical needs. To see him truly trapped in his body was heartbreaking.

But today, today is a day of joy and celebration! Sure there are mixed emotions in knowing he is not with us on earth anymore . . . to know that I won't be able to give him a hug next time I see him. But he is done with all of this stuff - all of the pain and suffering of this world!

Anyone who knew my grandpop well knew that he was not a perfect man. And they also knew that he invested every part of his being into serving a great God who chose to use my grandpop in spite of his imperfections, and did so in a great way in the lives of many people throughout his years here on earth.

Anyone who knew my grandpop also knew that his favorite song was "It is Well", and he lead it like no other! I have not been able to sing this song for many years without getting choked up and will never sing or hear it without thinking of him. The line that always strikes me is "and Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight". Oh, what a day that will be!! And so today there are tears in my eyes, but they truly are not tears of sadness - they are tears of joy! Today, my grandpop's faith - his life's passion - was made sight! Today he is getting to kneel at his Savior's feet and hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!" Wish I could hear him singing . . .

2009-11-10T15:49:00.003-05:00

As I am writing this, I am just completely overwhelmed by God's goodness! It is so amazing and humbling to see God work, and I know we only get a glimpse of His glory here on earth. There are times in our lives when we feel overwhelmed by the difficulties in our lives . . . but I feel completely overwhelmed by the goodness that God has shown us. His power, His grace, His goodness, His faithfulness . . . words truly do not seem adequate. It feels like almost more than my sinful self can handle!

This past weekend we had another huge yard sale. After the last one in June, we had so many items donated and so many left over, we had decided to do another yard sale. For several reasons, it kept getting put off, until this past weekend. More people donated items to sell, and we set up another large sale. To be honest, I don't even know where to begin in talking about all that God did.

I guess I'll begin by explaining what He taught me from the last sale. We had planned that for a few months prior and had invested time and energy into every detail for the sale to go well - organizing a neighborhood yard sale so it would attract more people, having signs printed up, posting the sale on Facebook and on Craigslist, pricing almost every item, etc. I prayed, I stressed, and I did a lot! (I am not speaking this on behalf of Joe, as he was very steady in his faith.) The sale went well and, in spite of myself, God still showed me/us His goodness and faithfulness and provided the full amount of money that we needed for our next piece of paperwork at that point. I ended the sale physically exhausted and emotionally drained.

Then this sale. As I said, it kept getting postponed. It didn't seem we had as many "big ticket" items, and many of the bigger items we did have had already been in our last sale and posted on Craigslist several times with no real leads. Joe put our yard sale sign up on Monday night, and I posted a general listing on Craigslist. No price tags, just told everyone to ignore any prices they saw (from the last sale) and make us an offer. I truly was not expecting this to come close to making what we made in the last sale. Thursday morning came, we set up and I truly did not have a chance to sit down until sometime in the afternoon, and even that was short-lived. It seemed we had people, usually several at a time, looking through our sale for the entire day from 8 a.m. until we packed up at 5 p.m.! And they were buying - I'd guess 95% of the people that stopped on Thursday bought something! We estimated we probably had 75-100 people through our sale in 2 days! I don't know if I can even remember everything to explain all of the "little" things that God did. We had opportunities to have meaningful, God-centered, conversations with many people, and the opportunity to meet more of our neighbors.

On Friday, being the second day of our sale, I wasn't expecting much of a crowd or much in the way of sales, but God showed me once again who is in control! We had one guy stop by and out of the blue ask for an item that we didn't have in the sale, but that we had talked about selling. Another lady was talking to me about a few of the bigger ticket items (one of which I truly did not think would sell, since I'd been trying to sell it for over a year now), but she didn't seem actually interested . . . then just sat down and wrote us a check for the full amount we were asking for all three!

Probably the most exciting moment of the sale was around lunch time on Friday when a guy stopped by and started looking through our several tubs of books, all for 50 cents each. He found a set of tapes and manuals for a study through the Bible and was so excited. He asked if I was a pastor, and when I told him my husband was, he ended up sitting in the middle of our driveway and talking to Joe about all that has been going on in his life and his desire to get his life right with God!! Then he and Joe talked in Joe's office for probably another hour!

All in all, EVERY one of our "big ticket" items sold! We ended up with relatively few items to pack up and donate. And at the end of the day, our sale totaled $1300!!!! I know that God is good regardless of the $$ amount (we have been so blessed and encouraged by many "sized" gifts throughout this process), but the number shows me that no matter how much I invested, planned and worked, as at our first sale, it is God who is in control! Yes, I still walked away from this sale physically exhausted, but I wasn't emotionally drained - my heart was filled to overflowing with the goodness of my Savior!! I can't even think about it as I type without my eyes filling up with tears. I don't want to get repetitive, but I am humbled, I am amazed, I am overwhelmed by the goodness and faithfulness of my Heavenly Father!!

