New Pictures...new words

I got several new pictures of Olivia yesterday and today...one with the wildest hair! I just loved it! And some words from those who just returned from Ethiopia.

"[Olivia]--another one who I wanted to steal--she is so sweet"
"Olivia is very smily, she was following us around and watching every move we made."

I can't wait to see your smiling face, face to face!

Written by Deanne...from God's Heart

This is written by a fellow journeyer on her way to adopting from Ethiopia. She said it so well and gave persmission to share:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's not OK with me that there are over 145 million orphans in theworld.

It's not OK with me that the poorest of the poor in America are amongthe 9% richest in the world.

It's not OK with me that there are 45 million orphans on the continent of Africa alone.

It's not OK with me that 3/4 of the world lives on less than onedollar a day.

It's not OK with me that 3/4 of the world does not have a toilet, noteven a pit latrine.

It's not OK with me that 6500 Africans die each day, 1500 each month(the same amount as were killed by the tsunami) from HIV.

It's not OK with me that more non-christians donate to AIDs andorphan charities than do Christians.

It's not OK with me to withhold lifesaving ARV's out of deference to the office of patents.

It's not OK with me that Where you live determine's whether you live.

It's not OK with me that every fourteen seconds another child iso rphaned by HIV/AIDS.

It's not OK with me that the church has been slow to respond to the modern day Leprosy of our time.

It's not OK with me that 2,102,400 more children become orphans each year(in Africa alone).

It's not OK with me that In Ukraine and Russia 10% -15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18.

It's not OK with me that every hour one thousand children die fromHIV/AIDS.

I think you get the point, or at least some of it.

I am here today to talk about God's love of the poor, the orphans,the widows, the strangers of the world. I am here to talk about what you can do to make a difference in the world and in the life of a child by following God's word. I am here to tell you that the nameless and faceless orphan found in these statistics is by no means nameless or faceless to God.

Psalm 139:13-14 says: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother'swomb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Mostly I am here to deliver the message of our Lord that Caring forthe least; a major ingredient of Biblical Christianity has been forgotten by the church. I want to ignite this fire within each and everyone of you today.

Throughout scripture and throughout the history of his people, God has called his chosen one's to spend themselves on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, and thes tranger in the land. In fact, caring for the orphan is mentioned over 40 times in the scripture. Poverty is mentioned over 2100 times. Now that's a lot of airtime my friends.

Galatians 6;2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you willfulfill the law of Christ

James 1;27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultlessis this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and tokeep oneself from being polluted from the world

Mathew 25;40 The king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever youdid for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Mathew 18;10-14 See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

The gospel that I believe in offers a cup of cold water in Jesus'name.

The only gospel worth living is the one that incarnates love.

The only gospel worth giving our lives for is the one that elevates the needs of others above our own.

That's what the good news is all about folks. History will judge our generation by how we responded to those in need. History will judge the church by how it responded to those in need.

We have the opportunity to show the world just what it truly means to be Christ-followers. You and I can make a difference.

Someone once told me when I first wanted to adopt that I couldn't change the world. Well I happen to disagree. With God at my side anything is possible and you and I can change the world. We change the world when we lead with compassion and move from apology to action. And out of action springs hope- and out of hope, life.

So for our mistakes, I am sorry. But for our potential, for the impact you and I can have on a world in need....Iam hopeful.

Our adoption by God cost us nothing. However it did cost God something; it cost him his son.

The high fees and costs for adoption today are indefensible, but they are not inconceivable. Adoption is costly. Whether in the realm of finances, emotions, relationships,time, or effort, adoption will cost. But think of what it cost God, and yet he was willing to undergo that cost. And not simply undergo it but to undergo it with joy.

I have heard so many comments from people about adoptions and the ones that stun me the most are from Christians. Questions and comments like:

Well can't you have anymore children?

Why don't you just have another child?

Oh it's not that we don't want you to adopt but we just feel sorry for that poor black child being raised in a white family.

You don't have the money.

You will be taking away from your kids now.

Oh do you really want to do that to yourself.

First, yes I can have more children. and I don't know why people find it so hard to believe that I want to give a child a home that needs one.

And the sacrifice?

Well taking care of one of God's orphans is the least I can do to repay the price he paid for me.

We were not put on this earth to get by with the least possible. We were put on this earth to serve the Lord. Through adoption, I am serving the Lord.

I don'texpect it to be easy.

And about the poor black child being raised by a white family as opposed to not eating every day, sleeping on dirt, and suffering from needless illnesses, I think living with a white family may not be ideal, but we are all God's children. God adopted all of us, black,white, chinese, indian. We are all God's children.

He did not think twice about adopting us. It was more difficult for God to adopt any one of us than it would ever be for me to take care of one of his children.

We were not a cute little puppy, looking for a Father. No. we were evil and putrid and we were repulsive. Some of us would reject him forever, some of us would never want to know his love or grace and yet he still adopted all of us, even if only one would ever love him and come to know him.

Can you imagine dying for someone that would reject you and that you knew would reject you? How many of us would do that?

The adoption journey is not an easy one, but every hour of toil, every obstacle encountered, every tear shed, every sleepless night---all are but a shadow of the price that God paid for us.

Jesus came to be a ransom for many, and if God was willing to pay that ransom for us, how much more will he be willing to lead us in ransoming his beloved children from their state as orphans?

And it is his love that compels us onward in obedience, whatever the cost, for he who calls us is faithful. Our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who is rich in mercy and grace, who generously provides for all that we need, this God knows the costs we will incur, and promises to be with us and for us every step of the way.

This is about faith in action.

This is an invitation to experience God in ways we've never experienced him before.

In Matthew, Jesus says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

God's heart is invested in adoption. Let us view the costs, both known and unknown, as an invitation for us to invest our resources, and therefore our hearts into the things of God.

