The pause button

Asher's 1st day of Kindergarten

Caleb (7th), Abby (4th) Caroline (11th)

Asher's Kindergarten class - it's a full one!

Have you ever experienced life where most everything you are doing is clipping along at a fast past, while one thing is your life is on pause?? This is how I feel our adoption journey feels like, like someone pressed the pause button. Life with four kids is very busy in the fall. We just finished two soccer seasons and the first quarter of school is over. Everyone is doing great in school and we are sooooo blessed with amazing teachers! I'm so thankful.

The courts in Ethiopia have reopened and we are waiting to hear the news of more referrals. Our October #s are 42 on the girls list and 11 on the siblings list. This second number seems so low but I still think the two should catch up to each other and we are around #5 for a four year old girl. So the wait continues but we are moving right along with being active with our current family members. I have to tell you that at times I need to remind myself that we are in this process. So much time has past that it doesn't seem real at times. I'm going to make myself and praying calendar so we can start praying regularly for "Rose" and keep her lifted up. Not sure what is going on in her life right now but God does and prayer is something I can be doing RIGHT NOW.

Life is good and we are living the current moment with prayer for the future of our family! Please join us!

Adoption Update!

You may or may not remember that we are in the adoption process. There are many days that this just doesn't seem real. The wait is long and seems to be getting longer but God is in control and His timing is ALWAYS good! We started the paper process early August 2010 so it's been over a year. We had all our paperwork turned in on November 29, 2010 and have been on the wait list for almost 9 months. We entered the wait list with #100 on the girls list and # 36 ( I think, can't quite remember - it's been so long) on the Siblings list.

We got our monthly updated numbers today in our email box and we are currently 51 for girls and 18 for Siblings so we are at the half way mark! Yikes! I hope we aren't waiting for 9 more months, but only God knows! Our parameters are for a 1-4 yr old Girl so with the older parameter it could be quicker but I've been saying that for 9mos. LOL.

We are praying we can bring our child home by next April, 2012 since that is when our finger prints expire but we can redo them without a fee and I'm preparing myself to do that and the first of the year.

We are staying busy with our current four so the time does seem to be going by pretty well. This school year we have a junior, a 7th grader, a 4th grader and a Kindergartener. Yes, I did say Kindergarten! Time has gone by FAST for that! Asher has been home for 5 years and we love to see how God is growing a wonderful young boy who is ready for school! I'll be keeping busy watching a few preschoolers so I won't be home alone as of yet.

So if you don't read an adoption update, it's only because we are waiting and really don't have too much to report but I'll try and keep you updated on our numbers but what is a number anyway?? Just some to distract you that's for sure!

Blessings!

Ethiopia Culture Camp wedding at OneTrueMedia.com

This is a few pictures and video from the wedding from our Ethiopia Culture Camp this last weekend. A rural wedding last around a week and the whole village is involved. The men accompany the groom to the brides house where her party is waiting. The women meet the groom outside and tell him that he can't come in. The men try to woo the women by squirting perfume and they have a brief encounter until the groom enters the house to take the bride to the ceremony. It was a wonderful time! Our family enjoyed it much!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summer Zoo Day!

Abby and Asher feeding the birds!

Asher's favorite animal is the Cheetah!

The new baby giraffe (my favorite) has a broken leg. Her name is Zuri!

Abby was able to feed the giraffe but I wasn't quick enough to get it on film!

It was a fun day with my two youngest as the older ones are on missions trips.

I'm passing my time waiting by making sure I'm living the present and logging in fun memories with them now. Time is flying even though the wait seems to be creaping along.

Sorry for the lack of posting. I actually have been keeping busy so far this summer. Hope to capture more of it on film so I can blog about it.

So we are STILL waiting and I think our number is now in the 50s. We will get an official update in a few weeks. So to pass the time we are enjoying our summer days. Abby, Asher and I spent a great day at the zoo!

Happy Sweet 16 Sweet Caroline! at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Perspective

Isn't it true that we have NOTHING to complain about. I do often and mostly I just need a good perspective. Wow, if you need a good perspective on life read this. Thanks Amy!

Easter

He is RISEN! He is risen indeed!

Our Easter four on the back porch.

So green from ALL the rain we've gotten.

The family meal with Grandpa Shipley and Grandma Ewing

and Uncle Gary (taking the pic)


The Easter Couple

The Brothers

The sisters

Waiting!

We are currently in a big season of waiting. In our first adoption, we were amazingly blessed with a short wait. The whole thing took 7 months from the first phone call to picking him up in Ethiopia. We've been on the waiting list for 5 months and have officially moved from # 100 for a girl to #68 but really for a older girl there are only a hand full of families in front of us which gives us the false hope of a quicker wait. There haven't been many referrals in a while and it really makes the wait seem longer.I've done lots of waiting in my life time but not really thought about the process much! Have you? Waiting is annoying to most of us and I act as if I'm too good for it sometimes, like waiting in a doctor's office or in line at the store.