**Sorry for the profuse usage of exclamation points :o)

Show Hope

2009-11-04T16:43:00.002-05:00

We just received a letter in the mail this afternoon letting us know that Show Hope is giving us a $5000 adoption grant!!! So thankful to those at Show Hope that have a heart for this ministry of adoption and praising the Lord for His wonderful works!!!

"Now to HIM who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Eph. 3:20-21

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God also continues to work through people to give toward "the PUZZLE" for our adoption expenses. To see an update, click on the link in the right-hand side of this page and then click on the photo update tab.

Why Are We Adopting?? (part 2)

2009-11-03T14:19:00.007-05:00

by Sarah

This is a question that, I’m sure, some people take for granted. And others of you have probably wondered why we are choosing to adopt. I mean, seriously, we’ve got four kids already, right? And if we don’t have the “extra” money, why are we doing it?

Well, the obvious answer is that we have prayed and truly feel as though God is leading us in this direction. On a practical level, if you sat down with Joe and me you would probably get different answers from both of us, and yet still the same – mine would be a lot more wordy than his, of course!

As I’ve heard this question asked, Joe’s response is usually something like “well, why not?” We know that this is a good thing. God has commands us to care for the widows and orphans (James 1:27). In the book of Mark we are reminded of God’s command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That is pretty hard to do by itself, but then in John 15:12, He takes this love to a much higher level. "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

My answer is usually to go back to the fact that ever since I was a teenager, my heart has always been touched by adoption. But I thought that was something you did if you couldn’t have biological children. I have deeply desired to be a mommy ever since I can remember, and there was no doubt in my mind that if I couldn’t have had biological children that I would’ve wanted to adopt.

However, in more recent years, through God’s grace, it has become a reality in my mind that adoption is not just a substitute for procreation. It is a wonderful plan for bringing the “fatherless” into a loving family. A family where they can not only belong physically, but also where they can learn how to be adopted into our Heavenly Father’s family! I mean, what greater example of this do we have than that of God’s love for us? In Romans 5:8 it clearly states that while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us. Now that is a loaded topic in and of itself! In a nutshell, God is holy, pure, perfect. God loves us, but He cannot have anything impure or sinful near Him. So there is the dilemma – God desires to have a relationship with us, and without Him we are hopeless. Each of us has a debt from our sin that we cannot pay apart from our own eternal death. In our sin, everything about is us in complete opposition to God and who He is. The verse could read that when we were the enemies of God, Christ died for us. Unbelievable! Not only did God love us as His enemies, but He chose to solve the problem by putting our sin onto His Son who took the excruciating punishment in our place! And now, because of this sacrifice, God looks at us and sees Christ’s blood – Christ’s perfect holiness – and He adopts us into His family – not as servants, or even good friends, but as sons! I have heard this “story” since I was born, but never have I been able to see it so clearly and so deeply as in this past year as God has been leading us through this process to adoption.

We have every confidence that as God leads, He will provide. We have already seen that so clearly evidenced over these last several months through many friends and family who have chosen to step out in faith and join us in this ministry of adoption. He will provide financially, physically and emotionally for us, the children we have now and any children He adds to our home. God has not promised that we will ever be able to adopt any children, but we are willing to follow as long as He leads us, however far down this path He chooses for us to go. Our prayer is that we will be willing to go and content to stand still, or even stop . . . that we will not become so enamored with the gift that we forget the Giver!

"Trust and obey, for there's no other way . . ."

2009-10-23T15:18:00.007-04:00

As some of you may know, we have been talking, thinking and praying for several months now about the possibility of adopting two siblings or a single child. Our hearts' desire from the beginning of this process was to adopt two children, whether siblings or unrelated. We chose an age range (0-3 yrs.) for the children based on our children's ages, advice from experienced and knowledgeable friends, and Ethiopia's standards/requirements. A few months into the process, we were informed that our agency does not allow adoptions of two unrelated children within that age range, and that siblings within that age range are very rare. We were advised to leave the option open of accepting a referral for a single child.

And so we began to think, talk and pray. Had God put that desire in our hearts to adopt two, or was that sincerely just our own desire? Our homestudy approved us for two children and we have absolutely no doubt that God is faithful and will supply all of the wisdom, strength and resources needed for us to raise two more children . . . if that is what He wants for us.

