Pictures, pictures

Here's a picture update on my little sweeties!

Finally Home, and Finally Bloggin"

So alot has happened since my last blog. As my readers know, I am the world's worst blogger; sometimes I wonder, "Why do I even have a blog?" But here it is, nevertheless. Occasionally I have something to say. And rarely do I have enough time to take the time out to say it.

But we are home!!! We have our sweet and precious Eleni Meseret! And she is just that - sweet and precious and fitting totally in with the family. We came back on July 31st, so we have been home 3 weeks.

I have so more to say about our trip, but I will save that and type out each day, one at a time, so as not to overwhelm myself - I am still processing; and still very tired, so not quite ready to blog about the trip yet.

But Eleni is doing well; acting more and more like a toddler every day. When we first got her, she was like an emotionless lump- just holding on to me for dear life. But sad, not crying sad, emotionless sad, which in a way, at times, felt worse. But day by day, more life comes - and she is FULL of it!! Now in 4 short weeks (well, they have felt long), she laughs, smiles, dances, plays, teases her brothers, tells us "NO!" (as all toddlers do), and so much more. She is so much fun and has such a personality.

She has been very scared of men, including Jason, which has been the hardest thing. She is slowly warming to him, but still is apprehensive around him at times. We make progress, and then she regresses. Two steps forward, one step back each day. Well, some days it feels like 10 steps back, but it is happening. She loves him (or at least tolerates him) when I am no where around. But bring mommy in and it is ALL OVER! She falls apart and his name is mud again. From the reports I am getting, however, this is pretty normal for adopted children. They just are rarely around men in the orphanages, so he is a scary novelty.

So, in general, I am tired, but not too tired, frustrated, but not too frustrated, and full of joy, which trumps it all. In the hard and frustrating moments, I just keep trying to think, okay, what is God teaching us in all this?

And Jason put it well (though I think he forgets his own lesson on a day to day basis when she is rejecting him): It is like God with us. He loves us even when we reject HIM. He perseveres with us. He pursues us over and over, and never gives up. And yes, He is sad when we don't love Him back. But one day, "We love, because He first loved us." (1 Jn. 4:19).

She's Ours!

She ours! She's finally ours!

We finally passed court last night and got the news early this morning: Eleni is finally legally ours! What a day to remember. We are thrilled and relieved.

This means we should get to go to Ethiopia in July and bring her home!

Two verses on my mind today in thanks to God's faithfulness:

"The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." (1 Thess. 5:24)

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know the the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100)

What else can I say? We are overwhelmed with joy!

More Frustration and Disappointment

It has been a hard couple of weeks. We were told that our next court date would be last Friday, the 7th, but the 7th came and went and it was never actually our court date.
Then we were told this week that our court date was May 13 (yesterday), so once again we prayed and were hopeful, but the day came and went only to find that this was yet another miscommunication. So our next date is the 13th on the Ethiopian calendar (NOT May 13), which supposedly translates to next Friday, the 21st. But I am skeptical, as we have been told twice now wrong dates.
I have no words of wisdom for myself, or cool verses, other than to say I know God is still in control and I still believe Him.

"It will not be late by a single day."

Well, we didn't pass. Not totally unexpected, but still, we were hopeful. It is rare to pass through on the first time, but I think everyone probably hopes and prays that "we will be the one; for us it will happen." And it COULD; I mean, with God, all things are possible.

So we will try again. Our approximate next court date is May 10, and this one sounds really hopeful. The judge just needed one document which the orphanage director will get for us.

Her name is Tegist, and she is really amazing.

I met her and her husband last fall when they came here to visit. You can tell they really, really love those children. It is such a good feeling to know that my little girl is being taken care of and truly loved. This is her home right now. Not her forever home or her forever family; that is us, God willing, but still a vital part of her life and who she is and who she will be. So although we still wait, and hard as that is, I am comforted. She has been at this home since she was a month old. This is all she knows, and and she knows love.


I was encouraged today by a message my friend, Cyndi, sent me. She is also an adoptive mother and she is amazing:

"I love the Steven Curtis Chapman song, "When Love Takes You In." My favorite part is this:
'And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be'

"I have LIVED the moment when the "has been" became lost in the "will be." It WILL come for you!! All this time passing now WILL get lost in "what will be" when you are united with your precious little one... and all of this will be a drop in the bucket... like "rain that falls into the sea." It's so hard to believe on this side of it, but it is true.
One of my favorite scriptures during this phase of our adoption was this one:
Habukkuk 2:3 "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day."

Thank you, Cyndi, for such and encoraging message, and to all my other friends and family who have been SUCH a blessing in your words of encouragment and prayers. A sweet family member of mine even fasted for us!! Wow. I am blessed to be so surrounded by family and friends who support us and love us.

1 1/2 Hours until April 20 in Ethiopia!!!

And why is that so important, you might ask?

Because it is our first (and hopefully ONLY) court date; the day our little EM could become OURS.

So please, please pray. Midnight in Ethiopia starts at 4 pm today our time. So court will likely be taking place sometime while we are sleeping.

Pray now! Pray if you wake up in the middle of the night! Pray, pray, pray (please, please, please!)

And then I can show you her beautiful little face.



And on top of really wanting to bring her home ASAP, we also really want to pass court now, because in a few weeks, the process changes in Ethiopia, meaning we would have to travel to ET for our court date, come home, wait, and then travel back to ET for a second trip to get her and bring her home. It would be nice to avoid this if possible. On the other hand, I am so excited to see her that I would jump on a plane this afternoon if they told me I had to.



We will let you know as soon as we hear!!

Disney World

Just some pictures of my cuties in Disney World. It was a blast. We actually went in February, but as you all know, I am a fair-weather blogger, so I am just now getting around to it.

Court Date

We have our court date! It is set for April 20 - only 2 1/2 weeks away!
"What is a court date?" - you may be asking. This is the day where our "case" goes before a judge in Ethiopia (we don't have to be there) and he decides if little "EM" becomes our daughter legally or not. It is very common in Ethiopia for the initial court date to be postponed or to not "pass" the first time, in which case we would be assigned another court date. But even though it is uncommon to pass the first time, we are praying and hoping for it anyway, and ask that you do too! We cannot wait to have "EM" hope with us! She is just beautiful and I cannot wait to meet her.
Once we pass court, there is some other paperwork that has to be filed to get an Embassy date - and that is the date we have to be in Ethiopia and get to bring her home. Usually one to two months after passing court date. Although, there are suddenly some changes in the processing of that particular paperwork (urgh), that could make the wait between court date and embassy date longer.
We are filling the time with decorating her room - pink and black ballet theme. Oh yes, I am going totally girly. And of course she will probably end up being a total tom-boy with two big brothers! But for now, pink, pink, pink ( and purple of course).

Drum Roll, Please...

It's here! Finally here! Our referral! And I am on cloud nine. We have been matched with a beautiful little 18 month old girl. I am already in love with her. Can we go get her, now? Please?

I cannot share any pictures online yet, since she is not "legally" ours yet, but I will as soon as we pass court. Which should take 2 or 3 months. So we are still looking at 3-6 months before we can go bring her home, but I am just so thrilled to finally see her precious face and know her beautiful name.

Just last week I was in tears and so tired of waiting for our referral... and now, here she is. I really don't know what else to say except, Thank you Lord Jesus. You make all things beautiful in your time.

And another amazing thing is that in my husband's words, "She looks like a Medina!" And you know, she does! I really think she and my youngest son, Jeremiah quite possibly look more alike than my two biological sons! Only God could orchestrate that - from all the way around the world!