Connecting the dots

Ah, little "Z", we just got an update on you.  It looks as though your friends could have some additional entertainment playing connect the dots.  CHICKENPOX!! BUMMER!  I hope you heal quickly and that your Nanny's coat you in Camomile lotion to ward off the itchies!  No fun.  

Travel Companions

Look who "officially"gets to travel with us!  Their long awaited passports have arrived safe and secure.  They are ready to hit the "Friendly" skies.  You can start praying now, though, for those dreaded long flights that they have mystified in their mind as "fun".  You can also pray for the extra cash it'll take to get them ON those flights.  All I know is I have TWO VERY excited kids who are READY to travel!  

Little "Z", you are about to be blessed by your big brother and one of your big sisters.  

They have joined me in the chant ... "OPEN, OPEN, OPEN"

Is their a discrepancy?

It seems their is a discrepancy in the definition of the word "Encouraging".  You see, each week our loving family coordinators at AWA send their families a "weekly encouragement" e-mail.  It always contains a scripture.  Yep, we can agree that that's encouraging.  It always links us to the blog for more information.  Informative .... hmmm ... that can be up for debate on encouraging dependent on the day, the month and the season of adoption with Ethiopia.   It always has a picture of a precious kid.  Who could possibly get more encouraging than that?  End Goal - cute kid - encouraging!  And lastly, it always contains a "weekly update or tip".  Encouraging?  Well, this week you decide.

Today's Weekly update said this:
We anticipate that Ethiopian courts will re-open on Wednesday, October 12^th. While it is possible this date may change, this is the information we have been given. If the date does change, we will let your family know. In past years, families have been issued court dates anywhere from a few days before court officially opens to a few weeks after the official opening date. The travel department will inform you as soon as they hear when your family has been given a court date.

Booo hoooo ... that's not "Encouraging"!!  There seems to be a communication error.  The 12th???  That feels like a decade from now and well, there isn't anything "encouraging" about that news ... even if it is candy coated in the "families have been issued court dates a few days before court officially opens" phrase because that too was spoiled by the broccoli thrown on top with a "to a few weeks AFTER their official opening" phrase.  Nope, unless you had a typo and you meant to type "2" instead of "12" ... that's, what we phrase in this family as a,  "What a bummer" e-mail.  

Translation:

They aren't opening until the 12th, we haven't a CLUE when you'll get your appointment but when we do ... we'll let you know.  Don't call us, we'll call you.  Oh, and well ... be encouraged ... because "it's POSSIBLE this date could change and well, IF it does ... we'll let you know that then too.  Have a great week!  

BOOO HOOO!  I just turned two, am throwing a tantrum and want a NEW weekly encouragement!  I want a do over (kicking me feet, floundering like a fish, busting out that ugly 2 year old cry) HAHA!  

*Disclaimer* I LOVE my agency, my family coordinator and their awesome weekly encouragements.  I don't fault them for not knowing, I just find it comical sometimes what arrives in my in-box.  No one (including them) has any control in this process... but we live in America and that SOOOO bothers us.  Answers ... we need answers and a PLAN darnit!  International adoption -it aint gonna happen, no matter what agency your with!  I just have to find the humor amidst the journey and trials or else, I'll have no hair by the time "Z" comes home.  Laughing commences.  BWAHAHAHAHA!  

Because he loves me ...

In late 2010 (I can't remember the exact time), the Lord led me to a blog post by the way of a neighbor friends Facebook page.  Seeing the word "orphan" in small print, I clicked the link to find a story of a family who had left all the comforts of "home" to follow the Lord's calling on their lives to serve the least of these in Ethiopia, Africa.  Of course, I was intrigued and excited as I read each of their posts and perused their pictures.  At the time, we were well on our way in our adoption of "Z" and I was preparing for my first trip to Ethiopia with a Visiting Orphans team that February.   I was so excited to meet a family who was serving in the heart of the place that the Lord was drawing our own family.

The fingerprints of God continued to be all over the story as it was through a string of e-mails from myself and Jimmy that led us to learn that we were from the same city, his closest family friend was the now wife of my husband's first cousin, we shared a love and ministry for Somali Bantu's and of course a love for caring for the orphan and least of these.   I quickly felt like these people I had never met were like family.  