You know I used to think the same way, that going to church, living right, praying, and talking to the Lord was enough, but the scripture tells us that faith is not enough. Faith without deeds is dead.

It'slike a quarter with only one side. Faith on one side and deeds on the other. You can't spend it unless you have both.

Bono tells a story of a wise man that changed his life. He told this man that he was always seeking the Lord's blessing when he had a new song, had a family to look after, or a crazy idea. The wise man said " Stop. Stop asking God to bless what you are doing. Get involved in what God is doing-because it is already blessed."

Well, God as I said is with the orphaned and the poor and the widows. That I believe is what God is doing. And that is what he is calling us to do.

I have often heard people talk of seeing the face of God in the poor. I never really understood it until the Lord sent me to Zambia with his own intentions in mind. Well let me tell you my friends that the orphans, the widows, the poor, the sick and oppressed is where God said he would be and it's there that you will truly experience him, see him, touch him, and walk with him.

I know that 40 million is an unconceivable number to comprehend.

Sometimes we hear the numbers and they are too overwhelming.

I want you to think about this number for a while. Think about 40 million children going to bed at night without a kiss from a mom or dad, 40million children that will never have anyone teach them how to ride a bike, rejoice with them every time they make an A on their spelling test, cheer them on in their soccer game, 40 million children with no mommy or daddy.

I also know that as a Christian not one of you would purposely ignore the grave statistics. Sometimes the sheer magnitude of the numbers is just too much to handle so we block it out and go about with our lives. It's so easy to just turn the channel instead of watching the two year old with big brown eyes and a swollen belly.

But I am asking you right now. right now if I told you that there was one child depending on you, one child that needed you, would you say no? As a Christian could you say no I won't help?

I don't think you would.

If you knew there was one child in the world that needed you, I think you would reach out and do whatever you could to help.

So don't tell me that I can't change the world.

I along with everyone in here can change the world.

My God is bigger than the 145 million orphans in the world.

My God is bigger than the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Howabout your God?

If you think you can't change the world by helping one child then you are wrong. That one child is one of God's chosen ones, destined for greatness. If you think you can't change the world by helping only one child, why don't you ask that child, because I guarantee, you would change that child's world.

So I am asking each and every one of you today to let this hurt into your heart. You can take this message and turn it off just like you do the TV shows or you can let the hurt in, feel it in your heart and decide to make a difference in the world. A difference in one of God's miracles, the lesser.

So I am asking you today to not only let this hurt into your heart but also to act on it. Turn your faith into a faith with action. I am asking you not only to believe in God, but to also walk the walk.

You don't have to adopt a child to help out, but why not?

Maybe someone in your church, or family, or neighborhood may feel the passion for adoption. This family may not have the financial resources to adopt. Support that family financially.

Start an orphan ministry within your church to support families that want to respond to the call of God to adopt.

Support a child through a Christian foundation for 30 dollars a month.

Go on a mission trip to an orphanage and teach the children about God. Tell them that even though they feel all alone in this world that they are God's chosen ones and he will not forsake them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Amen, Deanne, Amen!

Clickity-Clack, Clickity-Clack....

...moving on down that track! Another milestone met! Saturday I was fingerprinted by the Immigration Service! yea....

A stroll downtown....I have been authenticated!

I went downtown today, to the Secratary of State, and had my dossier authenticated. Another step in the long list of checkmarks. And a day that seemed would never arrive. But it did and is done.

It was interesting, as I strolled around by the capitol and the downtown area...what diversity. Race, economic status, architecture, and even the state of disrepair and renovation, side by side. I use to work down town, 20 years ago or so. It has changed...of course. Some parts nicer, some unkept. As I people watched, I found myself compelled to pray for this one and that one.

A heavyset young couple, red/blonde haired, sunburned, hot and frustrated, a double stoller with a chubby redhaired little boy in one seat, as the mom tore, what looked like his twin sister out of the dad's arms, spitting venom almost, I could not hear her words, but could she her expression and redfaced anger, the little girl reaching for her days arms, the man just standing. Not a new experience for him, I could tell. Sad. Sad for the little ones. Sad for the couple I had to pray for them.

The African American woman, spouting filth and obscenities at a Hispanic family group walking by, her man just window shopping, as if she wasn't even talking.

Gang clad teens, and teeny-boppers trying hard to be cool.

A bus of Chinese tourist, waiting on a couple taking just one more photo of the capitol buidling then sprinting for the door.

As I walked and looked, and sipped on my Jamba Juice, waiting to be authenticated, I thought, Lord, what rich diversity you created. You made us all. None better than the next. No one superior. No one inferior. And look what we do with it. How will I teach my children about race? What will I teach them? What do they need to know?

Where I see the shade of their skin means absolutely nothing positive or negative, I know they still have to live in that skin. And the world around them does tie meaning to the color of their skin, both negative and positive. How do I prepare them for that?

A few weeks ago, we all watched a movie where an elderly African American man was sharing his family story and how his father was killed, just because of the color of his skin. My boys are young enough, and sheltered enough, they had not yet heard that some people disliked (or still do dislike) other people due to the shade of color of their skin. The thought had never crossed their mind. I love that.

Yet, how do I prepare my daughters for the prejudice they will experience in their life time. And how do I prepare all my children to stand for what is right and be a light to the world around them when it comes to race and stereotypes?

....we are all precious in His sight. I am so glad God made us not all the same shade.

As I teach my children to stand for Christ in a world that is against them, I will also teach them to stand for equality in a world that judges.

I am inadequate to the task. God is more than adequate.

Stop......

ok, snagathis...again.

I thought I was all ready to progress to the next milestone. Yes, I have my homestudy. Yes, I have all my dossier docs.......

well....

Almost...

