Natural Hair and Adoption

We joke that she has enough hair for at least two people.  Her older Ethiopian sister has said she herself has enough for maybe three people.  It certainly is a mane of glory.  This mama has gotten good at natural hair care, though she grew up only knowing how to care for her own hair type which certainly was not African in any way shape or form. Braids yes, french braids sure, but cornrows or box braids, um no-sir-ree.

God is full of surprises.  He brings you places that you'd never imagine.  I never imagined I would be the mother of two Ethiopian daughters and that they would have enough hair to make tons and tons of box row braids when one sets about to.  I never realized my fingers would move so quickly at parting with a rat tail comb and finding just the right product to make their hair soft and protected.  Or that a hair style could take a couple of hours to complete, never mind undoing it several weeks later.

Rarely do I keep Princess Mercy's hair down (unbraided). I have learned that it quickly shrinks up and tangles and leads to tears and long careful sessions of trying to coax the hair out of knots and nests. A battleground that this mama knows to avoid.  But sometimes this little one just wants a day of freedom and wants to take the risk of a few hours without it being styled.  It always must go into a protective hairstyle by bedtime, which means twists or lose braids, followed by a silk cap to sleep in.

Curly, kinky, beautiful African hair. I smile because I trusted Him enough to say yes. Yes to two beautiful daughters who are so different from me.  He knows how to make it all happen.  My non-African friends ask me 'Who does their hair?'  I smile and I say 'Just me.'  They tip their head and ask me how I know how to do all these things,  that are foreign to so many light skinned mamas.  I grin and explain that what God calls you to, that He enables you to walk in it.  His call, His leading, His help and my following.  

Life is good. Isn't she cute?

And hey..put your name down for my giveaway!  

Time is running short and you'll be so blessed if you are the one who gets picked.  

I think this little one will love to write names down and put them into a basket and draw out the winner.  

We need more names...so please sign up. 

 I am sure you will enjoy it, or can find someone who would love it.

Inspiration!

 

Zechariah and Elizabeth

Expanded Bible

⁵ During the time ·Herod ruled Judea [^Lof Herod, king of Judea], there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ·Abijah’s group [the priestly division/order of Abijah; ^Cpriests were divided into twenty-four divisions; 2 Chr. 31:2]. Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, came from the ·family [^Ldaughters; ^Cfemale descendants] of Aaron [^Cbrother of Moses and first high priest of Israel; for a priest like Zechariah to marry a woman of priestly ancestry was a special blessing]. ⁶ [^LBoth] Zechariah and Elizabeth ·truly did what God said was good [^Lwere righteous before God]. They ·did [followed; walked in] everything the Lord commanded and were ·without fault [blameless] in keeping his ·law [regulations; requirements]. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth ·could not have a baby [could not conceive; ^Twas barren], and both of them were very old [Gen. 17:17; 18:11].

A friend of mine sent me a note, in it said she was praying for me and hoped my heart

 wasn't too sore or tender 

( from the adoption journey). I began with 'I am fine', but a few sentences into my correspondence with her, and revelation came that I am nursing a wounded heart. 

Perhaps I knew, but had I buried it, rather deep I must say.

 Later, God directed me to this passage of Scripture, and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.  I hadn't realized I was carrying a wounded heart in regards to some of this, but as I read I could feel emotion rising up in my chest. 

You see when you step out to follow God, and He seemingly goes missing, doubt jumps in and tells you how you missed Him.  It jabs you and makes you believe that you aren't walking where God meant for you to walk.  It begins to whisper, then eventually scream, that you are lost and that hopes of finding the way are slim, because look at the mess you've gotten yourself in.  It lies and tells you He has forgotten you. 

 Or worse, that He doesn't care. 

The Word said this to me in correction to that voice (which is not the Lord's)...

Look at these two.  They were serving me.  They were in right standing before me. (holy and righteous) They had the lineage and the life, that backed up who it was they were following.  

They both had wounds, but they served me.  Others didn't know or understand their wounds, but I did. I see the heart after all.

 You see I had a plan.  They were serving Me and loving Me.  They did what they believed and lived wholeheartedly, what they knew. 

