"Sometimes I would like to ask God, why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it... but I'm afraid He might ask me the same question." Anonymous
Monday, February 28, 2011
Severe drought in Horn of Africa
We received this email from World Vision, please consider helping the people in the Horn of Africa.
Dear Sponsor,
Unrelenting drought in the Horn of Africa is threatening the lives of more than 7 million people in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Lack of food and clean water, as well as an increase in disease, have left young children especially vulnerable. Already, families are traveling long distances in search of food and watching helplessly as their livestock waste away.
Your help is needed today to bring emergency food, clean water, and other essential care to children and families in the Horn of Africa. Thanks to government grants, your gift will multiply 6x in impact.
Around the world, food prices surged to an all-time high in January. This, combined with devastating drought, has led to a crisis situation in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. World Vision is on the ground in these countries, supplying life-saving food rations, improving access to clean water, supporting livestock programs, and helping build the resilience of affected communities.
Recent reports indicate that one in three children is malnourished in some areas of this region, and food prices have already risen nearly 300 percent. Please provide a gift that multiplies 6x in impact to feed and care for them today. Go to: www.worldvision.org to donate.
Please support World Vision's efforts to provide food, clean water, and other essential care in the Horn of Africa. Your gift multiplies 6x in impact.
If your sponsored child has been directly affected, it is our policy to notify you as soon as possible as we will continue to monitor the situation. Please pray for the children and families in the Horn of Africa.
In Him,
Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.
www.worldvision.org
Friday, February 25, 2011
We are #6!
We are now #6
on the "unoffical" waiting list for a baby girl!
Our paperwork has been in Ethiopia for 6 months and 1 week as of tomorrow (02/26/11)!
Thank you Jesus for leading the way closer to you and closer to our daughter! We give you all the praise for the movement we have seen this week. Families using American World Adoption Association, our adoption agency, have received court appointments, embassy appointments, and referrals of a 6 month old baby boy and 4 month old baby girl this week. There are several families traveling next week to meet their kids for the first time. God is so good to us! We love watching families move up the list, meet their kids, and finally bring them home. It has been a GOOD week!
Smiling,
Angi & Tim
on the "unoffical" waiting list for a baby girl!
Our paperwork has been in Ethiopia for 6 months and 1 week as of tomorrow (02/26/11)!
Thank you Jesus for leading the way closer to you and closer to our daughter! We give you all the praise for the movement we have seen this week. Families using American World Adoption Association, our adoption agency, have received court appointments, embassy appointments, and referrals of a 6 month old baby boy and 4 month old baby girl this week. There are several families traveling next week to meet their kids for the first time. God is so good to us! We love watching families move up the list, meet their kids, and finally bring them home. It has been a GOOD week!
Smiling,
Angi & Tim
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Our Lost Sheep
*************************** As I sat here struggling to put into words "Why Ethiopia" I came across a verse in the BIble that perfectly explains it. Why does God search for us? I discovered that it is for the same reason we search for Aerie. I can't explain this over-whelming desire to find her. I ask myself "How do I love someone so much that I have never met?" and "How is it I feel her so strongly in my heart?"
Here is the answer...
She is one of ours, she is lost, and we have to find her! Oh... how we will rejoice once we have found her!
So why Ethiopia? Because that is where God told us to go, that is where our daughter is, and that is where we want to be. We want to find her and bring her home. That where we are she might be also.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones shoould be lost.
Matthew 18:10-14
Aerie, by God's grace and power we are coming to you. We love you baby girl, hold on...
Mommy and Daddy
Saturday, February 19, 2011
We are #7 !!!!!!!
Isn't that a beautiful number!
and today we are 6 months DTE
Sweet sweet numbers.
We thank God for his graciousness
and allowing us to be closer to seeing sweet Aerie's face for the first time.
Our agency said that we can expect a referral for Aerie sometime between
7 & 11 months DTE(Dossier to Ethiopia). This means since our paperwork
has been in Ethiopia for 6 months we are over half way through this portion
of the wait :)
Praising God in the wait,
Angi & Tim
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Our paperwork has been in Ethiopia for 6 months...
As a Mother of a child that is unknown to me right now it gives me great comfort to know that God knows her. HE knew her before she ever came to be, HE holds her when we can't and HE still will when we can. HE has the plan for her life and for ours. So, I do not worry because HE is her safety and her shield.
Psalm 139
O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in- behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where do I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths
of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,
O God!
How vast the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand,
When I awake,
I am still with you.
Amen
Psalm 139
O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in- behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where do I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths
of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,
O God!
How vast the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand,
When I awake,
I am still with you.
Amen
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Hole in Our Gospel
"The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns.
Stearns, President of World Vision has written this powerful book. One chapter reads... "One Hundred Crashing Jetliners. Whenever a major jetliner crashes anywhere in the world, it inevitably sets off a worldwide media frenzy covering every aspect of the tragedy. I want you to imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: "One hundred jetliners crash, killing 26,5000." Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, Parliaments, and congress convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy. Think about the avalanche of media coverage that it would ignite around the globe as reporters shared he shocking news and tried to communicate its implications for the world. Air travel would no doubt grind to a halt as governments shut down the airlines and panicked air travelers canceled their trips. The national transportation safety board and FBI, CIA, and local law enforcement agencies and their international equivalents would mobilize investigations and dedicate whatever man-power was required to understand what happened and to prevent it from happening again. Now imagine that the very next day, 100 more planes crashed---------
and 100 more the next, and the next, and the next. It is unimaginable that something this terrible could ever happen. But it did--------and it does. It happened today, and it happened yesterday. But there was no media coverage. No heads of state, parliaments, or congresses stopped what they were doing to address the crisis, and no investigations were launched. Yet more than 26,500 children dies yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today, tomorrow, and the day after that. Almost 10 MILLION children will be dead in the course of a year. So why does the crash of a single plane dominate the front pages of newspapers across the world while the equivalent of 100 planes filled with children crashing daily never reaches our ears? And even though we now have the awareness, the access, and the ability to stop it, why have we chosen not to? Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they are somebody else's."