Since March I asked my homestudy agency to remember to send the post-placment visit document agreement to me. They assured me, yes they would send it with my homestudy.

You guess...did they? :)

Nada....

So I sent a copy again on Monday, asking. Was told by the SW that she would contact the homeoffice, and have not heard back yet....

sigh....

So stopped again.

On a good note, I received a new picture of Olivia today, from another visitor to Ethiopia. Was glad to see that. The last few visitors that have taken pictures did not have any of Olivia. I was beginning to wonder...where is she?

I also got a shortsnippet from Grace who is over their how sweet Olivia is. :)

November will be here before you know it!

In the headlights....

So, I feel like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. Finally, after waiting 80 days, I have my homestudy IN MY HANDS!

YEA!! The crowd roars!

I feel like it should scramble and hurry and do something. But my work and homelife have me pretty busy for the next three days..so it is just going to sit on my desk for a few. BUT I HAVE IT!

I had hoped to have it into time to have everything completed and get a court date before the rainy season court closure in Ethiopia, but that window has passed. So I will go through my dossier packet one more time, then trott on down to the Secratary of State and get the whole things aunthenticated.

:) Progress.

Stalking the Mailbox...

Well, my long and winding road is moving forward! After 76 days of no activity, my homestudy agency called today and said they are mailing the homestudy today!!!

Yea!!!! So I am stalking the mailbox!

I had a little scare earlier this week. I had this black bag I had all my other dossier papers in, just waiting for the homestudy, to get it all authenticated and sent to Ethiopia...and I LOST IT!

I thought I had it at my work office, but opened the cabinet and it was not there. So then I thought I must have it at home, and it was no where. Not wanting to panic (I HATE STRESS)...I realized any paper in there, I could get again, but it takes a while. My passport was in there too.

SO, I gave my children an incentive. The one who could find the black bag, gets $10.

So a sidenote: I had taken Nick to a Casting Crowns concert for his 10th birthday. He loved it. At the concert they talked about World Vision and sponsoring a child. (http://www.wvi.org/wvi/wviweb.nsf) He was SOOO moved by it, he wanted to sponsor a child himself. I was hesitant, we already sponsor a little girl, Eva, in Mexico through Compassion (http://www.compassion.com/default.htm) I DO have a big heart, but also have lots of expenses, and adoption costs. But Nick felt so passionate about it, he said he would do extra chores to earn the $30 a month. I agreed, so Nick is sponsoring Sharif from Bangladesh.

SO, when Nick heard the reward, he was all over that...said he would have $10 toward his sponsorship for this month. He started upstairs and was looking diligently, under beds, closests...etc. Not an easy task, since we still have tons of boxes yet to unpack. I wanted him to go get his sleeping bag out of the garage, as he was heading off to Ranger camp at 5 am the next morning, but he was impassioned with the search.

SO, I went out to the garage, to dig up the sleeping bag, and what should be sitting beside it? Yep! The black bag!!!! I was overjoyed and camp in the house with the two bags. But then, immediately felt sad. I SOOOO wanted Nick to find it. So I slyly was trying to slip it under the couch with no one noticing, when Nick, at the top of the stairs, said, elated..."You found it!!!" Then turned to sad face, when he realized that yes, IIII had found it.

Trying to find the logic in it, I said, well actually YOU found it. How so? Well, if you had not been hunting so I was the one to go get the sleeping bag, we may not have found it. You might have just grabbed the sleeping bag and walked on by. So because of you, it was found. (Well, a mom has got to try!!)

So he got the reward, (actually Sharif did) and we have the all important papers! Woo-hoo.

So I will spend the next few days stalking the mailbox and getting ready for the next step in the process!!

Leaky Steam Valve

Ok...

I am fairly calm.... (aren't I?) I have been patient. I have come to grips with the timing that I will not be traveling until November or so, when the courts reopen. I have surrendered to God's timing....

but....(ah oh)....I just have to vent for 30 seconds, then let it go.

My homestudy agency!!! UGH!

I used them before, when I adopted my daughter from China two years ago. Was very happy. Went smoothly. Very caring SW.

SO..I thought, this time..no problem. Just an update really, right? So on April 4th, when the second visit was done, and I shared, politely, about the timing and the court closure in Ethiopia..etc. and asked how long...I was told 2 months!!

Didn't seem to care at all that I already had my daughter identified and that the courts would close. 30 days for the social worker to complete her part, and 30 days for the home office to approve and finalize. SO I gentley shared, if there was anyway to expedite, we (my daughter and I) would be grateful.

4 days short of 30 days, I send a gentle inquiry how is it going? Response, haven't started it. :( The following week, I get tons of questions, and hoop jumping requests..(that I could have been spending the last 30 days doing....)... stayed calm and jumped the hoops. Two weeks later, finally send to the homeoffice....hoping they would expedite and make up for lost time.

Homeoffice delays, wants a piece of paper that they would only accept Shimeless signing, and he was in Ethiopia....sigh....

Two days after he is home, he signs and mails it.

I wait.

At day 64, I gently inquire? How is it going? Am told they are working on it and will send the DRAFT to be reviewed by Hope that week.

A week comes and goes. I gently ask, again. AM told, it has not been sent yet. It is still in processing, hopefully this week they will email it to Grace. I share that Grace is going to Ethiopia in a few days (with other things on her agenda, understandably) so the sooner this week, the better.

Today, I get an email asking me about childcare for my kids during the summer, and where have I lived since I was 18...etc. (We went over all of this 70 plus days ago.)

sigh....so I kindly send the responses. And am told they are "processing it". Hopefully done soon.

Sad face. :(

I know it is outside my control.
I know I am just one amoung many.
I know this may be the first Ethiopian adoption this homestudy agency has done.
I know.

I know God's timing is perfect.