  I saw their wounds from being childless.  I saw it come on them with increasing pain as the time wore on in their lives.  I didn't leave them, though personally they wondered why I withheld the blessing (of children) from them.  They wrestled with some of the very same things you have fought in your mind and heart. In time, the wound buried itself deep, they gave up the cry to me, they buried the hope of their dream and desire ever coming true.  But they continued on, trusting me, but living with the pain that lied deep within.

 Do you see I had a plan.  Do you see the blessing had to wait.  Do you know that I am the One who holds the blessings and decides when they should arrive.  Remember dear child, my timing is perfect.  You are not lost; live to serve me, love me and love those in your path.  Don't hold back from loving me and stop listening to the voice that makes you doubt.  That voice isn't mine and never would I send my beloved child into a place of fear of being forgotten. 

 I know. 

 I see and I know what is best for you and those you are crying out for.  Trust me, you will see.

Sharing this, because sharing is what real friends do.  

Help...Calling All Large Families who are adopting!

This is both a shout out to those who are in adoption process

 (or who have very recently adopted- having a large family)

...and for prayer.  

We are in a quandary as what to do-

I know we have grown silent here in the midst,

 please understand that when one is in battle,

 sometimes remaining quiet is the best way to fight the enemy.  

However, their is then also time when the sword and shouting is the way to defeat the enemy you find yourself against.  

Time to take up the sword!

here is what we have been busy with,

 related to adoption over the past 3 plus years:

1.  Prayer and feeling the nudge from God to begin once again the *adoption process*

*my husband and I both felt this nudge

2. Getting approval of our state to adopt 

*our crazy state decided that 6 children should be the cut off.

*after 18 months, they said they had given us *pre-approval*

we thought this was for prepping us to adopt here in the U.S. , which led us to an agency that did child rescue from abortion and placing them into Christian adoptive homes.

3.  We signed on with an agency that did adoption through their birth crisis pregnancy center...

*only to have them tell us after 2 year that we would not ever get chosen, 

due to our family size.

*(frustrating for both the time and energy spent...

as this was not what they told us in the beginning of our sign on with them).

4.  To which we then returned back to where our hearts remain:  Ethiopia

*we chatted with our last agency and decided to get our home study ready for Ethiopia

(we were already home study U.S.A. ready)

*this was this summer...but then...

5. Last week when our social worker (working on our home study) called our agency...

*we learned that the program was no longer something they were recommending,

 due to changes in adoptions within Ethiopia.

OH MY!

...

BUT...

our hearts are peace-filled.

we are seeking God.

He has spoken a few things to me ...

*"Do NOT grow weary in doing good..."

"Ask, seek, knock..."

and so...

I am also reaching to you 
and asking you for help...

Imagine How You Can Make a Difference...

 

Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out

 with no family to belong to

and 

no

place 

to call

HOME.

think about that.

When you are done thinking...

do something...

everyone can do something.

Here are a few ideas...

pray 

(ask God what He would like you to do)

seek out an agency (adoption)

and ask how you can help.

find a family who is adopting and support them

choose to adopt...take the steps to make it happen

offer to help a family post adoption...a night out without children can be so refreshing to a family

do Foster Care

call your local Foster Care office and ask what you can do to get involved

sign up to do respite care (babysitting for foster care families)

collect unused suitcases that are in good condition to give to the local Foster Care branch 

(often children are taken from their homes with their clothing stuffed into plastic bags.)

pray and take action!

Faith without works is dead. 

 just saying.  

That statistic upsets me, makes me angry and makes me want to cry all at the same time.

What about you?

When Homeschooling and Adoption Meet

Yesterday two of my students had an assignment to compose a poem.  They were reading various types of poetry in English, and had been struggling with the whole 'poetry thing.'  I encouraged them to keep at it, though I might have said that they should quit at the Limericks, as they were pretty awful.  

But these poems were different, they made me smile.  They made warmth and joy well up in my heart.  I asked if I could publish them, to which one came and said, "Yes," and the other ripped the page out of her book, so I am assuming in her Ethiopian way that this means, 'Sure!'  

