Whirlwind!!!

I'm writing from a hotel in our nation's capitol, sitting next to Brian.  The past 48 hours have been an absolute WHIRLWIND for us.....

We woke Thursday morning, March 28 to the e-mail we've been praying for: "CASE CLEARED".  Our older daughter cleared Feb 26, and we've been praying for weeks now that our younger daughter would clear Embassy so we could go get them.  But I'm not sure we were truly prepared for our prayers to be answered.

We've surely seen the glory of God on display over and over again throughout the past 13+ months, so I don't know WHY we weren't prepared-- we just weren't.  We hadn't thought through all the logistics of what would happen once we received Embassy clearance, I suppose.

As it turns out, the next 29 hours would be some of the most exhaustive hours of my life!  The emotional high-low-high roller coaster of clearance, appointment requests, figuring out when to leave, booking flights (on super short notice!), and getting packed (remember we have 4 kids at home, too!) just about wiped me out!  But since I'm an adrenaline junkie, the highs carried me through until today, where I've slept on every flight thus far.  :)

We sleep tonight in DC; our direct flight to Ethiopia leaves tomorrow morning at 11am.  We'll arrive Monday at 7:45am ET time; we get to see our girls immediately, and we'll spend our entire time in country with them!!  We will be seen Tuesday, April 2 at 1pm at the US Embassy in Addis Ababba, Ethiopia.  We must wait 48 hours after our appointment to pick up visas to bring our girls home.  We'll leave Thursday night at 10:15 ET to bring our girls home forever.

We'll return to the states Friday, April 5-- arriving in Louisville at 6pm Friday evening.  Even as I type these logistics and update, it all seems quite surreal, like I'm watching someone else play me in some crazy movie.  I'm excited, scared, hopeful, anxious, peaceful and terrified all at the same time.  How is that even possible??!! 

I LOVE being a part of God's story, and I am FOREVER THANKFUL that the Lord has allowed us to be the mom and dad to these 2 girls, as well as our other 4 back home.  He is so kind and merciful to us, and gives us far more than we could ever deserve.  A good friend wrote to me Thursday that she is reminded of God's amazing story in our adoption: it was Christmas when we first met them, and it is Christmas that reveals God's promise to us in the Christ child; it is Easter when we get to bring them home, and it is Easter that reveals the fulfillment of God's promise in the Resurrected Christ!  Our adoption began with a promise, that we'd be their parents, and ends with fulfillment, that we'll bring them home!!!

Thank you again for walking this road with us; this is most definitely NOT the end.... just as a bride prepares for her wedding day, which marks the BEGINNING of the journey, so too does the past 13+ months of preparation mark the BEGINNING of our journey parenting 2 more blessings from the Lord!

Please join us Friday, April 5 at 6pm at the airport for a celebration unlike any other!!  Our family will FINALLY be TOGETHER!!  I can't wait!  :)

Jehoveh Jireh

We stand amazed, yet again, at the AWESOMENESS of our God!  Truly, He is our Jehoveh Jireh-- He has provided completely for our adoption!! 

Final tally is in-- $7,939.74!!!  We are so overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness, we've been praise dancing since Sunday afternoon!  :)

We are so thankful to everyone who donated, came, shopped, worked, hauled, counted, sorted, organized and prayed!!  You can never know-- because words just are not adequate to show-- just how thankful we are for each and every person who has walked alongside us through this journey.  The end of the preparation is in sight, and the REAL JOURNEY BEGINS SOON, once we get them home!

We have received some positive news on our younger daughter's Embassy clearance-- they are working to sort out some missing information, but if all goes well, we hope to be traveling to bring them home by April 5.  WOULD YOU PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING THAT WE RECEIVE CLEARANCE IN TIME TO BOARD A PLAN ON FRIDAY, APRIL 5 (or sooner!)?

As far as we can tell (based solely on estimates for our final trip,) we are COMPLETELY FUNDED through bringing the girls home!!!  WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!  Praise and glory to God ALONE!!

