Typhoid Vaccination Hurts!

Okay, so today Chris and I got vaccinated for Typhoid. The nurse said that it won't make your arm hurt like a tetanus shot....yeah, it wasn't anything like that....it was ten times worse. I couldn't even lift my arm up to play the piano for my students today. Very painful! Anyway, just thought I would share that fact.

There doesn't seem to have been much motion these last two weeks with the referral portion of the list, so we are still waiting, and waiting, and waiting.....

Getting closer!

We are getting closer. I am thinking about the fact that we haven't been vaccinated for typhoid yet, and what if my little sister plans her wedding for the late summer or fall and we have to travel during that time...it's getting crazy. The new "two-trip" policy to Ethiopia will begin in May, so I don't think that anyone can say definitively how much time will be in between the two trips, etc., until they get this new "ball rolling". My experience with almost every part of adoption/foster-care is to never rely on a time estimate, you will only be disappointed. Instead, we put our Hope in the Lord. He has all time, space and everything else that we need to walk out this Life. That is a relief. Sometimes all of these unknowns feel very burdensome, but then I remember that I am not supposed to carry them.
Tony is the sweetest little boy in the world. He is so excited about getting a little sister. Whenever he sees a dark-skinned person, he says "Mom, they are Ethiopia!" Since English is his second language, he tends to say things a little differently sometimes, so it is still so cute. I have to explain that not all people with darker skin are from Ethiopia, but he is so focused on getting this little sister that he can't see things any other way. He is going to be such a big help. And I am so glad that we have had three years of him alone, he needed it. It takes a while for orphans to really believe that they are loved forever, loved unconditionally and home for good. I think that he is there. We are so in love with him.
We have room for another, now and can't wait to see her picture for the first time. Then the hard part comes; waiting to get to her, then having to leave her for a while, oh, I dread that. I know I will be a mess leaving her. But, only for a while. Then comes the waiting to hold her again. But, God's timing is perfect...we must believe.

#9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are now officially #9 on the infant girls list. And I am tired from being at rehearsals every night this week, but am starting to feel a new surge of energy just thinking about getting closer to having that baby in my arms. I deleted my very last post...since it was reallywritten out of my frustration in the recent changes in the adoption community. I want to start over, with faith that God will work all things out for those of us who love Him.

I was so broken-hearted to see the story of the Russian boy that was shipped back to Russia. I am so thankful that we have Tony! I hate that the boy was shipped back home, but obviously that mother had some major issues. I pray that like Tony, it gets better for him, and that he finds the home that God has planned for him. I am scard for the International Adoption community, it has received so much bad publicity lately and the other countries are taking notice. We must pray for orphans everywhere!

Must go to sleep now. There is a list of things that I need to take care of this next week, like get an International Pediatrician, get vaccinated for typhoid and get some sleep!

Just think....some where in Ethiopia tonight, sleeps my daughter and her birth-mother. We are forever connected to them both.

Okay...so we are now #24 on the waiting list. I am starting to get excited! I am imagining the moment that we get to meet our daughter for the first time and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to even stand up with the immense feelings that will come.
We painted the baby's room and have enough clothes for the first three years! (thanks to my older sis and her two girls) I am imagining a different sort of Christmas next year. One where the tree has to be small and up out of little finger's reach and all sorts of noisey toys given, and family members fighting over who gets to hold and rock the baby. Pictures of Tony and the baby and sweet moments between the two of them. I think he is just as excited about getting a little sister as we are.

As snow is falling here, I am wondering where our child's birth family is and if they are safe? Sick, hungry...? Will they celebrate Christmas? Merry Christmas to our daughter and her birth family, wherever you are! The saviour is born for us all!

Waiting List...finally!

Okay, we have now finally moved to the waiting stage of our adoption. We are number 44 on the list and are very excited to hurry up and wait. There is a lot of anticipation in our house as to when and whom we will come home with! We will be gettin the spare room ready soon and that will add to the anticipation as we pass by it every day and look in.
So....we wait and pray and wait and pray.....