I am proud of my 16 year old, as she came here 3 years ago barely speaking English.  We started her with mainly first grade curriculum and quickly flew through the grades to get her caught up to the grade she would have been in back in Ethiopia.  It was humbling for her I am sure, because back in her village she was the number one girl student. Number one out of hundreds of others that somehow managed to arrive at school, often walking for hours to get there and have the opportunity for education.  Here it was her against a language that was totally foreign to her.  New beginnings, new challenges, but ready to rise to it all!

She is driven and really is a delight to teach as she is eager to learn. She carries with her a teachable spirit, which does my heart good for sure.  She often has me in stitches as I grade her books.  She tries so hard, sometimes it just doesn't say what she thought it said.  I always thank her, as when you sit grading umpteen books, a laugh is a good thing.

But yesterday what welled in my soul wasn't laughter, it was pride.  Pride from a mother who has seen a lot in raising a larger brood.  A mother who has stood in prayer battling for her children, both physically and spiritually speaking.  A mother who is passionate about rescuing orphans and believes in family- one the hand of God creates.  Her poem gave me a peak into her heart and what I saw was encouraging to my mother's heart. 

(I have not edited her work...so read it in its pure beauty. Coming from a girl who lived for 5 years in an orphanage, waiting and praying for a Christian family to adopt her. From a girl who went from barely speaking or writing English to one who is composing Psalms, in her new 3 year old language...)

Psalm...by Ethiopian daughter

I lift up my soul to praise your Name

Because you deliver me from evil eyes

Your protection guides me through the life

Your the Light to my past that guides me

Your are the hope, when I need

You are the confidence that I seek

I gave you thanks for all you have done for me

I promise to fellow you from this day to the end.

What I would tell you about my 14 year old, is that she came to us at 3 pretty broken.  We fought a very difficult fight to get her adopted and to make her our forever daughter.  She had many fears and we were told she would never attach to anyone normally.  We never bought their lies.  We never applied them to either our hearts or hers.  When she went catatonic during rainstorms, we comforted her

 and taught her how to dance in puddles. 

 "The experts" called us miracle workers, they said they couldn't believe this was the same child that their paperwork declared.  I smiled and gave the glory to God, who allowed us to be instruments in her healing.  That is why I hate labels, they can ruin and destroy a life.  What I do believe in is prayer, hope, trust and more prayer...I have seen it work first hand.

...

 This beautiful girl is a joy,

 she is a lover of not only her family,

 but of the One who called her to Himself.

Psalm...by Princess Sunshine

 O Lord I praise you

for all you have done in my life.

O Lord I thank you for restoring and rescuing me.

O Lord I praise you for giving

me this family I have.

O Lord work in this family

I have, as well as in me.

O Lord teach us to love

each other, like you said

in your commandments.

O Lord I thank you.

Wisdom for your Adoption Journey

Today I was thinking of the adoption road my family has walked over the course of time,

 and also the road we feel the Lord has currently placed us on in adoption.  Adoption most definitely (in my humble experience of 7 adoptions) has many twists and turns, many highs and lows, many surprises along the way and occasionally long waits in silence. 

 Where we stand (and stand we do) is in a place of silence. 

God spoke to me and showed me a little illustration this morning,

 mind if I share?

I was on a trip (think: adoption) into the woods (think:  the unknown)

though it was a path I had occasioned before (think:   how life has brought us many twist and turns over time)

I found myself alone (almost unheard of for this mama to many).  

We were doing a quick snack drop off for my raccoons (you will have to catch up if you are new here)...

my children ushered the snacks into the woods ahead of me, as I had to turn back with a little one who was not dressed for our woods adventure (think:  of spiritually how sometimes we are unprepared for a trial as it comes because we aren't fully wearing our spiritual armor.)

Back I trekked to the car, depositing said little Ethiopian with her older sister and her girlfriend.  Back I turned to reconnect with the children who had forged ahead (with my permission-think: the call).

  As I walked I was thinking how I felt so abandoned in this portion of our adoption, uncertainty of the call has been hounding me for months.  Though we have sought God, even through prayer and fasting, still He is silent.

I was thinking how though I sent my children on ahead (think of how God calls us and sends us out) that really I was following them and had them covered.  They weren't alone in the forest (think adoption), but were on a well set path that was designed and in place for the mission.

