JUNE 5TH

This is our new court date....for the third time. The agency decided that open cases were having a hard time getting heard by the Ethiopian judges. So getting a new court date would force them into hearing our case instead of keeping it open for them to determine when they wanted to look at them. Last week our lady brought 6 open cases before the judge and he yelled at her. There are so many crazy things that happen in third world countries. There seems to be no rhythm-or-reason why certain things do or don't happen.
It had been a difficult couple weeks and I had sorta resolved in my mind that they probably wouldn't be coming home until the end of the summer. Now maybe it will be sooner than I expected......IF we pass this one. We should, our dossier(papers) are signed now and just waiting on the judges approval.
For the first time I feel a little encouraged. So please pray along with us that this will be the last complication in this process and that we can bring these boys home soon. If we pass in June, we will be able to post pictures of our handsome sons! :)
We have also learned that Jonathan and David were NOT abandoned. So we don't have to wait for Ethiopia to lift it's hold on abandonment cases. Hopefully we will be able to get in contact with someone in their family while we are there. Praying in that area as well.
Thanks again for all your prayers and encouragement!!

Thanking God for the Pain & Knowing Him

Lately my mind has felt like the static and fuzziness of a television. My ability to focus has somewhat been paralyzed this past week by the changing news of our adoption. Trying to find a normal rhythm in my life comes and goes. I am attempting to live in today in the fullest way and rest in God for the future....easier said than done!! :)
I've learned a long time ago that pain and hardship is an OK place to be at in my life....for many reasons. Don't get me wrong, I don't like pain and I would rather avoid it if it came my way. But as I have looked back over those difficult times, I see that I have grown spiritually and was the closest to the Lord. Difficulties also helps me to see my sin more clearly. When things aren't going my way, sins can rear their ugly heads that pride has kept subdued over more peaceful times.
Scripture, prayer and theology rich music has continued to encourage me and remind me of what is really important in life. Sovereign Grace has been my mainstay....I love their music. I thought I would quote a few songs that have been relevant for me during this past year.

"Every Day"

"In your grace You know where I walk
You know when I fall
You know all my ways
In Your love I know You allow
What I cannot grasp
To bring You praise

chorus:
Thank You for the trials
For the fire, for the pain
Thank You for the strength
Knowing You have ordained
Every day

Your great power is shown when I'm weak
You help me to see
Your love in this place
Perfect peace if filling my mind
And drawing my heart
To praise You again

Bridge:
In my uncertainty, Your Word is all I need
To know You're with me every day."
*************************************************
"Through the Precious Blood"

"You have ordained every breath we take
In pleasure and pain, there is no mistake
Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand
And suffering brief carry out Your plan
and fleeting sorrows
Will yield an endless prize
When some bright tomorrow
We'll see You with our eyes, and

Chorus:
"Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Through the precious blood of Christ

"Father of lights, Giver of all grace
Your mercies crown our lives all our days
River of Life, quench our thirsty souls
For no true delight does Your love withhold
And in every season
We are satisfied
For just one reason
Christ was crucified, and..."

Bridge:
"All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
Through the precious blood
Through the precious blood."

The verse that I kept going back to last week was:
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the souls who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:22-26

again...thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. They are nuggets of gold for us, thank you!!

Camping and Persevering

We are finally done with our renovations....(a BIG sigh of relief). You know when women get to the end of their pregnancy and get into a nesting mode?? Well, mine was extreme nesting!! We updated 2 bathrooms, the kitchen and got the boy's room ready. With the extra work came the girls having a hard time with the fact that we had to put some of our attention elsewhere. We tried to explain that all this would take a family effort, including them. They did so well and helped us count the days until we were done. We promised them something special at the end if they persevered with us!!
We tried to think of something that they had never done before. This is what we came up with!