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he would gathered little did not have too little."
2 Corinthians 8:13-15
Stearns, President of World Vision has written this powerful book. One chapter reads... "One Hundred Crashing Jetliners. Whenever a major jetliner crashes anywhere in the world, it inevitably sets off a worldwide media frenzy covering every aspect of the tragedy. I want you to imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: "One hundred jetliners crash, killing 26,5000." Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, Parliaments, and congress convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy. Think about the avalanche of media coverage that it would ignite around the globe as reporters shared he shocking news and tried to communicate its implications for the world. Air travel would no doubt grind to a halt as governments shut down the airlines and panicked air travelers canceled their trips. The national transportation safety board and FBI, CIA, and local law enforcement agencies and their international equivalents would mobilize investigations and dedicate whatever man-power was required to understand what happened and to prevent it from happening again. Now imagine that the very next day, 100 more planes crashed---------
and 100 more the next, and the next, and the next. It is unimaginable that something this terrible could ever happen. But it did--------and it does. It happened today, and it happened yesterday. But there was no media coverage. No heads of state, parliaments, or congresses stopped what they were doing to address the crisis, and no investigations were launched. Yet more than 26,500 children dies yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today, tomorrow, and the day after that. Almost 10 MILLION children will be dead in the course of a year. So why does the crash of a single plane dominate the front pages of newspapers across the world while the equivalent of 100 planes filled with children crashing daily never reaches our ears? And even though we now have the awareness, the access, and the ability to stop it, why have we chosen not to? Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they are somebody else's."
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he would gathered little did not have too little."
2 Corinthians 8:13-15
Friday, February 11, 2011
Our home is color-blind and colorfully beautiful!
Recently I have realized that I have become color-blind... This is a permanent condition which will never change :) Soon our home will be colorfully beautiful :)
When I see a family I no longer see the color/race differences I see a love that seems to almost make them glow, a glow I can hardly wait to have.
I come from a small town, a mostly white farming community. I remember being little and seeing an African-American person for the first time. As an adult I have friends of many nationalities, but as a child I remember realizing the color difference of our skin. I understand that some people still see a difference. My role in Aerie's life will be to teach her that "Yes, she has more melanin in her skin than I do but we are family."
Our home is color-blind and colorfully beautiful.
Of course we will celebrate her birth culture, but in our home
she will be the beloved daughter of Tim and Angi...
all because God in HIS perfect will has made her so.
God sees the person, the soul. He makes us in beautiful varied shades because he delights in our uniqueness.
I look forward to Heaven when all God's colorful, beautiful people are adorned in HIS presence.
May we all come to see more and more with Christs' eyes and not our own.
May what breaks HIS heart break ours, and may it be in such a way that we no longer sit idle.
May we be HIS hands and HIS feet to HIS children/our children.
Forever grateful for HIS love,
Angi
When I see a family I no longer see the color/race differences I see a love that seems to almost make them glow, a glow I can hardly wait to have.
I come from a small town, a mostly white farming community. I remember being little and seeing an African-American person for the first time. As an adult I have friends of many nationalities, but as a child I remember realizing the color difference of our skin. I understand that some people still see a difference. My role in Aerie's life will be to teach her that "Yes, she has more melanin in her skin than I do but we are family."
Our home is color-blind and colorfully beautiful.
Of course we will celebrate her birth culture, but in our home
she will be the beloved daughter of Tim and Angi...
all because God in HIS perfect will has made her so.
God sees the person, the soul. He makes us in beautiful varied shades because he delights in our uniqueness.
I look forward to Heaven when all God's colorful, beautiful people are adorned in HIS presence.
May we all come to see more and more with Christs' eyes and not our own.
May what breaks HIS heart break ours, and may it be in such a way that we no longer sit idle.
May we be HIS hands and HIS feet to HIS children/our children.
Forever grateful for HIS love,
Angi
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Life with Children...prepare to LAUGH- OUT-LOUD!
Tim and I laughed so hard we cried... thought we all needed a laugh, ENJOY!
A fellow adoptive Mommy Blogger http://www.momastery.blogspot.com/ writes:
Friday, December 3, 2010
Officer Superhero
So...
I’m at Target yesterday with Tish and Amma. We’ve made it through the shopping part and we’re in the check- out line. I can see the Promised Land, which is: We’re Done Shopping, Let’s Go Back Home.
I watch Amma notice a pack of gummi worms. Her eyes widen. I brace for chaos. She grabs the worms, shows them to me with tears already in her eyes and says, “I need dese worms!” I say, “Uh-huh. That’s the curse of Target. It makes me think I need all this junk, too. The Target curse is why you’re not going to college, baby. No gummi worms. Put them down.”
Now. You know I try my hardest to describe my ridiculous little life to you. But there is no way to convey to you the drama that crashed down on poor unsuspecting Target immediately following the word “No.”
Amma threw herself down on the filthy Target floor and screamed like a person who maybe just found out that her entire family had died. Amma’s particular tantrum style is that she chooses one phrase to repeat seven million times at seven million decibels until everyone around her seriously considers homicide or suicide. Yesterday she chose, “I SO HUNGWY! I SO FIRSTY! (SKULL SPLITTING SCREAM.) I SO HUNGWY ! I SO FIRSTY! (SKULL SPLITTING SCREAM.”)
