The Power of Your Name

In a day where I got the run around from my insurance company and was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of detail that has to be put into the paper trail business the song below came on as I was laying in the dentist chair. It was the simple reminder that I needed of why I am knee high in paper work and why it is worth every amount of effort that I will put into it and so much more.

"Surely children weren't made for the streets...
Surely nations were not made for war...
Surely this can't be what you saw
Let your kingdom come here in my heart
And I will live to carry your compassion
To love a world that's broken
To be your hands and feet
And I will give with the life the I've been given
And go beyond religion to see the world be changed
By the power of your name"

-Lincoln Brewster

Home Study Meeting #1 in the Bag

I met with my home study agency on Tuesday for the first time. I really expected to be quite nervous leading up to and during this meeting but I laid it at God's feet and He once again came through with flying colors. The meeting went extremely well and I felt very laid back throughout. We had lots of good conversation. She gave me several articles to read that we will discuss at our next meeting which is on the 30th. My agency in Texas received my 1st Dossier Packet and sent me all the info for the second one today. It is exciting to be able to mark things off the to-do list.

The Paper Chase Begins

I received my dossier packet in the mail that details all of the paperwork needed to complete the adoption process. Many of the items must be notorized. I ended up getting my first mailer together Friday night and getting the needed items notorized so I'm ready to send it out. I have also been working on the house a bit, buying fire extinguishers and installing some child proof locks on the cabinets.
I was listening to the words of a Casting Crowns song called "Always Enough" -
"In the dry and weary land Lord you are the rain...
You love is peace to the broken, Faith for the widow,
Hope for the orphan, Strength for the weak."
It reminded me of the title of a book that I recently finished called "Love in the Driest Season". It is an adoption story of a girl named Chipo who was born in Zimbabwe. Her parents had to endure a lot of time delays and red tape before her adoption was eventually finalized. It was a beautiful story of love but it also reminded me that this process can take all kinds of twists and turns and I must be ready to face those obstacles head on.
I have scheduled my first home study meeting for Tuesday at 9 am. I will be meeting them at their office in Lexington to go over some initial information. I'm excited to get this portion of the process underway!

FBI Fingerprinting - June 2

Received information today regarding my home study requirements. I am using an organization in Lexington called Adopt! Inc. that has worked with Children of all Nations in the past. I sent in my homestudy application. After receiving an email from my contact at Adopt! Inc. she informed me that the longest wait would be on the FBI fingerprint clearance, currently 8-13 weeks. I went to the UPS store and was able to get fingerprinted. I placed them in the mail to the FBI to get that started. There is a lot of paperwork to come but I am committed to enjoying every step of the process that is ahead.

Online Classes - May 31

Part of the requirements by my agency is to complete online classes. I have finished my 10 hours in the following courses -

1. Life inside the orphanage
2. Promoting Healthy Attachments
3. Becoming a Family through Multicultural Adoption
4. Health and Development of Orphaned Children
5. Adoption Travel

A couple songs that I have heard in the past couple days that have spoken to me -
Follow You - Leeland
"And I'll follow you into the homes of the broken
I'll follow you into the world
I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
I'll follow you into the world
And I give all myself ....to you."

Hosanna - Hillsong
"Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from Earth into Eternity."

What Faith Can Do - May 23

I signed the contract today. The following Kutless song just really spoke to me this morning during worship. I love the words and I feel that it sums up my life right now as I step out in faith to follow God on this adoption journey. It is exciting and scary all at once.

What Faith Can Do -

"I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Everybody's scared to death
When they decided to take that
step out on the water, It'll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way - If you keep believing."

APPROVED - May 21

Received a call at work today that my application has been approved. I won't lie, the excitement that I felt made it a little hard to concentrate the rest of the day. I can't wait to meet my little boys and be able to hold them in my arms. Although it is just one step of many to come it reminded me that this is actually happening. That is exciting! Today is a day that the smile can't be wiped off my face.

The money question - May 18

Sometimes God just shows up in unexpected ways to ease your mind that you are making the right decision and to remind you that all you need to do is trust. Thoughts have continued to circulate in my head of how I was going to pay for childcare and the adoption process in general. As I looked in the newspaper today at lunch on the front page of one of the sections was a large article about the adoption refund offered by the US government until December 2011. It was once again a reminder that God is going to take care of all of the details and I'm in His hands. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing you are following after Him and having that continually confirmed over and over again.
Quote from a book about Ethiopia that I'm reading -
"Everything you see and do and touch, every seed you sow, or don't sow, becomes part of your destiny."

