Update Coming Soon!

It has literally been impossible for me to find the time to update the blog since we left for Ethiopia.  It has been an indescribable two weeks, including a hospital stay with Yakob.   I am going to update this blog very soon, I hope.  It will have to be done in the late or the wee hours, but I do hope to get to it soon.  In the meantime, I leave with you with my boys, Lukas and Yakob!

This is it!

Thank you for praying.  We know that you are!  We can feel your prayers covering us right now.

It is almost unbelievable to me that we will be on our way in less than two days to go get our beautiful sons!

There is not a lot of time for blogging right now.  But I wanted to give you a quick update.  At this point, our agency does not think the birthmother will be able to meet us.  But, we are still praying for that to happen and we will leave it in God's hands.   We are praying the most right now for the boys to be willing to come to us and to know and somehow feel our love for them and that they would feel safe and not scared.  We will only have two to three hours with them at Hannah's Hope before we take them with us - forever.  Wow.

So, we arrive in Addis late Saturday night.
On Sunday in the early afternoon, we have a meeting with the orphanage director, a truly wonderful woman who serves the Lord day in and out.  She will come to the hotel and go over the paperwork with us and the paperwork will finally be completed!  Until we get home, that is...
She will then take us over to Hannah's Hope to meet our boys!  So, please be praying especially at that time.  I think it will be approximately 9:00 a.m. in the United States.    We will then take the boys back to the hotel with us.
Monday morning, we head to the U.S. Embassy to receive the final approval.
Tuesday, we will spend the day in the hotel.  Possible birth family meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday, but not likely.
Wednesday, more of spending time in the hotel.  That evening, we will attend a cultural dinner and get to be treated to a show of Ethiopian singing and dancing.  Can't wait for that!
Thursday, I'm not sure of the timetable, but I think we may have an opportunity to visit the original orphanage that was home to the boys for a very short time.  We will be heading for home late Thursday night - real late.  So, please pray for all of us as we start our journey home around 11:00 p.m.  and pray us all the way home until Friday afternoon.  

That's all, folks!  We will try to update if possible from Addis...

To GOD be the glory!  His will be done.  

"The LORD Himself will go before you.  He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you.  Don't be afraid and don't worry."
Deuteronomy 31:8

To Our Family and Friends...

I copied much of the below from a friend's letter because I really liked what it said and I didn't want to take the time to type it up myself!  We hope that this information will best equip everyone important in our lives to
assist us in laying the strongest and healthiest foundation for our boys - emotionally, physically and spiritually.

In many ways, Lukas and Yakob will be like the children who entered our family through birth; we will parent like other Christian families as we bring all of them up in the instruction and discipline of the Lord. But there will be a few, initial differences. We have researched bonding and attachment in children, especially those coming home through adoption from an orphanage setting.

We are confident of this: God's design is PERFECT! His plan for parents and children is a beautiful and meaningful picture of His love for us. Attachment between a parent and child occurs over time when a baby has a physical or emotional need and communicates that need. The primary caretaker (usually mommy) meets the need and soothes the child. This repeats between a parent and child over and over to create trust within the child for that parent; the baby is hungry, cries in distress, mom nurses and calms the baby - which teaches him that this person is safe and can be trusted. By God's very design, an emotional foundation is laid in the tiniest of babies, which will affect their learning, conscience, growth and future relationships. The security provided by parents will, ultimately, give children a trust for and empathy towards others.

Children who come home through adoption have experienced interruptions in this typical attachment process. The loss of a biological mother and father at an early age can be a major trauma on their little hearts. The good news is that we can now, as Lukas and Yakob's parents and forever family, rebuild attachment and help them heal from these emotional wounds. When the boys come home, they will be overwhelmed. Everything

around them will be new and they will need to learn not just about their new environment, but also about love and family.  The best way for us to form a parent/child bond is to be the ones to hold, snuggle, instruct, soothe and feed them. As this repeats between us, they will be able to learn that parents are safe to trust and to love deeply. We are, essentially, recreating the newborn/parent connection. Once Lukas and Yakob start to establish this important bond, they will then be able to branch out to other, healthy relationships.

Lukas and Yakob will have, what may seem like, a lot of structure, boundaries and close proximity to us. Please know that these decisions are prayerfully and thoughtfully made choices based on research and instruction from trusted adoption mentors. We will be doing what we believe is best to help them heal from those interruptions in attachment as effectively as possible. Why are we telling you all of this? Because you will actually play an awesome and vital role in helping our our boys to settle in, heal, and lay a foundation for the future. There are a few areas in which you can help us:

The first is to set physical boundaries. It will help us immensely if adults limit what is typically considered normal, physical contact with Lukas and Yakob. This will (for a while) include things like holding, and excessive hugging and kissing. Children from orphanage settings are prone to attach too easily to anyone and everyone - which hinders the important, primary relationship with parents. Waving, blowing kisses or high fives are perfectly appropriate and welcomed! The boys should know that the people with whom they interact are our trusted friends.

