One Sought Me

The kids and I made this painting of Ethiopia's map outline during some of those snow days when we are stuck inside and the paint box just screams to be used!  We designed the inside of the map outline to resemble the country's flag and then the kids put their hand prints all around the picture.  I'd like to think of it as raising our hands to praise God for all that He has done for us and for hearing our prayers during this adoption process!   I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill.  Psalm 3:4 And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.  Psalm 50:15 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  Psalm 34:4 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.  Psalm 66:20

  Tonight was a special night as we were able to connect with new friends who live in Ethiopia.  In our community we have friends who live here in the states and they are from Ethiopia.  The family has been so kind to us and have taught us many things about their country including traditions, foods, and language. The wife's sister, who lives in Ethiopia, has come to visit here in the states!  Yetinighet and her two daughters came in this weekend and will be staying for a little over one month. We were able to meet them tonight.  They brought us all a gift of a traditional Ethiopian outfit.  The kids put on their clothes and we enjoyed a coffee ceremony together.  Coffee ceremonies are a time to socialize or mark a special event.  Yetinighet roasted the coffee beans then prepared them in the traditional pot serving it to us with the coffee set.  (you'll see it in the pictures). The daughters speak very good English as they attend ...

It's hard to believe that our baby is turning 4 !  When we started this adoption process he was just turning 2 when the Lord placed it on our hearts to expand our family through adoption.  Now, most likely, the birth order will remain in our family and the new little ones to join us will be younger than MJ.  Praying for news but as we wait we enjoy our family size of 6! Today we were working together in preparing for MJ's birthday party.  MJ is a fun-loving, active boy who loves to laugh and make others laugh.  For his age he is very coordinated and plays soccer, dribbles a basketball, and can run all over the Wii U game system!!  Above all, even beyond soccer, this little fellow has a strong sweet tooth!  He loves sugar anything!  So when we were brainstorming party themes we landed on the thought of a candy party.  Little bit of searching on pinterest and bam!  Here we go Candy Land Party!! So far we have been making decoration...

Count, sort, stuff, press, zip, pass....  Our kids all helped as we worked to assemble the crafts into individual packs for the upcoming missions trip Haiti.  It was a fun time having the kids be a part of this trip in a hands-on way.   The missions team will be conducting an activity and learning time for the community youth surrounding Alex's House Orphanage in Kalico Beach, Haiti.  Each afternoon the youth that attend the meeting will learn a Bible lesson, have a snack, participate in games, learn new songs, and make a craft.  We will be ministering in one location for two days of lessons then move to another location ministering to another group for two days of lessons.  All in all we hope to have a little over 150 youth attending the meeting times.   One craft we will be making is a canvas bag with a draw-string closure. The Haitian kids can decorate their bags with beads and fabric markers before putting them to good use.  We gat...

Thanks for stopping in!  My family is on a journey to adopt two little ones from Ethiopia and though we are on the waiting list for them, we don't know their faces or their little personalities yet, but we love them dearly already!! Praising God that our expected budget funds have been raised we are now working on donations to take to the orphanage and gifts for the nannies and staff that are right now caring for our precious children! Read Here and Here to see what the Lord has brought us through! A couple weeks ago my daughters and I worked on gift bags for the near 35 nannies!  Here is what we made: We found a great deal on little perfumes and lotions then we added a cute notebook, nail clippers, nail file, and hair ties too.  I hope they like it!  Functional and cute right?  For the gentlemen on staff we found a gift box with a nice neck-tie.  Looking forward to the day we load these up on the plane!  Join us to pray for those...

Waiting, hoping, and praying earnestly as we go through this process of adoption of two siblings from Ethiopia.  Thanks for stopping in and thank you for praying for us, the kids, and for God's hand to continue to guide this journey! Thank you!   Week 5 just flew past as the family went on vacation to the beach!  We didn't have internet service and our laptop decided to die anyway.  So, I took the big 'hint' from the Lord and took a break from it all: facebook, blogging, e-mails, phones!  Actually read 3 books - yes, the paper kind! - spent tons of time with the kids playing and not being distracted by the calls of the world around me.  Todd and I shared a devotional together and time in prayer.  All nourishment for the heart and soul that was much needed!  Our verse for week 5: (July 22, 2013) Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.  They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future an...

My sister made this video for us and our adoption process! Lovin' it! Thanks sis! Take a look! Click play, then click the lower right square icon to enlarge, then the Esc key to minimize when you are through.  Thanks!!

This little beauty, our oldest child, is coming with us to Ethiopia!  We took her today to apply for her passport!  Quinn will be 10 years old in late summer and although Todd and I would have loved to have her come with us to Ethiopia from first thought, we just weren't sure.  We have our own apprehensions about traveling to a foreign country, the flight, the foods, the planning, the safety of it all, but after researching, talking to others, and praying about it, we decided to give Quinn the option of coming with us during our second trip to Ethiopia.  Our first trip is for meeting the children and to appear before the court.  Then we return home while the children remain in the foster care home and their visas will be processed.  The second trip will be a few weeks maybe a month (hopefully) later to pick up the kids! Reasoning that Todd and I would have already felt things out during our first trip, and be able to better prepare Quinn for the big a...

                                          Over the last month we have been having family discussions and debates over the names of the children.  Names are very special to us as our biological children all carry names that tell a story and have a unique meaning to who they are. We wanted to choose names that were true to Ethiopia, true to the children's heritage, but names that had an "American" sound to them too (basically so we could pronounce it).  It will be a process enough for the children to be different by race and origin let alone different with a name that would constantly get the response of "What? How do you say that again?"  I understand there are different opinions on this, but this is our choice to re-name the children and open their new chapter of life with us. We will treasure their birth names and have intentions of using their birth name as the...

I bribed the kids with candy this morning so that they'd pleasantly smile and participate in a set of photographs I've been wanting to take.  Thankfully, they did great and we all had fun!  A major break-through for our track record of getting our photos taken.  Here are some cute shots of the bio kids waiting for their brother and sister to join our family!

This is a lesson we used while home schooling our four children.  Take a look!  Our ultimate goal in this lesson and others we are doing, is to teach our children the beauty in differences among us as people and prepare them to embrace the uniqueness of others.  Diversity is a good thing and we are not all created the same.  Created with the same love? Yes! We want our children to love the diversity of creation, God's creation, and honor life even in the smallest of things.  We are starting with these simple lessons to open doors for conversations with our biological children about their soon coming Ethiopian siblings.  We want the children to feel free to talk to us about their questions, concerns, and interests in those who are different than what they know, feel comfortable with, and currently understand.  Ok, that's the vision behind the lessons that we will be posting periodically, now let's get down to the fun of it!   Here's wha...

1. Love .  For our family adoption is our response to what God has placed on our hearts and opened our eyes to as a responsibility that we carry as the family of God.  Read more here and here . We believe that we are adopted into God's family, we are grafted in, and He chose us to be sons and daughters, heirs to the King.  He loves us as adopted children no more or less than He would love a child of His own.  Sound heavy?  This is what He asks of us.  "We love because He first loved us."  1 John 4:19.  And adopting a child is a love we can give because of the overflowing love we receive from our Father. 2. Live . Beyond the call of our hearts, we also believe that we, living in the abundant country that we do, we have much to offer to an internationally adopted child.  There is a great opportunity here in the U.S. not only for adopted children to join a family, but also for their education, medical care, freedoms, and a future that the...