Through this connection, a few months later my VO team found ourselves with an invite to join them for the day in a Gov't orphanage where they were serving and loving many children.  Because our itinerary was so full, I was less than hopeful that it would actually get to happen.  But God doesn't work in coincidences and every detail is always HIS!  Upon Ethiopian airlines canceling (at the last minute) all flights going out on the day our team was to depart, we soon found ourselves having one extra day in Ethiopia.  This was perfect!!   When news that we would be arriving one day sooner came, I was ecstatic and quickly began bombarding my team leaders and our ministry leaders with information on how we could "fill our time" and of the invite that Jimmy and Rachel so graciously shared.  I saw the fingerprints of God.

Since then, I have enjoyed following their work through their ministry called "No Ordinary Love".   I have also loved hearing of subsequent VO teams who have been able to join in their work and visit their orphanage too.  

The biggest personal blessing came recently when Jimmy e-mailed to ask if I would like for them to go to the Transitional Home and visit our son.  Would I???  Oh my!  Of course!   I can't even tell you how hard it is to know you have a son 7,000 miles away and not know on a daily bases what he is doing and if he is well.  To say that one must have "trust" and "Faith" during these days is an understatement.  

But alas, the Lord knew this and reminded me that I am not forgotten.  "Z" is not forgotten.  

So indeed, last Wednesday Jimmy and Rachel went and visited our little guy.  They told me on Tuesday they'd be going in the next day so I began to pray for their visit and wait in excitement of anything they had to share.  Late in the day Wednesday, an e-mail arrived and this is what Rachel shared:

"We loved being able to meet your son today!!  He was in school and they happily stopped everything so we could meet your little boy.  I have to say I was impressed with the classroom and the teachers.  To me it seems AWA offers the best "transition" for the children.  Anyway, back to Z.  He is absolutely gorgeous and just as sweet, I love his smile.  He had no idea who we were but we explained in very broken Amharic that we were friends with his anat ena abat (mom and dad)."

Attached to the e-mail was a few precious pictures.  One of them was one of "Z" standing in front of a bookcase holding a book.  Rachel pointed out that Jimmy had given the book to him to hold for the picture and then later noticed what it said "God Knows Everything".  

What a sweet reminder!  Indeed, the Lord does know EVERYTHING.  He has indeed been writing the many pieces of this story, including the families and friends he'd bless us to meet along the way.  

It is so much easier each day to place my trust in this proceess when I can see for myself His "Fingerprints".   He doesn't owe me that ... but because he loves me so ... he allows me to see them anyways.  How great is our God!  

Look closely at the book "God Knows Everything"

"Z" and his special visitor, Mrs. Rachel  

In case your "wondering".

Is time standing still or is it just me?  I feel like we have had our referral for forever now.  I stare at the most precious face on my refrigerator, on my cell phone, on my computer every day and just wonder.

I wonder if he's well.  I wonder what he likes to play with.  I wonder what his disposition is.  I wonder if when it says "he speaks Sidamo", does that mean he can't communicate with the other kids/Nanny's that speak Amharic.  I wonder if when he saw my picture on Jen's cell phone, that the Lord created a file in his little brain called "Mommy".   Cuz you know, our God is big enough to do that!  I wonder if he'll have a difficult transition.  I wonder if he'll be scared when he meets us.  I wonder if the plane ride home will be a hellish experience.  I wonder when our day in court will be.  I wonder how long the journey will take.  I wonder if he'll make it home by Christmas.  I wonder if he'll love his first CarePackage.  I wonder if he'll wonder who in the world those "feh-rehn-jee's" (what they call white people or "foreigners" haha)  are in the pictures we sent.  I wonder if he and Maliah will be buddies.  I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder.

The Lord knows I wonder and so a little at a time he sends me blessings along this journey so he can help take away a little wonder I suppose.

