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 8th.
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