Home. For Now.

We had an amazing time in Ethiopia.  Our love for the country and its people expanded more than before.  Our time with our son was nothing short of amazing.  He is a wonderful young man and we can't wait to have him join the rest of the family.  Obviously, communication will take a while on his end and on ours, but we will get there.  Realistically, we are dealing with three different languages.....Ethiopian sign language, American sign language and then English.  It's going to take a while...but we all seem to be pretty determined.  :-)

We spent our time with our son playing lots of games - Uno, Bounce Off, etc.  He also enjoys throwing the football and kicking the soccer ball around and has a great sense of humor (necessary in our family!).  We also spent some time each visit comparing signs in our own language, spelling words and trying to just learn more about each other.  He did a great job testifying to the judge (with the help of his wonderful teacher) and was clearly discouraged when the judge said we needed to place another newspaper ad to see if his birthparents respond.  His testimony was clear....he wants to come home with us. He's spent at least 8 years in an orphanage and has watched numerous kiddos leave with their adoptive families.  He's more than ready.  We were delighted to learn that he remembers Martha from when they were at the orphanage together - what a gift that is!

We were also blessed to see and experience Ethiopia - the beauty of its landscape, the culture, the generous and welcoming people. We were able to worship Jesus Christ together with believers from all over the world - a little taste of heaven!  And, visiting a Young Life Camp in Ethiopia was definitely a highlight.  We also had our hearts broken again by some of what we saw....the poverty, the harshness of living on less than $2.00 a day for so many people.  It's hard to wrap our minds around so much of it and impossible to describe it.

For now, we're home.   And, our bodies, inner time clocks (and tummies) are still adjusting.  And, right now, we could really use your prayers.  We have a few decisions to make in a very short amount of time (like less than 24 hours most likely) and because we don't feel well rested /re-aclimated (and thus aren't sure we trust our decision making right now), we just need God to make things very clear.  We'd like to put out a fleece like Gideon (Judges 6:36-38) and have it that clear.  These decisions aren't easy - they involve lots of money, schedules, our family, other people and the possibility of one or both of us returning to Ethiopia in just a week - we don't take them lightly.  Would you please pray that we make the best decisions for everyone involved?   We depend on your prayers and the nudging of the Holy Spirit.....to God be the Glory!

Stressed and Blessed

As we are down to single digits before we leave for Ethiopia....my stress level is off the charts!  I'm a pretty detail oriented, organized person, so I am making list upon list, pile upon pile and my brain is in total overdrive (so much so, that I am having trouble sleeping....a rare thing for me. And, certainly doesn't help anything at all).  Dave is also trying to pre-plan and prepare as much as possible from the work/church end.  So - you can imagine neither of us are feeling the calmest of spirits.

I am trying to cover every detail imaginable on the US side....finances for adoption and day to day life here while we're gone, food, plans for the kids, sanity for my sister as she stays here, and just about anything I can possibly think of.  It's a lot.

Then, there's the Ethiopia side.  Making sure we have a place to stay and transportation.  Hoping to see a Young Life Camp and also some special friends while we're there (because when you travel that far, you need to pack it all in), and then there's our son.  Meeting him for the first time, spending time with him, seeing his world.  And, the main reason for it all....trying to get him HOME.  This will involve a lot of waiting, praying, talking and probably more waiting.  That's hard, this hurry up and wait stuff.  More than hard sometime, it's heart wrenching.  And, then (probably because I'm tired) my brain jumps to all the "what if's"......what if this trip doesn't help at all?  What if his case just gets pushed aside....for months? What if we have to stay and run out of finances to get all 3 of us home?  What if something happens back at home?  What if? What if? WHAT IF?

And, then I try to calm myself down with some deep breaths, wipe away some tears and listen to that voice that is trying to break through....."TRUST ME.  My plans are better than yours.  They are BEST."  And, then I put out a call for help with some meals for the kids while we're gone.....and the response is overwhelming.  And, then we receive another baked good donation for the bake sale.  And, then someone I just met tells me she has been praying for our family this past week.

So, instead of "What if?" my phrase needs to change to "And, then"

"And, then" because I know that I can trust my Lord Jesus, my Savior.  I know He holds my future and my family in His hands, not my own.  "And, then" because God is writing this story of ours and He has plans that I can't even see.  "And, then" because I'm going to re-tell this story in the future by saying "And, then, God did this....and this.....and this."

I'm crazy stressed out, so why am I taking the time to blog?  Because it just forced me to sit down, refocus, slow down and remember "And, then".

God is good.  All the time.