This was a long, crowded line. And every time the line scootched up I had to grab Amma’s hood and drag her forward a few feet while she kicked and screamed, like I do with my luggage in the security lines at the airport. And then Tish started crying because it was all so ridiculous. And so I gritted my teeth and made my scariest face at Tish and growled STOP at her like some kind of movie monster, and this sort of thing does not tend to calm a child down. So she cried harder. People started moving away from us and shoppers were actually stopping by our aisle to stare. I was sweating like I was in a sauna, and wishing the “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” song that was on replay would just end. With the kids jinglebelling and everyone telling you, be of good cheer! Riiiight. My experience exactly.
Up until this point, I kept my head down, but it seemed time to offer my best beleaguered, apologetic, what are you gonna do? looks to the other shoppers, in hopes of receiving some sympathetic looks in return.
But here’s the thing. When I finally looked up, I realized with mounting discomfort that there weren’t gonna be any sympathetic looks. Everyone was staring at me. Every. One. One elderly couple looked so disturbed that the grandmother had her hand over her mouth and was holding tight to her husband’s arm. At first it appeared to be an effort to shield herself from my rabid animals. And I thought, I hear ya lady, they scare me, too. But then I realized that she wasn’t looking disapprovingly at them, she was looking disapprovingly at me. I locked eyes with her and without subtlety, she looked down at my clothes, then to my cart, and then away.
So I did the same thing. Down at myself, then to the cart. Oooooooohhhh, I thought. Shoot.
My stupid Lyme is back, and I’ve been sick for a little while now. Yesterday was a bad Lymie day, and so was Wednesday, so I may have forgotten to shower or brush my hair. For 48 hours. And also, when I looked down I noticed that I still had on my pajama top. Which apparently I had tucked in to my ripped jeans. Like seventh grade. I looked bad. Not like a little bad, like offensively, aggressively bad. And also, here is what was in my cart: 6 large bottles of wine and curtain rods. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if my smallest child would have stopped screaming: “I SO HUNGWY, I SO FIRSTY!”
And since I was so tired and in such a state of self pity - I couldn’t even bring myself to feign sympathy towards my starving, parched child on the floor. Because I wasn’t sympathetic, not even a little bit. I definitely remembered feeding her the previous day. Faker.
But based on all of these things, I decided to forgive the frowny, judgmental lady. I had really left her no other choice.
I resigned myself to suffer through. I stopped trying to help the girls at all. Just left Amma there on the floor screaming and Tish beside her crying and prayed the line would move faster. I am sure there were a lot of people praying that the line would move faster.
All of a sudden, a uniformed police officer started walking toward us. At first I was alarmed and defensive. But he stopped in front of me and smiled warmly and winked at me.
He looked down at the girls and said, “May I?”
I was not sure what he was asking exactly, but I allowed myself to hope that maybe he had a paddy wagon and was planning to take them away. And so I nodded at him.
The police officer patted Amma on the head gently. She looked up at him and stopped mid-scream. She stood up. Tish fell silent and grabbed Amma’s hand. All of a sudden they became a pair of grubby little soldiers. At attention, eyes shining, terrified.
The police officer said, “Hello girls. Have you two ever heard of “disturbing the peace?”
They shook their little heads no.
He smiled and continued, “Well, that means that your mama and all of these people are trying to shop in peace, and you are disturbing them, and you’re not allowed to. Can you try to be more peaceful?”
They nodded their little heads yes.
The officer stood back up and smiled at me. I tried really hard to smile back to show my gratitude.
I noticed that the girls grabbed each other in a bear hug and held on for dear life. It appeared they had lived to die another day.
He said, “Being a parent. It’s a tough gig sometimes.”
For some reason, I became desperate to be perceived by him as something other than a struggling mom, so I blurted out, “I’m also a writer.”
He looked genuinely interested and said, “Really? What do you write”
“Lots of things. Mostly a blog.”
“What’s it about?”
“Parenting, I guess.”
His eyes twinkled and he grinned and said teasingly, “Oh. Does anybody read it?”
And I said, “A few. Mostly for laughs, though. Not for . . . well, advice. Obviously.”
I miraculously found the energy and ability and space and breath to giggle.
And my officer smiled and said the following:
“You know, my wife and I raised six kids, and I think that’s actually the only parenting advice worth a damn. Just try to keep laughing. Try to keep laughing. It’s good advice. You’re doing good, mom.”
Then he tipped his hat to me and my girls, and walked away.
In the end, only kindness matters. Thank you, Officer Superhero. Merry Christmas.
The girls were silent until half way home from Target when Tish announced loudly, “I can’t believe we almost went to jail. We better not tell daddy.”
And I said, “No way. We have to tell him. What if we don’t and then he sees the report on the news tonight?”
More silence.
Joy to the World!
A fellow adoptive Mommy Blogger http://www.momastery.blogspot.com/ writes:
Friday, December 3, 2010
Officer Superhero
So...
I’m at Target yesterday with Tish and Amma. We’ve made it through the shopping part and we’re in the check- out line. I can see the Promised Land, which is: We’re Done Shopping, Let’s Go Back Home.
I watch Amma notice a pack of gummi worms. Her eyes widen. I brace for chaos. She grabs the worms, shows them to me with tears already in her eyes and says, “I need dese worms!” I say, “Uh-huh. That’s the curse of Target. It makes me think I need all this junk, too. The Target curse is why you’re not going to college, baby. No gummi worms. Put them down.”
Now. You know I try my hardest to describe my ridiculous little life to you. But there is no way to convey to you the drama that crashed down on poor unsuspecting Target immediately following the word “No.”