I know my daughter will be here at the right time.
I know.

Venting over.....pssssssssssss....escaping steam.

Wait

So.....

Wait, wait, wait....

Still no homestudy....

Was suppose to be 60 days max, that was ...hmmmm, 9 days ago.

Sigh...

Currently waiting for the homestudy agency to send a draft to the international agency for them to say it is ok....then send it to me, so I can move to the next step.

So nothing new....just waiting. Maybe I will hear something this coming week. It is funny, (not funny haha, but funny odd) the book I am reading about adoption talks about how so much of it is outside my control.. and how we can have the tendency to try to over-manage the process or obsess on the parts that are in our control...and I thought, BOY is that me.

So I have been trying to focus on when she comes home. What will it be like, and how to handle the adjustments.....as well as trying to get life in order now (OK pick yourself up off the floor from laughing.)

51 and I am still thinking, one day I will get my act together! Angela, (our au pair) gets here on July 17th, and I SO wanted to have my act together by then! What magic could I perform in the next 30 days, that I have not done in the last 51 years? HA~

Wait...

Worth a Happy Dance......Ethiopian style...

My piece of paper, the waiting piece of paper...is on it's way to my homestudy agency!! Yippee! Now the homestudy can be finished....makes you just want to dance!

Ethiopian Mesgana Dancers... Children of Ethioopia Education Fund. www.coeef.org

Pictures from Ethiopia..

Another family returned today, from Ethiopia and shared their pictures. There were about five new ones of Olivia, that I cannot post, but wanted to share some of just the sites around the city...as soon as I can get bloggers photo feature to work!!! You will see them here....
waiting by unpacking, but also reading a book on adopting older children and attachment. It will be interesting to see how our transition goes, with Olivia being older. Mary Beth was almost three when she came home. Olivia will be seven. Enjoy the pics....

Get this widget!

Compassion – Make a Donation – Sponsor a Child

Nothing new under the sun...

at least on the adoption front....

I am in a wait mode. Waiting for the homestudy to be sent.

They are waiting on a piece of paper that they will only allow to be signed by the director of the adoption agency, who happens to be in Ethiopia right now and will not be back until next week.

So wait.

We are in our new house, with more space....

So we are living life, and waiting...

God's timing is perfect. So I am at peace on this. Have actually set my mind to realize my Nov/Dec will probably be the timeframe...and as I already posted, it may be better. We will be more settled, the kids in school, Angela will be here and more comfortable with the family and routine...so in many ways, probably better.

So, nothing new....:)

Just boxes to unpack!

Setbacks and Delays....

So I have had a piece of paper delay in my homestudy being completed...and again it is outside my control. With this added delay, I have pretty much given up hope to get to Ethiopia before the courts close....which would mean Oliva would be coming home in the November December time frame....

God knows what is best, and I am surrendered to His timing. I keep getting awesome pictures of her....and I know God is in charge of the whole situation...who knows what He may do.

So I am trying to learn about ESL and how to transition a child who does not speak English into the school system mid-year. Maybe Nov, Dec would be a better time anyway....less going on, kids in the school routine, so I could spend 1 on 1 time with her.

Our Abba loves us all...and we will be united....what a Christmas that would be, no? :) Can't wait. Hold on dear little daughter of mine....we are coming....we are coming soon, and we have made a great place for you....a house with many rooms, and one for you to share with your little sister. What laughs we will have. What fun. What pretty dresses, and dancing around the house and songs about Jesus. What hugs. What love. What a future. Our Abba Daddy is wrapping us all in...making us family. We are family. And we are coming.

Good News.....

No, I did not get my homestudy, yet. But I did get some good news, from another source.

The company I work for just added an adoption benefit. They will reimburse $5000 of my adoption cost! Isn't that an awesome blessing?!

Thank you Lord, and God bless Intel!

I also got to see some video footage today from the orphanage. I wish you could see these little precious smiling faces, and high-pitched voices. It is touching. I am hoping they will post the video of Olivia when she got our package and photo album.....

So here is a funny thing, I was thinking about the $5000 reimbursement from my company, that I was not planning on..... That is the exact amount to adopt a second child at the same time. Hmmmmm. Am I nuts?

BTW. The fabulous picture above was taken by a family who were in Ethiopia just a week or so ago.

Connected...

oh...more more thing, I forgot to mention....

In the many many pictures of Olivia Mame I got, one showed her holding a card, with her name and my name on it!!!!!

We are connected....we belong to each other. That is so amazing. To think, this little girl on the other side of the globe holds pictures of us and we hold pictures of her and the "belonging" is already starting. How awesome is that?

Just adjust...

Well, I did not get the good news I was looking for. :( The social worker was not done with the homestudy on the day she thought she would be, or on the 30 day mark....

But what can you do? Nothing I am not in charge of timing, and although she may not know it, neither is she.

So I had to adjust my thinking again, as I am counting days...and realize God is in charge of timing.

And regardless of when the next chain of events kicks off, it will be the perfect time in God's timing and it will all work out. :)

Isn't this a cool picture? A family that just got back from Ethiopia took it while they were there.

So...the homestudy is now being reviewed by various folks in the agency and should be sent to the head office...maybe Friday...in which they take up to 30 days to review and approve it.

Meanwhile, I am going to pull out all my dossier papers, double check that they are all in order, and then get them authenticated...so all I will have to do when I get my homestudy, is get it authenticated and send it off to Assistant Stork. Makes me feel like I am doing something.

On a happy note, I got TONS, I mean TONS of very cute pictures of Olivia, from the same family mentioned above. So cute. and in a few she was wearing the necklace and bracelets we sent her and the little purse!!! How cute!

She is always smiling and right in the middle of things and hugging her little friends. I am glad I have a full house for her to come home to, or she might me lonely.

What a blessing.