Another area is redirecting the boys' desire to have their physical and emotional needs met by anyone (including strangers) to having us meet them. Orphans often have so many caretakers that they, as a survival mechanism, become overly charming toward all adults. A child struggling to learn to attach may exhibit indiscriminate affection with people outside of their family unit. It may appear harmless and as if they are "very friendly" but this is actually quite dangerous for the child. To share this is difficult for us because we have snuggled, cared for, fed and loved so many of your children. Please understand that we want nothing more than to have our  boys hugged, cuddled and cherished by ALL of you (we know they are going to be very hard to resist!)   But until they have a firm understanding of family and primary attachments, we would be so grateful if you direct them to us if you see that they are seeking out food, affection or comfort.

We are incredibly blessed to have so many loved ones around us. We couldn't ask for a better extended family circle of friends for our precious Lukas and Yakob.  We would love to talk to any one of you more about any of this or answer any questions that you may have.  You are all so important to us and we can't wait for the boys to get to know you!

Things are moving along well in preparing for the trip.  Making small steps every day.  There is still a large mound of stuff on our bedroom floor that I have bought throughout the week.  I can't wait to sort it and start packing it tomorrow.  We have enjoyed some good conversations and times with the kids.   God has been very present and very available in meeting our needs.   We have received encouragement through many different sources.

One week from right now, we will be on our way to Amsterdam!

"Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
Matthew 6:32-33 (NLT) 

At a Loss

I am finding it difficult to write on the blog right now.  I am at a loss.  I am at a loss for time for sure.  There are a million little details that we are working on to get ready for our trip.  We are trying to make family time a priority.  We don't want to be rushed and stressed up til we leave, so I am trying to make an effort to accomplish several things every day and be in good shape by this time next week.   I want to have some time of quietness and stillness before stepping onto that airplane on Friday afternoon.  I want my kids to see me with peace and calm when we leave.

I am at a loss for words.  I cannot express what my thoughts and emotions are doing right now.  I certainly can't express them to the world.  It seems so private and deep.  I can say that I am experiencing some huge ups and some huge downs.  Satan is attacking.  There is definitely spiritual warfare going on in our family.  I know our Enemy would love nothing more than to fill us with fear and discouragement as we embark on this next leg of our journey.  We have all felt it.  

However, greater is He who is IN us, than he who is in the world.  Much greater.  Victory has already been won. Hallelujah!

God gave me a very specific detail of confirmation last night.  There was no doubt it was from Him.  He prompted me to look in greater detail at some recent paperwork we had received about the boys' case.  As I was intensely scrutinizing the pages, a date on one of them caught my eye.  The date that our boys' birthmother took the very first step in seeking help in finding care for her boys so that she could give them a life where they could grow and prosper, live and be healthy - was TWO DAYS before God moved in Tom's heart to say YES to adoption.

God was there in that moment.  He knew that we weren't ready to adopt yet. So, He opened our eyes.  He made the way for our boys to get to us.  He did it.  It was not from human hands.  He was orchestrating each event in perfect timing.

I'm absolutely sure that He opened Tom's eyes in response to a mother's prayer.  I pray that she knows that her prayers were answered.

We have been told that we will most likely have the privilege of meeting her when we are in Ethiopia.   Despite the difficulty of such a meeting, I pray that it does occur.    Words fail me as I think of this earthshattering event.  Please pray for us in that time.  It should be on Wednesday or Thursday of that week.  We would love to be covered in prayer especially during that time.

Scripture is so real to me.  It is my  hope, my strength, my joy.  Each day, the Word speaks directly to my need and renews me again.  How could anyone live this life without the Word of God speaking truth to each and every need that only God knows about?  The needs that are too deep to speak of.

My youth pastor (and good friend of ours) called a little while ago and said that his girls had been saving up change to give to us before our trip.  They will be delivering it shortly.  Once again, we are so touched and humbled by God's beautiful provision through His people.  What a blessing to our family.

If you want to have a picture of what we will be experiencing day by day while we are gone, my friend and encourager, Cris, who adopted two brothers almost the exact ages of our boys, has blogged their daily experiences while they were in Ethiopia.  I find it very helpful to have a picture of our days and I would love it if you would read it and know specific things to pray for us each day.   You can find her travel journal here.  Just hit the newer post button at the bottom and it will go to the next entry.

We appreciate prayer more than ever.  Please lift us up to the Father whenever He brings us to your minds.

"The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God, the Lord, we have an Everlasting Rock."    AMEN!
Isaiah 26:3-4