Amma threw herself down on the filthy Target floor and screamed like a person who maybe just found out that her entire family had died. Amma’s particular tantrum style is that she chooses one phrase to repeat seven million times at seven million decibels until everyone around her seriously considers homicide or suicide. Yesterday she chose, “I SO HUNGWY! I SO FIRSTY! (SKULL SPLITTING SCREAM.) I SO HUNGWY ! I SO FIRSTY! (SKULL SPLITTING SCREAM.”)
This was a long, crowded line. And every time the line scootched up I had to grab Amma’s hood and drag her forward a few feet while she kicked and screamed, like I do with my luggage in the security lines at the airport. And then Tish started crying because it was all so ridiculous. And so I gritted my teeth and made my scariest face at Tish and growled STOP at her like some kind of movie monster, and this sort of thing does not tend to calm a child down. So she cried harder. People started moving away from us and shoppers were actually stopping by our aisle to stare. I was sweating like I was in a sauna, and wishing the “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” song that was on replay would just end. With the kids jinglebelling and everyone telling you, be of good cheer! Riiiight. My experience exactly.
Up until this point, I kept my head down, but it seemed time to offer my best beleaguered, apologetic, what are you gonna do? looks to the other shoppers, in hopes of receiving some sympathetic looks in return.
But here’s the thing. When I finally looked up, I realized with mounting discomfort that there weren’t gonna be any sympathetic looks. Everyone was staring at me. Every. One. One elderly couple looked so disturbed that the grandmother had her hand over her mouth and was holding tight to her husband’s arm. At first it appeared to be an effort to shield herself from my rabid animals. And I thought, I hear ya lady, they scare me, too. But then I realized that she wasn’t looking disapprovingly at them, she was looking disapprovingly at me. I locked eyes with her and without subtlety, she looked down at my clothes, then to my cart, and then away.
So I did the same thing. Down at myself, then to the cart. Oooooooohhhh, I thought. Shoot.
My stupid Lyme is back, and I’ve been sick for a little while now. Yesterday was a bad Lymie day, and so was Wednesday, so I may have forgotten to shower or brush my hair. For 48 hours. And also, when I looked down I noticed that I still had on my pajama top. Which apparently I had tucked in to my ripped jeans. Like seventh grade. I looked bad. Not like a little bad, like offensively, aggressively bad. And also, here is what was in my cart: 6 large bottles of wine and curtain rods. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if my smallest child would have stopped screaming: “I SO HUNGWY, I SO FIRSTY!”
And since I was so tired and in such a state of self pity - I couldn’t even bring myself to feign sympathy towards my starving, parched child on the floor. Because I wasn’t sympathetic, not even a little bit. I definitely remembered feeding her the previous day. Faker.
But based on all of these things, I decided to forgive the frowny, judgmental lady. I had really left her no other choice.
I resigned myself to suffer through. I stopped trying to help the girls at all. Just left Amma there on the floor screaming and Tish beside her crying and prayed the line would move faster. I am sure there were a lot of people praying that the line would move faster.
All of a sudden, a uniformed police officer started walking toward us. At first I was alarmed and defensive. But he stopped in front of me and smiled warmly and winked at me.
He looked down at the girls and said, “May I?”
I was not sure what he was asking exactly, but I allowed myself to hope that maybe he had a paddy wagon and was planning to take them away. And so I nodded at him.
The police officer patted Amma on the head gently. She looked up at him and stopped mid-scream. She stood up. Tish fell silent and grabbed Amma’s hand. All of a sudden they became a pair of grubby little soldiers. At attention, eyes shining, terrified.
The police officer said, “Hello girls. Have you two ever heard of “disturbing the peace?”
They shook their little heads no.
He smiled and continued, “Well, that means that your mama and all of these people are trying to shop in peace, and you are disturbing them, and you’re not allowed to. Can you try to be more peaceful?”
They nodded their little heads yes.
The officer stood back up and smiled at me. I tried really hard to smile back to show my gratitude.
I noticed that the girls grabbed each other in a bear hug and held on for dear life. It appeared they had lived to die another day.
He said, “Being a parent. It’s a tough gig sometimes.”
For some reason, I became desperate to be perceived by him as something other than a struggling mom, so I blurted out, “I’m also a writer.”
He looked genuinely interested and said, “Really? What do you write”
“Lots of things. Mostly a blog.”
“What’s it about?”
“Parenting, I guess.”
His eyes twinkled and he grinned and said teasingly, “Oh. Does anybody read it?”
And I said, “A few. Mostly for laughs, though. Not for . . . well, advice. Obviously.”
I miraculously found the energy and ability and space and breath to giggle.
And my officer smiled and said the following:
“You know, my wife and I raised six kids, and I think that’s actually the only parenting advice worth a damn. Just try to keep laughing. Try to keep laughing. It’s good advice. You’re doing good, mom.”
Then he tipped his hat to me and my girls, and walked away.
In the end, only kindness matters. Thank you, Officer Superhero. Merry Christmas.
The girls were silent until half way home from Target when Tish announced loudly, “I can’t believe we almost went to jail. We better not tell daddy.”
And I said, “No way. We have to tell him. What if we don’t and then he sees the report on the news tonight?”
More silence.
Joy to the World!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Another adoptive families journey to their twins...
We want to share this families story with all of you. Their story, of course, will be different than ours but the things they have experienced we will get to experience someday... court-standing before the judge, meeting birth family, holding our baby, and on and on. Enjoy...
Wednesday, January 19, 2011Court and birthmother meeting
January 18, 2011
*some of the names have been changed out of respect for the people in this amazing story.
Today was court day. It was a day that will never be forgotten.
Solomon picked us up at 9:30 this morning and drove us to the courthouse. We drove up to a six story building. It didn’t feel like a courthouse at all…just a regular building filled with offices.