Hoping for good news on Monday....and Tues....

Well, I am hoping to hear good news on Monday: My social worker said a couple weeks back, that she hoped to have the homestudy done and sent to the agencies corporate offices by the end of April. Well, it is 4 days past that. I have not heard anything, but I sent her an email asking if it was done, on Friday...I am hoping to hear good news tomrrow! The home office gets another 30 days to review and approve it...I would love for them to be quicker than that....we are all waiting!! Hoping to beat the rainy season, as well as get Olivia home before school starts. ...Fret, fret....but God knows all this....Lord, your timing, your will.

My other good news, I am hoping to hear, is Tues or Wed. . . but more on that later...so waiting waiting.

New Hair do....

Oh, we all love a new DOOOOOOO!

I saw some new pictures of Olivia (from a couple families traveling to gather their little ones...) and I noticed she had a new do. Zizagged part and three braids on each side. Very cute!

So I am going to have the fun of learning a whole new set of hair dos. Fun... SO I do some hair-do surfing...and here are some I came across. No none of these pictures are MY Oliva...but lots of pretty girls with pretty Hair dos!

She Knows.....

News from Ethiopia.

Below is a snippet of an update from a mom who is over in Ethiopia getting her daughter. She visited the orphanage where Olivia Mame, our dear one is, and gave her the little package we sent her, that includes a little photo album of us. This is a snippet of what she wrote in an update to our yahoo.group:

Forgive me for not remembering...but whoever has Mame...ohhh she is SUCH a sweetheart. We gave her the package and showed her the pictures and got it all on video. She was so excited and kept saying Mommy??!!?? With a huge smile...you will cry when you see it.

Isn't that awesome? Precious? She now knows of us and that she has a family! Yes, I am a mommy again!

Home study, home study...wait wait wait.

So, an update:

I was hoping the actual writing of my homestudy would take less than the 2 months that my social worker predicted. (One month for her to write it and one month for the home office to review it. )

I gently, kindly, showed her pictures of my sweet Oliva Mamea in Africa, and told her the only little thing we are currently waiting on to move forward is......well......her to write the homestudy. Since I had my homestudy with them when I adopted Mary, it was an update really...not having to start from scratch and decipher the history of my life.

So, with the last visit on April 4th, the one month, for her part, would be May 4th. So I thought, at half way, I would just gently, kindly inquire as to the progress, hoping, knowing that she was the only thing between me and moving on, knowing it was an updating, knowing Olivia is waiting and we want to get there before the rainy season...(yet knowing, I am just "another case" in an overloaded caseload).... hoping to hear good news. Friday, I heard. "I have not started yet..."(had it for 15 days and have not typed one word of it??!!--thought, but not said). " But I plan to start next week and should be able to have it done by the end of the month." 4 days. Maybe 4 days earlier than the one month prediction. :(

sigh...not the answer I was hoping for, but at least I know. Then it goes to their head office, and I know there is no hope that it will go quicker than 30 days there, when the pleading eyes of a waiting mommy and waiting daughter to a social worker had no impact. Why would another packet of papers in a stack of many draw attention?

So..there is where we are.....waiting mode.

I am ok with it....God has his timing and I am ok with it. Was just hoping for some happy, quicker news.!

On another note, a mother from Oregon, Denise, has left for Ethiopia to pick up her children. In her luggage she has a package for Olivia, including a photo album of us. Olivia will find out for the first time either today or tomorrow, that we are her family and what we look like.

I covet your prayers for her as she adjusts to these thoughts. I pray the very thought will be a blessing and hope for her. Pray Denise has a smooth and fruitful journey. (She is still waiting for one piece of paper from the states, to be able to bring her children home, but stepped out on faith, since she has an Embassy appt in Addis Ababa on Friday.)

2 1/2 hours until our Home Homestudy visit....

Update: We survived...and all went well! Whew! What a day, braces for Nick, walk-thru on a possible bigger house, Home Study Visit.

Now...time to unwind!!! Lookout Nim Island, here we come!

---------------------

Well the house it is as clean as it is going to get. My mom and dad came over yesterday when I was at work and mopped and cleaned from top to bottom. Isn't that a blessing????

Since then I have only allowed my kids to sit and walk as tin soldiers and eat while standing in the bathtub. haha. Justk idding. Well, ...almost. :) Do you know that pull-ups almost fit a Yorkie, if you don't want himto have an "accident" on newly mopped floors?

sigh....

So, learning from a painful lesson on my first go round adoption,have some engaging project for the kids to do while the socialworker is here. So they don't sit so nervous that when she getshere they lose all reason, and cognitive thought and act like wildalien spacemen without parents. :)So I have set up the watercolors, paint brushes and art supplies onthe kitchen table and they do not get to start until 5 minutesbefore her arrival.

Is that staging? LOL!

They really DO like painting and we REALLY have done it before!!!!

Pray for us.

We may celebrate (or console ourselves) afterwards by going to the movies to see Island of Nim.

Just keep swimming....just keep swimming.......

Sometimes it does not seem like a lot of progress....but it is progress...so I just keep swimmimg.....

Remember the saga about the Child Clearance Letter I needed from the DOJ? Well after a couple months and hair pulling and fingerprinting twice...I found out today, I did not need to do ANY OF THAT!!! My social worker said today, they already had everything they needed and they would include the information in my homestudy regarding this.

!!!!!!!

Sigh...not sure WHY someone could not have told me that on one of my 25 calls before.....but....at least I know now. Just keep swimming....

