Nursery (phase one)

The concept for our nursery started from a purchase we made on our last overseas trip. This baby quilt was made by the beautiful hands of the hardworking women of Tanzania. We loved the patterns and colors and decided to use it as a centerpiece for the room.

We painted the room pale yellow and used various fabrics in navy blue and burnt orange.

My mom generously offered to make the bedding and curtains. They turned out just as we had hoped!

We saw the tree decal on my sister's favorite web site: Etsy.com...."the world's most vibrant handmade marketplace."

The dresser was purchased from Craigslist and lovingly sanded and painted by Jeremy.

The shelf is already looking great thanks to many of our friends and family who have given us books and toys for our future child.

So excited to fill this room with a little bundle of joy!

10 months

Who would have thought the time could go by so fast yet seem like it has been forever since we sent our documents to Ethiopia. We have been doing all we can to be patient and stay busy with work, church, family and friends but our minds continue to go back to our child we have yet to meet. While thinking about our future child, questions about the biological parents also come to mind. Are the mom and dad still together? Do they have other children? How old are they? What is their living situation? And what about the mother….Is she pregnant now? Does she have enough food to eat? Will she make it though childbirth? Does she know she won’t raise her child? It brings such a whirlwind of emotions. The reality of the situation hits hard. Although, this month, we have been waiting 10 months to be matched with our child, our pain in waiting is nothing in comparison to the other parents in this story. Generally, I think of adoption as beautiful, but it is also more than that. It is complicated. It begins with tragedy. How I mourn for the family of our future child because I know their loss is our gain. Terrible sorrow will take place in their lives. That is not beautiful. We pray from our child’s family often, for the health of the mother, for their living situation and other children in the family. Most of all we pray that the Lord has provided them an opportunity to hear about His Son, and they have responded with open hearts.

Adoption saves lives and gives opportunities, but it also involves great loss. For us – the loss of the traditional family, loss of the experiences of pregnancy and labor for our first child. Even more for our child – loss of family, loss of culture and loss of identity. International adoption requires more than just love. We must be committed to the best interest of our child as their educator, counselor and advocate. To the best of our ability we want to learn about Ethiopia. We would like to know about his or her family and the customs they will be born into. It is our desire to incorporate as much of this knowledge as possible in the raising of our children. We look forward to the day when we will bring him or her back to their birthplace.

So we continue our study of the land of our firstborn. We are eager in learning all about the people, the food and the traditions before we even step one foot onto the soil of Ethiopia. Did you know in Ethiopia when children lose a baby tooth, they don't put it under their pillow for the tooth fairy? Instead, children throw their baby tooth on the roof of their house and sing a song to a special bird. The bird then flies to pick it up and in return will give the child a brand new shining tooth. Check out the song!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8-Y1kSiqWw&feature=youtu.be

Actively waiting

This whole process started about a year ago when we attended a local seminar about adoption. We have told many people that we already knew at this point we would adopt, but never thought it would be this soon. Twelve months have passed since then and we have yet to receive our referral (see post from Nov. 14th 2010 for our definition of referral since it is very different than what they hand out for misbehavior in school!). During this waiting period we have taken time to pray for patience and God has blessed us with this ability beyond our own human capabilities. There have been times that we have wanted the process to move faster but we know it is in God’s control. A friend recently told Megan about a term they have been using in their lives: actively waiting. We have started to use that same term to describe the current stage of our lives. Yes, we are waiting for our child to enter our lives but it doesn’t mean that everything else is at a standstill. We are working at our jobs, doing ministry in the church, hanging out with family and making time for fun too....we recently went to prom (as chaperones of course!) During this waiting phase we have also painted the baby’s room, started refinishing a dresser and read a several books on adoption. We have been able to stay busy and yet still prepare just like any other expectant parents.

Thank you, Father, for granting us patience during this whole adoption process. Thank you for showing us that because we have this time of waiting we are already growing in our future role as parents. We know that you have the perfect child for us and we know that if waiting is what we have to do then we will do so while actively pursing you.

Say a prayer

Although this is probably not a breaking story that will be aired on tonight’s world news - it is very close to our hearts and we ask for your prayers. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) has stated a desire to reduce the number of recommendation letters they write each day for families in the court process. Although some of the details still remain unclear, as of March 10, 2011 the MOWCYA will reduce the number of adoption cases it processes down to five per day. Our hearts desire is what is best for the children of Ethiopia and we believe that every child deserves a family. What we know for sure is that we have been called to build our family through adoption. We know that God is bigger. We also know that His plan may not look like our plan. All we can do is pray, trust and rest in Him who is in control of everything.