1. My precious friend, as I shared in a previous post, was in Rwanda/Ethiopia when we received our referral.  What a blessing she was to visit our sweet boy and bring us photos and video ... ahhhh, did you hear that, VIDEO.  I don't have to wonder what his voice sounds like ... I heard it and I LOVE it!!  
2. Recently I posted our little guy's orphanage name on our agency's yahoo.  Two fellow Mommy's e-mailed me personally with blessings!  PICTURES of where our little "Z" spent many months and the other is mailing me VIDEO of the orphanage.  I no longer will have to wonder what it looked like.       
3. On Saturday, another precious family flies out to Ethiopia and will deliver our first CarePackage.  Inside will be our photo album.  I will no longer have to wonder if he knows he has a family.  I have been assured that his Nanny will sit and share with him "who we are".  Though, I wonder ... will he know what that means and will he likes what he sees so far?
4. I got to send off our first 5 "update questions".  How blessed I am to have an amazing agency that will update us each month on our little boy.  They will also let us know each week if he is sick etc.  Narrowing down the many wonder's to the first five to ask was tough ... but here's what we decided.

• What is "Z" disposition and personality?  Is he happy, does he cry  
  often, compliant or strong willed?
  
• What is Z's daily schedule?
  
• What soothes Z when his is upset?  Or "how does he like to  
  be comforted"?
  
• Does Z play with other children and have a special "playmate"?
• Since he speaks Sidamo, is he able to communicate with the  
  Nanny's or is he learning Amharic or English to communicate?

One thing you may wonder is why in the world I am now using "Z" to refer to "Levi".  Have I totally confused you?  Well, wonder no more.

The Lord gave us the name "Levi".  We know this with certainty that that was to be a portion of his name.  We just never knew, what portion.  When our referral arrived, both Doug and I really liked his given name.  We began to play around with it ... Levi "Z" Martine or "Z" Levi Martine.  yeah, it totally isn't real helpful that I can't actually tell you what "Z" stands for but you'll have to just trust me as I am not allowed to share it on a public site until we pass court.   The kids and I kept calling him "Levi" but I noticed that Doug would call him "Z".  When we had to fill out some paperwork for our travel coordinator, I put Levi "Z" Martine as his name to be.  Doug looked at me and said that he wanted it to be "Z" Levi Martine.  I told him that that was still up for debate.  But, one day, he looked at me and finally said "I don't know what you are going to call him, but I'm calling him "Z".  Hmmmm???  Well, O.K. then, as my spiritual leader, the leader of our family and one who seldom has a definitive position or opinion on things such as decorating, names, etc., it looks as though our Daddy has spoken ... and we no longer need to "Debate" or "wonder".   

So one day I will share his full name ... but until then, when you see me call him "Z", it's because indeed, his official name will someday be "Z" Levi Martine ... in case you were wondering.  

And I LOVE IT!  (Daddy always knows best though don't tell him I admitted it)

What now? What you can do.

SO, we've had our referral of sweet little "Z" for 19 days now not that I'm counting or anything.   Many have asked when will he come home and what is next so I thought I'd give you the run down as I know it.  Anything can happen the enemy hates adoption and hates that orphans are being loved and cared for and brought into forever homes.  PRAY!  

Right now we await the Ethiopian Courts to open back up after being closed for the rainy season.  That is scheduled for the first week of October or so, but who really knows, it's Africa and we are only on a need to know basis and well frankly, it's really a vacation because um, Ethiopia is like in a 60 year drought so we really shouldn't call it the "Rainy Season".  


Our Family Coordinator said that they may still issue court dates before it opens but that since our referral just arrived, she doesn't expect us to hear anything for our case until after Court opens.  You are welcome to pray that we do in fact hear something because it sure would aid in planning.  


Once we receive a court date, we will arrange our travels and go to Ethiopia.  Trip #1.  We will be bringing our two oldest kids because we are somewhat on the crazy side because we have decided that to truly understand why we do what we do in the world of adoption/orphan care, we need to show them and let them experience it.  This will cost loads of extra money come as a sacrifice, however, we feel it will be so worth it!