So there is the struggle (probably more for me than Joe). We truly believe with all of our hearts that God is sovereign and can provide a sibling referral if and when He wants. We truly believe that God has lead us into this journey and will continue to lead and provide as we "Trust and Obey". Our hearts still desire to adopt two siblings and would be thrilled to do so . . . but we can't even begin to think that we can care for the four children God has given us already, let alone two more, if we are working outside of God's desires. It scares me to even think about that!

Sometime in the near future we should be receiving an "on deck" email from our adoption agency. At that point, we will have three choices, (1) take whatever referral is there when we are up for referral (siblings or single child), (2) wait for a sibling referral for whatever time we specify, or (3) wait indefinitely for a sibling referral. In talking, Joe and I both feel that option #2 is out for us - either God has laid it on our hearts to adopt or not, and either He wants us to wait for siblings or not. We don't think He is into playing games with our heads! :o)

So, do we feel strongly that God only wants us to adopt siblings and that that is His clear direction? And, as much as I hated to admit it, the answer really is "no". As I've said, it is still our hearts' desire, but we don't know whether that is from His heart or our heads. We are choosing to trust in God's sovereignty, and we are confidant that He will bring the child or children that He has for our family, the same way He did with our biological children. This is not to say that God does not clearly lead some families to wait indefinitely for siblings. I just know for myself at this point, whenever I begin to think that we should wait, it is truly about what I want and how I can control the outcome . . . sounds like it might work, until I remember Who it is I am actually trying to control!

The bottom line is, we don't know God's mind - we can't even discern our own minds accurately (Jer. 17:9) - but we can trust His leading. And so, when we receive our on deck email, unless God radically changes our hearts between now and then, we will let them know that we will take a referral for siblings or a single child. We are truly overwhelmed and thrilled by all that we have learned and seen through God's hand throughout this process, and we are at complete peace knowing that we and our children are in those same hands! God has never disappointed us (despite the many times we disappoint Him), and we know we will be completely full to overflowing with whoever God adds to our family!!

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9

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For an update on "the PUZZLE", click on the link on the right-hand side of this page.

2009-10-15T15:55:00.003-04:00

Some have asked where we are in the process. Well, to put it simply, just waiting! We have nothing to do for the adoption right now, other than our own saving, reading, educating, and preparing. Depending on the length of our wait, there's a possibility that we may need to update some of our paperwork, such as our homestudy, but for right now, we wait!

Meanwhile, God has been so faithful in continuing to provide the needed funds for the next step. We are so encouraged and praising our Heavenly Father for all of the friends and family who have chosen to step out in faith and join us in this ministry of adoption!

What is the next step? At some point, our agency usually sends out an "on deck" email letting you know you are close to referral. Then we wait for a referral (a picture and information on a specific child or children available for adoption). Our next set of fees will be due when we accept a referral.

To see what God has been doing through "the PUZZLE", click on the link in the right-hand column, then on the tab marked "Photo Update".

Why Are We Adopting??

2009-10-08T15:03:00.003-04:00

by Joe

What is adoption? Wow, so much to write so little room! Since I have recently been introduced to this important subject I have come to find out how much it has to do with my Christian faith. Adoption is a physical demonstration of a spiritual reality. By deliberately choosing to rescue children who are fatherless, hopeless, and helpless; we reflect our God who chose to rescue us from our hopelessness and helplessness. By sacrificially, denying our comfort and contentment for the good of other children reflects our God who sacrificially gave up His Son because of His love and kindness to us. By recognizing and embracing that non-biological children can be part of a family as true sons and daughters reflects our God who adopted us into His family as "sons and daughters". Simply put, as Russell Moore puts it in his book Adopted for Life, "Adoption is the gospel."

So, why are we adopting? Good question, once in awhile I'll ask myself that same question! It usually sounds like this, "you've got to be crazy; not enough going on in your life right now? Four children isn't enough mouths to feed?" But it doesn't take long before it leads to heartfelt thanksgiving to our Father for this awesome opportunity to have our faith tested and multiplied as we take this step of faith in saving children, both physically, and hopefully spiritually. With responding in obedience, to God's leading in adoption, we have already been given numerous opportunities to give an "answer of the hope that lies within us". Through adoption we have had the opportunity to teach our children that loving others is not only more pleasing to God, but eventually more satisfying than pleasing self. Through adoption we have had the opportunity to "lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth" and to teach and demonstrate this investment principle to our children as well.

So adoption gives us an opportunity to please God, portray the Gospel, and to promote our growth in Him. Please pray with us that God would be glorified as we respond biblically to his leading in our lives in this particular area of adoption.

Puzzle Update

2009-10-01T14:21:00.003-04:00

For an update on "the PUZZLE", click on link in the right-hand column. Then click on the tab at the top of the page that says "Photo Update".

Joshua's 3rd Birthday!