So I had my first homestudy meeting. Went well. We laughed a lot. and the home visit is scheduled for next Friday! yea! I was hoping the homestudy would be done by the end of April. (or sooner). I found out today, they say 8 weeks!!!!! 4 WEEKS for my social worker to write it and 4 weeks for the home office to review and approve it.

sigh. She admitted it does not take that long to write one homestudy, but the fact is I am not the only one, so it is more the "queue" wait, than the actually writing. And we laughed over the fact that, yea, I realize it is not all ab0ut me!!! (Truly, yea, ok, I know, it is not. :) )

So I am contend with us moving at the pace we move at. God has his timing. So with this timing there is not telling if my dossier will get to Ethiopia and through court in enough time for me to get custody before the courts close for the rainy session...with is mid-July until October...or close to it...a couple months or more.

I would rather travel during summertime, yet on the other hand, having the kids in school when I travel and being settled on the home front, may be a better tme for all involved. Either way, God has it covered and I...well ..... I just keep on swimming....

I bought some goodies for a little package to be taken over to Olivia with another family that is traveling ...with an album of the family. The kids are going to draw some pictures to put in it!

This is the fun stage of the whole adoption journey. Putting a face to our dream, praying for her at night, thinking and talking about her with the kids.....

God is good!

Just keep swimming......

YES!

I said YES! (With God's permission!) I accepted today the referral of a precious little angel from Ethiopia..... "Olivia" Mame (or Mamea...not sure of the spelling or pronounciation.)

Just perfect for us..... I pray we are perfect for her. She is lovely, cute, smiley, happy. Due to Ethiopia law, I cannot post pictures of her in a public setting until she is really mine, after the court date...so I am sorry...because she is lovely!

She is around 6 or 6 1/2...and loves pink, (as I mentioned the other day!)

So I have my first homestudy interview tomorrow. I am hoping my homestudy will be done by the end of April, or sooner. Then I get it all authenticated at the Secy of State...then off to Assistant Stork to be checked and send to the Ethiopian Embassy and the US Consulate..then on to Ethiopia. Then it gets translated and hopefully approved by the MOWA. Then a court date is set. Once I pass court, then I travel.

Easy as cake, no? (LOL!) ok, not so, but !! Big step...we found OLIVIA!

God is good. But we all knew that, huh?

Why must we care about orphans?

There are some 143 million children around the world who are considered orphans through losing one or both parents, according to the United Nations. Moreover, every 14 seconds a child loses a parent due to Aids – the leading cause for a child to lose both parents.

Yet between 1971 and 2001, US citizens have adopted only over a quarter million children, according to the US Department of State.




Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Well, only if it is convenient. Only if it won't put you out, or financially cause a challenge. And only if you can still afford those new soccer shoes and daily latte's. And only if they are cute and well behaved. OH yea, and only if it does not cost much and the paperwork is easy. Oh, and only if someone else does it and I can pray for them. ..... Only......


I was thinking...there are many ways we can become polluted by the world. But one way, that cries out to me most, especially in the culture in which I live, is the myopic view of our lives and what we think we can do or bear, and what we think is not for us...ie Adopting may be for some folks, but not for me because : _____________. Fill in the blank.

But yet, there are 143 million children needing families? If not the Christian community WHO is God calling on do adopt? If not us, than WHO????
Like the froggie in the boiling pot of water, for so many years I became desensitized to what I had become, what I expected from life, what I was ENTITLED to... yet, God, all the time is crying out for His faithful to step up to His heart cry.

The children.

Our children.

Why would we not? Is there any reason good enough? Can I look Jesus in the eye and say, I could not Lord, because ________________ and then look down at His nail scarred hands?

Pretty in Pink...

2 months 3 weeks and 6 days.

I may have found Olivia today. I think I have. I will have more information tomorrow...but today may have been the day when I laid eyes on her for the first time...

Wearing pink and a beautiful smile. Will she want to be my daughter? Will she want to be in this family that looks different from each other and different from her?

Abba, if this is our Olivia, make it so.

I have about 8-10 pictures of her, thanks to some families that just returned from Addis Ababa and took lots of pictures of all the children, and in each of them, she is wearing pink! :) And in one a pink Minnie Mouse! Minnie Mouse was Mary's favorite when we adopted her.... How cute that they may have this in common!

Now I just wait for more information...tomorrow........

Half a Step Closer

My First Home Study Appt is Scheduled!

Wheeeee! I have my first appt scheduled for next week, March 28th. It seems like it has been so much scurrying to get to this point. Paperwork, appts, reading...and I know I am not all the way there, but.....at least I am half a step closer!

And since I have been through all this homestudy stuff before, I am not worried.

Half a happy dance!

God is good and loving beyond comprehension....

I just love God. He is so caring. I was troubled, not doubting my intent to adopt, but wanting to be open to questions posed to me. Like others who walk with God and get a call to do something..."different" and then get hit with obstacles or at least a bumpy road, I too can either bully through and wait on God...

I asked God, still feeling peace over my adoption plans, if He would in some way that would mean something to me...He would know best, reconfirm to me that I was walking the path HE would have for me.

And then I just restfully sat that request at His feet, not knowing for sure what He would show me or when.

That very night He showed me not once, but twice.

First, I have been reading Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss, written in 1869. That night I picked it up to read where left off. Katy, the main character, went with her children to spend the summer on a farm. She was talking to the farmer's wife, Mrs. Brown, about children. Katy had four. Mrs Brown none. Mrs. Brown said children were fine, if you could afford them, but that she was lving month to nmonth and trying to pay off her mortgage. Katy agreed their is worry and care of children, but that is only half of the tstory...that there is pure joy and delight as well. (How often am I smiling over my little ones and like Katy, as God works in me and I become more at rest in Him, less selfish and less upset over petty things - the more joy and delight I experience.)

