We made it!

Hello from Ethiopia! We arrived here Thursday morning after a long flight with a rambunctious 5 year old sitting behin us. Let's just say it was not a restful flight! We put our stuff at the hotel where we are staying and started our first task of getting our phone in working order. After that, we headed to go get sweet Jude! We enjoyed our time at the transition house, loving on others friends babies and talking with judes nanny some. I am so grateful for her, she loves Jude so much! It was her day off and she was there so she could live on him some more and see him off. She's precious, and she will always hold a special place in my heart. We spent the rest of the day loving on our little guy and trying to stay awake. Jude is such a sweet baby, and his personality has developed so much since we were here last! He is very happy for the most part, but is also much more aware than last time. Yesterday, he spent the day staring at us and checking us out.

This morning, he woke up with his cough worsening and he was acting crummy, so we laid low for the first part, and then took him to the doctor this afternoon. He just has a cold, but they gave me something to help with his cough. The hospital we went to had a clinic side and an inpatient side specializing in OB...it was so interesting! I would have loved to go up and see the unit, but that was not something I was going to ask about when I had a crummy baby, a husband, and friend/translator with me!

We are really doing great. If I could adjust to the 9 hour time change, I'd be doing even better! I will add some pictures soon, but I can't figure out how to do it from my iPhone right now...

the next step

I wish I could put down on paper what the past several months have been like, but really there are no words. God has taken us through a journey that I never want to repeat, but that I appreciate so much. This story is not over, and this week, I take another step in faith. I am flying out Tuesday to be with my son until he can come home on that airplane with me. I am praying it is a short trip, but that is not up to me.

Our case was deemed, "not clearly approvable" by the US Embassy, along with 60+ other families. Investigators from the USCIS will look at each of these cases over the next 2 weeks and make a determination on them. We know God has this story in the palm of His hand, we just don't know how it will play out.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we start a new chapter...one that is joyous and painful at the same time. Pray that the investigators find favor with our case and we can come back home quickly. Pray for safety and health for all of us, far and near. Pray that the girls handle this transition okay, that they know how much they are loved, and that I can survive the time without them. Pray for the time that Jude and I will have together, that it may be full of love and bonding.

I will do my best to update this blog with my life in Ethiopia....

pray

I am asking for prayers, once again, for our adoption. I will not get into details on the blog, but I am asking you to pray for our in-country staff. They need strength, wisdom, and guidance in order to finish this. They are working hard for us to get our baby home, and they need the direction that only God can give right now. I feel like they are looking for a needle in a haystack, but I am praying with everything I have that they find that needle. Pray for Jude's continued health and safety. God has called us to this, but He did not say it would be easy. It's not.

"Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me." Psalm 55:17-18

it's official!!!

we have another whitfield!! we passed court on monday and officially became judes parents, and what a great day it was!! we were with 9 families from our agenecy and everyone passed, which was a huge blessing. our time here has been amazing and exhausting all at the same time. i have loved seeing ethiopia and the people that make this great country. my eyes have been opened like never before to the needs of others and how blessed we truly are. while we have been here we have spent time getting to know friends and their children, visiting orphanages, eating great food, seeing the beautiful countryside and the people there, and learning all we can about our new son!

jude is seriously the happiest baby ever, and i am praying he stays that way! neither of my girls get the happiest baby on the block award, but he just might take that title...he laughs all the time and really only cries when he wants a bottle or is tired. we have loved getting to know him and what he is really like, he is an amazing addition to our family, and we could not be more thrilled.

i will post more details about our trip later, but there is our update for now! here is a little picture of our precious son....

oh my!!!!

We are going to court SOON!!! I am so grateful for todays news, and I am so grateful for all of you who have been praying us through this delay. There has been nothing easy about these past 2 months, but God has shown Himself in mightily ways this past week. Miracles!!! As soon as I can put Jude's cute face on this blog, I will! Please pray for some of my friends who have not had the same week I have had, it is heartbreaking what some people are dealing with now. Please also pray for us as we travel across the world to meet our son. I am so excited to hold him in my arms and tell him how loved he is!!!

Praise you in this Storm

I was sure by now

God You would have reached down and wiped our tears away.

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say, "Amen," and it's still raining.

As the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain,

"I am with you."

And as your mercy falls,

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.

I praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands,

for You are who You are, no matter where I am.

And every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand.

You never left my side. And though my heart is torn,

I will praise You in this storm.

(Casting Crowns)

This storm has been hard, too hard at times.

And yet, I will praise the God who is giving me the strength to go another day.

I dont have enough, but He does.

I don't know how this story ends, but He does.

Part of my heart is in Africa and I can't be there, but He is.

And He's on my side.

I was talking to a friend the other day, and I said, "When am I ever going to feel normal again, this has just been so hard." and she said, "I don't think ever, once your eyes are opened, you won't ever be normal again." I have replayed that conversation over and over since then, because, no, I don't think I will be normal again. I am changed. I KNOW hurt, I KNOW begging and pleading to God, I KNOW what it feel like for God to say, "No, not the way you think is best." And yet, I Praise Him, because I KNOW Him like never before.

how...

did Taylor go from this

to this....

and do this today?

I have no idea how that happened, but I want to freeze this girl just how she is. I love my first born so much and am so proud of the little girl she is. I am so honored to be her momma.