2009-10-01T13:56:00.002-04:00

Yay! Blew out all 3 candles!

Loves his new bug-catcher's belt!

VERY excited to get "guys" like Joey and Gracie play with!!!

"the PUZZLE" Update ~ 304!!!

2009-09-22T01:15:00.005-04:00

So, we arrived home to a mountain of laundry and mail . . . and are in complete awe of how God is continually working! 304 pieces of "the PUZZLE" sponsored so far!! Who knows, maybe we'll be working on puzzle #2 soon!!

With every piece of the puzzle that we put together, I look forward to the day when I can sit with our child(ren) and read them the names and tell them about our amazing God who loves them and knew them before they were born, and who works everything together . . . for our good and HIS glory!!

"I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever." ~ ~ Psalm 86:12

Our Trip

2009-09-22T00:39:00.009-04:00

We just got back from a trip out east to visit family - a week in PA with the Jordan side, and a week in NH with the McDaniel side for Joe's parents' 40th wedding anniversary. It was really a great, fun, and, yes, exhausting time. We are glad to be home and in a regular routine, but miss all of our family!

Katelyn's Fund

2009-09-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

A while back I had mentioned in a post that we had a phone interview with Katelyn's Fund for an adoption grant. We received a call Friday night that they are giving us a $3,000 grant toward our adoption expenses!! We are so excited and praising the Lord for His faithfulness and continued providence!

We spent last week in PA visiting w/ family and we are now in NH. God is continuing to provide for us in many ways, including "the PUZZLE". Lord willing, I will be able to get that updated and post new pictures early next week.

"I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!"
Psalm 34:1-3

Made It!!

2009-09-10T12:35:00.003-04:00

I've been tracking our dossier's travel to Ethiopia all week via FedEx, and today it is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!! Praise the Lord for seeing it safely there to it's next leg of the journey!

We are DTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-05T08:46:00.002-04:00

. . . which means "Dossier To Ethiopia"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent most of yesterday in the car traveling out to PA. I checked my email several times throughout the day, but went to bed last night wondering and praying that nothing went wrong with the paperwork. Well, I never thought to check my spam box, but apparently our email had gone there. So, as of yesterday, our dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia and we are officially 9/4/09 DTE!!!!!!!!! Lot's of exclaimation points because now we are officially waiting for a referral for a child or children!!!!!!!!!!!! The DTE date is basically our place in "line" for a referral. We praise the Lord for what He is doing, not only physically through allowing us to complete the paperchase stage and supplying the needed finances to get to this point, but for how graciously and mercifully He is working in our lives to strengthen and encourage our walk with Him. My heart is FULL!!

They gave us the FedEx tracking number, so rest assured I will be checking that more often than I should over the next several days . . . right now, from our agency in VA, our dossier is now in Newark, NJ :o)

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!"Psalm 6:1-2

The PUZZLE

2009-09-05T08:38:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update. Praise the Lord, we have continued to receive sponsorships for "the PUZZLE". We are so thankful for how God is working and for the willingness of family and friends to sacrificially step out in faith and join us in this ministry of adoption!

And speaking of family, I am actually posting this from my mom's computer in PA. We had been planning with Joe's sisters for a few years now to get together this year for his parents' 40th anniversary in NH, so we are stopping for a visit w/ my family for a few days before heading up to NH to see the other half of our family. All this to say that I won't be able to update "the PUZZLE" with the new sponsorships until we get back, and if you've mailed sponsorships they may be being held with our mail while we are gone. We look forward to updating you when we are back in Indiana.

the PUZZLE Update

2009-08-28T15:43:00.004-04:00

These are pictures of what we have sponsored so far. For more information, click on "the PUZZLE" link in the right-hand column.

Dossier Update

2009-08-28T11:35:00.002-04:00

Well, our dossier arrived safely into the hands of our family coordinator at our adoption agency yesterday afternoon. I was tracking it all day via FedEx! Now it will be reviewed by them and then taken to the U.S. Department of State, and Ethiopia’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. for authentication and certification. They said it should be ready to be shipped to Ethiopia one week from today!

OUT OF OUR HANDS!!!!!!

2009-08-25T16:44:00.002-04:00

YAY!!! We received our USCIS approval in the mail today (earlier than expected) which set off the chain of events (crazy!) for our afternoon, ending in FedEx-ing our dossier to our agency! Now they will check it over and then it's off to Ethiopia!!!!! It is just surreal to me right now that we're finally done with the paperwork stage! Unless there's a problem with our dossier, it should be sent over with in a couple of weeks. It was a little scary, and yet such a blessing to be finally mailing everything in!

