while we wait

When we first transitioned to the wait list, our case manage encouraged us to stay busy while we wait. It is good advice because waiting can be hard. It seems like all you do is wait. You honestly don't have a clear understanding of when the waiting is going to come to an end.

My emotions and thoughts during this process have such a huge extreme. Sometimes I feel like we are never going to get off the wait list and the adoption process does not feel very real. Sometimes I think it is going to come to an end quickly. Currently, I can't imagine all the changes in our lives.

I generally embrace the life in the present and trust that God has the ability to prepare me for the future. I really believe that if I do what God has asked me to do, He can order the future. I am not going to change my approach to life but sometimes I wonder how we are going to do it.

What will our life look like as a family?
How do we continue to do what God has for us at Louisiana Tech and be a family?
How will we keep the house cleaned, the laundry done and everyone feed?
What does God have for us?

I don't have the answers to the questions but I trust God through the process. I also think they are normal questions for people to ask.

Here is a picture of how we have been doing while "keeping busy". It is the group picture from the Chi Alpha Fall Breakaway...we have amazing students at Tech.

FBI clearance again?

This upcoming month is going to be pretty busy for us with the adoption. We are needing to update our home study. The length a home study stays valid depends on your state of residence. Louisiana is only valid for one year, so we are back getting documentation, letters of references, and the FBI clearance again. If you wrote a reference for us the first time, watch out...you will probably be getting a phone call soon. I am hoping that some of them go smoother the second time around, since I am pretty busy with Chi Alpha.

We also got some new numbers on the wait list. We are 34 on the girl's list and 23 on the boy's list...so we are moving up that and working our way through paperwork. I now have gained another appreciation of moving up the list, less paperwork has to get re done.

how is it July already?

I find when summer finally comes, it flies by. I am not sure where the month of June went because it is already July. I know the month of June was jammed packed with a lot of different activities.

I started the month in San Francisco working with the SF Rescue Mission. I took five Chi Alpha students and it was a wonderful trip. I love serving the inner city and the people in the Tenderloin. I was grateful for the opportunity to go back.

Leland visited Kansas with his dad at the beginning of the month. They visited the area his dad grew up and took lots of pictures. It was a great time for Leland to just enjoy the open prairie and time with his dad.

In June, I also celebrated the one year anniversary of injuring my arms. The past year I have struggle with tendinitis in both of arms and I know this is not a normal thing to celebrate. Leland and I have had many up and downs through it all. It has definitely not been fun to struggle with pain but I can definitely see the blessings because of how God has worked in my life. I have learned to set limits for myself and ask for help. Leland has been an amazing support for me through all of this. We long for a time when I go back to "normal"... but for now we enjoy the progress. We also come up with creative ways to help reduce the possibility injuring myself.

One of the things we have done to help me gain mobility was selling the Vibe. I enjoyed the Vibe and had a lot of fun driving it. The only problem we had with the Vibe was that it hurt for me to drive. We made the hard decision to replace the Vibe with the Vue. The process of finding a car was definitely not fun. The car shopping journey ended in a different direction than expected but it has been amazing to see change in my mobility. We recognize that it is the perfect car for us, because it is so easy for me to drive.

Finally, I thought it might be good to share our latest numbers on the wait list. The list moves slower than we would like but we know that God is in control. We also know that the wait is worth it. We are 41 on the girls list and 29 on the boys list. For now we only have numbers to understand our process in the adoption, eventually a child will have a permanent family and it will be all worth it.

keeping busy

When we first got on the wait list for the adoption, we were told to keep busy. Our adoption agency said the waiting can be challenging if it is your primary focus. Things move at their own pace and it is a continual reminder that we are not in control.

As the school year is coming to a close, I am reminded that our adoption agency contacted me at the beginning of the years first major event to tell me that they had all our paperwork. It was during that event they encouraged me to keep busy. I was thinking, I am at an event where we are feeding 300 people...I think I can keep busy.

I am always amazed how fast the school years fly by. The seniors have graduated and the students are gone for the summer. And I am writing an update to inform you about the wait list numbers.

We are 31 on the boys list and 41 on the girls list.

At times the wait list is moving slower than we would like but we are okay keeping busy with what God has asked us to do while we wait.

adoption update

Many people have been asking us how things are going with the adoption and if there are any changes. I am sorry it has taken us so long to respond and post another blog.

The truth is that nothing has really changed with Ethiopian adoption. Ethiopian adoption is still moving forward as it was before they made the statement they were going to reduce their cases to 5 a day. Ethiopia does not operate like the United States, at times official statements will be made and not implemented. Fortunately, this appears to be the case here.

This is exciting because it means that children are still being placed with families. The process has slowed down some but there is no concrete definition of how long it will take. It is an answer to prayer and it is exciting to see things move forward.

Right now we are 46 on the girls list and 33 on the boys list. We have no idea how long it will be until we get a referral. We know that we are on God's timeline. Thank you for loving us along this journey.

truth in the unknown

The last couple of days have been interesting with unknowns with adoption in Ethiopia (please read the previous blog to learn about the circumstances, it is important). We have gained a better understanding of why people call adoption an emotional roller coaster. In the midst of all the unknowns I have been reminded of what I know is true.

The helpless put their trust in you.
You defend the orphans.
Psalm 10:14

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18

God is the defender of the orphans.

I choose to trust that God defends the orphans. God cares more than I do for the orphans. He knows each orphan's name. He knows their need. His heart breaks when they hurt. God passionately loves them.

The word of God says, "He defends the cause of the fatherless." I choose to trust God. I believe God is defending the orphans in Ethiopia and all over the world.

Call to action

Yesterday, I was hopeful for our monthly update on our wait list numbers and instead we got a very different update. Please read through the blog. This is heavy on our hearts. Please also sign the petition that's mentioned.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) has announced a proposal to decrease the number of adoptions they will process and approve — by as much as 90%. They are planning to accomplish this decrease by limiting the number of approved cases to only 5 per working day. This change is currently set to begin on March 10, 2011.

The announcement of the proposal was very recent and no one knows exactly how these proposed changes will be implemented nor the full impact on Ethiopian adoption. We also do not know the impacts it will bring for us as a family.

To attempt to counteract this proposal, the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) has put a “Call to Action” in place. JCICS is an advocacy organization for families and agencies in the field of international adoption. Over the last few years JCICS have been very involved in Ethiopia and the result of this involvement has been very positive.

Please sign the petition and forward the information along to people. Many people care about Ethiopian adoption but are not informed of the situation.

Sign the petition to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi – and pass it on!

in the last two months

One can easily determine how busy Leland and I are by how frequently the blog gets updated. I thinking I should update and then life gets moving. Since we last updated much has happened.

Here are a couple of the highlights (not chronologically):
Jessica and Daniel had their fourth child. Joel Patrick was born on November 11th. We can't wait to meet him.

We were able to spend Christmas with Leland's parents in Ruston.

We went to Washington and Vancouver BC. We enjoyed the cooler temperatures and familiar environment.

We were able to see lots of family and friends when we were in Western Washington. It was great to be there and catch up with so many people we love.

We have also gotten three new numbers on the wait list for the adoption since we last updated. The progress is not as fast as people would like but we are continually moving in the right direction and we are okay with it. Right now we are 64 on the girl list and 46 on the boy list.

Hopefully, it will not be two months between updates next time.