Patience now....please!

Please all praying people pray for us! We have now been on the waiting list for 8 months and are wondering when this thing will happen. The waiting time frame when we started this was 6-8 months, but at #4 unofficially, it seems we might not be moving as quickly as we had anticipated. I am getting a little anxious. This does not fit into my plans! You see, I had the whole thing mapped out beautifully. We would be back with our little girl by mid-summer and that would give us all time to learn about each other, and plenty of time for me to "mother" before I had to go back to work in the fall. Then, Ethiopia changed their travel policies. That will add some time (not to mention the added financial burden) with having to make two trips to Ethiopia now. There are many positive things about the two trips, but ultimately, it will add time to the "coming home" end of things. And now, it seems that there just isn't as much movement on our list. So, my plans just aren't going to come to fruition.....imagine that! God kindly laughs at "our plans" I know. We must all learn to trust Him. He is faithful and will not fail us, even if His plan looks different than ours (chuckle).

But, could you please pray anyway? That God will do all things in His time, but maybe sooner than later? And no matter what He does, please pray for patience for us. This whole journey is beginning to feel very long. I wish I could answer the question that I hear almost daily; "when are you getting your baby?" I am truly ready to have a response to that, other than "I have no idea!"

And pray for all of those orphans that are left behind. My wait is nothing compared to theirs. Waiting for a home...... a family. There are some 143 million orphans in the world. Can we make a difference in one orphan's life? Yes, we all can. We can not forget the Fatherless among us and across the world. May all of our hearts be stirred to practice this "true religion".

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. Mother Teresa

#6

New Official number on the waiting list! This is our number for May. We pray that things start moving even faster, especially since I am out of school for the summer and now have many hours to sit and feel anxious about the wait! This number does not take into account the people who were in the process of getting their referral paperwork in when the numbers went out. Yes, I said paperwork; every step of the way there is more paperwork. I pray that we don't get our referral while we are out of town, because you want to get your paperwork done immediately so that you can get your travel dates ASAP. Lord, give me patience and quickly! :) But, seriously please pray for our referral to come sooner than later, so that we can get that baby home and have lots of time with her before the school year starts again.


Also, yesterday was Tony's "forever" day. We celebrate the day that he was "officially" ours; forever. We had a picnic and cupcakes, and Tony swam in the lake by himself. That was quite an accomplishment for him. He has come so far! I am so excited about the growth that he has made. I am so thankful that God has given us the same opportunity. The chance to be His forever, with unconditional Love that we can never be separated from. How wide and deep is His love for us all. I pray that we can all love our children the way that the Father loves us, and those days that we fall short, we can accept God's mercy and start afresh.

I thought that I would put up some statistics about the country of Ethiopia, since people have asked why we chose that particular country to adopt from. These facts had an influence in our decision; go where the need is greatest. The following statistics give you a brief overview of the need there.

There is an estimated 4 million orphans in Ethiopia......

 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday
 1 in 6 children die before age 5
 Over 50% of children are stunted
 Malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths
 Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, it is estimated that approximately 4.4% of the population in Ethiopia is infected with AIDS (CIA World Factbook) and that there are approximately 1 million AIDS orphans
 Only 50% of children attend primary school (K-3)
 Average class size in government schools – 85-100 children
 Overall literacy rate is 42%, with many more girls and women illiterate than men
 Unlawful kidnapping and forced seizure of young girls for marriage is common in certain parts of Ethiopia, especially in the SNNPR (13%) and Oromia (11% )
 1 in 4 women dies in childbirth or from a pregnancy-related illness

Who am I?

I am wondering today who I really am... do you ever have that kind of day? I felt very sensitive at work today. It was one of those days when you realize that other people are actually judging the quality of your work. This comes as no surprise, since my work is reflected in the progress of my students. I am questioning whether or not my best was good enough this semester. Maybe I should have done more of this or that with my students, or maybe I need to focus more on (fill in the blank) next semester. At some point I guess we all question whether or not the very thing that we have been laying our hands to is even making a difference. So, who are we then?

When I picked Tony up from school, one of the teachers pulled me aside and said how much she enjoyed me bringing the opera to his school. She even said that she was so impressed that I did that for a living because she thought of me as "just another Mom". That's funny. Just another Mom. You know, I actually took that as a compliment. That allowed me to remember that, though I get much satisfaction out of my job, when it comes down to it, I am "just another Mom." I waited a long time to be a Mom. I even think I wouldn't mind having that quote on a t-shirt, coffee-mug or a key-chain. Then on days that I feel less than accomplished at work, I can remember that I have a "fan club" at home. My time is not my own. I am more than the accomplishments of my students or even my own. I am not perfect, nor do I have to pretend to be. I have a son who thinks that I hung the moon and a daughter who doesn't even know that I exist, yet. That is who I am..."just another Mom."

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!