Pain...

I am now in the process of rehabilitating my knee. Very painful. Bending it is quite a chore and at this point I wouold rather keep it straight, but that won't get me behind the wheel of a vehicel any sooner, so we must press on. Last night I was very discouraged by my progess, being a "doer" and still not able to "do". I was thinking about the pain and my family was praying for me. I said it is not so much that the pain exists, but the it reminds me that things are still not right. (I tend to labor under a belief that one morning soon I will awake and be back to 100% and just move on with the "doing".) Anyway, it dawned on me that our hearts/ spirits work the same way. When we have been wounded, hurt or are just dysfunctional in our relationship with God and/or others we would just love to move on and keep "doing". The pain stops us though. That's God's grace. It reminds us that things still "aren't right". We still need healing, time, rehabilitaion from the Maker of the Universe. The pain isn't so much the problem, but the reminder that we can be whole, we just aren't there yet and were not made to operate or pretend that we are. We are fragile beings, born of dirt and dust with the breath of God breathed into us. So, I can have no problem with pain today (I am no CS Lewis), because I know that it means I am in need of more rehabilitation. It's a reminder that He is still making me whole, breathing into my fragile body His life-giving breath.

Laid-up 'follower'

I recently had an accident. I slipped in my garage and dislocated my knee-cap. At this stage in the recovery I am mostly in bed. This has allowed me to do a lot of reading... (let me interject that we are still waiting for our caseworker to finish writing our home-study before we can send on a completed dossier, so we are waiting...) ....okay, the reading.
I have read a book about a woman who has taken in hundreds of AIDS orphans in Ethiopia. Some children are simply orphaned by AIDS because both parents died of the disease, but the child is not positive, and some are actually inflicted with the disease and were orphaned, abandoned, or just shunned by their families. She started her home by just taking one at a time, with no financial assistance and a desire to take in the undesirable. I was humbled by how big of a difference one person can make and asked myself if my offering to the poor, the widowed, the orphaned and the downcast is anywhere near what God is asking of each one of us.
I have also been reading "Irresistible Revolution" by a young man from East Tennessee who now lives in Philly amongst the poorest of society. He and his friends share whatever they own with anyone who is in need in their community, feeling a deep commitment to walk with the poor as 'followers' of Jesus and not just 'believers'.
I was struck by the absolute enormous amount of people in Ethiopia, especially, that have just been forgotten. Forgotten by a government who showed the inability to deal with the years of war, famine and disease. Forgotten by the afflunet nations who haven't fulfilled their promises to send aid, our country being one that has fallen short of its' monetary commitment. Now there are somewhere around 4 million orphans in Africa. Not to mention the millions of people that have died of starvation or AIDS. The drugs that have been so effective in our country at giving people with HIV a shot at life, weren't available in Africa until just a few years ago. From what I understand, that is because the company that made the drug didn't want to give up their patent to allow generic versions to be sold at such a low cost, even to these destitute countries.
So, when people ask why Chris and I have chosen to adopt from Ethiopia, I guess it's obvious. Ethiopia has the largest population of orphans of any country in the world. How could we not? One in four kids attend school, and the prospects seem even grimmer for girls. I pray that this is just the beginning of our connection to Ethiopia.
And laying here affords me the opportunity to now reflect. When was the last time I checked on the 80 year-old widow next door? When was the last time I fed a poor person?
We have been teaching Tony the two greatest commandments that Jesus spoke of. Am I 'following' them or just 'believing' them? Will he 'catch' Jesus from me or just learn about Him? Is praying for the orphaned, the widowed and the poor enough?

"God, break our hearts for the things that break yours!"

So, I am anxious to get healthy again, that is, to be able to stand, drive and walk around easily. When I am, I want to be found 'following' Jesus and not just 'believing' Him. I will continue to pray. To pray for all those who haven't been shown Jesus....pray that we as followers can get to them and show them Jesus by meeting their needs... a meal, a conversation or a place to call home. That is what He asks of us. Let it be.