Sunday, November 4, 2012

T-2

We've been waiting TWO months!
And honestly the Lord has kept us so busy the days have flown by.
THAT'S GOOD FOR THIS MOMMA!!
Our time waiting so far as been spent praying for our sweet baby girl.
For her health & protection. For the Lord to send missionaries to serve in her orphanage. For her caretakers. For rain. LOTS of things to pray for.

HOPE: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
             Trust - expect - anticipate

In this waiting room, this verse has taken on new meaning for me:

If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently & confidently.
Romans 8:24-25
 
 
We dont' have her yet, so we are hoping for her and waiting patiently & confidently.
 
And how are we doing this?
 
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Romans 8:26
 
We are asking the Holy Spirit to help us.
 
I'm not gonna lie.
If I sit and think about waiting for an email, wondering what she's doing, how old she's going to be, what will be going on work wise for me, my palms immediately sweat, my fingers tingle & my heart beats super fast.
It's the wondering & not knowing that gets me.
The lack of control that I have.
It's an area of weakness that I have to ask the Holy Spirit to help me in.
And guess what, He does! And He is! #teamHolySpirit




 
 Ultimately, the hope of this adoption is the glory of God.

We are living with a hope. An anticipation!
Similar to how we should be living in light of Jesus' return!
No one knows when He's coming back for His church so in the mean time we wait! Patiently & confidently & we tell others about Him. {Matt 24:36}
 
Today also happens to be Orphan Sunday.
A day for Christians to stand for the orphans.
We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.
 
So today we stand not only for our daughter but for the other orphans in this world.
Be it across the ocean or in a foster home right down the street.
 
Adoption makes God's heart visible.
 
There are numerous INCREDIBLE videos out there to watch but I'll just go ahead and warn you, grab a tissue before you hit play.
 
This is the best video I've seen on the perfect explanation of adoption.
 
 
Adoption is all Gospel centered.
It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Not about us rescuing these children.
 
Have you sought asked the Lord what James 1:27 looks like for you?
Caring could be adopting but it could also mean fostering, sponsoring, clothing, feeding; the list goes on and on. You must do something. Ask Him what He would have YOU do.
 
I hope next year when we observe Orphan Sunday there will be ONE LESS and she'll be fast asleep with her sweet little head on her hot pink pillow right here in this house! *SQUEEL*
 
Tonight at church a sweet friend gave us a PRECIOUS gift!
I can't tell you enough how much it means for friends to be praying for her!! I can't WAIT to get this on our tree at Christmas! Thank you so much my friend!
 
 
 
Another sweet friend who was serving as a missionary in Ethiopia brought these cross necklaces back for us!
She said the children at the orphanage prayed for Lily before she left.
SO SPECIAL TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! {I smelled them. Because I smell everything. But I really wanted a hint of Ethiopia in that box!}
 
 
I can tell you when I think of having any part of anything the Lord does humbles me to no end.
That the Creator of the Universe would choose/allow us to be a part of this blows.my.mind.
We are experiencing Him in ways I just don't know that we would have apart from this journey and the truth is I've been told this is the easy part. The hard part comes after they arrive...
 
Do what only you can do Lord.
Find Your glory here.
Our hope is in You and You alone.
We trust in Your perfect timing.
 
Lily, we are crazy about you. 
Your brothers talk about you and pray for you everyday.
Your Meme's heart is expanding.
Your Pepaw asks about you.
My best friend prays for you daily.
And there are LOTS of friends who are just plain excited to meet you.
 
We love you and hope to see you soon!
 
