We will let God be God...

After emailing with our coordinator and Samuel speaking to another one at the main office last week, we received an email from our coordinator yesterday. Reading it we were very happy she had emailed for clarification. Apparently the conversation between the coordinator and my husband last week left her thinking the opposite of what he felt. She thought Samuel had considered sitting on a referral (waiting over the 10 day period to accept a referral-in hopes of a second) and that he "made it clear that he did not want to accept a referral until we were aware that another child would be referred soon." At first I thought the coordinator speaking to Samuel had clients mixed up but then I realized this was not a conversation many clients would be having with her. Then I remembered how many conversations between 2 people really take place: What you say, what they say, what you think, what they think, what you think they said, what they think you said, etc...not to mention whatever past experiences each participant in the conversation brings to the mix. Hmmm...maybe she was blowing bubbles, or he was snacking on chips or her phone line was hay wire or our girls were screaming in the background (NEVER, not my angels, LOL!) I got it, the cats were barfing as an airplane was flying overhead, the garbage truck was dumping, the UPS guy was honking in the driveway and FEDEX was ringing our doorbell... HA, HA, HA!!! (I needed a laugh!)

In the end just chalk it up to static in the airways? "Nope", as my adorable 2 year old would say. Seriously it was simply a misunderstanding but I think I finally understand the bigger picture. What is the greatest way the enemy can attack us now? To bring fear and confusion in the midst of our journey, to steal our joy and as a result our praises, to keep us down and dim our light so we will never be a testimony and an encouragement for others to adopt and ultimately bring these little ones into His Kingdom. Last week was not just a freak out about reaching #1 and our adoption ending or about losing another sweet baby boy because of a lost referral. It was an opportunity to gather up my armor, receiving help from others put it on, (Your faithful prayers ladies. Thank you!) receive the peace that surpasses all understanding as I praised my Lord, and knowing HIS Mercies are new every morning, head back into the battle.

Phil 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Having dealt with my own fears we are ready to move forward and do whatever needs to be done to bring both our boys home. We have been given 2 options by IAN, receive 2 single referrals as they are available or pass on a single referral and wait until 2 baby boy referrals come in at one time. Though waiting until 2 referrals come in at once may sound easier, if unrelated, the reality is that even in that scenario one boy may pass and the other not on the first try or paperwork issues for one may arise that does not for the other and they end up not passing at the same time anyway. All this to say when asked what we wanted to do we chose to let God be God and not close the doors to any of HIS possibilities! So however He wants to do it is will be a blessing for us...Praise God, for He is the author of this journey and the guardian of my heart!

Letting God be God!

After emailing with our coordinator and Samuel speaking to another one at the main office last week, we received an email from our coordinator yesterday. Reading it we were very happy she had emailed for clarification. Apparently the conversation between the coordinator and my husband last week left her thinking the opposite of what he felt. She thought Samuel had considered sitting on a referral (waiting over the 10 day period to accept a referral-in hopes of a second) and that he "made it clear that he did not want to accept a referral until we were aware that another child would be referred soon." At first I thought the coordinator speaking to Samuel had clients mixed up but then I realized this was not a conversation many clients would be having with her. Then I remembered how many conversations between 2 people really take place: What you say, what they say, what you think, what they think, what you think they said, what they think you said, etc...not to mention whatever past experiences each participant in the conversation brings to the mix. Hmmm...maybe she was blowing bubbles, or he was snacking on chips or her phone line was hay wire or our girls were screaming in the background (NEVER, not my angels, LOL!) I got it, the cats were barfing as an airplane was flying overhead, the garbage truck was dumping, the UPS guy was honking in the driveway and FEDEX was ringing our doorbell... HA, HA, HA!!! (I needed a laugh!)

In the end just chalk it up to static in the airways? "Nope", as my adorable 2 year old would say. Seriously, it was simply a misunderstanding but I think I finally understand the bigger picture. What is the greatest way the enemy can attack us now? To bring fear and confusion in the midst of our journey, to steal our joy and as a result our praises, to keep us down and dim our light so we will never be a testimony and an encouragement for others to adopt and ultimately bring these little ones into His Kingdom. Last week was not just a freak out about reaching #1 and our adoption ending or about losing another sweet baby boy because of a lost referral. It was an opportunity to gather up my armor, receiving help from others put it on, (Your faithful prayers PWM ladies. Thank you!) ; receive the peace that surpasses all understanding as I praised my Lord, and knowing HIS Mercies are new every morning, head back into the battle.

Phil 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Having dealt with my own fears we are ready to move forward and do whatever needs to be done to bring both our boys home. We have been given 2 options by IAN, receive 2 single referrals as they are available or pass on a single referral and wait until 2 baby boy referrals come in at one time. Though waiting until 2 referrals come in at once may sound easier, if unrelated, the reality is that even in that scenario one boy may pass and the other not on the first try or paperwork issues for one may arise that does not for the other and they end up not passing at the same time anyway. All this to say when asked what we wanted to do we chose to let God be God and not close the doors to any of HIS possibilities! So however He wants to do it is will be a blessing for us...Praise God, for He is the author of this journey and the guardian of my heart!

HE who began this work....

must be the ONE to complete it!!!

We have just learned that due to changes in court processing procedures, as well as the timing of the process in Ethiopia, it has become very difficult to adopt 2 unrelated children. Due to this our agency has actually decided to stop allowing the adoption of unrelated children in the future. Our case has been "grandfathered in", a blessing as our hearts are ready to bring 2 sons home, but the issues that may arise have been presented to us.

