DOSSIER IN ETHIOPIA!

Today we learned our dossier made it to Ethiopia and is in the process of being translated.  We hope to hear on a court date before court closes August 6th.

A CHILD'S HEART

Today I was moved to tears as I spoke to a friend on the phone.  Her children plan to make a lemonade stand this week to raise money to bring our little girls home.  All the profits they make will be donated to LifeSong, an organization that has graciously agreed to match gifts given toward the adoption.  I praise God for their missional hearts.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matthew 19:14

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED

Today we hand delivered our final documents to our agency on the way to the airport to get David's parents who are flying in for our daughter's wedding next week.  Our agency said the completed dossier went off to Washington today to be Federally authenticated.  From there it goes straight to Ethiopia.  We are hoping it gets to Ethiopia to get a court date assigned before courts close for six weeks due to their rainy season beginning August 6th.  No court dates will be assigned during that time.  It feels great to have all that paperwork completed!!!

WIDE OPEN DOOR

Today we got our I-171H Form! It came in only six days and I had been told it takes 3-4 weeks by several people. Our next step is to get it authenticated and sent to our agency so our dossier can be sent to Ethiopia.

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

The following quote on this verse from Joni Eareckson Tada spoke deeply to me during the time our adoption was on hold.

"How many of us see this verse as a template for finding God's will for our life? Yet that's what it is. SImply put, if you are operating in God's general will - that is, if you are living in the power of the Spirit and obeying by faith the commands of God already made plain in scripture - you can confidently move forward to pursue your deepest desires, for it is God who has put them in your heart. And once you are rolling God can grab the steering wheel with the strong arms of his will to direct you to exactly where he wants you to go. Finding the Lord's specific will for you may mean pushing down the narrow line until you hit a dead end, but at that point, God will open a door so wide that you won't be able to see around it - only go through it.

It truly does seems like God has thrown the doors wide open in so many aspects of our adoption since it was taken off hold.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

In May we were pre-matched with our beautiful waiting girls. Our home study was updated and approved once again. In June, I spent time updating our dossier and it was submitted and approved. Now all we are waiting for is our I-171H immigration form. We had our biometric fingerprints done last week so hopefully it will be soon. Once we receive our form, our dossier can be sent to Ethiopia. Sadly the courts will be closed beginning August 6th for 6 weeks of rainy season in Ethiopia. We are praying that we will be able to travel this year for court and to bring our precious girls home. We have heard so many wonderful things about them from other people who have been to the care center and have met them.

A TIME OF CELEBRATION

In May we celebrated my complete recovery from breast cancer. Surgery had been successful in removing all the cancerous cells and no chemo or radiation was required. The doctor submitted a letter to our adoption agency and we were taken off hold!! The downside was that we had to update our home study and dossier documents.

Back in March when our agency put us on hold, I did not understand what God was doing and felt very frustrated. I especially did not understand the month wait following the completion of treatment. I knew the prognosis was not going to change and felt that the paperwork should at least continue since the adoption process is so long. John 13:7 says “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” When I looked back, I came to the understanding that the waiting period was a wise and beautiful gift from God.

Psalm 23:2 - The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 
 He makes me lie down in green pastures, 
he leads me beside quiet waters, 
he refreshes my soul.

I am a task oriented person. God knew what He was doing when He pushed my “stop” button and made me “lie down in green pastures.” If the adoption had continued during my treatment, I would have been busy, busy. God wanted me to be still, rest, listen and see what treasures He had for me in my time of waiting. He wanted me to pay attention not to the future, but to what He had for me in the present. I have to admit the month was a lonely time as my life came to a stop and those around me continued at their normal life pace but in the midst of loneliness were blessings. Oswald Chambers has said “Grace is for right now.” It was during these days of quiet, that I experienced His Grace and mercy. My quiet times took on new meaning in depth and intimacy. I truly found rest not only for my body but my soul.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

During this time of waiting and rest, God also spoke to me about expanding my horizons regarding our adoption parameters. He told me to trust Him with the issues one can face in adopting an older child and to trust Him in adopting a sibling group. On April 16th, He gave me a glimpse of hope as He showed me what lay around that “bend in the road.” On that day, a few days before my surgery, we had our last adoption class and met someone who was adopting a 7 year old girl from Ethiopia. The girl had been on their agency's waiting child list. (Parents can be matched up with waiting children before a home-study is finished). I mentioned to the lady that our agency has only had older boys on their waiting child list. However, I had not checked the waiting child list in a few weeks so just out of curiosity I decided to check and see when I got home that day. Sure enough, there were two precious sisters, ages 6 and 8, just waiting for us. Coincidental? I don't think so. When I first met David, I knew that he was the one I was going to marry and somehow, when I looked at these girls, I had that same feeling that these precious girls were our new daughters. The girls parents died of illness at separate times in 2010. They were living with their 86 year old grandfather and four other siblings in the Sidama region until September 2010 when they were relinquished to an orphanage for adoption.

Revelation 3:8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Isaiah 46:13 - See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

A BEND IN THE ROAD

In February our home study was completed and approved just as I was diagnosed with Stage 1A Ductal Carcinoma breast cancer. Our adoption was put on hold until treatment was complete and a medical diagnosis could be made. The next few weeks were a time of confusion and searching for God's will.

I poured over my prayer journals for the past few years and prayed. Later that day a poem, The Bend In the Road, was sent to me. As I read it, I felt God's presence and His voice telling me that He is standing at this crossroad of adoption and health issues with me and even though it looks like the end to me, He sees the big picture and it is simply a bend in the road, that the pause in the adoption process caused by the cancer is simply a rest in the journey, and the best is yet to come. My work is not finished or ended, I've simply come to a bend in the road.


THE BEND IN THE ROAD
When we feel we have nothing left to give
And we are sure that the song has ended,
When our day seems over and the shadows fall
And the darkness of night has descended,
Where can we go to find the strength
To valiantly keep on trying?
Where can we find the hand that will dry
The tears that the heart is crying?
There's but one place to go and that is to God,
And dropping all pretence and pride,
We can pour out our problems without restraint
And gain strength with Him at our side.
And together we stand at life's cross roads
And view what we think is the end,
But God has a much bigger vision,
And He tells us it's only a bend.
For the road goes on and is smoother,
And the pause in the song is a rest,
And the part that's unsung and unfinished
Is the sweetest and richest and best.
So rest and relax and grow stronger
Let go and let God share your load.
Your work is not finished or ended
You've just come to a bend in the road.

Helen Steiner Rice

Philippians 3:13-14, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

IN THE BEGINNING

Welcome to our journey to Ethiopia to adopt. The steps to our journey began back in November. God had been speaking to my heart for several years regarding adoption. I mostly looked at foster adopt because the costs of International Adoption seemed overwhelming. David had a heart for orphans but did not feel this was our call. In November we listened to a series of sermons entitled "Awaken" and then attended an adoption meeting at our church. That day we both went home knowing our call to adopt was an international one and we would need to trust God for the resources. Suddenly the cost did not seem so overwhelming anymore. We've always had a heart for African missions but let the two trip requirement for an Ethiopian adoption sway us to China where only one trip is required. We applied to an agency for a Special Needs China adoption but God had other plans for us. We were turned down for a China adoption because we both had incurred mild forms of skin cancer previously. God steered us back to Ethiopia knowing that was what He had placed on our heart all along. In January we began our home study and dossier and were well on the road to Ethiopia.