Thursday Thoughts

~Our kids think a car with a fin on the back is a race car.

~Ruth has added a baby carrier and a wagon to her list of flip flops, earrings, and rain boots of things she wants when we get to America.

~The Embassy requested another police letter that explains the situation better. It is to be brought "soon".

~Yesterday, the kids and I went to buy some potatoes and bananas from the veggie stand out the front of our gate. As we were standing there waiting for help, a homeless man came up and started talking to us. The guy running the shop told him to go away, but he continued to stand behind us and try to talk to us. We got what we needed and walked away. As we were walking back, John was holding my hand, and he said, "Mommy, that guy was begging for money."

~God is in control. When we got the news that our case wasn't accepted on Tuesday night, I was pretty disappointed. Even Wednesday morning, I was pouting. I decided the kids and I had to find something to do to help the day go by faster. I hopped in the shower hoping it would help me feel somewhat better, I started thinking and realized God really is in control. Our case not getting accepted didn't take Him by surprise. He knows our hearts. He knows we long to bring Ezra home. He knows we miss him and love him. But He loves Ezra even more than we do. He knows what is best for Ezra. And I have to rest in that. I have to.

~We had lunch with Daddy at the hangar again today. The kids are really enjoying it. They got so filthy today, they had to have a shower when we got home.

~The new police letter can be taken to the Embassy any day of the week when CWAE receives it. We don't have to wait for a Tuesday. Yay!

Wordless Wednesday

Submitted, Not Accepted

We got word this evening that our paperwork was submitted to the US Embassy in Addis, but it was not accepted. Sigh. We have no idea what this means. Other than the fear in the back of our minds that now they are going to have to run the ad in the paper for one month. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow what the Embassy expects to be done now.

All in a Sunday Afternoon

Recently we've seen a lot of monkeys in our estate. They like to run along the tops of the houses and play. They are quite entertaining to watch. This one was just across the street from our house. We've seen about 10-15 just down the street the past couple of days.

Sunday afternoon it started raining and storming. Nathan took this picture of the kids looking out the window at the downpour.

Prayer and Praise

Prayer~

Well, you probably all know our biggest prayer request for this week. Please, please, please pray everything goes well at the US Embassy in Addis tomorrow. Our agency has an appointment to take cases to the Embassy in the afternoon so we think that would be between 8-10 am in the US. Pray the people reviewing our case will show grace, use common sense, and clear us to travel to pick up Ezra!

Praise~

Nathan had a bicycle crash last Friday. Praise the Lord he is only sore with a few minor cuts!

We celebrated 9 years of marriage last week!

The Latest

We wanted to be sure to share the latest news we have about our adoption so you can be praying with us.

I received a phone call this afternoon around 5pm from our case manager in NC. He has started calling more often I guess since our case is taking a while. I always wonder whether the reason he's calling is good news or bad news when I see "Call 1" show up on my phone.

He's been trying to get in touch with CWAE yesterday and today to see if they had been able to find anything out from the Police Commander. He called today with the news that they do in fact have a police letter for Ezra. However, it's not a very efficient one, as we all assumed is how it would be. But they are going to submit it with the rest of our documents to the US Embassy in Addis on Tuesday. And as always, they can clear us, or they can request more information. It seems lately the Embassy has been pretty strict on their requirements, but it really doesn't seem like there is any more information to give in our baby's case. Please join us in praying one or both of these requests:

1. the official's eyes who is checking over that portion of our documents will be blinded from any supposed discrepancies and we will be cleared, or
2. they will show grace on our case and clear us.

We will hear their decision on Tuesday or Wednesday. If they clear us, we will most likely get a US Embassy appointment sometime in the next couple of weeks. We should find that out next week as well. At that point, we will start packing up. Our whole family will travel to Addis to pick up Ezra and then we will all travel to the US for our 2 month home assignment before returning to Nairobi. So, we will be busy packing up our things to take with us and also getting our house ready for the possibility of another family staying in while we are gone.

So, please join us in praying for our case. While we know God is in control and knows just what He is doing, the waiting is still hard. We are really ready to pick up our baby and begin our journey with him!! Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! It means a whole lot!!

Hangar Time with Daddy

A few weeks ago Nathan suggested the kids and I start making it a weekly thing to bring a picnic lunch and eat with him at the hangar. This is our second week and we are all really enjoying it!

Objections

We realize God does not call all parents to adopt. But maybe He's calling you. Think about it. Pray about it.

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 9 years of marriage for Nathan and me! What a fun, crazy, wild ride it's been! I'm so thankful for a godly, funny, loving, dedicated Hubby to walk through this life with! I love you, Nathan!!

Wordless Wednesday

Around the House

I have several random pictures that needed to be posted. At least for the grandparents sake. Enjoy.

Ruth really likes the kitchen. They play with it especially well when the playroom is clean. 

Sometimes silence scares me. But when I go looking for the kids and just find them reading their books, it makes my heart smile. 

Dinah has really been enjoying coloring the past few weeks. And usually whatever Dinah likes, John and Ruth do, too. 

The playhouse provides hours of fun every now and then.

Sunday afternoon I walked in from the kitchen and found my boys reading together. :)

Nathan was reading "What do You Say?" and making the fishy face. 

A couple weeks ago Pastor and Sylvia came over for dinner. Pastor was enjoying the playroom. The kids got him to read them a book and he played the harmonica at the same time. He's talented! :)

This was the same day as John sitting on the bean bag reading.

She must have been looking for a good toy.

Awww. These African babies just melt my heart. This is Manasseh, Pastor and Sylvia's newest addition. I tried to keep him, but they wouldn't hear of it. ;) Isn't he precious?

