11 months

11 months unofficial waitlist stats:
#46 overall (-2 families on hold)
#23 willing to accept siblings in our age range (-2 families on hold)
#14 specifically asking for siblings in our age range (-1 family on hold)

9 months

Yesterday was nine months on the wait list. Nine months. That's how long it takes to grow a baby!!! Here's the deal though, we're waiting for two kids, so we'll just keep on truckin' :)

Also, this is National Adoption Month, and this Sunday is National Orphan Sunday, which is super cool, seeing as there are way too many children in this world without families!!! See http://orphansunday.org/ for more details.


9 months unofficial wait list stats:
#50 overall (-3 families on hold)
#26 willing to accept siblings in our age range (-3 families on hold)
#16 specifically asking for siblings in our age range (-3 families on hold)

The Measure of a Man

Him:

Three years ago I was in Memphis riding in the back seat of a car when somebody pointed to a passing hotel and stated "that's where Martin Luther King got shot." Most of what I learned about the man was taken in during my junior high years. I know at the time of his assassination he was 39, but if he was alive now he would be about the same age as my grandfather. I used to associate him with other leaders of the Civil Rights movement like Malcolm-X, but even as a boy I knew there was something different about Dr.King.

As I've gotten older and walked with Jesus longer it becomes more and more important to me to be used by God during my very short life. So I've been asking the question: what happens when the choice is presented between saving your own skin and being courageous enough to really live? Will I choose to do what is hard? What will spur me to do so? Who has done it before me? So I started looking for people like this; I started reading about people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Joni Eareckson Tada, Nate Saint, etc......and Martin Luther King Jr.

"MLK loved Jesus?!" is a question that someone exclaimed to me in the last month. Yes!!! The problem is the history we have on the guy is all told in backwards order, and all the facts are separated. What kids learn about him today is 1st I get out of school for his holiday, 2nd there are tons of things named after him and he gave a speech called "I have a dream", 3rd he was the leading face of the Civil Rights Movement using non-violent protests against discrimination and won the Nobel Peace Prize for it, 4th when digging deep you can find he was an adulterer and sinner, 5th you might hear that he was a preacher, and Lastly if you're lucky you might deduce from all of this that MLK loved Jesus. There are many books about this guy with all the facts I just stated, but none that I've found that put the pieces together.

On the other side, a high school kid proclaimed to me last week "Hitler was a christian", which is a conclusion he had jumped to simply because Hitler had quoted scripture, Luther, and had started up under the banner of the German church by manipulation. It's sad to have the facts backwards because then we lose the root of the life or death that is flowing out of people. Death flowed out of Hitler because his priority was self. Life flowed out of King because he loved Jesus, got alone with Him, got vision from Him, and then could not let fear overcome the life that the living God was offering. So he became a preacher, and said true things that no one else would say, and put his life on the line, and became the face of a movement for freedom, and was martyred and has things named after him now.

All this stuff gets twisted up because it's easy to see he was a sinner, and it's easy to say his methods were just different from a guy like Malcolm-X, and it's easy to think that he was just concerned about changing society; but that's not how you measure a man. He helped bring life to a dead culture, and was heroic, because he was a missionary, because he loved Jesus. Loving Jesus is the measure of a man because it makes him justified and changes his bent toward God and away from self. I watched "Fiddler on the Roof" for the first time last week and fell in love with the main character Tevye, as he talked with God and tried to figure out which was more important: tradition in a Jewish community or love. In the end, when his youngest daughter has just done the forbidden by marrying a Gentile, Tevye breaks and mumbles "May God bless you" to the surprise of all. He just can't help it. There are real people in history and all across the world today who are doing the scary, hard, and dangerous things because they love Jesus and walk closely with Him, and I need to know they exist so I can know it's OK to be courageous and let God use me.

Sweet Poetry for Month Number 8

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

                                                                 -by e e cummings

I have a fledgeling love of poetry. This one's a classic, and I love it because it strikes a chord in me that has something to do with how I feel about my husband and about our children, and in some ways about what goes on between God and man.

My friend is coming home from Ethiopia this weekend with her son!!! We've walked through this process together, meeting at first through the blog world, then developing a real face-to-face friendship, we've coached and commiserated, and helped each other maintain focus and perspective. I'm so excited to get to meet the little buddy soon!!! We've prayed for him so long :) Praise the Lord!!!

Our 8 months' waiting stats are much like our 7 months' waiting stats. A conference call a few days ago revealed that average wait times for a referral are around 16 months, and not likely to get shorter. So as is, if we end up waiting a total of only 16 months, then we're half way and we'll get a referral somewhere around May of next year. At the same time, we could get a call tomorrow or we could wait 2 more years, there are no certainties. God knows who our kids are, and He knows what's best.

Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive and encouraging along the way. You've acknowledged the weight of our wait, encouraged us, counseled us, sometimes cried with us, prayed for us, and even written songs for us... we're humbled and warmed by your love and support. We thank you and praise God!!!

Family Beach Vacation 2011

Just got back from an awesome week with the fam at the beach. Third year in a row, and I hope it keeps on rockin'!! Thanks to my in-laws for letting us use the house!! 