But really waiting can have it's purposes. I've decided to list some:

1. sometimes it gives us a moment to reflect

2. gives us time to rest if we take it

3. helps us to look at others around us

4. helps us to stop and listen (sometimes to God)

5. sometimes it slows us down when we need it and wouldn't do it ourselves

- i know of times when God uses this to speak to us or even save our lives!




I'm learning that when God asks us to wait

1. It can be an opportunity not just a nuisance

2. we are to serve in our waiting and not just sit around - I'm so good at this (sitting, I mean)

3. we usually need to be removed from the waiting to see the reason for the wait

4. God will teach me during my wait if I ask him too (not really good at asking)

5. Still learning about waiting and will continue to do so.

6. That waiting for something a second time is a bit easier cause you know that it does come at the end of waiting no matter how LONG the wait is.

Please feel free to share your lessons of waiting. It may help someone else today - like me!

Habakkuk 2:3 (Good News Translation)
"Put it in writing , because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I will show you will come true. It may be slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed."

Out of the Month of Babes

I just love the things that preschoolers say. Asher says some of the funniest things but I have to say that I don't write them down and I know I've lost some really fun moments in his life by not taking the opportunity. Many days I wonder what is making his mind come up with the things he says. Recently, Brad has been tell stories of his father, Grandpa Ewing, to Asher. Caroline was the only grandchild that was able to have time with him since he passed away 15 years ago. She was only 13 months old so doesn't have a working memory of him either. We miss him and just want to pass on the stories for our kids to get a flavor of what a wonderful, Godly man he was and how much fun he had with his family. We are sharing a part of their heritage. So after a night of Brad sharing some Grandpa Ewing stories the next morning I was taking Caleb, Abby and Asher to school when Asher started asking questions... " Mom, can you call Heaven?" I start to answer him by saying well we can with prayer but not an actually call to Grandpa or anyone else. There was a small pause and then Asher said, "You know I love the smell of Caleb's deodorant." Huh, whaaat? He just mixed the deepest thought he's ever verbalized with the shallowest thought in less the 30 seconds. Go figure the thought process of a preschooler. But it does demonstrate his high sensory needs. :) Some of the crazy things that comes out of the month of babes. I love talking with preschoolers! What a blessing!

EthiopiaKids Dinner Dancing at OneTrueMedia.com

Here is some video and pics from the dinner.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ethiopian Dinner

This weekend we had our Ethiopian dinner to help raise money for the Ethiopian Family Culture Camp we hold every summer. This is the second year and we are amazed that 200 people are interested in Ethiopian food and culture in our area. We have to turn people away because of the space and amount of food we can make. Since I was working it I have very little pictures but here is one families experience at the dinner. We had dancing, injera making (Abby helped to make it and is in these pictures) and of course the coffee ceremony! It was a great time of just celebrating the rich Ethiopian culture! I'll try and down load a video of the dancing later on.

Praise You In This Storm w/ Lyrics!!

Praising Him - No matter what is going on

It has taken me a long time to get to the point of praising Him in my current situation and maybe this post will give you an idea why this blog has been so sparatic. The last 6 months + has been very emotional for me and draining for me. And that is why it's been hard to Praise Him through it. I was so focused on me through it. Ok, let me give you some details.



This is a photo of my mother at my wedding which just so happens was 20 years ago
next month. My mother at my wedding was a radiantly beautiful person and the host of the party. She LOVES people and loves a good party so she was in her glory that night at the reception. She also is a person who has spent most of her life living for others being a mother of 6 children (which I'm #5), as any mother knows lots of sacrifice here like 6 hour swim meets, making costumes for dance recitals and many others; she took care of her mother when after her father died, she voluntered at a nursing home, made endless meals for others who were sick or recoverying in bed, and visited many people in the hospital.

So I wanted to give you that picture of who she was then and has been for so many years between then and now but life has pitched a curve ball towards my mother and she has spent the last 5-10 years suffering from Parkinson's. It was almost two years ago that I sat in a doctor's office and found out that my mother also has altzheimer's. These two dieases have been taking away the close relationship I've had with my mother and 6 months ago our family had to put her in a nursing home to help care for her. This has been a hard time for me as I am slowing grieving the wonderful relationship I've had with my mother and trying to figure out how to show my love to her in her current state. I've taking far to long to Praise Him in this storm because I was focused on my and my emotions. But I do praise Him!

Heritage!

We've taked a bunch this weekend about heritage. What it means to our family is not just american, scottish, germany, welsh, english and ethiopian. Our families heritage comes from all of those countries and it means to do some celebrating, eat some great food, lots of learning and making connections. I love that we live in a city that we can experience heritages. Some we are connected to and some we are learning and just enjoying cause I love other cultures. On the third annual trip to a Greek festival my oldest son turned to me while eating some yummy food and said, "Mom are we even Greek". My response was no but isn't it great to experience this and we didn't have to leave our city.