This made my heart feel better.

Then, God corrected me (think:  yup, i need it again!)

insert voice of God:

"I am not following you.  Though you are on a path where you feel like you are alone and perhaps abandoned, I am already before you in this. 

 Not only am I before you, but I am with you. I am near to you, though you don't think I am.  You are not to rely on feelings, or fickle emotions, but you are to trust me.  I am behind you, I have got your back."

  Trust is not only about having faith in the silent times, it is about standing.  Standing means holding ground and not allowing the devil to move us. It means walking or rowing (think: boat of disciples in the midst of a storm at the 3rd watch of night...3 am!) in obedience of what Jesus has told you.  Keeping at it, though it is hard, impossible or lonely.

I am standing, as is my Knight in this adoption.  

We are believing God, trusting Him.

Though we are being discouraged by our agency, mainly due to the fact that birthmothers want childless couples (the trend).  We have TOO many children to ever get picked, or so the social worker from the agency told us.  

God whispered right after that that He was the one that gave us each of these kids so far.  Each child that came through what seemed at that moment to be insurmountable situations, they came.  

So we will walk the path.  We will stand. We will row like madmen if necessary. We will close our eyes and remind ourselves that we are NEVER alone.  We will continue to ask God for confirmation, but until we hear otherwise, we will continue. Sweaty, tired, sometimes totally discouraged, but we will go on.

Our God is faithful.  He is more than trustworthy in all (ALL) things.  He loves orphans and cares about justice for them.

I am going to copy this and ponder it some more.  Maybe you should too.  Maybe this will speak to you even if your call isn't to rescue orphans, maybe with using your imagination you can hear His voice too.

seeking justice...

standing...

and remembering the enemy of our souls wants to keep us discouraged and get us to quit!

Don't fall for his ways, they don't ever bring us to justice, to victory or to new heights for His glory.

...just saying.

When God is Silent

Sometimes God is silent. 

 I myself find this hard, as I long to hear His voice.  I am a believer that God speaks to all of us, be it in the heart or to our ears, through strangers, or through friends.  I do not believe God is limited by any means, other than us not allowing Him access.

I think in order to hear Him we need to be open to His voice.  I once went to a church that believed firmly and fixedly that God no longer spoke.  They stood firm that He only spoke through His Word (the Bible) and the no longer needed any other term in which to reach us than this alone.  

However, through personal experience that could not be denied, I had to come to know God and His voice in my life in a very real way.  God had not only spoken to me (with my ears being the receiver), but also through dreams, visions and through angelic visitation.  I could no longer stay in camp with them, but needed to walk in larger fields with my God.

I say this to say that God has been quiet with me lately.  

 He speaks to me through His Word as I daily press into it.  But lately His voice in other areas of my life has been quiet.  I have asked God repeatedly why the silence, why He wasn't answering me?  Most of my questions pertaining to the adoption road He has put us on, and how long we will seemingly wait on this path with so little encouragement.

Last night though His voice was still silent, I heard Him through the Word in Zephaniah 3:17.  I am reading through in the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB).  I wept tears of joy as the words met the desire of my heart to hear from God as I wait.

Adonai your God is right there with you,
as a mighty savior.
He will rejoice over you and be glad,
he will be silent in his love,
he will shout over you with joy.”

So when you can't *hear" Him, know that in Heaven there is sound that doesn't always reach our earthly ears.  Love sometimes is silent.  A silence that means, "I trust you with this."  A quiet that means, "You can follow me in this, even without hearing me."

My heart is fluttering as my Father hasn't forgotten me, but just has decided to allow me a time of quiet in my path to His heart's desires. 

What is your experience with hearing from God...I'd love for you to share! 

Crying Out to God

A little background on this photo first.  I snapped it in a field in Vermont this spring.  When I went to play with it in photo editing (my new favorite is Picmonkey) I saw an image in the grass of a tiny figure with arms raised to heaven.  I outlined it in photo editing so you could see it too.  It seemed to be screaming out to be used, so here she is...

God is in the things all around us certainly.

How can I not Praise Him?

Now on to my heart...