Also, we had a phone interview with Katelyn's Fund last night - an organization that offers adoption grants. We think the interview went well and they ended it by each of the 5 of them going around and praying for our family. It was hard to hear some because of it being a conference call, but I heard most of it, and it was such a blessing! Here were these 5 people who we've never met, but because we have all been adopted into God's family, we share that common bond. It was such an encouragement to hear them pour out their hearts to God on our behalf - their hearts that truly have a burden for and "get" this ministry of adoption! They will let us know in 3-4 weeks if they will be able to fund any part of our adoption expenses.

And, one of the "little" things - I'll try to condense this - one of the things we had to do this afternoon to tie up the last few loose ends was take this one form to be notarized b/4 we took it to the Sec. of State's office to be certified. So, we stopped at our bank on our way downtown - quick in and out, no problem, right? Turns out (found this out at the Secretary of State's office) that her notary or whatever you call it had been renewed but she put her old date . . . might have been able to work around that, but she also put the wrong county (where she worked instead of where she lived). Had to think on my feet and do several things then - when back to our bank (just happens to be a branch in the same building, right down the hall from the SOS office), then a few blocks down to the Indiana State Public Library to print out a new form, had to get a library card (which was free, thankfully), and then found out that print-outs would cost $0.25 and I literally had 2 pennies in my purse. Called Joe to see if he had $ and fortunately he had a dollar in his wallet. Then went onto my yahoo mail account and couldn't find the email w/ the document attached that I needed. So, I called our family coordinator at our agency, who I had tried to call 2 other times today and got voice mail, and SHE WAS THERE and was able to email me the form right on the spot!! Then we (yes, all 6 of us) walked 2 blocks back to the bank to notarize that form, then back to the SOS office and then as I was walking out, Praise the Lord, I saw that the SOS office actually did their part wrong! They easily fixed it, thankfully. So, in all that, she was there! I even tried calling her back again this afternoon and got her voice mail - but when we needed her, God allowed her to be there, at her desk, ready to take my call!!

Okay, and a puzzle update. We are so thankful that people have begun to sponsor some pieces of our puzzle. We hope to be able to get the sponsored pieces put together in the next few days so we can post a picture of the progress. If you're interested in reading more about this, just click on "The PUZZLE" in the right-hand column.

"Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 100

Puzzles and Unexpected Blessings

2009-08-11T22:04:00.003-04:00

First of all, you will notice a picture/link to the right-hand side of this page for "the PUZZLE". This is a well, a . . . hmmm, how do I put this gently . . . okay, I'll just say it, it's a fundraiser! :o) We have prayed and talked and thought and prayed and talked and . . . you get the picture . . . over the idea of fundraisers. We are not comfortable with bombarding anyone and everyone we know and asking them to buy junk that they probably don't even need and would probably be buying purely out of guilt anyway! So, when this idea came across our plate, we found it very interesting.

The PUZZLE is named, I know very creatively ;o), because it is centered around a puzzle. We have purchased a puzzle that we will be putting together for our Ethiopian child(ren). We will put the pieces of the puzzle together only as each piece is sponsored. Those who choose to participate may sponsor one piece, a few, or many. We will then write the name of the sponsor on the back of each piece - what a beautiful memory and testiment to God's love and faithfulness, for us and our child(ren)! If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity to join is in adoption, just click on the "the PUZZLE" picture.

The sponsorships are not tax deductible. If you are interested in participating with us financially in this adoption but are concerned about tax deduction, we have also qualified for The Eternal Family Fund through our adoption agency. If you choose to donate through this fund, your donation would be tax deductible. However, in order to comply with the law, they say they will try to honor the donor's wishes, but they cannot guarantee that all funds donated in our name will actually go to us. There is also a set amount that we qualify for through this fund. If donations in our name exceeded the specified amount, those funds would belong to the Eternal Family Fund to fund other adoptions. If you are interested in hearing more about this option, please email me and I will gladly send you the information (jsjgmcdaniel@sbcglobal.net).

We visited USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) today to have our fingerprints taken. Our appointment wasn't for another 10 days, but they allowed us to be seen early!!! They now have all of the information that they need in order to process our immigration form - the final piece of paper needed for our dossier!! It could still be another 6 weeks until we receive that from them, but we're hoping it won't take that long . . . we'll see! Then I went to Kinko's and spent $30 making copies of all of the paperwork - that's a lot of copies!!

Thank you so much for your time in keeping updated on what is happening in our adoption process. And we could never express to you how much we appreciate your continued prayers during this process!!

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"
Psalm 115:1

An Amazing Story

2009-07-29T16:39:00.004-04:00

There has been a lot of controversy about this new movie and it's negative portrayal of orphans and adoption, but that is not why I am posting this article(click here to read article). I read it this morning on American World Adoption (our adoption agency)'s blog and was in tears. It is an amazing story, and makes me so anxious to meet and hold our Ethiopian child(ren) (Lord willing!!).

