A time for everything and everything in it's time

"Hey Nancy, when are you guys going to Ethiopia?"  I hear this several times a day.  Which is awesome.  Because people care enough about us, and our boys, and our process to keep asking and stay interested in our long haul.  But several times a day I have to give the same sad response.  "We don't know yet."   We are still waiting for a court date.  We are quickly coming up on month 5 since receiving our referrals.  

We learned a couple of weeks ago that we do not yet have MOWYA letters on either boy.  (MOWYA is a social sevices-like government agency in Ethiopia that must issue a positive opinion to the court on each adoption case before a court date can be scheduled.)  Talk about disappointed.  This threw me into a several days long deep discouragement.  I'm tired.  I'm tired of waiting.  I feel like I've paid my dues here in the waiting game.   So I wallowed in my self pity and frustration for several days.

But this week has been brighter.  Many friends have noticed my withdrawal and reached out to lend me much needed encouragement and support.  I've been able to connect with several other adoptive moms, both who have their kids, and who are still waiting like me.  (Talk about amazing women, wow.  What an honor to be included in this group.)  And so we press on.

We did get some good news yesterday in the form of an update on our oldest boy.  He had not yet been moved to the foster care home, and was still in the orphanage.  We got word that they should have openings in foster care next week and that they should be able to move him in.  Woohoo!  I have no idea what the care is like in the orphanage.  But I've been told by several different people that our agency's transitional home (foster care) is one of the best ones in the city.  So I'm anxious to get our big boy to a place where I know the standard of care is superb.  (And to have him join his brother!)

Today we saw the travel doc.  Jena panicked at the thought of getting shots and changed her mind about going to Ethiopia at all.  And yet, mean mommy and daddy were unmoved.  She was very relieved to learn once we got there that she only needed one vaccination, and the doctor was going to order an oral vaccine for her.  And with that she's once again fully on board to make the trip.  :)  Wes and I were not so lucky, and we needed two shots in addition to the oral vaccine.  Jena was our photographer and snapped some fun pictures.

 Actually it was no big deal.  We're not really what you'd call needle shy around here.  :)

I'll leave you with this devotional that I read today from Jesus Calling.  It was something I needed to hear.  Maybe you need to hear it too.

Stop Trying to work things out before their times have come.  Accept the limitations of living one day at a time.  When something comes to your attention, ask Me whether or not it is part of today's agenda.  If it isn't, release it into My care and go on about today's duties.  When you follow this practice, there will be a beautiful simplicity about your life: a time for everything, and everything in it's time.  

Much love to new friends

In recent weeks I've gotten to meet and chat with several other adoptive families to Ethiopia who live in the midwest.  A couple of them are even using the same agency as us.  We call them "agency-mates".  :)  We wanted to give a quick shout-out to some of those new friends and tell you about some exciting ways you can help two awesome families on their journey to little ones in Ethiopia.

First, the Ogden Family.  

You can read more out their journey here.  They are just one state over from us in Missouri (but we're not holding that against them.)  :)  They are fundraising for their adoption expenses with these great t-shirts.  Here are the Kirks modeling them.  :)

You can find out how to order them on the link above.  Super cute.  We get lots of complements on them when we wear them. 

Next, the Haude Family.  

They've just begun their adoption process to Ethiopia.  You can read more about the Haude family here.  They are close by in Hillsboro, Kansas.  They are fundraising their adoption with coffee!  Did you know Ethiopia is known for its amazing coffee?  It's true!  You can find yummy Ethiopian coffee, as well as varieties from around the world AND support an amazing family on their journey to their children in Ethiopia.  Win-Win!  Get your delicious coffee here.

Referralversary

It's been 4 long months since we first saw the faces of our sweet boys.  (In pictures only, of course.)  I like to call it our winter of waiting.  In reality our wait has extended through several winters, but this is the winter of knowing who they are while we wait.  We were told court dates were coming in an average of 2-4 months after referrals to our agency.  So now we're in overtime.  Getting a bit more impatient every day, I think.

Last week was a particularly rough week for our patience.  We got word that our littlest one in Ethiopia had pneumonia.  We knew he was being treated, but had very little other information.  It was the first time since our referral came that I started to really get antsy.  I just wanted to be with him.  I wanted to look at him and decide for myself how sick he was.  I had a dozen questions I wanted answered and no way to get them answered.  It was a long week of waiting, and praying, and tears, and putting our little one in the Father's hands.  Several friends told me "I don't know how your standing it."  Trust me, if there were another choice besides "standing it"  I'd be doing it.   Thankfully we found out this week in our update that he has improved and is doing much better.  I thought the urgency would ease up a bit for me with this news, but it hasn't.

He also got a haircut.  Which is so stinking cute, but something I had unexpected emotions about.  Because I didn't give him his first haircut.  I didn't get to tuck his freshly trimmed off curls into a baby book to keep for all posterity.  I didn't expect to feel sad about that, but I guess I do.

Jena is beyond excited about bringing her brothers home.  She wore a t-shirt with Africa on it to school on Friday and told everyone she knew about her brothers.  She told me that many of the other first graders don't understand what adoption is, but she's doing her best to explain it.  She told me the other day that she was "too excited" about getting her brothers.  When I asked her to explain what "too excited" meant, she told me that she was "so excited that it hurts".  That she just felt like she couldn't wait any longer for them to get here.  So precious.  I know she feels it just like we do.  Someone once told me that a great side effect of adoption is that your biological children become beautiful people in the process too.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for that little beauty.

So here we are, still waiting.  And all of us so excited it hurts.