oops

The youtube video is no longer there. You can view this project at acaciavillage.org.

second home visit complete

It happened quicker than we thought it would...we had our second home visit yesterday. This visit was more intense with deeper questions, but I feel like it went well. Digging deep like that just makes me realize how much I love Mark and how thankful I am that he is my partner in this journey and life. Now we will wait to get our homestudy draft from her and as we wait, we will get all of the additional paperwork ready. We feel so blessed that each step has gone smoothly and pray that this will continue. Yesterday, we also had the wonderful opportunity of going to lunch with the lady who lives in Ethiopia and oversees the Christian World program there. As Mark said, she is one of those people that when you are in her presence, you feel like you are in the presence of God. She and her family have devoted their lives to mission work and rescuing the babies of Ethiopia. It is very likely that she will have contact with our baby which is incredible. We feel honored that we had a chance to meet her and hear her amazing stories. So many children would have died if she had not intervened and then loved and nutured them back to health. Please take time to view the Acacia Village video from youtube.com. She sees the need for this project so clearly everyday as she cares for these abandoned children. Mark and I had decided that we would not take our children with us to Ethiopia to bring home the baby. After meeting with her yesterday and asking her opinion, we are praying about taking Macall with us. She said that one day as the baby grows up and has questions about her heritage and birth country, it will so powerful if Macall can say "I went there and saw this...". Please pray about this decision.

wednesday went well

Thank you to all of you for your thoughts on Wednesday. Especially, thank you to our children's teachers for your thoughtfulness and excitement for our family. I love our school and Wednesday was just one of many days when I am reminded of why we choose for them to be there. All of the teachers were doing whatever they could to make the afternoon go well for us and taking time during class to pray for our family. I love each one of you! We did have our home visit and it went well. Our home study provider is so nice and easy to talk to and she has lived this same journey as she has two adopted daughters. They actually came with her that day since her babysitter cancelled, and our children loved playing with them. She will come back again next week and then we will work on getting our dossier completed. The dossier is a huge amount of paperwork that is sent directly to Ethiopia. I feel like we have a lot of it completed, but I have grown to expect delays and surprises. Hudson said the other day "once we do our homestudy, can we just go get her in two weeks". The hardest lesson for all of us will be learning to be patient. In one sense, you want to be prepared, but then you are afraid to do something too soon (like setting up her room), because that may make the wait seem even longer. I'll keep you posted as things change.

upcoming home visit

The kids are home today and it's been a fun relaxing morning so far. Just wanted you all to know that we have our home visit this Wednesday which is a big step in the process. All of us have to be present and once it is completed, we'll be able to get more of our paperwork done. We hope to have everything to Ethiopia by March. As I am reading other blogs, I can get discouraged with time lines, but I know that ultimately, it is out of our control. My friend, Julie, recommended that I read There Is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene and I can't put it down. It's a great book for anyone who wants to better understand Ethiopia and the orphan crisis. Thank you for all of the encouraging comments. Think of us on Wednesday and we'll let you know how it goes.

our story

Mark and I have always been open to adoption. While we were dating, his mom, Janice, started working at Bethany Christian Adoption Services. One of my favorite things to do was look at pictures in her office of all the babies and ask about the stories. Even when we were just dating, I was drawn to adopting. I even wondered if we wouldn't be able to have biological children since I felt such a strong connection to adoption. As all of you know, that was not the case and God quickly blessed us with three beautiful children. As they got older, I did keep wondering about adoption and always was very interested in adoption stories. As Macall's last birthday approached, she said that all she wanted for her 10th birthday was a sister from another country. When Stephen Curtis Chapman's precious daugther was killed on May 21st (Macall's birthday), God really started pushing us to look deeper into adoption. Going on his website was such an inspiration for adoption. China didn't seem like an option for us since the process now took 3-4 years. As we looked, Mark learned about an incredible missions project in Ethiopia called Acacia Village. Acacia Village will be a much needed orphange for children that will also house a medical center and educational center for mothers and children. Mark had always said that he would one day do medical missions in Africa. Through Acacia Village, we learned that there are 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia. We were astounded!! At the same time, we kept asking God to give us signs if we were meant to adopt. All I have to say is don't ask God unless you are ready to hear the answer. From a dream my mom had about an abandoned little black girl to the people next to us on the beach this summer that had adopted from Uganda, the signs were pouring in. Macall and Brynn prayed every night that we would adopt a baby. Every sermon seemed to be directed at us and seemed to scream "you need to adopt". Brynn started saying so matter of factly, "this is what we are supposed to do, let's just do it!". It's funny how God can use everyone and everything to speak to you when you are trying to make a decision. In the middle of June, Mark left church one day and said, "we need to do it...let's do the paperwork". Well, that's when I slammed on the brakes. I had thought about adopting for so long and then fear just stopped me in my tracks. I started trying to convince myself that we were content and that three was enough for us. I spent the whole summer in a tug of war with God. I could go one to two weeks "ignoring" adoption and His calling and then for a full week, I would be bombarded with adoption. When the children went to school in August, I found out that two of the teachers at our school were in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Before that, I had never heard of anyone that we personally knew that had adopted from Ethiopia. It got to the point that I would just laugh out loud at all the the things that were happening. Mark just let it go for a while, but all along, he knew what we were meant to do. He was just waiting on his stubborn wife. One night in September at church, the fifth grade girls were going to hear about some missionaries. I was there as their leader, but I had already decided that I had heard this story and I would just spend the hour relaxing. I was wrong!! Van Wade shared a great story that night about Jim Elliot and his friends. Two points brought me to my knees. Their group simply obeyed what God was asking them to do (was I doing that?) and God does not ask you to do something for Him and then not give you joy (being a mom is my favorite thing in the world...why would He not give us more joy through another child?). I got in the car and said that I was ready. As we rushed in and tried to get the kids to bed, I couldn't find Mark and I was getting frustrated. I found him at the computer quickly filling out the first paperwork for Christian World Adoption before I could change my mind. That first night, I really didn't sleep. Once we told our families, there was an unbelievable peace that I hadn't had all summer. I knew that adopting from Ethiopia was what we were meant to do. Since September, that decision has been confirmed over and over. Right now, we are finishing up our paperwork and hope to have everything to Ethiopia by March. CWA says that the average wait for a girl is 6 months, so we are hoping to bring her home in the fall or winter. Macall, Brynn and Hudson are thrilled and we hope that this is life changing for them. Many of you ask why we didn't request a boy. We just felt like it would be a girl and we are trying to keep Hudson's special spot as the only boy. He's so laid back about the process, but he did say yesterday that he thought the girls should move to the third seat of our car and he should sit by the baby to help take care of her. For now, just please pray for the baby and for her birth parents. We want to always honor them and can't imagine what they may be enduring at this time. Macall thinks she will be born in April so we will have birthdays in 6 consecutive months. No matter when she comes into this world, she needs our prayers. Ethiopia is the third poorest country in the world and babies usually have no prenatal care and once she is here, she may not have milk. God is bigger than all of that and we know He has a plan for her. Thank you for your love and support!

creating my blog

I am officially starting my blog today with the help of my friend, Kelley.  After being asked frequently about our adoption from Ethiopia, we decided that we needed to start a blog to keep our family and friends updated.  In my next post, I'll start at the beginning of our story.  Thank you to all of you who are praying for our family during this journey.