Shout for JOY!

2009-07-24T13:49:00.003-04:00

It seems there are many days in life, and especially on this adoption journey, that are spent trusting, praying and, yes, . . . waiting. The waiting days are hard, but necessary. Praise the LORD for the answer days!

We received word last Monday (9/13) that our final home study had been mailed to us! We received that the next day, making it just one day shy of 11 weeks total from start to completion for our home study. But it's done!!

Also that same Monday we received an unexpected escrow refund check in the mail from our mortgage company for a little over $400!

The day we received our home study in the mail, I was able to put it with our USCIS application in the mail. I also emailed another family in Indiana who has adopted from Ethiopia, and they had a much shorter wait for their form to be processed than the estimated 6-12 weeks. No guarantees, of course, but after how long our home study took, it was just encouraging that there's at least a possibility that we'll get that form back sooner rather than later!

And I called last week to find out the cost of having our dossier authenticated by the Secretary of State's office. The lady I talked to informed me that there is NO CHARGE for this service, so the money we had budgeted toward that cost can now go toward our next set of fees!

I spent every moment I could find last week filling out grant applications and gathering the needed information. I had no idea there was so much information and paperwork involved with applying for grants! I have a few loose ends to tie up, and then we should be able to get the applications in the mail early next week. Obviously there are no guarantees that we will receive any grants, but now that we have our home study completed, we at least qualify to apply for some. We are trusting the Lord to continue to provide as He leads, whether that's through grants or other means.

Joe took the teens to The Woodlands Camp this week, so the kids and I spent Monday through Thursday with Joe's parents at their house. It was a lot of fun for the kids, less worry for Joe knowing we were there, and definitely made the kids' "daddy-less" week go a little faster. So that's why it's taken me until now to update our blog with these wonderful answers to prayer!

Time Line??

2009-07-11T19:07:00.005-04:00

Probably the one question we get most often in regard to adoption is what the time line is and where we are on it. So, I am going to try to explain that, along with an update of where we are currently in the process.

Our adoption process officially started with application to our adoption agency. The estimate for total time is 14-24 months from the time you apply until you are home with your child(ren). Of course that can vary greatly along the way for a number of different reasons. Once we were accepted into their Ethiopia program, we began what is called the "Paper-chase" part of the process, also called "paper pregnancy". The estimate for completing this phase is 4-6 months. There are a number of different documents that need to be collected during that time, including the home study. Once we have collected all of the needed documentation, together it is called our dossier, we send that to our adoption agency to review and send to Ethiopia for translation and their consideration. At that point, we are waiting for our referral, usually for several months. The referral is information, usually very limited, on a specific child or children that are a potential match for our family. If we choose to accept the referral, a court date will be set in Ethiopia, usually a few months after that. Once we pass court, we will plan our trip to go get our child(ren). There are some things to be completed while in Ethiopia, but I don't know the specifics on that. Once we are home with our child(ren), they are officially and legally ours, but there will be some things still to follow-up on such as post-placement visits and re-adoption (having to do w/ name change, etc.).

So, that's the general time line. Where we are is in the paper-chase. We have all of our paperwork that is possible for us to have completed at this point - in fact, we have for several weeks now. We are still waiting on our final home study. We applied for our home study at the end of March, but they didn't schedule our first appointment (official start) until the end of April. At that point their estimate was 7 weeks to complete the home study . . . it has now been 10 1/2. Once we have our home study, we can immediately proceed to the next step which is an immigration form that has to be applied for through USCIS. The estimate is that it will take 6-12 weeks to receive our approval. Once we have that form, we can take our paperwork to the Secretary of State for authentication and it is ready to go to our adoption agency for transmission to Ethiopia.

Of course, there are fees and costs all along the way in this process. The Lord has been so good to us and, so far, we have not had to delay any of the steps due to finances. We have the money order already for the USCIS form and enough in the bank to pay for State authentication. We will then need $7,200 in order to get our paperwork sent to Ethiopia. We do not have that amount yet, but have a small fraction of it saved. If we get to the point where our paperwork is completed but we still do not have the total $7,200, we will have to wait until we have it in order for our paperwork to go to Ethiopia. After that, I believe there will be no fees until the referral stage when a bigger portion of the fees and travel costs will come up. We sincerely desire to follow God's leading in all of this, and we know He is faithful to guide us, and provide if He continues to lead us down this path.