We finally got up to the fifth floor, and walked into a large square room with very little furniture. It was filled with Ethiopians and white foreigners. Most of the Ethiopians were birth families, and the white people were the ones adopting their children.
It was a strange scene to be a part of. In some ways I felt a little guilty. It felt like the Ethiopians were there to experience great loss, but the adoptive families were there to experience great gain. The foreigners were there chatting with each other, and it seemed that the Ethiopians were so quiet.
A large group of adoptive parents finally showed up who were with All God’s Children International. I had met several of the mothers through blogs and facebook. One adoptive mother had a solemn look on her face. and she told me she was worried about meeting with the birth mother, and she was trying to hold it together.
That was the other strange thing….we were sitting in the same room as Alex & Eliana’s birth mother, but we had no idea who she was. I kept scanning the room, looking at different women’s faces, wondering which one might be her. I looked at one and thought, “Maybe that’s her.” She had fair skin and looked young. It wasn’t….
After our first few minutes there, our attorney showed up. She is young and beautiful, and very kind. We sat down by the wall and starting chatting. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her I was a bit nervous. When she asked me why, I told her I was nervous about meeting the birth mother. She responded by saying that we didn’t have to meet her, but of course I knew that we did. It was the most important thing we needed to do. I started crying when I talked about it. Just the thought of the sacrifice she made, and how she must have felt leaving them at the orphanage….it was almost too much for me.
One by one, groups went in and met with the judge. They would be in there for about one minute, and then they would come back out. The entire group of AGCI families came out and said that MOWA still hadn’t gotten the notes written. They looked so disappointed. They were leaving the country without having a solid “pass” from the Ethiopian government. I knew it wouldn’t be as difficult for us since we were staying in country, and we could still spend time with our babies.
At one point during the waiting, our attorney said that the orphanage representative had showed up with the birth mother. My nerves kicked in again and after a while, we eventually knew which one was the birth mother. I tried so hard not to stare in her direction. I didn’t want her to know that I knew who she was. I wanted her to be able to hide…to not hurt. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. Was she sad? Was she relieved? Was she hurting?
As the orphanage representative spoke to our agency representative, the birth mother just sat there solemnly on the other side of the room, staring down at the floor. There were no smiles, and no chitchat, but why would there be? She was saying goodbye to her babies for good.
The room was finally almost empty. It was just us, our attorney, and then the birth mother with the orphanage representative and agency rep. They called the birthmother in first. A minute later she came out and then Wes and I went in.
It was a small room with a few chairs to sit in. At one desk sat a woman who seemed to be the secretary. At the other desk sat the judge. She was a beautiful woman, who exuded a sense of power and grace at the same time. She wore a scarf over her head. She asked us several questions in a voice so quiet that it was hard to hear her.
Have you met the children?
Yes.
You still want to adopt them?
Yes.
Have you taken adoption training?
Yes.
Are you prepared to deal with their identity issues?
Yes. (But is anyone ever really ready for this, though?)
Will you teach them about Ethiopian culture?
Yes.
Do you know other people who have adopted from Ethiopia?
Yes.
And that was that. She didn’t saying anything else to us. We already knew that since the other families hadn’t received their notes from MOWA, we hadn’t either. So we didn’t officially pass today, so they are not officially ours yet.
They told us it would be another 3 weeks (February 7th) before we would hear anything more, which would mean it would be at least another three weeks before we have Alex & Eliana with us 24/7. They will stay in the orphanage until then. And I’ll be honest, both Wes and I are still a bit confused by this. So we are just going to pray for miracles, and hope something changes.
After the judge finished asking us questions, we stood up, exited the office, and entered back into the waiting room. The whole thing took about 2 minutes, literally.
Once we were back in the waiting room we met Meseret, the children’s birth mother. Up close you could see how young she was. She was wearing a pink scarf around her neck, an orange top, with a striped & multi-colored cardigan, and black pin stripe pants. Her skin was dark, and her deep black hair was back in a ponytail.
She was quiet and quite shy. It felt surreal to think that this woman bore our children and brought them into this world. She seemed like a child herself.
I had mentioned to our attorney and agency rep that we wanted to privately talk to Meseret and ask her some questions if she were willing. The head of our agency staff here in Ethiopia was very firm in that she wanted us to go to the office first to have the meeting. At the same time, our agency rep that was with us said that Meseret wanted to go see the babies one last time at the orphanage. We didn’t really know what was going on or where we were going at this point. We were just trying to do what they told us to do.
And then before we knew it, there we were, getting into our car with Solomon, and Meseret was getting in the car with us. I never thought it would go like this, but nothing goes according to plans here. I was so worried about her, hoping that it didn’t hurt too much for her to be in the same place as us. And so we drove to the orphanage. Meseret was in the front passenger side seat. Wes, Cara Dee, and I were in the back.
We arrived at the orphanage about 10 minutes later. All the workers know us there by now, and welcomed us in. They were very confused about Meseret at first. They asked me if she was our friend, and after repeating it several times, they finally understood that she was the birth mother of Alex & Eliana. When the light bulb finally went on, two nannies brought out Alex and Eliana. They handed them to Wes and I first. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I almost felt as if I didn’t have a right to be handed these beautiful children first. Meseret was the one who brought them into this world, and was brave enough to bring them to the orphanage, in hopes that they might have a chance at life. I felt like she deserved all their attention, and yet I was the one they would call mother. It was a very strange and awkward feeling.
After giving Eliana about 10 kisses, I handed her over to Meseret almost immediately. You could see that Meseret was completely taken in by her. Eliana just sat there being her usual smiley self. She was so beautiful sitting there in her birth mother’s lap. She just cooed and smiled at me across the way. Wes sat with Alexander for a little bit before we passed him over to Meseret also.