Cousins!!

not too sure..

The Knitress!!

My brother and sister :)

Mom and me

had a pretty big bicycle wreck

Dad and Mom

Settlers of Catan!!

getting ready to shred

Family

Papa!!

Mims!!

We missed you!!!

Waitlist 2.0 = Double the pleasure, double the fun :)

Last week we had the last of our paperwork sent in and we were placed back on the WAIT LIST!!! Our new, adjusted wait list date is January 31, 2011. Basically, we take the 6ish months that we had been waiting when we went on hold, subtracted them from the date we got back on the wait list, and now will use that date to determine our place "in line" as we wait for our babies...

...wait a minute, did you catch that?!? 

That's right, people, I said  BABIES!!! We are now waiting for siblings!!! We're expecting 2 children under the age of 3, and since we've still left the gender question pretty open-ended, there are a lot of possibilities, so we'll have to wait and see who God has for us :)

You might be wondering how this all came about, or when/why we made the switch, so let me just tell you (because it's totally all about God's glory). When we were preparing to go on hold, we knew we'd have to redo a bunch of paperwork (insert sad trombone: wah, wah..) but on that evening, right before talking to our case worker, as we were driving to have a little getaway at the beach, it occurred to me.. that's the exact paperwork we'd need to re-do if we wanted to change our child preference profile. Eureka!!! Lightning had just struck my brain!! We already knew we wanted to adopt from Ethiopia more than once, why not just do it at the same time?!? And the moment I had that thought, and I shared it with my husband, it was all over :) We were like the Grinch, our hearts grew 2 sizes, we now had two children waiting for us in Ethiopia, and there was no looking back!!!

I'm suddenly reminded of this post that I wrote so long ago:

"But as we were walking out I asked him (very dramatically) if he ever felt like he just HAD to have everything we see that's from Ethiopia, and he very sweetly replied "Nope, I just need one thing from Ethiopia." "Or two," I said. "Or two," he replied. "Or three," I whispered. :)"

... little did we know!!!

All glory to God, who put us on hold for a moment, so the love in our home could increase for a lifetime!!! He knew what He was doing, he knew what we needed. He cares about us, and loves to give us good gifts. I will trust Him all the days of my life!!!


Unofficial Wait List Stats:
-56th overall (-4 families on hold, so really we're 52nd)
-27th of those open to siblings in the same age range as us (-3 families on hold, so really we're 24th)
-15th of those specifically asking for siblings in the same age range as us (-2 families on hold, so really we're 13th)
-The longest waiting families have been waiting 16 months for a referral, as opposed to the 7.5 months people were waiting when we first started the process, but this delay is in the name of higher ethical standards, and we fully support the Ethiopian government's new added precautions.

Where I've Been

Last week I went to Young Lives Camp at Lake Champion with 5 girls, 3 babies, 2 other mentors, and a volunteer driver! It was AWESOME!!! Young Lives is an outreach ministry to teen mothers that I have the honor to be a part of. We dive into these girls lives, try to love on them the way that God has loved us, and eventually we have the opportunity to tell them all about how much God loves them, and what Jesus has done to restore them to Himself. It's crazy fun!!! Camp is an opportunity to get these young mamas away from day to day life, have them try new things, and lay out the gospel for them to consider in as simple a way as possible. It's super intense, it's super special, and I'm completely thankful to be a part of it!!

Next week... Vacation week with the fam!!!

Summer visitors!!!

July has already been super-full of fun. First, my blog-friend-turned-real-friend came with her kiddos, and we hit up the beach for a day, which was awesome!!! Their family is preparing to go to Ethiopia for their first trip, to meet their son and go to court, and we're all praying hard core that they would pass so they can bring their baby boy home before the rainy season. Thanks for making the drive!! The double-family annual beach day is established, now all we need are those husbands and Ethiopian babies of ours to come :)

Next up, a visit from my college roommate and bestie. She and her husband came to the beach as well, and we had a week of reconnecting and special fun activities!! Doughnuts on the boardwalk, beachin' it, arcade games, paddle boating, it was super-special!!!

 

 

We can't wait for the rest of our summer visitors to come as well! We LOVE living at the beach!!!

Bring on the social workers :)

Either I always have fresh flowers on the counter and cookies in the oven, or... we have our HOME STUDY TODAY!!!!

 

 

Family Pics

 Last weekend we went to a cousin's wedding in Hot-lanta, GA!! It was beautiful and a whole lot of fun!!

Me, him and my beautiful sister-in-law

The fam, all together :)

The lovely bride and groom

Home Study: Take 2

Because I promised my sister pictures of our new apartment, and because we have our home study update scheduled for Thursday, and because this is one of the last 2 things we need before we can get back on the wait list(!!!)... I present to you, our home, complete with the beginnings of a nursery :)

 

 My sisters have continued to send me flags for every month that we've been "waiting" since the original wait list date last June. Since we begin a new year this month, I get new fabrics :) Here's to getting wait listed in July and high hopes for this year!!!