Loving Ethiopia: Day 30

Shopping.

This is inside the store at Alli's orphanage. On our first trip, I loved that we were able to by most of what we wanted with the proceeds benefiting the orphanage, and now I am getting excited to go back and get more. We are taking two suitcases full of donations for Ethiopia, so it doesn't make sense to bring empty suitcases home. Right?

And really my goal with shopping in Ethiopia is to bring Allison's first culture into our home. Never to ignore that she is Ethiopian, but to celebrate it.

8 Days

Today is 8 days until we get on a plane and leave for Ethiopia to bring Allison home. I hope. I have a heavy feeling this morning as I remember being 8 days away from our trip, 14 days ago. I hate that some of my excitement has been lost because of the delay, because 14 days ago I was having my carpets cleaned in preparation to have a crawler in our home again, and visiting with a neighbor, and then we got the call, and the roller coaster began. I hate knowing that part of our group got their date reinstated to September 30th and they are there right now, and their children are in their arms, and I want to be happy for them, but I am sad for us.

So, Thursday, September 30th (our first Embassy date) is coming to a close in Ethiopia, and I hope we get word that on this Thursday, when our attorney went to the US Embassy that this time we are on track for our Embassy appointment. I hope that I will finally make it to 7 days until we leave to bring Allison home. Then 6, then 5, then 4.....

Loving Ethiopia: Day 29

Celebrations.

On one of our nights at the guest house, we were treated to a traditional Ethiopian dinner, followed by dancing. We enjoyed watching the dancing, and later even participated. But the employees of the guest house were so happy and had so much fun that we were blessed to be a part of it.

One Less: Matthew West

This morning on K-Love I heard about Matthew West recording a new song that was inspired by a family who adopted their daughter. Matthew West's music has a special place in my heart because I adopted his song, The Motions, as kind of a theme song that has been an encouragement to me though the bumps and wait of our adoption (read about it here). We got home and out of the car before the actual song had played, and I got doing other things, but through the day, I kept thinking about this song.

So, now it is evening, and I finally had a chance to find and hear this song. It's beautiful, and just like my post about the new VeggieTales movie, I am so glad that people are becoming aware of the needs of orphans, both domestically and internationally. There are so many children without a family, and there are so many families who could open their hearts and homes to take a child in as their own.

I am counting down the days until there is One Less little girl who has to live without her family, an One Less family who is waiting to bring their little girl home.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 28

PENS:
During our day trip to the Portuguese Bridge, we were talking with our driver, Wendi (pictured in the red jacket), and he told us that the kids love getting candy and pens. As we passed through a small town we stopped at a little store and, along with our friend Kelly (pictured holding the pens), bought most of their candy and all of their pens. This picture was taken as we stopped to see some wild baboons along the road. Whenever we stopped we were surrounded by kids either asking for something, or trying to sell something. They preferred the pens over the candy. We were so sad that we did not have many pens and decided that when we go back, we were taking pens with us. On one of our last days, we were shopping for dresses for our girls and I gave a little guy the pen I was carrying in my backpack. He came back a minute later sad because it did not work. I felt SO bad, but it was the only pen I had on me. Luckily, someone else in our group replaced it for him.
So today, I scrounged through our house and came up with a large collection of random pens; many from hotels and realtors, and even a few old SOS pens. The girls helped me test every pen, because I did not want to give out a dud again. Most of this process has had to be a mommy & daddy process, but it is fun to be able to involve the girls when we can. They had fun helping, and I could see that they knew why it was important to make sure they worked and who they were for. I love to see their little hearts be so giving and loving to a country and to a people they cannot completely understand.
If you have any pens you are interested in sending with us, and can get them to us before we leave, we would gladly get them distributed. It is amazing how, what seems to us to be, a simple ballpoint pen can bring such joy to a child. It is so much fun giving to kids who are so appreciative.

by Tony

Loving Ethiopia: Day 27

Here's another view of the outside of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Again, it was amazingly beautiful, and I am so glad that we got to visit it. On the right side of the picture is one of the many stained glass windows. It was beautiful from the inside, and our guide told us that at night the entire cathedral glows with the stained glass when the church is lit from the inside.