I have been in a semi-stuck state in regards to our current adoption.  It has been a fairly long road so far, with lots of red-tape battle and very little encouragement along the way. I feel like I am in a no-man's land and am crying to get out.  

 I was just asking the Holy Spirit if He could encourage me a bit. I wasn't sure exactly how, but I was ready to receive.  

Ever been there?

Last night we were visiting a church about a half hour from home.  We've been going mid-week for about a month now and have really enjoyed it.  We aren't church hunting, just hungry.  

Last night at this House of God (Bethel), during worship I heard God speak.  I clearly heard several times...

havelah shalom.  

I jotted it down, so not to forget.  I knew it would be for a time I could search it out on the internet, knowing deep down that God was sending me a love note.

Now most of you know that the baby-to -be's name is S.H.A.L.O.M.  I have shared several times on her rescue from abortion to adoption and how God is very into these details.  We have been praying and waiting for nearly 2 years.  

When I plugged in Havelah I learned it was indeed Hebrew (beautiful, wonderful Hebrew!) and that it is a girl's name which means: Beloved, precious.

So God sent me encouragement that this one is beloved and precious to Him. 

 That she is indeed "Havelah Shalom"

...Beloved Wholeness/completeness/peace.

It set tears to my eyes and put Hope again stirred up, within my spirit.

Thank you God,  

And thank you for letting me share His Goodness.

and for Rhonda...

What a blessing to speak to you yesterday. (insert hearts!!)
  After we hung up, God directed me to Psalm 37 for you.

Read it...I loved this part...(5 and 6)

 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

 And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

Be encouraged dear girl...
God is before you in this!

When Adoption Fails (A Mother's Heart)

 

Once upon a time nearly 8 years ago...

a little baby named Juan was brought into our lives through foster care.  Juan was on the road to finding a permanent family and we thought it was us.

We loved this boy and couldn't wait for him to be ours.  

However, God had different plans. 

 Though it felt like my heart was being ripped out when we learned he had siblings in another home

 and

 they trumped us, it was devastating.  The system failed us, the system was NOT truthful or forthcoming. How often in life does this happen with whatever system we are putting our hope in?  Systems fail, people fail, sometimes our hearts are dashed to the dust, but what we have learned is, "God never fails!"

God asked, "Do you trust me?"

We also had two adoptions to Guatemala never come to completion, thousands of dollars were lost.  God reminded us in our deep sorrow that the money was never ours.  He continued to whisper, 

"Do you trust me?"

A week ago, after over 18 months of waiting for our state to give us special permission to adopt again (we are over our states limit of 6 children). We received our waiver!!  It has been a long quiet road to this wee one. However, we know that God has a purpose and a plan and we are in expectation/waiting mode.

We are expecting a baby.  Though she has yet to be identified.  The Lord has said her name to us, it means 'wholeness.'  He has told her she will be rescued from death; she will not be aborted as planned.  We continue to wait the long wait and believe that the God that we have learned to trust, through thick or thin, 

has a plan.

Sometimes life has many twists and turns, sometimes tears, sometimes  laughter-however we KNOW that God is for us and that no matter where He leads us that His paths lead to peace, goodness and that it is for our good.

Jeremiah 29:11

One of our Beauties

 What a transformation this one has had, from catatonic to peace filled. 

We are amazed how God took this broken little 3 year old and transformed her into a kind-hearted, helpful, sensitive, loving young lady.  It seems like just yesterday that she became part of our family.  That she had her first sleep-over to help her transition from foster care into our family.  

Brokenness is something that God does wonders with.  He takes it and holds it close to His heart.  He picks it up and shapes it ever so lovingly and gently back into the creation He intended it to be.  Oh how in awe of His transforming power we are.

Miss Sunshine you are a beauty both inside and out!  

May God hold you in the palm of His hand 

and may you bring Him joy as you continue

 to follow Him into all of your tomorrows.

Mama Does a LOT of Braiding (Ethiopian Daughters)

Double the fun, double the braiding.  Tiny girl is age 3.  Bigger girl is now 15 years old.  Both are proudly Ethiopian with a LOT of hair.  My oldest Ethiopian says she seriously has enough hair for 4 people. (honestly she may be right, she has thick, thick curly hair).