We went to Wal-mart to get some "fun" food. Each of them was able to pick one thing. Gracie picked triple choc pudding cups. Allie picked string cheese. We added smores and hot dogs and juice. Let me pause right here and say that Allie adores her marshmellows. She carried them all over the store, in the van and around outside until she was able to open them and roast them. When we got home, all I could here was giggle and sqealing over the idea of camping out in our backyard. Luckily it was cool last night and perfect weather to "camp"(I hate sweating in a tent with no air movement)!!
Both of the girls have perfected the "art of roasting marshmellows". I personally like mine slowly roasted with a golden crust on the outside and melted all the way through. Gracie likes hers that way as well, but Allie is a different story. She quickly pokes her marshmellow down into the fire and waits for it to catch fire, while she is smacking her lips. She gleefully watches it burn for awhile and then blows it out. It doesn't take her very long to stick it in her mouth. She doesn't let it cool down at all. And then she is back to begging for more. I decided to be the "yes" mommy last night and let them eat anything and everything to their heart's content. Needless to say, by the end of our campfire celebration, they couldn't even finish their pudding cups and declared themselves to be so full that they could hardly walk.
The girls slept pretty well last night and Jason and I did our best to get what we could. We were all up by 6:30 this morning, which I thought wasn't too bad, given all the outdoor sounds and the loud birds that decide to start their day's at 4:30-5am. The above picture was taken this morning after they woke up.





This week as been harder than most with waiting to hear something on our case. There seems to be more questions and no answers. My heart is so heavy and I feel like there is a rock weighing it down. Both Jason and I are feeling discouraged and wondering how long this process can be drug out. We should have had them home a long time ago. Things seem to be changing in Ethiopia and it's hard to figure out what kind of waiting period people are having to go through. The courts are taking a lot longer and there is no one to even give us a estimate. This is the first time that Jason and I are both feeling discouraged. Usually one is down and can encourage the other. Our hearts are bursting with anticipation, and love and with missing them. Maybe that is where the weight comes from. I feel like when I do finally get to meet them for the first time or when we bring them home, the flood gates of emotions will erupt. There are already cracks in the dam and I am about ready to burst. I am not sure what is going to come forth though, tears or frustration.
I am reminded of a qhote that says: "we spend too much time listening to ourselves, than preaching to ourselves". I am trying to quench my own doubts and preach to myself the promises of God's word and bathe it in prayer.....Lord give me strength and help me to finish this waiting well.

Crying Abba Father!!

Please listen to this message from Russel Moore on Adoption and our cry of Abba Father!! It will challenge and strengthen your heart and your identity in Jesus Christ. I promise it will be well worth 30 minutes of your day!!

Some Newz is Better Than No News

Adoption Update:
Yesterday marked 5 weeks that our case as been in an open status. Open cases used to takes days to get signed off on from MOWA but has now turned into weeks. Last week Ethiopian ackowledged that they were behind on open cases and were going to designate Wed to hear them. For the last few weeks I have tentively and anxiously waiting to hear something in the middle of the week. Today our agency informed us that our papers had been signed off on from MOWA(ministry of women's affairs). That means it could go directly to court, but another hurdle has come up!!
Ethiopia has been having trouble with a particular agency(not ours) on abandonment cases. So to fill in the loops holes and prevent some those problems, Ethiopia is temporarily suspended all abandonment cases(which includes us). Last year this sort of thing happened with parental reliquishment cases and the suspension was only for a couple weeks. So the good news is our papers are in order and signed off...now we just need to wait for the suspension to lift and hopefully the papers will go to court asap!!!(hopefully)
It has been very trying, having to wait through 2 court dates and an open cases situation for so long. The Lord has given me a peace beyond myself but I am ready for this process to be over and for us to be done with adoption paperwork and waiting.
So our prayer requests is this: pray that Ethiopia can figure out how to fix the problems and reopen all the open cases and that our case and others can be heard quickly. There is more than us that are waiting and it is difficult for all families.
Thank you all for your support and prayers. We feel them!!

Our Big Sunday News...Not What You Think!!

Gracie would like to announce her exciting news. Something she has wanted to see happen for a long long long long time!! ;)
She has lost her FIRST TOOTH. It has been an exciting few days for her as she fervently worked on loosening her tooth. This afternoon she let her mommy do the honors and gave it it's final tug. Gracie's first words were, "hey, it didn't hurt"!!! She quickly ran to the bathroom to see her new longed-for hole in her pearly whites. She has been giddy all this evening. So, we thought we would write a special post just for her!! She already has two adult teeth behind her baby ones. I think we may have a child that will need dental work.
Congrats Gracie, another milestone passed and I am kinda sad.