What I Love: "It's A Meaningful Life"

I love that adoption is becoming more mainstream. (Either that, or we're just more aware of it). I love that adoption was highlighted in our church service this morning. I love that we know so many friends with adopted kids, especially our Ethiopian families. I love reading novels by Karen Kingsbury because she is an adoptive mom, and intertwines adoption into her stories. I love learning the Bible from Lysa TerKeurst and Renee Swope (both adoptive moms).

And, I love that VeggieTales is coming out with a new movie about an adoptive family, and that Steven Curtis Chapman is a part of this project.

First, here's the DVD trailer:



Next, watch this music video from the DVD (but have your tissues close):



And now, watch this clip from Steven Curtis Chapman to hear his heart behind the music, and his heart as an adoptive dad:

Loving Ethiopia: Day 26

This is one of the stained glass windows from the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It was interesting that in this cathedral, as well as others that we visited, they had scenes from the Old Testament on the left side of the sanctuary and New Testament scenes on the right side. They are amazingly beautiful and intricate.

Do you have shoes, blankets, or diapers?

When we were at Toukoul a few months ago, we asked what the orphanage needed that we could bring back when we came for our Embassy appointment. We were told that they needed shoes for the older children and blankets and diapers for the little ones.

So we are asking, this week can you clean out the closets of your elementary aged kids (children's size 8 up to adult size 6) and send us their gently used shoes? Or, do you have unused baby blankets that we could take with us and leave for the little ones in the orphanage?

Could you go to Wal-Mart and pick up a pair or two of new shoes to send to Ethiopia for a child who has none? Maybe a package of diapers?

If you live near Chandler, you can contact me to set up a time to drop them off. Or, if you live out of town, I can send you our address so you can ship them to us (the USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are a great option).

Thank you!

Loving Ethiopia: Day 25

The interior of the Holy Trinity Cathedral was amazing. Up near the ceiling was this painting of the Trinity; God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Around the Trinity are four icons of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John though they are depicted as a man, an eagle, a lion, and an ox (though I don't remember who is what and why-I need to research that).

On this trip, and also when I went to Eastern Europe in college, it is so interesting to me to see different cultures worship. It makes me analyze what I believe and what is Biblically based, and what is based on culture and tradition. But it also reminds me that I love and serve a big God, who is God no matter what side of the globe I am on.

Girlfriends

I am so blessed by my girlfriends. I have been with these girls for years now and they have walked and prayed through this entire journey with me (you might remember that they threw a surprise shower for me a few months ago).

On Thursday it was starting to sink in that Friday (the day we were supposed to leave) was going to be a hard day for me, and I really should have some plans rather than just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. So I sent out an e-mail to these girls to meet me for coffee at Paradise Bakery. Cindy stepped up and even offered her home so we could hang out longer with her little ones at home. Five of us made it to coffee, then Michelle and I continued on to Chili's to meet Melissa for lunch. Then Michelle and I headed over to the mall to start our Christmas shopping. I even got this adorable shirt for Allison for Thanksgiving.

By the time we finished there, it was time to pick Megan and Emily up from school. And I had survived what could have been a very rough day.

Thank you girlfriends! I love you all so much!

Loving Ethiopia: Day 24

In Addis, we visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It is breathtaking to see the beauty and care that has been put into their places of worship, in the middle of a country that has had so many struggles in its history.

What Happened?

This is where I should be. On a flight, on my way to bring Allison home. And up until last Thursday, I had no doubt that September 24th would find me on a flight to Ethiopia.

I think I have aged 10 years in the past week. So many uncertainties, and changes. But now, today is here, and we did not get the answer we were hoping and praying for. I am here, and Allison is in Ethiopia. For two more weeks.

What I really don't understand is why 3 of our 7 families are either in Addis or on their way. Why the Embassy didn't accept our file, but accepted theirs. No one has answers for us, and we may never know. But they are the three families who contacted the Embassy themselves when we were asked not to. We did what we were asked to do, and we sit at home. What happened?

