Gathering My Thoughts

I haven’t had the energy to share my thoughts about the past couple of months.  I have been physically and emotionally drained.  I feel like I have used every bit of what I have to offer (which has not been much) just to do what is necessary.  I have had wonderful support and backup from my mom and Tony’s mom, so my family has not suffered.  Tony summed it up over at his blog, so I’m just posting his for now.  Here it is…

Please take a number

We heard from All God’s Children today. They’ve reviewed our dossier and all of our paperwork is in order. Amazing! Well, actually I’m not all that surprised. My wife has been spearheading the documentation phase of our adoption process and she is amazing. When you look at the requirements list for an adoption dossier it is overwhelming. Background checks, reference letters, letters of good health from doctors, and on and on. Ethiopia will have more information on us that we ever knew existed. The odds of getting all of the paperwork collected and getting it all collected right are pretty much stacked against you. However, Mandy handled it all like a pro and we got it done – right. We’ve been at this since October when we heard the call to adopt. Most of the process has been extremely smooth except for trying to get records from Panama that state I have a clean record from 27 years ago when I lived there. See Waiting for a Message. That message finally arrived and here we are, waiting again. We’ve had other trials along the way. Right before Christmas we learned that Mandy had a miscarriage. We did not even know she was pregnant. That was just the beginning. Three trips to the emergency room later, we discovered that it was not just a miscarriage but an ectopic pregnancy. Apparently Mandy became pregnant in late November and had been suffering through an ectopic pregnancy for about a month. The doctor tells us we are extremely fortunate that her tube never ruptured which could have been life threatening. Mandy is still recovering. I don’t understand God’s ways (Isaiah 55:8). Two years ago God convicted us that we never should have made the decision for me to get a vasectomy. We made the decision out of fear and without much prayer. So after much prayer, I had a reversal. We did not make this decision for a desire to have another child. We made it to be obedient. Then this summer, God started working on our hearts to adopt. It started when Moses came to live with us for a couple of months. Then it grew until we knew what God wanted us to do and our hearts fell in love with the orphans in Ethiopia. So if God wanted us to adopt, why did I have to have to have the reversal? I’m not sure. Did I do it out of guilt? No. I actually cried tears of joy on the operating table. Doctor Leverett prayed over us before he started the surgery. His ministry is to provide affordable reversals for Christian couples. It felt like worship (until he actually started…). Why did God allow Mandy to get pregnant only to have the pregnancy become ectopic. If she had a successful pregnancy we would have been ineligible for our adoption and would of had to forfeit our money and dreams for our child in Ethiopia. We did lose a child in the process that we had not even had a chance to dream about yet. I’m not sure if I should feel relief or sorrow. I think I feel both, how’s that? What’s the plan God?

Psalms 25:4-5 (ESV) ⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. ⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

So what’s with the number 18? That’s what number we are in line to get referred to our little boy in Ethiopia. Whoop!

We’re Officially Waiting

I know!  We’ve been waiting, but now we are in line and moving forward while we wait.  Currently, we are officially waiting at #18 in the boys line.  I was shocked!  I never expected to be given a number in the teens to start with.  How great is that?!

I am very thankful to be on the waiting list.  Now we will move and we feel like we are getting somewhere.

Of course, I will update everyone as I get more information.  After seeing how excited I am about getting the waiting list call, I’m afraid to see what I’m going to be like as I get close to the referral call!

Can anyone say – patience? 

Catching Up

Our family was so incredibly busy during the month of December (just like everyone else’s).  Here’s a little glimpse of our month:

Tate and Ellie had their piano and guitar recital.  I am so proud they were able to do a duet.  At first I thought their teacher wanted to torture me for some reason.  Putting siblings on one piano bench, playing one song, and playing it at the same time.   Once it clicked, they did an awesome job!

 

Of course, we had to make gingerbread houses.  One for the boys and one for the girls:

 

They worked so hard and were in a play that our homeschool group put on.  The morning show was for the residents at a nursing home, and the afternoon show was at our library.  They told the history of Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Go Tell It On The Mountain.  Car was an alter boy, Tate was a narrator and hillbilly, and Ellie was in the Angel choir.  So fun!

 

 

Ellie turned nine in December.  She’s getting so big – what she wanted to do for her birthday was go shopping with her best friend and have her spend the night.  Birthday parties definitely get easier!

 

On Christmas morning, they went to sing carols at the nursing home.  They have done this six years now.  I’m surprised they want to go out instead of staying at home to play with their new toys, but this is something that is really important to them.

One of the most exciting parts of December was the tiny bit of snow we got.  It was so special to them because I think this was the first time they had seen it snow at our house.   I’m sure anyone up north would not even call this snowing!

I ended up not finishing all of my Christmas cards, and even sent some out after the new year.  I sent Tony’s work cards first and then ran out of steam.  There were only 125!  After that, I did an abbreviated list of family and friends.  To anyone that did get a card, I apologize for the glitter!