So there both of them sat on her lap, just as easy going as ever. I snapped several photos while she sat there. I kept thinking how important it was for Alex & Eliana to know what their birthmother looked like. Her skin is much darker than theirs. They both have her ears. Eliana has her nose. I think Alex has her eyes.
While we sat there, we asked a few questions as the director helped translate. We found out that Alexander was born first, and Eliana was born second. He was big, and she was tiny and thin.
She held on to Eliana, and I took Alex and handed him over to Wes. Alex just chilled in Wes’s arms, like it was just the most comfortable place to be. We got the impression that she seemed to favor Eliana more, since she sat with her more, but when we asked her if she favored one over the other, she said that she loved them both very much.
We stayed for about half an hour. We then stepped out of the office into the courtyard, where we took a couple of pictures of Wes and I with Meseret and the twins. It was supremely surreal. There we were smiling as if it was just any other day, and all the while knowing that this was a day of loss for Meseret.
She gave both Alexander and Eliana a final kiss, and that was it. We left the orphanage and headed over to Illien’s offices.
Wes, myself, and Meseret sat down at an office table with Dinkenesh, a nurse and social worker that works for our agency. Dinkenesh told us that we could ask any questions we wanted to. So we started asking away. We learned so many things. Many of these things are too personal to share on a public forum, but we wrote everything down, and will cherish every detail. When Alex & Eliana are old enough we will have the chance to tell them so many things about where they came from. We learned about their maternal and paternal descent. We learned about the day of their birth, and the time they spent with Meseret until the day she brought them to the orphanage.
When we asked her if there was anything she would like them to do when they grew up, she told us that she wanted them to be educated and become doctors. Her only other request was that we raise them as our own. She asked nothing of us but that.
She said that she was sad the day she left them at the orphanage, but that today she was happy because she saw that we were a good family. I asked Dinkenesh to tell her how grateful and thankful we were to her for the wonderful gift she had given us. Honestly, how can you say thank you in a situation like this? There are no right words. Each time I tried, I started crying. I couldn’t talk anymore, and hot tears fell from my face. Again, her loss was our greatest gain. It just didn’t seem fair, and yet at the same time there was nothing I wanted more in this world than to be the mother of Alexander and Eliana.
One detail I will share is about their birth date. We had been given one with their original paperwork, but weren’t sure if it was accurate or not. Many Ethiopians don’t know their birthdays. This is very common. Even Meseret didn’t know her own birthday. But when I asked her when the twins were born, she knew the answer immediately. June 13th. There was no hesitation. Dinkenesh looked at Wes and I and said with a big smile, “You are very lucky! Not many people know the exact day.” Who knew that the knowledge of something as simple as a date of birth could be such a huge and unusual blessing?
At the end of our meeting, I asked Meseret if we could pray for her before we left. She said that she would like that. So Wes and I both grabbed her hand and began to pray over her. I got through about 3 sentences when the tears got the best of me and words would no longer come. Wes continued on with the rest of the prayer. It was a very special moment, and a very difficult one at the same time.
The meeting was over, and I asked Dinkenesh if Meseret had eaten. She said, probably not. I asked if it was possible for us to buy her lunch. So directly after the meeting, we all headed over to a very nice Ethiopian restaurant. There we sat and continued to ask more questions about her life and any other things we thought that Alex and Eliana might want to know some day. I knew this would probably be our last chance, and I didn’t want to forget to ask anything important. We told her about ourselves too, hoping that she would find comfort in knowing who her birth children were going to grow up with.
So there we sat, And in that hour, we shared the same plate of food with the birth mother of our children, in traditional Ethiopian style. I never imagined we would see a day like this.
After the meal was over, I walked over to Meseret, shook her hand, gave her a hug, and kissed her cheek. And then we said goodbye. From there she was taken back to the people who would see her back to her home, a couple of hours away.
It was a day I will never forget. And through all the pain and difficulty of the emotions of such a meeting, I am so grateful for it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Now, we just wait. We supposedly have to wait 20 days for the court to approve things, and then we must wait several more weeks for an embassy date. I continue to believe for miracles in the timing of it all. We will just have to wait and see. All in all, though, I have peace that all will happen at just the right time.
Today we thank God for his goodness and His faithfulness. It has been evident in every step of the way. Thank you God for who you are and for how much you love us. We are in awe of you today.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011Court and birthmother meeting
January 18, 2011
*some of the names have been changed out of respect for the people in this amazing story.
Today was court day. It was a day that will never be forgotten.
Solomon picked us up at 9:30 this morning and drove us to the courthouse. We drove up to a six story building. It didn’t feel like a courthouse at all…just a regular building filled with offices.
We finally got up to the fifth floor, and walked into a large square room with very little furniture. It was filled with Ethiopians and white foreigners. Most of the Ethiopians were birth families, and the white people were the ones adopting their children.
It was a strange scene to be a part of. In some ways I felt a little guilty. It felt like the Ethiopians were there to experience great loss, but the adoptive families were there to experience great gain. The foreigners were there chatting with each other, and it seemed that the Ethiopians were so quiet.
A large group of adoptive parents finally showed up who were with All God’s Children International. I had met several of the mothers through blogs and facebook. One adoptive mother had a solemn look on her face. and she told me she was worried about meeting with the birth mother, and she was trying to hold it together.
That was the other strange thing….we were sitting in the same room as Alex & Eliana’s birth mother, but we had no idea who she was. I kept scanning the room, looking at different women’s faces, wondering which one might be her. I looked at one and thought, “Maybe that’s her.” She had fair skin and looked young. It wasn’t….