I know that in a year this will all be a distant memory of a bump in the road, but today is a hard day.

Thankfully I have great girlfriends, and I am heading over to meet them for coffee and friendship. I just don't think I could stay home by myself doing my normal stay at home mom thing.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 23

Boys will be boys, even in Ethiopia.

Being the mom of girls (which I love) it amazes me every time that we have little boys over, that ANYTHING can become a weapon. A wiffle ball bat is a sword, a stick is a gun, and so forth.

Even in Ethiopia these little boys need to get their "man-ness" out, and show their strength and power. Only these boys are growing up in their father's footsteps and learning to be shepherds. They make these whips out of eucalyptus bark. And when they whip them, it makes a very loud crack. We heard it all over the countryside, and this little one was more than willing to give us a demonstration when we pulled over on the side of the road.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 22

This is a traditional Ethiopian coffee pot. After roasting the beans, they are ground by hand, and boiled in this coffee pot. Then the coffee is served in a series of three cups. The first one is extremely strong, then more water is added before each of the other two cups.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 21

On our last day at the hotel we were able to take part in a traditional coffee ceremony. I posted before that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and Ethiopian coffee is wonderful (you can actually purchase some here, and we get a donation back for our adoption). But it is more than just coffee and there is an entire ceremony that we were able to take part in (you can read more here).

This is the first step of the ceremony where they roasted the beans right there for us. Plus, there was a rain storm coming in, so the smell of the coffee beans and the rain was amazing.

Tears

It's amazing how quickly each day gets easier and better since our huge disappointment on Thursday. But still, I can spontaneously burst into tears.

On Saturday at breakfast, it was when Emily prayed for mommy not to be sad that she has to wait longer to get Alli. So many tears that I had to leave our family breakfast that Tony had made and just go to Alli's room to cry and pray.

And today, was my best day yet, until I tried to tell Tony that one of the families in our group who got to keep their September 30th date had posted on their blog. I was ok reading it, and I am happy for them, but so sad for us. But when the words were coming out of my mouth, the tears beat me to it. Sobs of disappointment and ache.

So I wipe away the tears, and just keep breathing. One moment at a time, until it is our time to bring Allison home.

Silver Lining

First of all, nothing would be better than having Allison in my arms next week rather than next month, but since things have been changed out of our control, I'm going to sit and make a list of some of the good things that are going to come out of waiting.

• We get to meet up with our friends, Ryan and Melanie, in Ethiopia. They will be there for their court date and we hope to do a day trip with them.
• We weren't faced with the financial decision and burden of changing our tickets back to our original dates.
• Tony has some responsibilities at work that make it hard for him to take off at the beginning of the month. This moves us to return home at the middle of the month.
• My grandma (my dad's mom) went into the hospital yesterday, and might have had a stroke, so my parents are currently up in Sedona/Cottonwood with her trying to figure everything out.
• I get to spend the first 4 days of Megan and Emily's October break at home with them. (Let us know if you want to have a play date.)
• The girls will be out of school while we are in Ethiopia, allowing Amma and Papa to take them places, do things, and spoil them more.
• Megan and Emily will then be home with us for two days once we are home, but then will be back in school, allowing Tony and me to fully focus on Allison and her needs during the day.
• We will get to take Megan and Emily to a Diamondbacks game on Friday night with free tickets they earned through our library's summer reading program.
• Tony and I will be able to attend Megan and Emily's 1st quarter conferences at school.
• I get to fit in a few more kid free breakfasts, coffee dates, and lunches with girlfriends.
• Maybe Tony and I can fit in one more date night because it will be awhile before we can leave Alli with anyone.

I want so badly to be leaving on Friday, but since we aren't, I need to get back up and move forward. I know there will still be tears and longing, but thank you for your love, prayers, and encouragement.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 20

Today brought heartache with the disappointment of our setback in bringing Allison home. But, I as was preparing for today's picture, I read in Revelation 7:

14b And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great
tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.
15Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

This is a description on Heaven and what a beautiful thing we have to look forward to. The waterfall in Ethiopia reminded me of how many times God refers to Himself as water and living water and that He refreshes us. And I'm so glad for that.

