Update: waiting

I realize my posts have been few and far between these days, mostly due to the fact that there is not much to report. Our adoption process has slowed down considerably, and there is nothing we can do but wait. And wait. Many days I have considered hopping on an immediate flight straight to Ethiopia to get my girl home NOW (not that that would actually work, but I can dream). God has placed this daughter in our hearts in such a way that it feels wrong and painful to be so far from her. Worries and fears about her well-being like to cloud my thoughts too, making this wait just plain tough. Through it all though, I must say that God has been so good at responding to my outbursts with grace and reassurance that He IS in control.

We have no control over how long we will be waiting to adopt our daughter and how long she will be waiting for us, but what we can do is use the time we have now WELL. How can we do this? Glad you asked. First of all, by fervent prayer. This long process has intensified our prayers and caused us to lean on Jesus even more. We would love for you to join us covering our daughter in prayers. Among many other things, we pray for her protection and healing in mind, body and soul and that God would bring her home according to His good timing and plan. We ask Him to use everything in her life for her good and His glory.

 This extra time of waiting has also been a time for us to invest in strengthening our family bonds in preparation for a big shock wave when a new sister arrives. I want to be present and enjoy these moments as the family we are right now. I've also been able to take time to start working through issues in my own heart that prevent me from being the parent I want to be. And the stockpile of our little lady's dolls and belongings are growing of course as garage sale season is in full swing. (-:

God is using this time of waiting to grow our roots down deep into Him; I believe in preparation for whatever lies ahead for our family. We are so thankful for your continued support and prayers! xoxo

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit."

-Jeremiah 17:7-8

the journey

Trust God in every part of your story - He is not done yet.

As I look back over our adoption journey, I can see how God was preparing us throughout our lives with different experiences and passions, for this part of our lives. Like how I always wanted to work in a third world orphanage...but God brought the orphanage to my house instead. But it wasn't until the summer of 2012 that our journey actively began. I remember praying that prayer, "God, break my heart for what breaks Yours." He started to reveal so clearly to me His heart for the fatherless, and continued leading us every step of the way to adopt our 10 year old daughter from Ethiopia in 2014. We're now waiting to bring home our 7 year old Ethiopian daughter as well, God willing.


Every stage of this journey has involved taking steps of faith and trusting God to be faithful. And of course, He has been!

There have been great highs. Oh, the excitement and joy of welcoming a new child to our family! We've been learning how to hear God's voice, above all of the other voices. We've felt the peace that comes from following that voice. We've seen His generosity through the giving of so many people. We've seen Him provide all the finances we've needed, even when it looked impossible in my budget plans.

There have also been deep lows. There's the helplessness of waiting, knowing our children are growing up without us. There's the heartbreak of hearing our daughters' stories. And these broken stories invaded our hearts and our home, breaking us as well. There's been plenty of tears and hopeless moments and repentance of my own pride, selfishness, and lack of love. To be honest, the valleys seem much more prevalent than the mountaintops. While I am often tempted to wallow in the pits of self-pity, I can truly say that I am thankful for the gift of the challenges we face in our family. I am utterly dependent on Jesus to grow me in loving like He does, unconditionally and sacrificially.

There are also those rare, peaceful moments in between where we are walking on level ground. Because we trust our good and loving God, we have hope and persevere, knowing that He is writing our family's story and He is not done yet! Though we experience the ups and downs that this journey has taken us on, our Rock that we cling to is never shaken.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,

and there are no grapes on the vines;

even though the olive crop fails,

and the fields lie empty and barren;

even though the flocks die in the fields,

and the cattle barns are empty,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

The Sovereign Lord is my strength!

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

able to tread upon the heights."

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Goal EXCEEDED!

We are so grateful to say that our $2500 matching grant goal has been met! And not just met, but exceeded! With the grant and the generosity of so many of you, we raised a total of $6681.70 so far! Amazing! THANK YOU! We are just humbled and amazed at the kindness and generosity we've seen poured out.

Our faith and trust in the Lord has grown so much as a result of being dependent on Him. I must say I went through a few days of freaking out about the finances after we accepted our daughter's referral. We had wanted to save up and be able to completely finance our next adoption ourselves, but God had different plans. The referral didn't really fall into our little timeline, so we were left being obedient and dependent on Him to provide. After a few days of pointless worrying, I decided just to trust God with all of it. And look what He has done! He has provided $28,000 over the last 4 months for our adoption (through our savings, fundraisers, generous donations, matching grant, Dean's overtime, etc.)! Why did I ever doubt Him? While we aren't big fans of fundraising or asking for money, it has been an encouragement and blessing to see God at work, and to see the beauty of His kindness through His people.

We look forward to seeing what He will continue to do in our story, and thank YOU for being a part of it!

They were so excited about meeting our goal! (or the snow was really cold)