Katy went on to say, suppose you do have nore money comin in and less going out and you pay off the wole mortgage...what then? (temporary concerns, is this my eternal calling to pay off a mortgage....) Who will enjoy it with you? Who willyou leve it to> Who will car for you when you are old? (grin)

Here is the clincher, she said:

"I want to see little children adorning every home as flowers adorn every meadow and every wayside. I want to see them welcomed to the homes they enter, see their parents grow less and less selfish and more and more loving because they have came. I want to see God's precious gifts accepted, not frowned upon and refused."

Yes Lord...

Later I was doing my Patriarch homework and reading about Abram and Sarai in Genesis...about following the path God sets for us. That He bless me and makes me "many".

So I am at peace and thankful to my Abba who reinforces the path He leads me on.

Slightly Despondent...

I am slightly despondent, but I will recover....

I was planning on my tax return to fund a big chunk of my adoption. Every year for the past 6-7 years I have gotten a return about the same amount, so yes, even though it is counting those eggs before they hatch, I WAS counting on it.

I just fund out it is about 5000 less than normal. Not sure why. Something to do with selling stock. (Although they hold out taxes on stock, and my stock was not worth much....)

So part of my gut says go double-check the stock part, that they don't have it wrong. And another part says, boy, wow, I was counting on that...now what do I do?

But the biggest part says, God knows all this. And if He is blessing the adoption, He will bless a way to fund it.

Thoughts on Adoption..by John Piper

Before the world, in love adoption has its origin, from God....and through Him...the reason: Grace - bringing praise to his name.

John Piper at 50 adopted his daughter. God's grace is put on display most beautiful through adoption.

God planned from eternity to fold my children into our family.

Eph 1:3-6
In love He predestined us unto adoption....

Fingerprinting...

So another click on the train.... I was fingerprinted today. My last piece of paper (other than my home study) for my Dossier requires that I submit my fingerprints to get a clearance letter.

It won't be the last time I am fingerprinted..(Still need to be fingerprinted by immigration), but at least it is a day where it feels like I did something tangible to move forward.

Hang on, Olivia, we are coming.....

Something Happen, something happen, something happen....

Hurry up, fill this out,, ok wait...wait, oh gosh, hurry, ok ok

wait....not hurry. wait.

sigh...

outta my hands

God's timing....

sigh....

Sometimes you just want SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. :)

ok that's ok. I will go get some coffee..... to Calm down.! ha!

Another Clack on the Track....

Well I hit another milestone today on my journey to Ethiopia and Olivia. I mailed off my last requirement for my homestudy pre-work. So now I get assigned a social worker and the homestudy interviews and visits begin. Yea.... I had such a funny story from my homestudy when I adopted from China...but it is too long for me to retell this am. Nothing can top that one though.

So...if I could just get Alberto to call me back on my clearance letter.....it has been three days and a weekend. Think I should bug him?

Quite a Lifestyle

I have a blog at work that is only available to other employees and focusing on topics pertinent to the workplace. Many employees post blogs at this same site.

Since so much of what I am about is NOT work related, I put a comment and link on my work blog to my adoption and family blogs.

A few days ago, I was walking through our gray-walled cubicle halls and a co-worker that I know very slightly, we pursued an undergraduate degree at the same school, same program 10 or so years ago, bumped into me and mentioned that he had read my blog. (I was not sure if he meant the work one, or one of the others. After his next comment, I figured out which.)

He said something about me adopting, don't exactly remember what, then he said: "Quite the lifestyle."

I smiled, yep, and moved on. But those words stuck with me. I do not think they were intended to be a compliment. More a declaration as to my questionable frame of mind to make this type of lifestyle by CHOICE. :)

Lifestyle: the typical way of life of an individual

Life: the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual.

Style: a distinctive manner or custom of behaving or conducting oneself, also : a particular mode of living

Quite: to an extreme

So, thinking about it. I get his point of view. He is older, single, (divorced) grown children. Lives alone. A different lifestyle than mine.

But I now like the thought that I have "quite a lifestyle" with my children. An extremely distinctive way of experiencing our existence.

Yes, I can live with that.... and am blessed to be on a journey to add another to our extremely distinctive way.

Pulling my hair out...

Well, I would be, but I need to keep every last strand I got!

Scenerio:

2nd to the last item I need to get for my dossier: Child Abuse/Neglect Clearance letter.

1. Ask adoption agency, "How do I get that?" You should get it as part of your homestudy.


2. Talk to Homestudy agency, "Can you give me this?" We already have your fingerprint clearance still associated with our office from your last adoption. So if you need a letter, contact Dept of Justice, this number, talk to Lena (in records) and she get can one for you.


3. Call Lena, get voicemail, says leave a message and she will call you back in two days.


4. 8 days later, still no call. Talk to Homestudy agency, is there another way to get this letter? Try this number xxx-xxxx


5. Call xxx-xxxx, get a recording that says if you need a clearnce letter, call this number yyy-yyyy and push option 3.


6. Call yyy-yyyy and pusch option 3, gives three more options, none that matches my situation, closes says pay $32 and get fingerprinted to get your letter. (I already AM fingerprinted) so I push zero hoping to talk to someone. Get an operator, tell my long story and she transfers me to...... hold on...guess...Lena's number :)


7. I talk to someone, (not sure if it is Lena, she's not saying) and I share the whole story, again. She says, for your agency your contact is Alberto, call him at zzz-zzzz.


8. I call Alberto at zzz-zzzz and I get his voicemail, he says leave a message and he will call be back in the order the call was received. (Doesn't mention how many days.) I leave the story.

I am now awaiting a callback.

Theory, the patience, self-control, organization, and persistance needed to complete all the paperwork for an adoption and work with all the various agencies involved, is very similiar to the patience, self-control, organization and persistance needed to parent young children while running a household, also similiar to the patience needed to glue 278 tennis balls to the undercarriage of a pick-up truck speeding down the freeway, using only maple syrup.

Guess my character is being built. I be characterized!

Speaks for Itself...