But, we are not there yet and we are told by Jesus that "in this world there will be troubles of many kinds, but take heart, for I have overcome the world." John 16:33 And these past few days I've felt trials.

So while I've had tears this weekend, tears today, and more than likely, more tears in the next 18 days of waiting, I am holding onto the knowledge that I have a God who is my living water and will wipe away every tear from my eyes.

We Have an Answer

First of all, thank you to all of you who prayed, donated, encouraged, and loved us this crazy weekend. I think I've aged 10 years since Thursday morning.

But, this morning we received our answer from our adoption agency that our date is not moving, and our US Embassy appointment will be on October 14th. Two weeks later than we were originally told.

So now, I am not 4 days away from leave to get Allison, but 18. And that feels like forever.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 19

I don't know much about this woman, but I think about her almost daily. Up on Entoto mountain there are eucalyptus trees. People make the climb up the mountain to collect sticks and leaves to sell as firewood down in the city. Sometimes they load the eucalyptus on their donkeys or other animals. Other times they bundle up the sticks and carry them down themselves. Like this woman. And once she's done her trek and her selling for the day, she might make the equivalent of $2-3US.

Monday

It is currently 12:30am Monday morning in Ethiopia. That means that in a matter of hours, our attorney will be at the US Embassy and they will determine if they will accept our paper work and our appointment will be on September 30th, or if they don't accept our paperwork from our attorney, our date stays at the later date of October 14th. Two more weeks.

We expect to hear from our adoption agency early tomorrow morning (AZ time), and we'll post anything as soon as we know.

Keep praying for September 30th, for the flight changes with Delta, and for the finances.

Update...



I remember riding Space Mountain at Disneyland when I was four (I'm sure I had to stand on my tip toes to reach the height minimum) and then was scared to death of roller coasters until junior high (and that was only because we went with our church group, and I'm sure I only rode to impress some boy).

And just like Space Mountain, we are continuing our roller coaster ride, in the dark.

It feels like we are on an upswing. We feel, because of various comments and conversations, that our Embassy date will be moved back to September 30th. The cost of changing our flights might be within what we are able to do (though I hate the feeling that all the changes were "wasted money" as we are changing our flights to what they were on Thursday morning). And, we have had some donations come in to help us cover those costs.

But we are not done yet. And I am afraid to get too excited in case it only sets me up for more disappointment come Monday morning. But today, we will start packing. In faith, we are moving forward as if we leave for Allison in 5 days!

We are seeing God moving and believe it is because of your prayers for our family! Thank you, and keep praying. This isn't over yet!

A letter to our friends and family

Dear friends and family,


After such a long journey to bring Allison home, we have hit a bump during the final week that has left us spinning.

A short recap:

• August 2009: We started our adoption process
• May 6, 2010: We were matched with our beautiful daughter. We saw her picture and knew her name for the first time.
• July 30th-August 8th: We traveled to Ethiopia to meet Allison and to appear in Ethiopia court to finalize our adoption. On August 5th, Allison legally became our daughter! (When we first started the Ethiopian adoption process, we were not required to physically attend court, but the laws changed during our process. Although our trip was amazing, it added extra costs that we had not prepared for.)
• August: Found out that our US Embassy date was September 30th. We booked tickets with Delta for September 24th – October 3rd.
• September 16th: Got a call from our agency that something was wrong and the US Embassy changed our date from September 30th to October 14th. We were in shock as everything was set for travel: Tony’s time off, childcare for our older daughters, travel plans. But, we quickly did what we had to do and changed our flights for the new dates, including paying hundreds of dollars in change fees.
• September 17th: Found out that the mistake that was made in changing our appointment might be able to be fixed, moving our Embassy date back to September 30th. We are traveling with 6 other families. Only we and one other family had changed their tickets. The other five are now waiting to see what happens.