For more information:

http://adoption.state.gov/news/ethiopia_alert.html
http://adoptedbydesign.typepad.com/

Now what?

Nov 25, 2010 2:26 PMDeliveredKIRKOS SUB-CITY, ADDIS ABABA ET - while most of us were enjoying turkey on Thanksgiving day...our dossier was delivered to Ethiopia. Now that is something to be THANKFUL for!

Just realized how long it has been since we have posted an adoption update…

Recently we have been getting many questions from friends and family about the current status of our adoption. There is not much news to tell. We are in the waiting phase of the adoption process. Unbelievably we are not feeling anxious (at least not yet!). Rather, we are using this time to prepare ourselves for a huge life change – our family of two becoming a family of three. It is a thought that is both exciting and scary. We are reading books on the ins and outs of adoption. There is still so much to learn! We expect to have more information and a referral sometime in the early months of summer.

In the little free time that we have left we are beginning to plan our baby nursery. This is a step that has caused the adoption to feel more “real”. We are preparing a room for our future son or daughter! So far we have been given a hand-me-down crib from our brother and sister-in-law. We purchased a dresser this week from Craigslist that we plan on giving a facelift with paint and new hardware….pictures to come in our next blog.

Once again, thanks for your kind words, thoughtful prayers and many other expressions of support.

Ethiopian Food…MMMMMMMMMM

Ethiopian food is messy! Our experience eating Ethiopian food on Friday made for an interesting date night. We decided to celebrate the completion of our adoption paperwork by going out for Ethiopian food - a delicious way to finish the last fives months of our paperchase. This was our first experience of many to come and we both enjoyed it (We highly recommend Queen of Sheba on MLK in Portland!). Below you will see a picture of the dishes we ordered. They bring all the food ordered out on one plate and you use the pancake looking bread (injera) to scoop up the food and eat it. Ethiopian meals are eaten without utensils. Injera is made in large circles and placed on the bottom of a large tray. Various stews are spooned on top in small mounds. To eat, pieces are torn off of extra injera and used to scoop up the food. Injera is made from a fermented sourdough batter. In this way, it has a slightly tangy flavor and a light and airy texture. It is traditionally made from a grain called teff, a staple in Ethiopia.

Jeremy was cleaning his hands after every bite while Megan just dove right in and ate like a pro. We had a great evening while enjoying a new experience together and talking about the next steps in our adoption process.

You might be asking what the next steps are :) Our paperwork is currently in Virginia and we be reviewed by Emily (our family coordinator) and two others from her office this week. They will then ship the documents to Ethiopia on Friday November 19th! Once accepted, our names will be put on the list of adoptive parents. We will be notified when we are the next on the list and then we will receive a referral. A referral is a picture and medical information of the child that God has chosen for us. Please be praying for patience during this process and preparation as we expect it to take at least 6 months. We feel so blessed to be on this journey together and to have such great support from our family and friends.

Something to think about

Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
James 1:27

Wow. Kind of takes the air out of you for a moment, right? God is serious about us needing to care for the vulnerable populations. To be obedient we need to be looking after orphans and widows. Don’t get us wrong….we do not think that everyone should feel obligated to adopt. Adoption is just one of the many ways that we can care for those who can’t care for themselves. My sister and brother-in-law support a child overseas by giving financially to a reputable organization. Our church has set-up a partnership with an orphanage in India to make it easy for members to support children with specific needs. The money sent to the orphanage pays for meals, school supplies, medical care, housing and clothes. Along with the partnership in India, our church has also partnered with OWT (Orphans and Widows of Tanzania). These are just a few examples of ways that we can respond to the above passage.

As for us, we feel God has put adoption in our life as an answer to this call in James. Will we stop there? No way!! We continue to watch for opportunities that arise to help those around us and we will make international missions a priority for our family.

Ultimately we all have to deal with how we are answering the call that God has put on our lives. In working in the hospital I meet many widows, some have family who care for them but many do not. Do you have an elderly neighbor that needs some repairs done on their house or just wants a friend to chat with over a cup of tea?

We would love to hear the ways you are responding to the needs of orphans and widows…