May the things of Earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory & grace,
 
Kim 
 
 
 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Ethiopia


*Ethiopia is almost twice the size of Texas
*The favorite drink of many Ethiopians is bunna (coffee). Bunna is drank in a unique and traditional way known as a "coffee ceremony". First the coffee is roasted, then ground and placed in a Jebena (coffee pot) with boiling water. When ready it is then served to people in little cups, up to three times per ceremony.
*Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world.
*Ethiopia's staple food is injera, a spongy bread made of a unique crop only grown in Ethiopia called "teff." Injera is baked in a clay pan and eaten with sauce made of either meat, ground grains, beans or vegetables.
*The lively and irresistible eskista dance is performed almost entirely with the shoulders.
*Soccer is the most popular sport
*Ethiopia is the fourth poorest nation in the world with nearly 5 million orphans struggling every day to survive.
*Nearly 2 million people are infected with HIV and many children will watch their parents die of the disease.
*One in every ten children do not make it to their first birthday and one in six die before their fifth birthday

Ethiopian Flag


*Red stripe stands for power, faith and blood
*Yellow symbolizes the church, peace, natural wealth and love
*Green represents the land and hope.

The colors were also interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, and the three main provinces of Ethiopia.

*Star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia.
*The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity and the blue disk represents peace.



Awesome Organizations:

Visiting Orphans
Ordinary Hero
Created for Care
Small World Adoption Agency
AMG International
Red Thread Sessions

Time Line!

2011 

*9.30.11 Mailed Application to Small World Adoption Agency 
*10.4.11 Received approval from Small World 
*12.14.11 Mailed in paper work for Home Study to Open Door Adoption Agency


2012

*2.1.12 1st Home Study Meeting 
*2.7.12 2nd Home Study Meeting 
*2.14.12 3rd Home Study Meeting 
*2.16.12 Homestudy COMPLETE! 
*4.30.12 Agency Fee PAID! WOOT! 
*5.9.12 Received $20,000 grant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
*6.7.12 Mailed application for I600a 
*6.29.12 Had finger prints done in Jacksonville 
*7.13.12 MAILED OUR DOSSIER to Small World 
*8.31.12 Officially waiting with Small World!!!!


2013

*4.12.13 #2 on the wait list!
*5.24.13 #1 on the wait list!!!!!!! 


 2014

*1.14 Found out Small World officially lost their operating license in Ethiopia
*2.14.14 Withdrew from Small World 
*2.17.14 Accepted by IAN (International Adoption Net)
*3.14.14 Officially waiting with IAN 
   Infant Girl: 40, #24 of active families
  Toddler Girl: 39, #26 of active families
  Sibling group: 24, #17 of active families
*5.15.14 Homestudy update/increased age range joined boy wait lists/opened up to SN


2015

*8.26.15 Waitlist update
   Infant girl: #26, active # 16
   Infant boy: #24, active # 17
  Toddler girl:#27,active # 20
  Toddler boy:#20 ,active # 14
  Siblings:#15, active #11
  Older girl:#8, active #8
  Older boy:#6, active number 5
*10.16.15 RECEIVED OUR REFERRAL CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
*10.20.15 Accepted our REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  


2016

*3.11.16 Submitted to PAIR  (still need 2 documents. anticipating RFE's for them. Working towards obtaining then 
while in PAIR.)
* 3.31.16 Dossier arrived in Ethiopia
*4.2.16 Received PAIR packet back missing signature 4.1.16 mailed back 4.2.16
*4.2.16 Received one of the documents (police report) we have been praying about for MONTHS!!!!! GLORY!!
* 5.27.16 passed 1st court appointment
*Received RFE's (copy of police report & international letter) Have until July 16th to get them in. 
*6.16.16 Received international letter we were waiting on for RFE's. Submitted to officer at immigration.
*6.30.16 Our case is now at Embassy in Ethiopia! They will request a finder interview with the police officer with his case. Once this is complete we are done with PAIR!
*8.18.16 Finder/Police officer interview scheduled at Embassy
*8.29.16 I-604 Investigation is complete! Waiting on PAIR Letter.
*8.30.16 Back to Jacksonville for 4th & final set of fingerprints
*9.3.16 Received our long awaited PAIR letter in the mail!
*12.29.16 COURT!

About Us

We are a Jesus lovin' family who desire for the Lord to get all the glory from our journey to bring home our son (#4) from Ethiopia!!



Me & my Luvah {Roger}




#1 {Cameron}



#2 {Malachi}



#3 {Elim}






 
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