Church

Those of you who know us at all, know that we are passionate about serving God in whatever way He has planned for us (hence the whole adoption journey!). What you may not know is that since we've been married, we've really struggled to figure out how "church" fits into that equation for us. Don't get me wrong...we have always gone to church on Sunday mornings. We sit in the pew, sing praise songs, shake hands, listen to the message, and then go home. Sunday morning church just wasn't clicking for us. Our church was big (really big), and the reasons we justified joining a church of that size was because they offer so many great programs and ministries. The ironic thing is, that because a church is that size, its really difficult to get plugged into those ministries and programs. I know it works for a lot of people and we love the mission of that church, but it wasn't working for us.

When we were in Uganda, we were blessed with the opportunity to spend a Sunday morning in worship at Kingdom Preparation Church in Juba. The church was a tiny shelter with tin walls and a tin roof. It had a dirt floor and one small light bulb dangling from a thin wire in the middle of the room. Despite all of that, there was something so beautiful about that space. This was our first church experience in Africa and there are absolutely no words to describe what that was like. It taught us that church is not about the size of the building or even if you have a building at all. Its about the hearts of the people in that building and God working through them to do His will. We spent four hours that morning praising God with our brothers and sisters who put our faith to shame and we left there having been forever changed.

This is a picture of Kingdom Preparation Church:


Since then, we've been searching for a new church -- One that would fit our need to truly LIVE the gospel not just preach it. We've been attending a new church for the past few months, and we really feel like this could be our new church home. Not only do their beliefs align with ours, but they have tons of adoptive & foster families (and we love that!). Do you want to know something else crazy....the message yesterday was "Honoring God while you Wait". Could there have been a more perfect message for us?!?!?

3 Months

Its now been three months since we formally submitted our Dossier to Ethiopia. I wish I could say that there has been tons of activity, several court dates assigned and a few referrals this month....unfortunately that's not the case.

The courts in Ethiopia close every year in late summer for the rainy season, and this year they've been closed since early August. When the courts are closed, things in "adoption-land" really slow down. The great news is that the courts will reopen on Monday (September 27th), so we're hoping that there will be some activity late next week. For now, we'll celebrate one more month down....and we're hoping we're at least halfway through with the wait!

Indianapolis Gathering

Have you ever met a group of people and it just felt good -- like in an "I hope that I know you for a really long time" kind of way? That's the best way to describe how we feel about some people we met this weekend.

Let me fill you in on a little background information. We found out about a church in Indianapolis who has started an outreach ministry to Ethiopian adoptive families. The pastor of this church, Pastor Yosef, immigrated from Ethiopia and truly has a heart for adoption. Once a month, he and his congregation organize a gathering for anyone who has adopted or is in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Each meeting has fellowship time for the families to get to know one another, a lesson about Ethiopia (culture, cooking, language, etc), and refreshments.

We went to our first gathering this weekend, and we met some of the most welcoming people. We met two families (one from Avon and the other from Danville) who were so sweet and supportive. We also met another family adopting from our agency who we hadn't met yet -- small world! It just felt good to be there in a room full of people who know exactly what we're going through. They've been through the same anxiety, excitement and frustration and are now on the other side -- home with their sweet children.

I look forward to the day when Mike and I are taking our child to these gatherings. They'll play with other kids who look like them and share his / her heritage. We'll learn more about the culture of the country who gave us this amazing gift, and we'll offer encouragement to other families who are where we are now...waiting. I'm so excited for that day, and I'm so grateful for Pastor Yosef and his congregation and all of the wonderful families that we met this weekend who I hope will all be life-long friends for us and our child.

Happy New Year!

No, I haven't completely lost my mind with all of the waiting -- yesterday really was New Year's Day in Ethiopia! Ethiopia follows a completely different calendar than we do. Its called the Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar, and the new year begins on September 11th (except in leap years when its celebrated on September 12th). My favorite thing about the Ethiopian calendar....it has thirteen months as opposed to our twelve, so yesterday in Ethiopia they celebrated the beginning of 2003! That means I'm seven years younger in Ethiopia!

Two Months

We've been waiting for a referral for two months today!

In the past two months we have painted four rooms, taken twenty hours of parenting training, tiled our kitchen floor, celebrated birthdays (I know, I'm finally admitting that I'm thirty), celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary, spent weekends in Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati, recovered from a significant illness (all organs in tact!), joined a gym.....AND ITS STILL GONE SLOW!!

Two months down, and we're hoping to be at least half-way through with the wait!!

Emanu

We had a very Ethiopian weekend!! I can't wait to post about it all, but I'll start with our dinner on Friday night. Ever since we submitted our dossier, we have planned to have dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant to celebrate. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling well since the day we submitted, and doctor's advised against Ethiopian food (apparently not so "gallbladder friendly"). Now that I'm almost fully recovered, we decided to finally have our first Ethiopian dinner.

We ate at Emanu in Cincinnati, which was opened by an Ethiopian woman who came to the US in 1992. She was also our waitress and we enjoyed talking with her about Ethiopian culture and the Amharic language. Ethiopian meals are not just about the food -- its all about the process.

The first thing they serve is Injera bread. Its a gluten-free bread made from Teff (a grain that grows in the mountains of Ethiopia). Its really spongy and a little sour tasting. This is the first thing they serve you because its the only eating utensil you use in Ethiopia (no knife, fork, or spoon). Then the food comes on a giant plate that the entire table shares. You scoop the food up in the Injera using your right hand only -- we were told that this symbolizes blessing for the group you're eating with. The food can be VERY spicy, but it was all delicious! Here are some pictures of our first Ethiopian meal:

Our plate of food:



Here you can see the Injera rolled up in the background:



This is how you should eat the food (using the injera):



Mike, however, took eating with no utensils to a new level:

Christmas

Here I am again, sitting in front of the computer thinking about what to possibly post to communicate how Mike and I are feeling at this stage of "the wait". Instead of giving up and posting nothing (which I've obviously done every day for about a month now), I thought I would just tell you all what's on my mind right now -- nothing profound or amazing, just my thoughts this morning.

We have been waiting almost two months for our referral, which I realize does not seem so long. But, when you know that you have a child who is alive, breathing, sleeping, crying....on the other side of the world and you can't be there to witness every minute, dry every tear and rock them to sleep, its really hard. Now, pair that with the fact that we don't even know if our child is healthy or if they have food tonight or if they even have a bed to sleep in....that's when hard turns to emotional.

One thing we do know without a doubt, is that our child is not alone. God has been with this child every second, drying every tear and soothing them to sleep. That thought alone gives us unexplainable peace.

God knows our heart, and He knows that we would LOVE to be holding our child by Christmas.In order for that to happen, we are going to need to get our referral by mid-October. The way referrals have been coming in to our agency, and the number of families waiting ahead of us, it seems very unlikely that we would meet that date. But, we serve a God of miracles, and that fact has been evident all through our adoption journey so far. We have completely surrendered the timing of this adoption to Him, and we know that we are going to meet our child at exactly the right time whether that's this year or next.

Speaking of Christmas, a friend sent me this video and I thought I would share. Enjoy this little bit of Christmas in August.