Our Adoption Story Continues to Unfold

We wanted to provide you an update as to what’s been happening with our adoption process over the past few months.  It’s been quite remarkable, as we’re absolutely amazed at how God has been actively orchestrating relationships and ultimately weaving this story into “one for the books”. 

And they will know you are mine by the love you show for one another:  John 13:35

So, I recently joined an internet group for families who’ve adopted from the Gambela region in Ethiopia, where our kids are from.  I was browsing pictures taken by a family this past July while on their mission trip.  I thought it would be a good way to get an idea of what the region is like, as we will most likely not be going there on our trips.

There were pictures of amazing people & unbelievable landscapes they experienced while in Gambela. They were doing some remodeling of the orphanage where our children lived up until October.  As I was scrolling through, I mentioned to Jeff that it’d be cool if they had a picture of our children.  Jeff sat down with me to look at the pictures, and in 2 clicks a couple of familiar faces graced our screen!  Unreal!  It was THEM.  What can you do but gasp and cry?  I don’t know why we gasped…as we both know how God works, and we SHOULD expect something like this from Him…but none-the-less, it startled us.  I pretty much immediately commented on the picture through Facebook, telling them how excited we were that they had a picture of them! 

The next day they responded in amazement, as it was just a ‘random’ picture of some cute kids!  They were walking with some people from their little hotel to the prison, taking pictures along the way, and they saw them standing in front of their home.   She thought they were so adorable she had to take a few pictures of them, including a close-up…the one we had just seen on our screen.   She sent us a few more pictures she took of their home, which was little more than a glorified shack.

 

 

The pictures were taken about a month or so before the children were relinquished to the orphanage for adoption!  It still floors me that out of 35,000+ people, we were looking a picture of our kids, who weren’t even at the orphanage, which was taken by a random stranger.  And then for me to ‘happen’ to run across them??  As an aside, she mentioned that a friend of hers has been praying for our two precious children ever since she saw their picture last July!  The prayers worked, and she didn’t even know what she was praying for them.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  Matthew 7:7

Also, I have recently connected online with the adoptive families of our sweet ‘B’s best friends!  One family has already had their court date, and recently met their little girl for the first time!  They were also able to meet and interact with our children!!  And through this connection, we learned that ‘B’s’ sweet, and loves to sing & play with dolls! They now await their Embassy appointment so they can go pick her up.  The second family is waiting for their court date to be able to go meet their precious children (B’s other best friend and her brother) – please pray for them, that they can both go soon!

Since we learned that ‘B’ loves to play dolls, I learned that Target sells these multicultural “Hearts 4 Hearts” dolls, and one of them was Ethiopian!  So we began our hunt. After about 329 exasperating trips to Target stores, only to find Afghanistan and Native American dolls EVERYWHERE (Oh, how they mock me!), it finally sank in that the Ethiopian dolls were going to be hard to come by!  Ok, so the number of trips may be a bit exaggerated, but this is how a mere 3 outings to Target feel to Jeff...and he stopped in at least 6.  So I did what any desperate mother looking for an Ethiopian doll would do…put my plea out on Facebook. And there were many who took up the cause in what became a nation-wide search… They visited and/or called their local Target stores…They took trips to neighboring cities to see if they may have one….but nothing…

Then, when all hope of finding this allusive doll seemed to be lost, I received a message from a friend in North Carolina!  She’d been talking to the store manager of her local Target about it, and it turns out HE had adopted from Ethiopia as well!  Since he understood the joy this might bring our daughter, he took it upon himself to call the manufacturer, and he convinced them to search through their entire inventory until they found one…and they DID!  So he had it sent to my friend for free & she sent it out to us today!!  What a blessing.  I have such sweet friends & family.  Thanks to all of you who helped in this quest.

Yes, God has certainly been making amazing connections.  It is no accident that he has brought so many together.  As many know, my sister has adopted from Ethiopia, and although we have been considering adoption since before we were married, it was her adopted son who God used to convict us to get of our rear ends and do it… We have connected with many great friends who are in the process or have adopted from there…and we’ve connected with a family from Ethiopia who lives in this area who want to mentor us in the culture, teach us Amharic & how to make Ethiopian food!  We are so thankful for them, and we are so thankful for the amazing friends and family who have been praying for us and supporting us through this process. 

Prayer needed:

Please pray for our adoptive families that are still going through the process, as several are so close and have met their children.  It must be heartbreaking to meet them, then have to leave for what must seem like an eternity until they can return to bring them home.

Please pray for the PAIR interview, which is scheduled for April 8^th.  Please pray that the right person shows up and that it will go smoothly!  If all goes well, we could potentially travel in May! 

We’re trusting in God’s timing, but also praying that we can go soon!  And please pray that God will continue to break our hearts for what breaks his and that He will work through us – and that our faith will continue to strengthen through this process.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,
Let me walk upon the waters,
Wherever You would call me;
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander,
And my faith will be made stronger,
In the presence of my Savior.           

Excerpt from ‘Oceans’ by Hillsong United