Having said that, we have one final sheet order that we're sending this THURSDAY NIGHT-- we are 3 orders short of a full order, so we're asking if ANYONE needs any sheets to please let me know right away.  This will be the LAST ORDER we send (Lord willing!), so PLEASE check with your contacts and let us know by THURSDAY AT NOON if you need any more sheets.  We'll submit the order Thursday night and should have the sheets before Easter.  (We do know of several families adopting who have begun selling sheets, so we can always point you to one of them if you need sheets after this order. :) )

Lastly, we met a family at our yard sale this past weekend who has begun their own adoption journey, and they have their first fundraiser TODAY at Chick-Fil-A Stonybrook.  So if you're in the area, and can swing in for some chicken, know that you'll be helping another orphan find their forever family!  Please share with EVERYONE you know!! 

Again, all our love and thanks!! 

To God be the glory!!!

Yard sale.... take 2

This Friday and Saturday, we're holding our final fundraiser for our adoption-- another HUGE INDOOR FLEA MARKET STYLE YARD SALE!

Friday, March 15 from 5pm-8pm
Saturday, March 16 from 8am-2pm (1p-2p, everything you can fit into a grocery bag for $1!)

Fern Creek Christian Church
9419 Seatonville Rd, 40291
corner of Seatonville and Bardstown Rd

We have some pretty incredible stuff, including baby furniture, a TANNING BED, beautiful new matching recliners, dinette sets, a cherry computer armoire.... along with TONS OF HOUSEWARES, decorations and clothing for both kids and adults!

We need your help spreading the word!  If you're able, please print and distribute the attached flyer to everyone you know!  Post it at work, kids' schools, at kids' activities, neighborhood association boards, facebook, etc.  PLEASE tell EVERYONE you know and even those you don't!  :)

I am boldly asking God to work out the details for us to board a plane this Sunday to go get our girls.... we need your help to make this final fundraiser successful!  Please pray with us that we'll receive clearance to travel this week, and that the Lord would provide the harvest on this yard sale

Yard sale "flea market" 2013

I'm excited to report that our older daughter, Mihret, has been CLEARED for travel by the US Embassy!  We are eagerly awaiting the same clearance for our younger daughter, Birtukan.  We are praying for a "CASE CLEARED" email this week and would love for you to join us in this prayer!  We will travel to bring them home as soon we receive the second clearance from our gov't to do so.

While we wait and pray, we continue to fundraise.  As you may know, we are holding another INDOOR FLEA MARKET-style YARD SALE in less than 2 weeks.  Our church leadership has graciously allowed us to use the building again, and we have been collecting donations from friends, family, and strangers for the past couple of months.  A HUGE THANKS to those of you who have so generously given items towards our yard sale!  We are AGAIN OVERWHELMED at the sheer volume of donations we've received already!  And even more amazing is the QUALITY of the items we've received!  We have nursery furniture, children's clothing and toys, living room furniture (couches, loveseats, wing chairs, recliners AND occassional tables with plenty of lamps!), household decorations, seasonal decor (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.), bedroom furniture (including mattresses, bed frames and dressers,) exercise equipment, loads of adult clothing (including name-brand women's and men's clothing), computer desks, school desks, household appliances, kitchenwares..... the list literally goes on and on and on!!

PLEASE mark your calendars for FRIDAY, MARCH 15 (5p-8p) and SATURDAY, MARCH 16 (8a-2p).  WE NEED YOUR HELP SPREADING THE WORD!!!  All this stuff is only going to sell if the Lord provides the BUYERS!!  Please, print the attachment and share with your friends, neighbors, work associates, and school mates.  Forward this email to everyone on your contact list.  Share on facebook with your contacts there.  We are praying that the Lord will provide the increase again this year, as He did last year.

We also need help setting up!  All these items are currently packed (quite literally!) into our garage and overflowing into other's garages.  We'll be taking all the items to our church building next THURSDAY, MARCH 14 at 6:30.  We will be unloading, sorting and organizing that evening at 7pm, and pick up sorting/organizing again Friday morning.  If you are available ANY TIME Thursday night, Friday or Saturday, WE'D LOVE YOUR HELP!!!  We were SO BLESSED last year with many hands, and we never would have been able to pull off such a huge event without so many hands and feet helping!  We thank God daily for the people He has put in our lives who have walked with us on our adoption journey! 

