Waiting for Court

I never thought about how excited I would be to hear, "You have been submitted to court."  I am ecstatic and can't wait until I get the call that says your court date is on ???? day.  We are so close to court closures that I don't know if it will be before or after the courts close.  You ask why do courts close in Ethiopia. It is because the rains are so bad that it washes the roads away and people can't travel.  It is so hard for us in America to wrap our heads around it because our roads are paved.  We are such a blessed and spoiled nation!

So as we wait for a court date, we are praying for these specific things and would love for you to join us:

1) We would have a court date before closures and pass the first time.  50% of families don't pass the first time.

2) The birth mother would be located and would attend court.  We really want her to be in court because we really want to talk to her about what she most desires for our daughter.

3) For Ella's continued health.  It is winter there now and she has already been sick with a cold and chicken pox.  Pray that God would keep her healthy.

I think that is it for now.  We appreciate all your prayers!

Turning Donuts into Cash

We embarked on yet another fundraising journey this past weekend and I am happy to say that God can turn anything into cash when you ask him.

I know a Krispy Kreme fundraiser probably sounds weird to most people but here in Artesia, Krispy Kremes are a big deal and usually bring in a lot of money.  So we thought, why not - we could do this to raise funds for our girl.  A very good friend of mine, Rachel, and I went to Lubbock, TX on Friday night.  We did a little scrapbook shopping and then had a nice dinner.  We spent the night and got up super early (4 am New Mexico time) and went to the Krispy Kreme donut shop.  We loaded 400,  yes 400, dozen donuts into my Suburban and drove to Artesia.  I had people waiting on me at the church when I got there. People waiting to buy donuts and so I thought, "This is gonna be great! We will get these donuts sold by noon and then we can do something fun."  It was also Gus Macker weekend in Artesia and I figured that we would have lots of people buying donuts before the games.  I was wrong!  It was a slow going Saturday selling donuts!  We had three different "stations" in Artesia and it took us until noon to break even.  Our break even point was $1550.  At noon, we finally met it! Praise Jesus - that was a huge relief!  We could not have made it that far without help from our friends.  Thank you Krafts and Caseys! You both rock!!!

We continued selling donuts all day.  We were sunburned, hot, thirsty, and tired of donuts!  Around 2:30, I counted the money and we were up about $367 profit.  An hour and a half later, we were up to $900.  Around 4:30, we called it quits and went home to rest.  We had 154 dozen donuts left to sell.  How were we going to get rid of them?  We went to Roswell and sold 4 boxes! If it would not have been for a nice donation, that would have been a wasted trip!  On the way back from Roswell as we were deciding how to get rid of these donuts, we decided to donate some to Harvest Fellowship for Sunday services and took the rest to our church.  At that point, we didn't care if we were paid for them - we just didn't want them to go to waste.  After all was said and done, we made $1523 in donut sales! Thank you Jesus!

We prayed often Saturday especially since sales were so slow.  At one point, it had been quite a while since anyone had come to buy donuts so I asked Garrett if he wanted to pray.  He said yes and I asked him if he wanted to pray or if he wanted me to.  He said he would.  We held hands on Main Street in our church parking lot as my 8 year old prayed that Jesus would helps us sell the donuts.  He said, "Dear Jesus, please help people to come buy these donuts.  We need to raise money so we can get Ella home.  We need the money to get on the plane so my sister can come home.  We know you can do it Jesus so just bring the people to us.  Amen."  As soon as we said "amen," a truck came into the church parking lot and bought donuts.  As the truck was pulling in, Garrett said, "Mom, Jesus turned them around and had them come buy donuts."  I started crying as I was telling Jesus how sorry I was that I had not trusted Him with this fundraiser.  As I sat there, I wondered how many times was I going to be reminded that God has this all taken care of.  I don't need to worry.  He brought us this far, He will bring us the rest of the way.  

Thank you God for using my 8 year old's faith and donuts to bring us closer to bringing Ella home.

Donations for Ethiopia

I am going to be optimistic and start thinking about what kinds of donations we will need for Ethiopia when we travel for court.  I am such a planner and lately there hasn't been much time to plan so I thought I would start now.  If you would like to donate any of these items for us to take with us to Ethiopia, please let me know.  I so appreciate it and so will the kids in Ethiopia.

Snickers

Chocolate

Candy

Granola Bars

Lollipops

Chapstick

Small Packs of Gum

Men’s Athletic Socks

Hand Soap

Wet Wipes

Puppets

Plastic Animals

Family Dolls

Play Dough

Bubbles

Stickers

Toys

Clothes

Formula

Vitamins

Iron supplements

Nonprescription Children’s Medication (cough syrup, baby Tylenol, etc)

Plastic gloves

Crocs New OR Used ALL Sizes

Scrubs New OR Used Small and Medium

WE GOT THE CALL!!!!

We got our long awaited referral call today! Caitlin called about 11:45 am and asked if we would consider lowering our age range.  I told her that we would lower it to 0-18 months.  She said okay and that she had a few things to check on and that she would be calling me back by the end of the week.  a said okay and as soon as I hung up, my thoughts were tomorrow is the end of the week.  I called Brent to let him know that if he got a phone call from 703 area code that he needed to answer it!

Caitlin called back at 1:37 pm and said that this was our referral call.  She got Brent on the phone and then she told us about our baby girl.  We saw her pictures around 4:00 and when we opened them, we were surprised with the most beautiful 6 month old baby girl with the cutest dimples ever!    We love her and can't wait to meet her.  Please pray with us that we have a court date before the closures in August and September.