Adoption Update

I suppose I should update you on what is going on with our adoption. Although, we really don't have a clue, our case manager doesn't seem to have a clear picture, and the people in Ethiopia don't seem to have it together either. We know our agencies counterpart in Ethiopia is working on it, but the communication barrier keeps us from fully understanding exactly what is going on. It seems God is the only one who knows. And that's ok with us. What we do know is that there is a bunch of confusion. In Ethiopia and in communicating it to our agency in the US.

You know how they said they need to run an ad in the paper for a month? That still hasn't been done. Apparently the guy in charge of the police station when Ezra was found is no longer working at that police station. There is a new guy in charge and he doesn't seem interested in running the ad or writing the police letter. What we heard yesterday is that someone (we aren't sure whether it is CWAE or someone from the orphanage where Ezra spent several months) is going to higher police officials to see if they can get something done. Again, we aren't sure whether that is to get the ad running or to get the police letter written. It would be totally a.w.e.s.o.m.e if it were the police letter! That would mean our case can be submitted to the Embassy soon.

So you can fully understand what needs to happen for us to be able to go get Ezra...

1. Either the ad needs to start running in the paper or the police letter needs to be written. We have all the other documents, i.e. Ezra's birth certificate, his passport, and his medical evaluation, we need for our case to be submitted to the US Embassy in Addis. The police letter is what is holding us up in our case being submitted.
2. Once our paperwork is submitted to the Embassy (this only happens on Tuesdays for our agency), we wait between 1 and 2 weeks to find out whether they clear us or want more documentation. Obviously we are praying for the latter.
3. Once we are cleared, we will give the Embassy 3 days for Ezra's visa interview and they will pick one and let us know. Then we will book a guest house, airline tickets, pack, and get ready to go get our baby boy!!

Maybe this will help you understand a bit more the remaining portion of our adoption journey so you can help us pray! We are trusting God for His plan and His time. Please pray with us!

Life is Hard

Every little thing that goes wrong seems to throw us off lately. The power going off multiple times in the past few days. A DVD not working. A constant eye twitch. The beans not being cooked all the way when I open up the pressure cooker. A hard day at work for Nathan. The constant beeping of our prepaid power meter telling us we need more credit on it. An email telling us the ad has not started running yet. And the new guy in charge at the police station wanting to "discuss it more with his colleagues."

Then one of the kids comes up for a volunteer hug and kiss. They play together so well these hard days. A chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven tastes delicious. An encouraging email comes reminding us to put our trust in Him and not in this adoption process. A sweet comment comes on facebook recognizing our heart's desire to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

And we are thankful. Thankful for sweet reminders from precious friends who we know are lifting us up in prayer. Thankful that the Lord has seen fit to allow us to parent 3 little blessings. Thankful that He is preparing us to parent an Ethiopian blessing. Thankful that He is molding us and refining us in this wait. Thankful that life is hard, but God is good!

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." ~Galations 6:9

Bargainer in the Making

I find it entertaining to listen to the kids while they are playing and imagining. I enjoy working in the kitchen and listening to them play. This morning, I was working away in the kitchen, and I heard...


Dinah: "60 shillings?"
John: "Yes." 
Dinah: "That's way too much." 
John: "Ok, 100, no 200 shillings." They haven't quite learned that 100 or 200 is more than 60. :)
Dinah: "You need to stop changing your mind."


It made me laugh out loud and smile for quite a while. They are obviously listening when I don't realize they are listening. May I always be mindful of the words that are coming out of my mouth because there are always little ears listening.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." ~ Psalm 19:14

Wordless Wednesday

A Month

So, the word we got yesterday was that the ad has to run in the newspaper for one month. One month. Yep, you read that right. A whole month. And we haven't even gotten confirmation that they have started running it yet. It's all quite confusing and frustrating. So, don't get too anxious for us to get to the US. It looks like it's going to be another 5 or 6 weeks. We realize in reality that it's really not that long. But we miss our baby!

An Adoption Update

Friday night while we were getting the kids ready for bed, my phone rang. I ran downstairs to get it and found it said "call 1" which usually means a call from the US. I answered, and it was our case manager from CWA. He said we needed to "chat". Hmmm.... I asked if we could call back after we had the kids in bed so we could both be in on the conversation. We hurriedly got the kids in bed all the while wondering what could warrant a phone call instead of just an email. We came back downstairs, waited a few minutes for the kids to settle down, and then gave our case manager a call on skype. So... Are you ready for it? You know the police letter that we've been waiting on. Apparently it was never done. The police have decided that instead of writing the letter they are going to place an ad in the local newspaper to try to find out any information regarding our son. Then they will compose a letter stating what they have done to try to find our son's biological family to submit to the Embassy. We have no idea how long they plan on running this ad in the paper. Hopefully we will find that out this week.

Honestly, we understand the purpose. We really do. But we just don't understand why they didn't do this a long time ago instead of just deciding to do it now when we are sooo close to the end. And honestly, we know God is in control. His timing is sovereign. We know that. We really do. But it's still hard. Our hearts hurt. And we miss our Ezra.

So, please join us in praying that:

~this process will be done in the Lord's timing,
~that the days and weeks will pass quickly for us,
~the officials in charge will make this happen quickly and not draw it out,
~the people at the Embassy will accept our paperwork whenever it eventually gets submitted,
~we will continue to be patient and watch the Lord unfold our adoption story.

Thank you all so much for the support you've shown us through this process. All the emails, comments on facebook, and texts mean so much! We have truly felt your love, support, and prayers!

Cheering Up

Yesterday Nathan took the afternoon off since he worked late on Monday. He rode his bike for a while before coming home. And when he got here, he had these beautiful flowers for me! What a sweet Hubby who knew I needed cheering up!

Wordless Wednesday