After our first few minutes there, our attorney showed up. She is young and beautiful, and very kind. We sat down by the wall and starting chatting. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her I was a bit nervous. When she asked me why, I told her I was nervous about meeting the birth mother. She responded by saying that we didn’t have to meet her, but of course I knew that we did. It was the most important thing we needed to do. I started crying when I talked about it. Just the thought of the sacrifice she made, and how she must have felt leaving them at the orphanage….it was almost too much for me.
One by one, groups went in and met with the judge. They would be in there for about one minute, and then they would come back out. The entire group of AGCI families came out and said that MOWA still hadn’t gotten the notes written. They looked so disappointed. They were leaving the country without having a solid “pass” from the Ethiopian government. I knew it wouldn’t be as difficult for us since we were staying in country, and we could still spend time with our babies.
At one point during the waiting, our attorney said that the orphanage representative had showed up with the birth mother. My nerves kicked in again and after a while, we eventually knew which one was the birth mother. I tried so hard not to stare in her direction. I didn’t want her to know that I knew who she was. I wanted her to be able to hide…to not hurt. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. Was she sad? Was she relieved? Was she hurting?
As the orphanage representative spoke to our agency representative, the birth mother just sat there solemnly on the other side of the room, staring down at the floor. There were no smiles, and no chitchat, but why would there be? She was saying goodbye to her babies for good.
The room was finally almost empty. It was just us, our attorney, and then the birth mother with the orphanage representative and agency rep. They called the birthmother in first. A minute later she came out and then Wes and I went in.
It was a small room with a few chairs to sit in. At one desk sat a woman who seemed to be the secretary. At the other desk sat the judge. She was a beautiful woman, who exuded a sense of power and grace at the same time. She wore a scarf over her head. She asked us several questions in a voice so quiet that it was hard to hear her.
Have you met the children?
Yes.
You still want to adopt them?
Yes.
Have you taken adoption training?
Yes.
Are you prepared to deal with their identity issues?
Yes. (But is anyone ever really ready for this, though?)
Will you teach them about Ethiopian culture?
Yes.
Do you know other people who have adopted from Ethiopia?
Yes.
And that was that. She didn’t saying anything else to us. We already knew that since the other families hadn’t received their notes from MOWA, we hadn’t either. So we didn’t officially pass today, so they are not officially ours yet.
They told us it would be another 3 weeks (February 7th) before we would hear anything more, which would mean it would be at least another three weeks before we have Alex & Eliana with us 24/7. They will stay in the orphanage until then. And I’ll be honest, both Wes and I are still a bit confused by this. So we are just going to pray for miracles, and hope something changes.
After the judge finished asking us questions, we stood up, exited the office, and entered back into the waiting room. The whole thing took about 2 minutes, literally.
Once we were back in the waiting room we met Meseret, the children’s birth mother. Up close you could see how young she was. She was wearing a pink scarf around her neck, an orange top, with a striped & multi-colored cardigan, and black pin stripe pants. Her skin was dark, and her deep black hair was back in a ponytail.
She was quiet and quite shy. It felt surreal to think that this woman bore our children and brought them into this world. She seemed like a child herself.
I had mentioned to our attorney and agency rep that we wanted to privately talk to Meseret and ask her some questions if she were willing. The head of our agency staff here in Ethiopia was very firm in that she wanted us to go to the office first to have the meeting. At the same time, our agency rep that was with us said that Meseret wanted to go see the babies one last time at the orphanage. We didn’t really know what was going on or where we were going at this point. We were just trying to do what they told us to do.
And then before we knew it, there we were, getting into our car with Solomon, and Meseret was getting in the car with us. I never thought it would go like this, but nothing goes according to plans here. I was so worried about her, hoping that it didn’t hurt too much for her to be in the same place as us. And so we drove to the orphanage. Meseret was in the front passenger side seat. Wes, Cara Dee, and I were in the back.
We arrived at the orphanage about 10 minutes later. All the workers know us there by now, and welcomed us in. They were very confused about Meseret at first. They asked me if she was our friend, and after repeating it several times, they finally understood that she was the birth mother of Alex & Eliana. When the light bulb finally went on, two nannies brought out Alex and Eliana. They handed them to Wes and I first. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I almost felt as if I didn’t have a right to be handed these beautiful children first. Meseret was the one who brought them into this world, and was brave enough to bring them to the orphanage, in hopes that they might have a chance at life. I felt like she deserved all their attention, and yet I was the one they would call mother. It was a very strange and awkward feeling.
After giving Eliana about 10 kisses, I handed her over to Meseret almost immediately. You could see that Meseret was completely taken in by her. Eliana just sat there being her usual smiley self. She was so beautiful sitting there in her birth mother’s lap. She just cooed and smiled at me across the way. Wes sat with Alexander for a little bit before we passed him over to Meseret also.
So there both of them sat on her lap, just as easy going as ever. I snapped several photos while she sat there. I kept thinking how important it was for Alex & Eliana to know what their birthmother looked like. Her skin is much darker than theirs. They both have her ears. Eliana has her nose. I think Alex has her eyes.
While we sat there, we asked a few questions as the director helped translate. We found out that Alexander was born first, and Eliana was born second. He was big, and she was tiny and thin.
She held on to Eliana, and I took Alex and handed him over to Wes. Alex just chilled in Wes’s arms, like it was just the most comfortable place to be. We got the impression that she seemed to favor Eliana more, since she sat with her more, but when we asked her if she favored one over the other, she said that she loved them both very much.
We stayed for about half an hour. We then stepped out of the office into the courtyard, where we took a couple of pictures of Wes and I with Meseret and the twins. It was supremely surreal. There we were smiling as if it was just any other day, and all the while knowing that this was a day of loss for Meseret.