Interesting Ethiopian Tidbits (at least to me) - May 16

It is extremely important for me to absorb as much information about Ethiopia that I can. I have been reading several books from the library and here are some of the more interesting things I have learned -

1. Orthodox Ethiopians celebrate a holiday called Timkat on Jan. 19. This celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river and is accompanied by reinactments, parades, and giving of gifts to children.

2. Animals most often associated with Africa - Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, and Wild Buffalo are not common in Ethiopia.

3. The flag is made up of three colors (green, yellow, and red) and a star inside of a blue circle in the middle. The star represents unity and the blue circle signifies peace. Green stands for fertility, Yellow for Hope, Justice, and Equality, Red for Sacrifice and Heroism.

4. Hospitality as a family is one of the most important values in their culture.

5. Ethiopia is famous for its coffee and some claim it is the birthplace of the coffee bean. It is a major export and social pleasure.

6. The legend of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is perhaps the most celebrated story in Ethiopia. In Ethiopian versions, Sheba and Solomon married and Sheba adopted Solomon's belief in God. They had a son Menelik I which became the first King of Ethiopia. The legend claims that Menelik visited Solomon in Jerusalem and brought back the Ark of the Covenant which many Ethiopians believe is still located in Ethiopia.

7. There is an Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESPNA).

8. Another Ethiopian holiday is Maskal. Celebrated on Sept. 27, it marks the end of the rainy season and beginning of the Ethiopian spring. Christians celebrate it as the Feast of the True Cross which celebrates the finding of the cross on which Jesus died.

Tizitash zeweter wode ene eye metah - May 14

This means "I can't help thinking about you". In reading a novel about a hospital in Ethiopia this phrase was referenced as part of an Ethiopian song. It sums up how I feel and I can't stop thinking about my two sons and the life ahead with them. My application has been filled out and sent in to Children of All Nations. I'm extremely excited about the future and although concerns of how I'm going to afford this enter my mind I have faith that God will work out all of those details. I'm jumping in with both feet and I'm not looking back. The support I've received from both family and friends has been amazing and I feel extremely blessed to have so many people behind me.

Defining the Journey - May 6th

A few people have suggested that I begin a blog to document my experience in adopting my two sons from Ethiopia. For them and for myself I have decided to do so....

My adoption story begins long ago. As a child growing up I was always drawn to global issues and seemed to think outside of what I feel was the cultural norm. As I followed God down the paths he took me through high school and college I found myself in places like village schools in Bosnia and an orphanage in Haiti where I continued to be challenged with what my response would be to the knowledge I possessed. As I thought about what my future would look like, there was always a constant image - two internationally adopted boys at my side. Once I turned 25 (which is the eligible age for a single woman to adopt globally) I begin to pray that I would follow God and His timing for this new adventure in my life.

When considering what country I wished to adopt from my first inclination was Haiti and I was pretty set on that. After all, it was in Haiti that I had visited my first orphanage and had heard the stories of abandoned children that would never leave my mind. I was actually preparing to send an inquiry about Haiti adoptions when the earthquake hit. As international adoptions were halted following the quake, I began to pray more intently. My plan was to begin the process as soon as adoptions were opened back up for Haiti. However, when that happened the age for single women to adopt was listed as 35. This posed a problem for being as I'm just 26. I gave it to God and decided that if it was His plan that I wait 9 years, that is what I would do even though it didn't set well with me.

On May 6th, I stumbled upon one of Donald Miller's teachings online that caused me to question my assumption that God has a specific plan for my life. His plan is for me to love and know Him and to love people but what that ends up looking like in the details may not be that important. This resonated within me and made me realize that I had been focusing a lot on the details instead of just following God down the adoption path that He had clearly placed in my heart. Once I realized this, I immediately went online to look up the options that existed for a single woman to adopt and the first site I found was Children of all Nations, an organization in Texas. Everything seemed to fit perfectly for me to pursue adoption from Ethiopia through this agency. This marked a renewed sense of purpose and vision accompanied by a feeling of freedom. The timing for Ethiopia is currently 8-14 months. I am excited about venturing down this road and can't wait to see how God works all of this out.