What happens now:

• On Monday, our lawyer in Ethiopia will return to the Embassy to see if they will accept our paperwork for an Embassy appointment on September 30th. If that happens, we will have the option to change our flights back to what they were on Thursday morning before we got a call from our agency. But there will be another charge of change fees, plus we will have to pay the difference between what we originally paid when we booked our tickets weeks ago, to the new price of buying two tickets to Ethiopia only four days before we travel.

Please pray:

• That the US Embassy will accept our documents on Monday for our appointment on September 30th.
• Assuming that the Embassy date changes back, pray that we can find someone who works for Delta who can help us change our tickets back without any additional cost.
• Or, that we can find a generous donor(s) who can help us cover these additional costs. Even before these changes happened, we had run out of money in our adoption fund. Now we are running on faith. We have a secure donation link on our blog that uses PayPal.

 

Lastly, please pray, and please forward this to your church, prayer groups, Bible study, and friends and family. When the church works together, things can happen.

Thank you,

Tony, Sara, and the Weber girls

Loving Ethiopia: Day 18

I was just about to climb into bed when I realized I hadn't blogged a picture today yet. It's been quite an eventful and prayerful last 48 hours.

Tony asked me how long I thought I would be, and I told him I wasn't sure because I never know where a blog is going to go when I start it, and I didn't yet have a picture in mind to blog about. But it took less than a second after my picture folder opened up to know this was the picture for today.

The fence.

That's how I feel. Ethiopia, and Allison, are on the other side of a fence. I can see it, but I can't cross. I know I will find a way, but I don't know when or how. And at times today my focus has been on the fence (as it is in the picture) and the landscape on the other side it a bit blurry.

So I continue to wait and pray until I am on the other side of this fence.

Dear Delta Airlines,

Dear Delta Airlines,

My wife and I are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia and have already traveled once, about a month and a half ago, and are traveling again soon for our second trip to bring our baby home. When we found out our dates, we purchased our tickets to leave on 9/24. Thursday, 9/16, we were contacted by our agency that the US Embassy rescheduled our appointment and informed us that we needed to change our flight plans to 10/8, which we did. Today we found out that the Embassy may reinstate our previous appointment, but we will not know until Monday 9/20. That will leave us 4 days to be able to rebook our tickets back to our original date of travel on 9/24. I understand that the prices for international travel 4 days before a flight will be very expensive.

Assuming that the US Embassy reinstates our original appointment, we will be left a choice; Pay $1000-$2000 extra in change fees and current rate prices to go, or leave our babies across the world for 2 extra weeks.

Is there anything you can do to help us if that happens? We are not looking for free tickets or free upgrades. I am just hoping that we could have the opportunity to rebook our original flights at the rates we had already paid.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this gesture to help us to complete our family.

Tony & Sara Weber
602-859-2808

The Ride Continues

I love roller coasters, but I'm ready to get off this one. I got out of bed early on this Saturday morning because my mind was racing with all the what ifs and what this Monday may hold.

It is looking more and more promising that our Embassy date will be able to be moved back to September 30th. We will know for sure when our lawyer goes to the Embassy on Monday to see if they will accept our paperwork. That is the first miracle that we've been praying for since we first heard about the possibility. Please keep praying for this possibility.

But, then if that happens, we will need to change our flights back, which could be expensive. So please pray with us that finances will not be what keeps us from our daughter. We know that He can work it out, so join us in prayer.

Lastly, this is taking an emotional toll on me. We will go through this weekend not knowing if we will be leaving on September 24th or October 8th. I miss my baby so much that my heart is breaking. Our God is a God of peace, and I need His strength and peace through this process.

Another Loop On the Roller Coaster

The Embassy has told us they might be able to get us in our our original date, September 30th, after all. But we won't know until Monday since they are closed for the weekend.

If that happens, we can go get Allison as planned, but will have to switch our airline tickets again at the listed prices, four days before we travel. Adding hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to our drained finances.

Or, we leave her in the orphanage in Ethiopia for two more weeks knowing that we could have had her home if money wasn't an obstacle.