As soon as we pass court, we can share her beautiful picture with you all.  We love you and keep praying!

My circumstances will not determine my response...

What a hectic, faith testing few weeks it has been!  Too often we let our circumstances determine our response to God.  If I let my circumstances determine my response, I wouldn't have a very good response for Him lately.  You see our family has faced some trials lately and we are refusing to take our eyes of God.  To start off the month of June, we visited Granny over Memorial Day.  She fell and wasn't doing to great.  We came home and early in the morning of June 3, Carolyn called to let us know that Granny was in the hospital and the doctors weren't expecting her to make it.  She passed away later that evening.  We came in that Sunday and had the funeral services.  We did get to see Aunt Lori, Aunt Stacey, Uncle Donnie, Jacob and Jordan so even though we were upset and sad Granny was gone, we did get to see family and that was good.

 

Next up, was getting Garrett ready for camp and Orphan Sunday.  These were both awesome things! I got Garrett ready for camp and we made it through Orphan Sunday (the launch of our ministry).  God did amazing things on Sunday during church and after at our luncheon.  I'm grateful to Jason and Mike for sharing our vision and our passion for orphans.  You know, if we aren't doing anything to care for orphans, how can we call ourselves "the church?"  We had prayed and planned for this day for about a year and we saw great results.  We had cardboard testimonies from people who have been touched by adoption, a great sermon from Jason, you can check it out at here, an awesome lunch with lots of questions and answers from people who have thought about adoption and foster care.  We prayed over Heart Gallery photos of kids in New Mexico who are available for adoption, we prayed over orphans in Swaziland and we prayed for all 147 million orphans worldwide.  All of my packets for foster care were taken and I found out today that people are starting to call my contact at CYFD.  Imagine what would happen if every state's CYFD or DCFS department partnered with the church to rid our nation of orphans?  I'll tell you what would happen, we would get rid of the orphan problem in our nation.  If we could have one family in every four American churches adopt a child, we would have no more kids waiting for homes!  Imagine!!

We got through Sunday and it was amazing! Monday came and I took Garrett to camp.  Ryan is missing his brother like crazy and keeps asking if we can go and get him.  I keep explaining to him that on Friday, we will go and pick him up.  It is quiet at the house.  I am missing Garrett too but I know he is having fun!

Monday evening, I received a phone call from Brent's cousin with bad news.  Carolyn, my sweet mother-in-law, was in the ER and was being admitted to ICU.  She was having pulmonary edema.  I told his cousin to call me with any changes and I would let Brent know about his mom.  I called him at work to tell him, prayed, and went to bed.  About 1:10 this morning, I was woken up by his aunt calling me to let me know that she was not doing well.  I got a hold of Brent at work who called his aunt.  Brent came home from work and was getting ready to take off to Albuquerque.  As he got home to get his stuff, his  aunt called him back and told him that they had stabilized his mom.  He decided to sleep and drive to Albuquerque this morning.  The doctors were able to take his mom off the ventilator this morning (praise God)!  The doctors are thinking that something with her heart is causing her to have pulmonary edema and are going to do a complete work up on her to find out what is wrong.  They are thinking that she might have a blockage in her heart.  I am praying for complete healing for her and wisdom for the doctors.

And while all of this is going on, my father-in-law is in the nursing home/rehab center in Albuquerque trying to get strong enough to get out, my brother-in-law is fighting for our freedom in Afghanistan and we continue to wait to see our daughter's face.  I think if I let my circumstances determine my response to God, it would be to run away from Him because He is allowing all of this to happen.  I know that He allows things to happen so that we can more fully depend on Him.  That is what I am choosing to do!

God, I will keep on running the race you have set for me and I will do it with complete faith that You will pull me through!  Thank you Jesus for giving me perseverance.

6 Months

It is hard to believe, it is now six months that we have been waiting to see your face.  That's a half a year, 180 days that we have been thinking, praying, and waiting! That's a long time.  I am sure that your brothers think this is never going to happen.  I can tell that with each passing day, they are a little bit more ready to see your picture.  They are starting to want to get you things and we don't even know anything about you yet.

We have also been on this wild adoption journey for a year now.  When we started this journey, I did not think that it would be this long or this hard.  I know you will be worth every up and down, every doubt I have had, I know that you will be worth the wait.

Waiting to see you,

Mommy

My Heart Hurts Today....

It has been almost 6 months since our paperwork has been in Ethiopia waiting to be matched with you.  That's a long time to wait to see your face. That's a long time to wait for anything.  I know you are coming and I know I will see your face soon but today it seems far away.  Today, my heart hurts for you and I am just going to give that pain to God.

Father, my heart hurts to see my baby girl today.  I know you know what hurt feels like and so I am giving this to you.  I am leaning on you today because I know you can make it better.  I know that you will reveal her face to me when it is time but today I am feeling as if that time will never come.  In Proverbs 19:21, your word says, "You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."  Father, help me to remember that my plans are not your plans and that when it is your time to show me who my baby is, I will know.  I am giving this to you today and ask  you to take my hurt away.  Thank you Jesus that I can give all my sorrows and worries to you.  Thank you for loving me!  Amen.


So baby girl, until it is the Lord's time to reveal your face to us, I will keep dreaming of you and waiting to see you.  I know that you to are waiting to come home, come to your forever family.  I can't wait until the day you are home and sitting beside me and we are waiting on each other no more.

I love you sweet girl!  Momma