The tiny braids on the littlest Princess took 3 plus hours. They last over a month, but looked a little like dreadlocks in the final days.  Thankfully only about 1 1/2 hours for my oldest Ethiopian beauty. She got about 3 weeks out of her braids...not too bad considering they have a Mama who is self taught.

Never did I think I would learn to care for African hair.  

Never once when I was braiding my own hair (french braids when I was a waitress),

did I ever think someday I would have two beautiful daughters who would NEED their hair braided.  Braiding gives their hair a break from too much brushing, which leads to hair breakage for my girls.

Aren't they both just gorgeous? 

On Becoming A Teenager

Princess Sunshine:

She entered our life as a very broken 3 1/2 year old girl.  

She was so tiny, so fragile and so unsure of adults. 

She had been taken from the only life she knew by state officials, who came to be her parents,

until adoptive ones could be found for her.  

The Spirit of God came to us...

He called us to make her ours. 

We heard Him clearly- from youngest family member to oldest.  

We first met her without her knowing who we were.  We were allowed to take her in, without fear to enter into her heart.  We walked slowly, ever so slowly towards bringing her into our home.  Moving her from all she had know, brokenness, hurt and neglect...to a place where she could bloom into all she was created for.

She slowly allowed us to love her. 

She slowly, ever so slowly began to offer her heart to us.

love came, in bits and pieces.  Love came and showed us how to reach her.  Our girl has been like a present that was wrapped in many layers, the first layers were dirty and torn.  But with each new layer a new level of glory has been revealed to not only us, but to her as well.

God has a beautiful plan for her life.

He promises to bring her life and life with abundance. 

He knows the plans He has for her and they are not to harm her, but for her good.  

She has given her heart not only to her Papa and Mama, but to the One who formed her in the womb of another.  She has learned to trust Him.  

He surprised her with the arrival of healing for the deep places that were wounded within her, with her Ethiopian older sister.  Their love for each other was the touch of God that moved our sweet blond girl to wholeness.  They choose to spend most of their time together, their hearts are knit together in an amazing transforming kind of love way.  The kind of way that could only be orchestrated by God Himself, to which we are so grateful.  

Happy 13th birthday 'Siddy Dirl'

(when she arrived she had a pretty large speech problem-

which disappeared as we held her, loved her and pressed into God together-

Expecting His Goodness!)

God has amazing, wonderful, surprise filled plans for you 

sweet girl-

can't wait to see what surprises He has in store to bless you with.

Adoption Update from the Three Year Old

Sweet Princess Mercy (3) is quite obsessed with being a big sister. Most days she is telling someone she is now 21.  (which makes her older than her oldest sibling). She is weary of being in last position in the family: the baby.   She is growing a bit impatient with the wait for her arriving sister.

She says God is very quiet about it when she asks Him when she is coming. 

I asked her why she thought He was being quiet. 

With a big smile she said very firmly, "Because it is going to be a BIG surprise. 

But I am going to be the big sister!"

 From my heart:

we continue to wait for a birth mother to choose us. we have given our agency 5 books filled with sweet and tender pictures.  The book is filled with beautiful descriptions of our home, each of us, our faith, our heart and our hope.  we wait with eager expectation on a phone call from our worker telling us that we have a match.  we think that our Princess Peace is still growing and forming inside her mother still.  some of us are expecting an April announcement.   

God is holding us all in the palm of His hands 

and we continue to keep our eyes and our hearts on Him.

What We were Told...Lies I tell YOU!

I was having a conversation a few days back, as I was carefully crossing off the zillions of accumulating errands that needed to be tended to,with my daughter Princess Sweetness (14) and Princess Giggles (12).My fourteen year old was adopted a bit over a year ago from Ethiopia, Africa.  

Somehow we got on the subject of eating(had we been gone so long that we were beginning to waste away??) and we began to talk about weird things people eat.She began to laugh and then to whisper to her sister Princess Sunshine. I asked what they were whispering about.
Princess Sunshine burst into giggles. 