Please pray with us, both for the paperwork to move, and for the finances to be raised. We are in the home stretch, but we are still so far.

If you are able to donate, you can use the link through PayPal on the left side of our blog. I know if we all work together, we can get Allison home!

Lastly, please share our blog on your blog and/or your Facebook. I believe that God can move when we join together in prayer.

Love,
Sara

Loving Ethiopia: Day 17

I've had to change the title of my daily photo posts. It is no longer a countdown of 23 days. On September 24th, when I thought I'd be done blogging, and on a flight to Addis, I will still be here. Waiting.

So I'm now titling my posts, "Loving Ethiopia", because that's what I'm doing. I'm loving Ethiopia through pictures for all the world to see, and especially for Allison when she grows up and wants to know more about her first home. To know that we didn't decide on international adoption to be able to gift a child with US Citizenship and save them from a life in a dismal country. But we chose to adopt because of the very sad truth that there are mommies and daddies who can't raise their babies, and that leaves an innocent baby without a family. But we have a family longed for another baby, and had room in our hearts for her, however she came to us. And she came to us from a beautiful, wonderful, first home.

So Allison, this is from the top of Entoto Mountain, overlooking your home city of Addis Ababa.

Two More Weeks

I know that many of you have heard about our new 2 week delay in our adoption, but I want to quickly explain what happened, and why we got bumped.

In short, the US embassy in Ethiopia is moving. Yes...really. They have been building a new embassy for a couple of years and it is ready. During the time they are moving, there will be no appointments, so we got pushed back 2 weeks.

Our group of 7 families from our agency have become "The Guinea Pig Group". We got to be one of the first groups required to make the additional trip for court, and now we get "the privilege" of christening the new embassy. Don't get me wrong, I like new adventures, but with Sara and I both being planners, we could use a little less new and a little more status quo for the rest of this process.

My Heart

Thank you so much to everybody for your encouraging words through the blog, facebook, texts, and phone calls. It really means a lot to me. Thank you.

But, you know that through out this journey this blog has been real and honest and raw. It is my chance to share with our friends, other adoptive parents (many who I now also count as friends), and also to record this journey for myself, and someday for Allison to know just how loved she was before she even came home.

So this is a sample conversation from yesterday, and it's translation:

You: Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about the delay. How are you doing?
Me: Oh, I'm fine.

but what I mean is....

Me: I had my heart ripped from me 6 weeks ago. I met my daughter and then had to leave her. All that I had to hold on to was a date of when we would get to hold her again and bring her home. But now they have even taken that date away from me. I know that in the big picture two additional weeks of waiting isn't that long, but I was just told to wait 22 days to have my heart put back in place when I was counting down already and had gotten all the way down to 8!
Today is one month until we will be a family of 5. But what really stinks is that I already passed and celebrated the one month mark 2 weeks ago.

So I try to be strong. Partly because that's how I want to feel, partly because I don't want to blow you away when you ask a simple question, and partly because to put these feelings into words brings on the tears, and I have better things to do than redo my make-up 50 times a day. (Though I don't know if anything will completely stop the tears from coming in the coming days -- and fair waring, they've been coming randomly, without warning. Just ask Tony.)

I know in my head that this is a minor setback. I know that it is still relatively soon that she will be home. But that's 14 more days that her crib is empty and her room is silent. 14 more days that our home will not be filled with a baby's laughter and even cries. 14 more days that her high chair sits unused at our dining room table.

I am a planner, so everything was planned right up until the minute we were to take off on September 24th. Now, there isn't much left to do, but wait.

I know that life is not a smooth journey, and that adoption has bumps along the road, but for the past 23 hours, I feel like I've been derailed.
Each morning she is the first thing I think of when I wake up, and I mentally check off how many days are left. Well, even this morning I did that, but I thought, "Today is Friday, one week until we leave! Oh, three weeks until we leave."

So I wait, and I pray, and I am still so very glad that you ask how we're doing, and still say that you're so sorry and that two weeks will go by quickly, but here is how I'm really doing because it's much safer to share this on the blog. Thanks for reading.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 16

I'm at a loss for words tonight.

