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,