She said that Princess Sweetness said she was told back when she lived in Africa, that Americans ate ants. Princess Sunshine just couldn't believe that someone would have told her that.  But Princess Sweetness with the seriousness that only comes from that sweet Ethiopian princess' face, said,

"Yes they did.  And I believed them. 

I was worried that when you adopted me that I would have to eat ants." 

I began to laugh, partly in thinking of how I could have possibly gotten her to eat an ant (though we seem to have an excess of them this year),as I can't even get her to eat breakfast cereal

(yes, I am still making coffeecake and muffins
for every breakfast, BIG SIGH). 

But also...

because as a girl my parents told me that same lie about people in Africa.

  They told me they ate ants and that they were like a snack on a regular basis for them. 

I was totally grossed out.

I shared with my Ethiopian daughter that I had been told the same thing about Africans. 

She was appalled.

How could anyone think that she would snack on ants.

Not saying that some people don't do this, just saying that people are funny

and we tell our kids some pretty weird things.

I love it when I learn something new about my daughter's life prior to her coming to our home.  I love to hear about her Ethiopian culture and the things that stand out as significant in her mind. Adoption, it is a wonderful adventure.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to find out the truth about who is not eating ants...

might have to do some homeschool research this year to see who actually is eating those ants, so as to set the record right once and for all.

What Do You Think?

If a tree falls in the forest, does anyone hear it?

If 178 million orphans cry out  for  

a family 

 of their own 

and  

we just continue on with our lives, 

will they ever find their family?

choose this day whom you will serve...

...as for me and my house...

we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Thanks for the Prayers-Adoption

For those of you who stood with my family today in prayer,
Thank YOU!

The phone conference/interview did take the hour and a half they said and it went well.  The supervisor who stepped into do the interview was very sweet and gentle spirited.  That being said we are told we won't know more for at least a week, when our social worker is due back in the office from her vacation.  

We talked about the agency, about their programs, about their history, about the potential time wait (they are saying up to two years) and then interviews with each of us alone.  They asked questions we expected, about our faith, our church, things like our mental health history, whether we've been arrested, if we lived together before marriage, if we smoked....the answer to the above was all no.  So, I don't think anything would be contrary to their faith based mission which we had already signed with the application (most of this were repeat questions that I guess they just *need* to ask.)  

So we sit and wait.
Well that is not true, there is not much time for such, as we are a family of faith, who passionately are pursuing God in all of this.
Sit no, pray with expectation~YES!

This morning as I was speaking to God about all of this and my concerns with some of the things that were spoken to us last week by the agency, in regards to the type of adoption we would chose (open, semi-open or closed). I clearly heard Him speak Psalm 24.
I threw the trash in the bin (hey, I talk to God every chance I get ...)
I came in and looked it up.  

itmademecry.

for those of you who are curious enough to click one more time...

Psalm 24 

Holding tight to following Him-because everything is His already!
And only He knows when our baby will be born and how long that wait time will be.
I do know that I can trust Him with it.

Prayer Request Sunday (and a prayer request)

Hi sweet friends!

Can I pray for you this week...

please leave me instructions on how we can join hearts 

and lift your burden to our loving Father.

AND

if you would like to pray for me...

on Monday 

we have a phone interview 

with the adoption agency...

seems like we have to pass this hour and a half phone call 

in order to ACTUALLY be accepted into their program.

We are praying for wisdom and favor, but bits of fear keep trying to rise in my heart. 

I know it is silly because God is calling us, if not to this agency,

then He will direct our path to where our Shalom is.

  But still,

we feel like this is where we are to stand and believe...

would you cover us tomorrow afternoon?

thank you...

and I hope you will be bold enough to leave me what is on YOUR heart!

xoxox

Ethiopian Orphans Need OUR Help

We have got word (not rumor) 
that adoption to Ethiopia is in trouble.

Our agency, All God's Children International has asked us to rally the troops to action.  The orphans need our help or they face the reality of hope for no future, no dream of adoption to come for them. 

My daughter shared with us that for 3 months there was NO food for the 54 orphans in her orphanage.  They got one small piece of injera (a flat sour-dough bread) that they would divide into three meals.  They cried out to God to please send help to them, their need was desperate, it was real. She lived in an orphanage for 5 years, she cried out daily for God to bring her a family.  God heard their prayers and sent a woman to help them, she began to find them homes and families...

and this is my testimony;

that I am one of those homes that she found. 