Today my spirit has been crushed, but I know that the days will pass, and soon we will again be 8 days, and then 7 days, and then eventually Allison will be in our arms, and then eventually she will be home. And we will have journeyed this path that is lighted with prayer.

But I am thankful, that even as my heart is heavy beyond what I think I can bear, I can go to Him in prayer, and He will grant me comfort and peace.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

Two More Weeks

2 weeks

14 days

336 hours

20160 minutes

1209600 seconds

In the course of one phone call, that's how much longer was added to our wait to see, hold, kiss, and bring home Allison.  Tony got a phone call this morning (our wise social worker called him rather than calling me) to tell us that the US Embassy in Addis is moving, and so they are rescheduling our court date for October 14th, rather than September 30th. Just like that, our world is turned upside down. Two additional weeks of waiting. (Not to mention the change in airfare. Tony is on the phone right now.)

Just when I didn't think I couldn't wait 8 more days, now we don't leave for 22 days. Right now my heart is breaking and the tears are flowing.

I miss you so much Allison!

23 Days of Ethiopa: Day 15

What could you live without?

Your Wii?
Cable?
TV?
Your computer(s)?
iPhone?
Supermarket?

Your own room?
Dishwasher?
Washing machine?

Electricity?
Running water?

We stopped at this "real" village. Real as in real families live here, it is not a museum for tourists. Real families who live without any of these "necessities" every day. And they are happy and they are kind. They loved to have their pictures taken and then to be able to see the image on the back of the camera. We took lots of pictures, and I'm going to print them and take them back when we go for the families to keep. I don't know how often they get their pictures taken, but it didn't seem like it happened often.

Looking Back

As we are about to close this chapter of our lives, I am sitting at the computer and looking back over our past year, what we've been through, and how God has led us every step of the way.

If you have not followed us since last summer (or even if you have), here are a few blog posts to catch you up on where we've been.

Sara's Story

Tony's Story

Confirmation of Ethiopia

Our "Theme Song" and our first glimpse of Toukoul through the eyes of another family

Ok, I could keep going all day, but I have some things that need to get done. But thank you for reading our blog, following our journey, encouraging us, and supporting us in prayer.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 14.5

Ok, I couldn't resist just one more picture from the Blue Nile Gorge. This is the picture that Tony took because I was just too scared smart to not push it to climb out to just one more ledge towering above the drop off. But Tony did, and my heart was pounding almost as much as if I had been the one out there. Almost.

Again, no picture can do it justice, but he is looking STRAIGHT DOWN! That little stream down at the bottom? That's a raging river. Way, way, way, down. Did I mention that we were high up about a waterfall in the middle of nowhere in Ethiopia?

Oh, my stomach still turns at the sight. But, he made it back alive, with pictures and video, and that's what counts. Right?

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 14

This is the last picture I'll blog about from the Blue Nile Gorge (I think). But it was so amazing and this picture doesn't even come close to showing the power and height of the waterfall. And I keep coming back to how quiet and unassuming the surroundings were, compared to our National Parks filled with tourists. Besides our guides, we were the only people there. It really was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad that we were able to be there.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 13

The moment.

I'm going to take a break from the nature and people of Ethiopia because my heart is breaking for one very special person in Ethiopia. Friday marked two weeks until we leave, and now that the end is in sight, but heart literally aches to hold my sweet Allison in my arms and bring her home.

Our new friend, Wendi, played the role of driver, translator, guide, and even photographer. He took pictures for us in those first priceless moments of meeting Allison. And while we still can't post pictures of her, this picture of Tony, capturing my first holding her in my arms, takes me back to the moment. And I can't wait to be behind the blue gate once again.

And then, last night I realized that three weeks from last night, we will finally be putting Allison to bed in our home. Three short, yet at the same time, so very long, weeks.