If you're able to help Thursday night, Friday or Saturday, please let me know.  I'm starting to get butterflies thinking about how it's all going to go down, but I'm trusting that God has another great event in store for our family and He'll again provide more hands and feet to help provide the harvest!

You cannot ever know this side of Heaven how truly thankful we are for each person who has shared in our story.  This adoption, adding to our family, bringing our girls home-- it NEVER could have happened without the help of so many of you!  So again, my heartfelt thanks for all your love, prayers, support and encouragement over the past year!!

Love,

Six.Long.Weeks...

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written... the waiting is hard, so writing has been the last thing I've wanted to do.

It was 6 weeks ago today that Brian and I stood before the judge in Ethiopia and heard, "They're all yours." 

Six. 

Long. 

Weeks.

I want so much to smile and tell you great news when you ask me how things are going, or if we have any news, or how our girls are.  I want so much to have them here so you can meet them.  They are, quite simply, amazing.

Our was trip six weeks ago.... of course we were excited-- our girls were even more amazing that we'd imagined them to be!  Brian, Ella, Ava and I traveled Dec 23 to Addis Ababba, Ethiopia and first met Mihret (11) and Birtukan (8) on Dec 24, early in the morning.  It was truly love at first sight!  All of our girls immediately gelled.  We were able to spend most of our time there with them.  (The stomach bug that Ella caught on Christmas Eve turned out to be a blessing in disguise; it allowed us to forgo many of the activities they had planned for us, and enabled us to hang out at the Transition Home with our new girls most of the week.)

But close your eyes for a second and imagine if you can: You've just birthed a child (or two!) and been able to spend your entire first week just hugging, cuddling, bonding, loving your child(ren)... and then you're forced to leave them for an unspecified amount of time and not have any contact with them while you're waiting!  That's the nearest I can describe my feelings lately....quite honestly, it just plain sucks.

I am holding tightly to the Lord's promises:

• Habakkuk 2:3-4 (msg)  "And then God answered: 'Write this.  Write what you see.  Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.  This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.  It aches for the coming-- it can hardly wait!  And it doesn't lie.  If it seems slow in coming, wait.  It's on its way.  It will come right on time."
• Psalm 130:5-6 (msg) "I pray to God-- my life a prayer-- and wait for what he'll say and do.  My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching til morning, waiting and watching til morning."
• Psalm 40:1-3 (msg) "I waited and waited and waited for God.  At last He looked; finally He listened.  He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud.  He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip.  He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.  More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God."

I know the Lord is refining me in the midst of this wait... I am learning to live more in the present and to truly appreciate each moment, which is not natural for me.  I ask Jesus daily (sometimes multiple times a day!) for peace, for patience, for resolve to be calm in the midst of my frustration.  I like to plan, to know what's next, to be more in control.  But I know I am not, and so I trust in Him who has proven Himself faithful over and over again throughout our journey. 
We hope that we'll return sometime in March for our US Embassy appointment, which allows us to bring our girls home for good.  But we honestly have no idea when that will happen.  So while we wait, we continue to pray, and we continue to trust in the Lord's timing.

We are planning another large indoor yard sale for March 15-16.  Our church (Fern Creek Christian) has graciously allowed us the use of the building again.  We have plenty of storage space in our garage if you're cleaning things out and want to get rid of stuff now.  We can arrange to pick things up as well.  Remember right around this time last year, as we stood in awe when the Lord took "one man's junk" and turned it into "another man's treasure?"  We raised over $8,000 towards our adoption from the generous donations of friends, family, and even strangers!  We're asking for items large and small, and also for help organizing, setting up, and selling that Friday and Saturday.  (In a perfect world, our girls would be home by the time of the sale!)

And of course, we're always selling sheets!  If you've not gotten a set by now, you're missing out!  We have seriously considered setting up a non-profit organization selling these sheets to bless other families who are considering adopting but won't because of finances.  We'll see what the Lord says about that..... :)  God has blessed our family hundreds of times over through these sheets... who ever would've thought it?!!

We are so grateful to so many who have walked alongside us throughout this journey-- with prayer, encouragement, financial support, and love.  We thank God daily for the blessing each of you are to our family!  Thank for you for being part of our story, and for helping us bring our girls home!
Love,