She gave both Alexander and Eliana a final kiss, and that was it. We left the orphanage and headed over to Illien’s offices.
Wes, myself, and Meseret sat down at an office table with Dinkenesh, a nurse and social worker that works for our agency. Dinkenesh told us that we could ask any questions we wanted to. So we started asking away. We learned so many things. Many of these things are too personal to share on a public forum, but we wrote everything down, and will cherish every detail. When Alex & Eliana are old enough we will have the chance to tell them so many things about where they came from. We learned about their maternal and paternal descent. We learned about the day of their birth, and the time they spent with Meseret until the day she brought them to the orphanage.
When we asked her if there was anything she would like them to do when they grew up, she told us that she wanted them to be educated and become doctors. Her only other request was that we raise them as our own. She asked nothing of us but that.
She said that she was sad the day she left them at the orphanage, but that today she was happy because she saw that we were a good family. I asked Dinkenesh to tell her how grateful and thankful we were to her for the wonderful gift she had given us. Honestly, how can you say thank you in a situation like this? There are no right words. Each time I tried, I started crying. I couldn’t talk anymore, and hot tears fell from my face. Again, her loss was our greatest gain. It just didn’t seem fair, and yet at the same time there was nothing I wanted more in this world than to be the mother of Alexander and Eliana.
One detail I will share is about their birth date. We had been given one with their original paperwork, but weren’t sure if it was accurate or not. Many Ethiopians don’t know their birthdays. This is very common. Even Meseret didn’t know her own birthday. But when I asked her when the twins were born, she knew the answer immediately. June 13th. There was no hesitation. Dinkenesh looked at Wes and I and said with a big smile, “You are very lucky! Not many people know the exact day.” Who knew that the knowledge of something as simple as a date of birth could be such a huge and unusual blessing?
At the end of our meeting, I asked Meseret if we could pray for her before we left. She said that she would like that. So Wes and I both grabbed her hand and began to pray over her. I got through about 3 sentences when the tears got the best of me and words would no longer come. Wes continued on with the rest of the prayer. It was a very special moment, and a very difficult one at the same time.
The meeting was over, and I asked Dinkenesh if Meseret had eaten. She said, probably not. I asked if it was possible for us to buy her lunch. So directly after the meeting, we all headed over to a very nice Ethiopian restaurant. There we sat and continued to ask more questions about her life and any other things we thought that Alex and Eliana might want to know some day. I knew this would probably be our last chance, and I didn’t want to forget to ask anything important. We told her about ourselves too, hoping that she would find comfort in knowing who her birth children were going to grow up with.
So there we sat, And in that hour, we shared the same plate of food with the birth mother of our children, in traditional Ethiopian style. I never imagined we would see a day like this.
After the meal was over, I walked over to Meseret, shook her hand, gave her a hug, and kissed her cheek. And then we said goodbye. From there she was taken back to the people who would see her back to her home, a couple of hours away.
Now, we just wait. We supposedly have to wait 20 days for the court to approve things, and then we must wait several more weeks for an embassy date. I continue to believe for miracles in the timing of it all. We will just have to wait and see. All in all, though, I have peace that all will happen at just the right time.
Today we thank God for his goodness and His faithfulness. It has been evident in every step of the way. Thank you God for who you are and for how much you love us. We are in awe of you today.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Help us raise Aerie's plane ticket home...
We are having a Pampered Chef Fundraising Party On-Line.
The money we earn from the sales will go towards little Aerie Paiges plane ticket home!
I know we can all use great kitchenware, so won't you help us and get yourself a goodie too?
To shop simply click on the link above, once on this Pampered Chef site, choose "our products" then type in
Cooper Adoption Fundraiser into the hostess name line
(Complete directions:1. On the home page, click on "our products". It is on the left side in about
the middle of the page. 2. Shop!!! 3. When you find the item you want, click on it to get to the quantity
requested page. To the right of the quantity box, click on "How to Purchase."
4. This will take you to the page that will allow you to enter the name of the
fundraiser you want to support: "Cooper adoption fundraiser".
5. After you select the fundraiser, you will be directed back to the item you wish to purchase. You can then continue shopping. You should see the Cooper Fundraiser listed on the top right of your screen.)
(please be sure to type in "Cooper Adoption Fundraiser" when ordering)
(Complete directions:1. On the home page, click on "our products". It is on the left side in about
the middle of the page. 2. Shop!!! 3. When you find the item you want, click on it to get to the quantity
requested page. To the right of the quantity box, click on "How to Purchase."
4. This will take you to the page that will allow you to enter the name of the
fundraiser you want to support: "Cooper adoption fundraiser".
5. After you select the fundraiser, you will be directed back to the item you wish to purchase. You can then continue shopping. You should see the Cooper Fundraiser listed on the top right of your screen.)
(please be sure to type in "Cooper Adoption Fundraiser" when ordering)
If you live near me you can have it delivered to me and I will bring you your items, or you can choose to have your order shipped directly to you.
Order now through March 3rd, 2011.
I highly suggest any of the clay baking stoneware! I use mine all the time, my favorites are the round/pizza stones and the rectangular baker. No more burnt cookies or rubbery pizza crusts when you have these- they are amazing! Also the icing spreaders are wonderful! I hated icing cakes before I got mine and now I LOVE it, they make it so easy.
(Oh, and don't miss the "guest specials" tab- you can get free items with a certain amount purchase)
P.S. I have catalogs if you do not want to shop On-Line
Thank you and God bless you for watching our Blog and considering a Pampered Chef purchase :)
Love,
Angi, Tim, and Aerie
(Thank you Carmen, fellow adoptive Mommy, for offering this neat way to help us earn funds to help bring our baby girl home!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)