A Small Town Church and a Baby in Ethiopia

These are my grandparents. They are two of my favorite people in the whole world (in fact, through the miracle of induction, I was able to have Emily on my grandma's birthday and that means so much to me)! The live in a small town in northern Michigan and go to a small white church with a big beautiful steeple, with the most wonderful people. What's even more amazing is that my grandma told me that Allison was the topic for Children's Church this morning for their entire church. I love that the children stay with their families for worship, then the pastor calls all the children to the front of the church for a lesson, then they are dismissed to Sunday school.

But this morning Grandma and Grandpa shared pictures that we had sent and Pastor Dinah showed all the pictures to the kids and told them all about her and how much her family loves her and has been praying for her. She also talked about how their church has been praying for Allison since Alli was 7 months old. That is a perfect picture of the church living in community for and with each other. As the children were dismissed to Sunday school, they always leave singing "Jesus Loves Me". But this morning after the children had been dismissed, Pastor Dinah lead the church in singing "Jesus Loves Me" a second time. Just for Allison.

Dear Pastor Dinah and the First Congregational Church of Frankfort, thank you! Thank you for your love and prayers. I hope that next summer we will be able to visit and you will all get to meet Allison first hand.

PS - That's little Megan in 2006, the last time we were back in Frankfort at their church.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 12

This is a view from after we had crossed the bridge. We are looking back up to the bridge and above that is the guide house at the top of the trail.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 11

When you go to Africa, you have to have a chance to get out and see wildlife. While we didn't go on a full safari, we were so blessed to see a herd (I'm not sure what you call them) of baboons while we were at the river. They kept their distance from us, but they were amazing, just hanging out on a ledge above the falls. After we crossed the bridge, they also went back and forth across the bridge, never bothering us, just doing their thing.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 10

This is the Bridge of Terror, um, the Portuguese Bridge. We hiked down to the bridge, then I almost didn't go across. Have I mentioned yet that I hate don't like heights? But the encouraging prompting of my guide, friend, and husband, I made it across and eventually up and around the other side, but I'll talk more about that another day. Have I mentioned yet that I love Ethiopia and that my daughter is blessed to have such a wonderful country as her first home? I am so glad that we had the opportunity to get out of the city for a day. Absolutely amazing.

Give us this day our daily bread

We are so close to have hit a bump in the road now, but that's exactly what has happened. Through this entire process every payment has been made. We held fundraisers, collected donations, and have trimmed our family budget everywhere we can. But we are now weeks from bringing Allison home and we have been hit with $2500 in unexpected medical bills and have our $5000 for second travel sitting in credit card limbo. And our savings is gone.

So we are again, trusting that God will provide. And I need to remember that He will give me today my daily bread. Daily bread. Just what I need for today (need--not everything we want). We can't pay the $2500 off right now, but we believe that the medical bills can be divided into interest free payments. I hate to be in debt and it makes me worry about the big picture future, but I need to focus on just needing my daily bread. The airline tickets and hotel costs are on credit cards and we have a few weeks to make a plan before they are due. God will meet our daily needs.  I like to have a financial safety net (and there are lots of good reasons to have that), but for us, right now, we have taken a step of faith and it's a little foggy how this will all come together. That why it's faith.

It's funny, but today as I was volunteering at the girls' school, I started talking with a mom. Our adoption came up and she said, "I don't think I could spend all the money that it takes for adoption." Hmmm. Thanks for the reminder God that this is about a little girl who needs a mommy, a daddy, and two big sisters. It's not about the money.

But, we still have needs to meet, so if you feel able, you can give a secure gift through the PayPal link on the left side of our blog. All gifts help. Big or small. And thank you again to everyone who has already sacrificed and given through this journey. It means so much to us.

23 Days of Ethiopia: Day 9

On our day trip, our main excursion was to the Blue Nile at the Portuguese bridge. Unfortunately they gorge was cloud filled, but we could still feel the vast size that rivals the Grand Canyon. The difference is that we were were the only visitors. The waterfall was flowing heavily as it is the start of the rainy season in Ethiopia right now. This picture was from a rock outcropping and Tony took it because of my fear of heights. It's a steep, far drop from where he was standing.

We saw so much at this stop, and I'll post more about it in the coming days.

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