Won't you sign the petition ,
aimed at Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi.
We are urging him to reconsider the recent decisions made on behalf of the orphans of Ethiopia.  

I love this country,
I love these people,
my heart cries desperately for the orphans.
Let our voices be heard,
please share this very real need with your readers (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs...)
so that we can get 250,000 signatures before March 12th.  

We have to take action...won't you join us?
And would you please pray that adoption would not be stamped out of Ethiopia, as it has in so many other countries.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Announcement...and Prayer Request Sunday

Praising God, because He has spoken to my heart. 

As I was listening to a podcast on my ipod this past week, (by Steve Stewart from Impact Nations), God spoke to me in a HUGE way.  As some of you know, we are in process to adoption.  It has been an uphill, downhill rather confusing type of paperwork chase this round.  We thought we were going to Ethiopia, but the door closed, we have been working on waiver forms with our state to get us past their "you can only have 6 children" rule.  We continue to battle and wait ...knowing that God will make the way, His perfect and pleasing way.

But this week God enlarged my vision...

He has put destiny into my heart with this larger vision.  In the past we have looked to Him in naming our children, this week as I sat on a stationary bike, peddling away, He spoke to me the name of my daughter.  

He has put in my heart a rescue mission-one that would save a wee babe from abortion (maybe you noticed the love note on my sidebar).  I have been praying and waiting on Him to move.  I can't say that it hasn't been difficult, perhaps I have found this the hardest road yet in the adoption call.  

What He spoke changes everything.  He spoke the word Shalom.  I linked so that you could read what it means and hear the Word spoken over my sweet yet to be daughter's life.  God has a plan one of protection, safety and wholeness for her life.  Praise God!!  We are now praying for her by name and believing God to continue to open doors for us to get to her.  The road is still rather long, but we are thinking it will lead us to Lifeline and our beautiful African American daughter.

Thought you'd like to know and that you too would add our Shalom to your prayers.

Would you like prayer this week?

Ethiopian Adoption-11 months Post- Changes

Princess Sweetness now

Our girl looking at us for the first time in a photo album we sent to her.

Her friends from Emmanuel Children's Home (Orphanage)...

look on, 

as she meets us for the first time.

and then...

Then we came to bring her home. 

We traveled all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to make her ours. 

What an amazing girl.  

She speaks three languages now (Oromo, Amharic and English).  

Today on our way home from the library

(one of our favorite things to do in all this world), 

we were discussing how someday she will be big and perhaps fall in love. 

I told her that I will buy her

a mitad 

for a wedding present, maybe two (a mitad is the flat grill that they make the injera on (injera is the flat bread they eat, like the rice they eat in China).  

She smiled at me and said she would come use my mitad, she could bring her injera home with her, 

BUT that she would really like if I would buy her a *PASTA MAKER!*  

Laughing out loud. 

This is the same girl who ate almost 100% Ethiopian food for the first 9 months of her coming to our family.  Mama was happy to do it for her (and for us...we love it too).  It wasn't until last week that she ate her first bowl of salad.  I nearly cried when she asked for a bowl to put it into (like the rest of us.) 

The first salad for her was just the salad, no dressing.  But the next night (we eat a mixed salad, romaine, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, red pepper, red onion, cucumber, red cabbage)  she put on dressing (her choice was French dressing, which I told her that many children like because it is sweet).  I looked at her an smiled, abigsmile.  She ate it all. 

The next night she added croutons and she said, "After all, I am just like you."

Yes, my daughter, you are.  And I will happily buy you an Atlas pasta maker for a wedding gift.  I will look back and remember this time, perhaps with a tear running down my cheek.  I will remember how when I retold the story to your Papa, how he laughed and asked if you too were becoming a bit Italian

(like your Papa).  

My God is amazing. 

And if you think 13 years old is too old to be adopted, I'd ask you to take a look at me and step out in faith.  Life is full of all kinds of wonderful surprises. 

My new daughter is certainly one of them!