The Sign of Hope

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Ezekiel 1:28


And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:8-16


Through days of rain and dreariness comes new hope that the Lord has told us about. Isn't it beautiful. 

Support

I have seen it written or said over and over again, "adoption is not for the faint of heart". It is such a different journey full of many unexpected trials. Through every step though, I have found more and more adoptive parents who have been SO encouraging and helpful to us. There is an amazing network of Christian adoptive families who have been so willing and eager to encourage us every single step of the way. I am so thankful for those God has placed in our path. He knew we would need each other and I have been so blessed by this provision in getting to know others, whether in real life, through blogs, or emails of sweet families who have been on or are on this journey. :)

The Joys of Waiting

Waiting is the name of the game in adoption. Waiting can summon all kinds of emotions. We have felt nervous, anxious, curious, joyful, hopeful, excited, ecstatic, etc.

First you are waiting to finish paperwork (which feels like forever because you want to actually be waiting to see a picture of your child/children). Then you submit the paperwork and you wait. 
You wait until you are to see the faces God placed on your heart. This part made me super anxious because I just kept thinking it could be any day! It was so exciting.

Then we saw those faces that stole our hearts. I have looked at those pictures so many times that I have probably memorized them. We decided on names and we talk about them, pray for them more specifically, know some of their needs and yet we know so little.

So then again, we wait. We wait as we are submitted to court and we wait to hear about the court date, the date on which we will get to meet our children. It is so different for me to think about waiting to met my babies who are getting older by the minute. I am trying so hard not to think about the moments I will miss, but that can be hard.

This part has been the hardest honestly and the most joyous. It has been barely a week since seeing both of our babies faces and yet the time just crawls by. One minute I am super excited and hopeful thinking of hearing their cries, laying them down to sleep, (right now I am even excited thinking about changing their stinky diapers!) looking at baby items, and dreaming of how to do the nursery. Then the next, I worry about where they are. Are they hungry? Are they sick? How long will it be until I get to see them. Over and over the Lord reminds me in my heart that He can take care of them far greater than I can, and I must trust in Him. Oh how the Lord is teaching my heart to trust in Him.

Yet in all of this waiting that seems so hard, I know that one day (hopefully not too far away) all of the waiting won't matter anymore. In fact, I have heard that I will barely even recall it. I have learned a great deal during this waiting. I have learned a lot about adoption processes and the biblical perspective of caring for orphans and doing the Lords will.  I have had to be patient (as well as I could be). Yet I feel my biggest lesson in all of this was in learning to trust God when I didn't have the answers. It has been in learning to trust him when adoption seemed foreign, or when Ethiopian adoptions started slowing down. It was about trusting Him when we knew there would be fees to pay or now that we are praying for our children to stay healthy and be loved. The Lord is so good to us and I greatly appreciate the lessons the Lord has shown me through the blessings of adoption.

We've Seen Their Faces!

And we are in love! We got a referral for a precious 2 month old boy and a 6 month old boy! We can not post pictures of their face here yet. But they are beautiful!!

We decided that we plan to name our 2 month old Judah and our 6 month old will be Silas. :) We are overjoyed and so anxious to be their parents. We do though, ask for your prayers as Silas is really underweight for his age. Judah seems very healthy and so then its really hard to see one baby whose need is much greater. Please pray with us as we will be submitted for a court date in Ethiopia soon. They won't officially be ours until we pass this court date. In our hearts they are ours. Recent delays in Ethiopian adoptions could cause a longer wait but we are really, REALLY praying for a court date before the courts close for over a month due to the rainy season in late August and September. This means we really need a court date before middle August probably. Can I say the word REALLY anymore???

Our court date would be our first trip to Ethiopia when we would get to meet our babies. Because 2 trips to Ethiopia are required now we would have to leave them then and go back about 6 weeks or so later to finally be able to bring them home. We knew we wanted to adopt from Ethiopia because we knew the need was great, and now we know this first hand. As I said before, we covet your prayers for our children and that our adoption would move swiftly. We know that God is in control and I am thankful to be able to find comfort in that.

Like I said, we can not share their faces but I will leave you with a couple of photographs that steal our hearts even without looking into their sweet faces.

 Judah- 2 months

Silas - 6 months