For those of you who are praying for us, we are always in need of prayer for our faith and wisdom. We also request your prayer in regard to whether we are able to adopt 2 siblings or a single child. We desire to adopt to siblings, but that is rare within the age group that we are adopting. So, when the time of referral comes, if there are not siblings available, we need wisdom to know whether to go ahead and adopt a single child, or wait for siblings. My personal prayer is that God will either grant our desire for the siblings, or change my desires to match His.

HOPE and a FUTURE!!

2009-06-23T11:51:00.005-04:00

I am encouraged and amazed by this thought today - just as we do not know the plans He has for us, there are children, literally on the other side of the world, who are waiting (who probably do not even know there is something better out there for them) that do not know that God has already set in motion a plan for them - HIS plan - to give them hope and a future - in this life and the next!!!

Speedbumps & Roadblocks

2009-06-22T16:20:00.003-04:00

Wow, as I'm typing this it seems hard to believe that June is already almost done! I say that with amazement that it's only actually been 3 months since we officially started the adoption process. And I say it, honestly, with a bit of sadness and disappointment today as we're in somewhat of an unexpected delay and standstill in the process right now. I know these seeming road blocks are "par for the course" and something that inevitably comes in every stage of life, not just adoption, but I don't think that makes it any less painful. I don't know whether it's because of his "maleness" or because he is older and more mature than I am (Joe assures me it's the second reason ;o) ) but he is able to take all of this a bit more objectively than I am! And I'm thankful for his steadiness, or I'd be a basket case!

In Proverbs 13:12 it says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Obviously I couldn't describe it any better than God does here - things like this just make your heart sick. I have full faith and confidence in my Heavenly Father's soverienty, grace, and love for us and our children . . . but that doesn't mean there's not momentary disappointment when our desires don't match up to His plans - even if it's just the "when" and not the "what" of His plans.

The great thing is the second part of the verse, "but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." We know further in Psalm 37:4 that if we "Delight yourself in the LORD,and he will give you the desires of your heart." Not meaning that God will give us whatever we desire - but by His grace, as we lay our desires and burdens at His feet, He mercifully molds and shapes our desires to be what He wants for us! What a tremendous hope and comfort that is!

So, as I mentioned in the last update or two, we're still waiting on our home study to be completed. It took longer to even get started than it seemed it should and has already taken longer than they estimated it would (even with us having our completed paperwork to them almost 2 months ago now), with it now looking like another few weeks until we'll have our completed home study in hand and be able to move ahead.

We're praying, obviously, that God will move things ahead quickly, but also that I won't be so anxious to move out of this hard spot that I try to manage things on my own - that's a nice way of saying that I pray I won't be manipulative ;o) I pray, as God tells us in the book of James, that He will give me the strength to "consider it all joy" in every circumstance and choose to endure - to remain under - this weight to learn what He has for me . . . I know there will likely be many more of these times ahead in the adoption process, and inevitably in life in general!

On a somewhat lighter note, I just finished, and Joe is finishing up, reading an EXCELLENT book called "Adopted for Life" by Russell Moore - I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, whether you are considering adoption or not. This is not a book with the purpose to convince anyone to adopt, nor a "how to" book on adoption. It is a Biblical look at God's plan of adoption.

Strength in Weakness, Peace Beyond Comprehension!

2009-06-10T17:06:00.003-04:00

We finished up our school year on May 22, but it feels like we're just now starting summer break - it has been crazy busy! The last few weeks have been spent with getting ready for a huge yard sale, in addition to the regular business of our house.

Our yard sale was this past Friday and Saturday, and it was HUGE!! Several people donated items for our sale, and we are so thankful. There was so much stuff that it took us over 3 hours to set up Friday a.m., and there were still items we forgot to put out. Our sale went well Friday, and we were exhausted . . . then after dinner Friday night Madie's ear started hurting so we got to spend some time in immediate care that night. Turned out she had a double ear infection - poor girl!! Saturday, to our surprise, was an extremely slow day. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty worn out and discouraged and not wanting to talk about possible plans of doing it all again this weekend ;o) Early on as we planned this sale, I knew we had enough funds in the bank to pay our next "step", which is the last 1/2 of the home study cost. Then following that is the immigration form that I mentioned in the previous post. I thought it would be good if we made enough to cover that cost. So, as I was sitting on the couch Sat. evening feeling exhausted and a bit dejected and Joe was counting up what we had made off our sales, I was amazed when Joe told me how much we had made - it was just around $10 more than we need to pay for our immigration form! God is so good to us!!