Though we love heritages and cultures and to learn new things our biggest connection we want to make for our children is to our heritage in the Lord's family. No matter what culture we come from or what nation, we all were created in God's image and if we've receive Christ as our saviour we are adopted into God's family and our heritage is in Him. We first and for most our children of God. I love to learn differences of people around the world but I long to make connections of us all that only God can do - to be brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what nation, social status, economical status or age or anything. The one label that removes all other labels is to be a child of God. 1John 3:1 - "See how great is a love the Father has lavished on us that we would be called chilren of God and that is what we are!"

What is love?

God is Love and he shows His love to me through wonderful people like these! I love them all and more!

How great is the Love that the Father has lavished on us that we are the children of God. And that is what we are!

We got our FDL!

Today for the first time I learned what FDL stands for. A favorable decision letter is sent from Homeland Security when your case has been approved for you to bring a orphan (or orphans) onto the United States. This letter has changed names over the years and even though we'd done this before the process doesn't every stay the same over time.

We are excited to get this letter because now we are able to be matched with our daughter. So we are making progress but we also know that this could take some time to receive a referral. But today we will celebrate and thank God for taking us through this process!

It's out of our HANDS!

Literally, our adoption progress is now totally out of our hands. However, I would venture to say "was it ever really in our hands?" God has it all in His hands but there are things that we have to do along the way to make it happen and then we step a side. Monday we went and had our fingerprints taken for our Immigration approval of our daughter entering into this country. We need to have this letter before we can be matched with her. We will wait for the letter and then wait some more for our referral (to be matched with our child). I've turned a new leaf and decided that since I know we will be waiting for awhile, I'm going to look of ways to enjoy the wait! We will celebrate other families referrals and maybe the passing of every month in some way. Maybe we will buy things for our child or decorate rooms. Most importantly we will spend our time praying for her. I'll read books to prepare and we will try and learn more about Ethiopia and the way she may be used to living. We will talk about her and also just enjoy the time we have as a family of 6 now. So wait doesn't have to be a bad thing or a bad word. God has had many people wait in the Bible. So I'm determined to try and ENJOY the wait! Remind of this in . . . oh, let's say, NEXT WEEK!:)

Romans 15:5-

"Now may the God who gives comfort and strength in waiting

make you of the same mind with one another in harmony with Christ Jesus."

Abba Changes Everything!

Check out this fabulous article found in Christianity Today. Very powerful! Enjoy!

The Waiting Game!

So when you adopt it not too different than when you are carrying your child in your body. The ONLY difference is you have your child on your brain and in your heart but not in your body. When you are pregnant you haven't seen your child (now a days though the the ultra sounds are like a picture- i never had that technology) and you try and picture what they will look like.

When you are adopting it's so hard not to have your child(ren) on your mind ALL of the time. During the waiting process it's sooooo important to keep busy and do as much preparation because when you get "the call" and the ball starts rolling toward court and traveling your minds losses it and your can't think straight any more. So I've decided to start making a bucket list for the waiting process of things I should, need to do and want to do while waiting. Please feel free to give me ideas to add. WHO KNOWS HOW LONG IT WILL BE? It might need to be a GOOD long list.

THINGS TO DO WHILE WAITING!!
1. Fund Raising for the remaining expenses. - to be started soon
2. Watch the movie called???
3. Collect donations for our orphanage
4. Reread There's No You without Me by Melissa Fay Greene
5. Praying for current families in the referral process to bring home their children
6. Working hard on daily devotions and building my relationship with God - this should be #1
7. Learning more about Ethiopian Culture specifically celebrations for our ET Culture Camp
8. Make a list of things to look for a purchase for our family while in ET
9. Praying daily for our child(ren) and their birth family
10. Do fun things with our kids like day trips and trying new things
11. Work on cooking more ET food. I only know one dish so far and it's Americanized!
12. Get green coffee beans and roast them, grind them and make a good cup of coffee.
13. Have fun during the summer!!!!!!
Waiting is very frustrating, but is ALWAYS worth it.

Snow Day AGAIN!

We are off school for the 5th day this school year and we are to have 4-6 inches with possibly more. Some places may get 8 inches. So what should we do to keep us busy.

I'm thinking some baking, movie watching, game playing and sorry to say we have lots of laundry that I need help with. We have thank yous to write and maybe phone calls to reach out and touch someone. We will also go play outside and I will shovel the drive way.

So there is something else I'm doing today and that is praying my sister to town. She is due to get into the airport right in the heaviest part of this storm. I so want her to come in today but I really want her to be safe.

Who knows what the day will bring but I hope it helps with the "wait" for our daughter to join us. Maybe we will lay bets today on what month we could get our referral. No money of course.

Enough of the randomness on this post. Let it snow. Let it snow, Let it snow!