Chuga-Chuga-Chuga...

No, that is not the sound of me drinking milk out of the jug....that is the sound of my "Paperchase" train speeding on down the track! I am almost at the end of my collecting phase. My bank called today and they are mailing their NOTARIZED reference letter (those of you on this journey, know how hard it is to get some banks to notarize a letter)... ..

Check mark, another item checked off.

I am waiting on another clearance letter, then all I have left to garner for my dossier is my Homestudy (BIG THING) and my immigration 171H (LONG WAIT THING, with an imbedded long wait thing for fingerprinting).

But still, it is good, to be chugging along and getting my part done!

Chuga, chuga, chuga....toot toot!

Lemonade from Lemons...

So much has transpired the last three days..... and God makes lemonade from lemons...

So a lemon, something sour, and although beneficial, not too tastey alone....but with the sugar of God's Spirit, it can be quite refreshing.

The little girl I thought might be our "Olivia", turned out not to be. She had been referred to another family and accepted. I praise God that she has a forever family. I pray it is a Christian family and that through this her eternity is changed.

So..although it may taste a little sour to me...it is sweet for her...and it truly is sweet for us too. Sweet to know she has a family, yes. Also sweet because of the work God did in me through this. A couple things:

First, as I thought about this girl and how our life would change, how it would work, I came to realize a 6 yr old would be a better fit into our family. What I was reluctant,at first to consider, thinking it my second or ?? choice, has ended up being my first choice. So God used this possible referral as a way to open that door.

The second is that I got really sick on Sunday with a headache. I HATE when that happens. When it does, I just shutdown, throw up, can't move...etc. I am so self-reliant and HATE to ask for help. But, alas, my son Nicholas insisted, and I realized I had to. A dear friend became my Florence Nightinggale. Donna came over, cooked the kids dinner, got them in their jammies, did laundry, dishes, even went to the grocery store to stock us up on a few things, then stayed until 11 pm until all were sleeping. How awesome was that. This really showed me how special her friendship is and how giving she is. She really is a big support to my little family. Thank you Donna.

The third thing is in being sick, way in the middle of the night, dark, sad, feeling sorry for myself, I started questioning the adoption. Life can be hard sometime and was I nuts, adding more complexity to it? In the night I went over again and again the pros of adopting and the pros of not adopting. And did not come up with an answer. There is good on both sides of the equation. But the bottom line I kept coming to was, what about her? What about this daughter out there who would not have us? And how would it change us to not have her? I knew I could not make any decisions when I was sick and emotionally down. I thought, when I feel better, I will write this all out to God and work it out...The best decision.

This morning, feeling better, not 100%, I prayed about it. By what seems serendipity, I viewed a utube video called Ethiopia Adoption, by a family called Avery. I cried. It just renewed again in my heart why I am on this journey. I felt sad in the video, there is a daddy in it that is SO into adopting his children, you can tell. And that is something we lack, something God knows I long for. But I do not see that in our life. Regardless, walking this road as a single parent, I realized again, why I am doing it. And yes, it will not always be easy, but it is right..for us.

Later in the day, I found out the little girl we had been sent information on was accepted by another family. God works in strange ways. Rather than making me second guess my fresh resolve, it just reinforced it. I am so happy she has a family. God knows why He did not choose ours, but no plan of His can be thwarted.

So we continue with the paperchase and wait on God. He is leading, we are following.

Following Where He Leads....

I am not sure how all this works...but we may have found our "Olivia"(...although she has a beautiful Ethiopia name, so she may or may not want "Olivia" added to her name.) I received some information on a sweet and spunky precious girl Thursday afternoon.

I wish I could post pictures, but I cannot...and besides I want to wait until I know for sure if she is our referral....but she looks and sounds perfect!

As I contemplated the little bit of information I had, and talked to Jesus about this precious little girl, I just felt well of course. Why else would He have had her presented to us, if she is not the one?

I hope to find out more on Monday, but until then...I just keep looking at her three little pictures and re-reading the couple of lines I have.......

Oh my!

Oh and PS. It was on Valentines Day...now is that a precious Valentine or not?

Blog Stalking and other Ughs!

So I hate this waiting stage, this do nothing stage... I am waiting for the mailman to deliver a couple pieces of paper, and for the homestudy to start and NOTHING I CAN DO TO MOVE THE ADOPTION ALONG!

So, I stalk the adoption forum, looking for some interesting message....or check on other's blogs, living vicariously through their next milestone achievement.

Ha! Pathetic, huh!?

Well time to focus on the here and now and let the rest be taken care of by God. :)

Dossier Blues

I have the dossier blues this afternoon. Not so much as gathering all the paperwork, notarized, authenticated....I did that before with China. Just all the confusion over what is needed to be included. I have four different sources or lists indicating what I need to gather (five, if you include the home study agency's requirements) and none of the four match!

None! Nada! Zilch! It is nerve wracking. I go by one list and think I am getting pretty close to done, and boom....another item is dicovered from another list.

So I am just whining. Others have made this journey before me and survived. So I will too. I just have tired eyes and a tired brain...so I thought I would whine.

waaaaaaaa.

On a happy note, I finished my home study agency's "self-study" today and can drop it off tomorrow. :)

Mother-up

I read this today on an Ethiopia adopting forum I belong to and I just loved it. Julia is another mother, that is in Ethiopia today meeting her precious son, Michael for the first time.

"I had a man who put shoes on my horses who also raised cows and sheep. He had a term I just loved that he used to describe how after the calves were separated from their cows, for shots or whatever, and they put the whole herd back together and then the cows and the calves would shuffle around and find each other again.... it was called 'mother-up'. The cows would mother-up with their calves... that is what Julia will do in the morning."

Isn't that a great term? Mother up? I love it.

One Adoption Story