So we were planning to do the yard sale again this week, starting a little earlier on Thurs. instead of Friday. Even though our sales were good, we still had at least 3/4 of our "inventory" left to sell. We decided we'd list a bunch of stuff on Craigslist and whatever was left we'd try to sell at the yard sale. We ended up getting a great response on some of the items we posted, so we decided not to go ahead with the second weekend of the sale. The plan is to continue to try to sell stuff on Craigslist and then possibly have another yard sale in the fall . . . don't really want to think about that right now ;o)

We also had our last meeting for our home study yesterday. I was so excited to finally have this last meeting. She told us at our first meeting (which took them a month to even schedule to begin with) that she estimated the home study to take about 7 weeks, which is already on the long side as far as home studies go, she said depending on how quickly we get our paperwork done. Well, I thought that was a good sign because by the time we had our first meeting, we had already given her all of our paperwork, even the recommendations from our references, and the only other paperwork she gave us, two weeks later on a Friday, we had completed and returned to her by the following Monday. But by the time we finally were able to schedule this last meeting, it's already been six weeks since we started, and she said it will be about 2-3 weeks until we have our completed homestudy. The amazing thing to me was that after the last few weeks of insane business, I was worn out, and the frustration and disappointment in hearing this news would normally have put me close to tears, if not over the waterfall! But God gave me a true peace in my heart that in no way came from me - I may be self-deceived in many ways, but I think I know myself at least well enough to know that peace is not my typical reaction to these type of situations! I know people were praying for us, and what a true blessing to know the peace of God that passes all comprehension, and to truly feel God's strength through my weakness!!

Okay, sorry for the long update ;o) We were also able over these last several days to get a handful of forms completed, notarized and approved for our dossier. As far as timeline, we're waiting now on the home study to be done (I'm still praying she'll get done more quickly than she estimated ;o) ). As I said in the last update, once we have that in hand, that will set a lot of other gears in motion.

One more thing - probably more than a month ago I requested prayer regarding how we should word our application letter in regard to requesting 2 siblings - should we only request siblings and then possibly wait longer, or should we request a single child if siblings aren't available? Again, we know that God is sovereign in all of this, but we had to put something on paper! We decided to just request siblings. And this is the thought that God used to bring peace to my heart on Tuesday - assuming He brings us through this whole process to completion of adoption, He has the children for us and will have them ready for us and us for them, all in His time! What a blessing to be able to rest and hope in confidence in our Father!

My mind is still a little fried from the last few weeks, so I'm sorry for the long post and that there's probably parts that won't make sense ;o) If you've gotten to this point, thanks for taking the time to read and be updated on what's going on in our adoption process!

"While I'm Waiting"

2009-06-03T15:37:00.002-04:00

Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

The Last Two Weeks . . .

2009-05-30T14:36:00.005-04:00

Like my creative post title??? Yup, took me days to think of that one . . . feel free to borrow it for your blog :o)

Okay, so it's been two weeks since my last update. In that time, we received Joe's passport and some other needed documents - some reference letters and Joe's employment letter - for our dossier. I was also able to get things - hopefully - cleared up and corrected on our medical forms . . . just waiting on our Family Coordinator - Terra - at the adoption agency to approve them. Long and crazy road to getting medical forms filled out completely and correctly!! I also found out that a friend of ours is a notary, so that will make it a lot easier (and cheaper) to get all of our needed forms notarized.

We were also able to finally set our last meeting for our home study to be completed. That is on the 9th, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to have our completed home study "in hand" within the next few weeks. Assuming we're approved, once we have that, we can send our I-600a application in (for immigration, visa's, etc. for the child(ren)) and begin the 6-12 week waiting process for our approved form. Also, with the completed home study, we are then eligible to apply for several grants as well as our agency's Eternal Family Fund (more about that in a future post!). So, all in all, pretty excited to get the home study completed!

We're going to be very busy this week getting ready for our "Adoption Liquidation Sale" on June 5-6. Basically a huge yard sale, but we are calling this an "Adoption Liquidation Sale" because we are not just selling our unused, unwanteds, and cast-offs. We are trying to liquidate anything and everything we can in order to raise money for our adoption expenses. So there are many nice items available as well as many donated items from friends. I plan to post this on Craigslist soon. Our sale is also coinciding w/ our neighborhood yard sale. If you're in the area, you're welcome to stop by and see if there's anything you need. If not, we'd appreciate so much your prayers for nice weather and good sales!

As we've been looking over our budget the last several months, and recently as we've been talking and planning for this yard sale, I've been reminded so many times that all of our things - no matter how sentimental they may seem - are just stuff. They are temporary! I've been so rebuked at how consumed I can be with making my life more comfortable. As Joe likes to say as of late "it's all gonna' burn up!" We laugh, but it's so true! But what time, energy and finances God allows us to invest in the lives of people will last for eternity!

Thank you so much for taking the time to be updated on what God is doing in and through our lives and for your prayers on our behalf!

"Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light."
Psalm 36:5-9