Here is the situation:
We could be referred twins (rare!) or 2 unrelated baby boys. If unrelated we were told we might get both referrals at one time (WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN!!!), or separate. If separate and there is a gap of time between referrals and the paperwork for the second child is not perfect and he does not pass court the first time (normal in ET) then we could be looking at a 3-5 month gap between the approval of the first and second child's case. The problem? The first child having to wait in the orphanage for so long while waiting for the second child's approval. So the first child would be legally yours but you could not travel to get them as we only have one approval from USCIS for VISAS (one approval for 2 children).

Anyway we have been told our only option is waiting. If the length of time does get extensive we will have to pay the additional orphanage costs for the baby, though that is by far no an issue. The issue is of course the health of the baby, and with so many children dieing in ET due to illness, that is a very real issue. Oh and of course the other issue would be our aching arms at home. All flesh aside, this is ALL about these boys. God wants them to have a family and we will do all we can to bring them home. Some families have recently not taken a second referral, not wanting to make the first child wait...that is the very hard part as we feel so called to adopt these 2 boys that are already in our hearts!

Please agree with us in prayer for:
The boys God has called to be our sons to be referred together or be twins.
That our referrals and court date come quickly to avoid the 3 month closing of the court system. for the rainy season. (June/July-October)
Paperwork be COMPLETELY in order for the boys as well as for us BEFORE our court date.
Court date be assigned quickly after request and date be soon (before rainy season).
That we get the judge who will pass our cases.
That there be no cancellation of our court date due to power outages (common).
That we pass court the first time.

Also please pray for my heart. This has been my easiest adoption wait but after hearing this over the last couple of days (our original adoption specialist had painted a different picture) I have had a heaviness on my heart I do not believe is from the Lord. After losing 3 baby boys (miscarriages) I resigned myself to the fact that we were just not meant to be boy parents (crazy, I know!). Anyway it was God who gave me the courage to move forward with this adoption and HE alone who put these TWO baby boys on my heart. With all the questions at hand, however, today I felt like I was not even looking forward to a call from the agency if it was for one referral only. Horrible, I know, but it was the fear that the wait for a second referral would be too long and we would have to give up on that child...

I know my trust must continue to be in God, who lead us on this journey. HE has been our direction, grace and strength and by faith we trust He will complete what He began!!!

Our God is in control...

We have today that due to changes in court processing procedures, as well as the timing of the process in Ethiopia, it has become very difficult to adopt 2 unrelated children. Due to this our agency has actually decided to stop allowing the adoption of unrelated children. Our case has been "grandfathered in", a blessing as our hearts are ready to bring 2 sons home, but the issues that may arise have been presented to us.

Here is the situation:
We could be referred twins (rare!) or 2 unrelated baby boys. If unrelated we were told we might get both referrals at one time (WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN!!!), or separate. If separate and there is a gap of time between referrals and the paperwork for the second child is not perfect and he does not pass court the first time (normal in ET) then we could be looking at a 3-5 month gap between the approval of the first and second child's case. The problem? The first child having to wait in the orphanage for so long while waiting for the second child's approval. So the first child would be legally yours but you could not travel to get them as we only have one approval from USCIS for VISAS (one approval for 2 children).

Anyway we have been told our only option is waiting. If the length of time does get extensive we will have to pay the additional orphanage costs for the baby, though that is by far no an issue. The issue is of course the health of the baby, and with many children dying in ET due to illness, that is a very real issue. Oh and of course the other issue would be our aching arms at home. All flesh aside; this is ALL about these boys. God wants them to have a family and we will do all we can to bring them home. Some families have recently not taken a second referral; not wanting to make the first child wait...that is the very hard part as we feel so called to adopt these 2 boys that are already in our hearts!

So please pray for:
The boys God has called to be our sons to be referred together or be twins.
That our referrals and court date come quickly to avoid the 3 month closing of the court system for the rainy season. (June/July-October)
Paperwork be COMPLETELY in order for the boys as well as for us BEFORE our court date.
Court date be assigned quickly after request and date be as soon as possible.
That we get the judge who will pass our cases.
That there be no cancellation of our court date due to power outages (common).
That we pass court the first time.

Our trust continues to be in God, who led us on this journey. HE has been our direction, grace and strength and by faith we trust He will complete what He began!!!

You've gotta love 1...

"Number 1 ~ Unity, Independence, The Point, The Head ~ (Male)

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

There cannot be two firsts. One is God's number. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is the only God. "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). The number one stands alone, independent of all others. God doesn't need help in His accomplishments; therefore He is the one and only God. God is independent, and we are dependent. But that's a good position for us to be in since the one on whom we depend is the ONE and ONLY true living God!"

If you haven't guessed it thus far...we are #1!!!

As we were leaving to eat out with my husband's family we got a call from Sarah telling us that a baby boy had been referred which made us #1 on the list!! WOO HOO!!! I am over the top excited, not what I expected. I really thought after what happened to us with our 2nd adoption I would be somehow scared at this point. Just the opposite though as God's grace, courage and triumph overwhelm my heart with PEACE and JOY!!

Going to Florida...

We are leaving for Florida today for a week as Samuel has a customer he has to meet. Nothing new on the adoption front yet, but I just sent our new coordinator a list of our contact information...just in case, LOL!