During trip #1, we will meet little "Z" and spend time with him.  We will also go before the judge and let him know that indeed, we want him to join our family of course we do, when you see his precious face you'll be wishing you were the one standing in front of that judge.  Darn he is CUTE!  We pray and so can you, that we pass court the first time (50% do not).  If we don't, that will be another delay as we wait for subsequent court dates and for our agency to gather any information that MOWCYA (the ministry of woman's, children's and youth affairs) is missing.  We will not return for those court dates should they be needed.  We will come home without "Z" you can start praying now, I'm not sure how they will physically get me on that plane when I'm fighting to stay with him.  


Once we pass court, which we pray is the moment we stand before the judge, we then come home and wait for our agency to submit all our paperwork to the US Embassy for clearance/Visa etc.  This usually takes 4-6 weeks though recently, we are seeing this take longer.  You can also start praying they'd pick up that pace, can you imagine waiting even a day with your child being on the other side of the world?  Once we are cleared, we go to Ethiopia again and this time we return with our precious boy!!  Go ahead and cheer, you know you want to!  Yes, we do welcome large airport welcome home parties ... but we will address in a future post some rules about how we will go about transitioning our little guy.  In other wards, don't come and pick him up ... you are a white person, he will be in a foreign land, he will have left everything he knows, you will speak a weird language, smell weird and be all together frightening to him.  IE; you can smile and cheer and welcome, but as I tell my little girl, only with your eyes, not with your hands for a while.  

So what do we do now?  We wait, we pray for our little guy, we pray for these details even now and we trust.  And well, because I am a planner and I need something to do because, hello, I'm only 19 days into this wait and I feel like a crazy woman, we also begin gathering donations that we will bring.  You can help too.  There are many things needed in the transitional home and orphanages.   Let me know if you can gather some of these things.  I can come and pick them up and together, we can bless the socks off of some precious children!

We will be bringing lots of extra bags and very little clothing on our trips so we can bring these things that right now are needed in our two transitional homes.   This is what we have been notified as of now is really needed.

There are several items that the transition home is in need of for the older children: • Musical instruments
• Athletic clothing and shoes for soccer
• Christian videos or DVDs
• Swimsuits for boys and girls -this one interests me, I've been to Ethiopia, where in the world are they swimming and please tell me they are also asking for life jackets.  ;-)


Orphanage and Transitional Home General Donation Needs: o Puzzles for young children
o Toy cars and trucks appropriate for toddler aged children
o Diaper rash ointment (A+D preferred)
o Children’s clothing (new or slightly used); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-8 years. Clothing needs include day clothes (especially pants), pajamas, underwear, and shoes.
o Diapers for up to 30 pounds
o Toys to stimulate babies such as colorful objects, rattles, etc. that are appropriate for babies up to 2 years
o Unscented baby wipes
o Powder formula with DHA/RHA
o A + D Original Ointment, Diaper Rash and All-Purpose Skincare Formula
o Hand Sanitizer
o Candles
o Enfamil or Similar Lactose free formula (*the following Generic Brands with identical nutritional value to Enfamil & Similac are also acceptable: Parents Choice formula from Wal-Mart, Target’s generic Formula, Kirkland formula from Costco)
Medications/Medical Donation Needs** o Multivitamins
o Chewable multi-vitamin (2 years to 9 years)
o Adult multivitamin (9 years plus)
o Infant’s and Children’s Tylenol (acetaminophen)
o Plastic and Latex disposable gloves
o Baby nose saline spray
o Neosporin
o Mouth and nose masks
o Benadryl liquid/elixir
o Permetherin for scabies
o Lice kits
o Toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss 

Back to school Celebration Dinner

It's hard to believe it's already that time of year.  My kids headed off this morning for their "First days".  Canyon is in 5th, Dakota in 4th and my baby in Kinder.  No way!  Where has time gone?

As we prepared for another school year, we did so with a kick off Celebration Dinner.

On the menu; Swiss Cheese Wine Chicken, Mandarin Orange Salad, Caesar Salad, Hershey Pie and Sparkling Grape Juice.

We spent time talking about our scripture for the year; "Be Completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love".  Ephesians 4:2.  We chose this verse for our year for many reasons.  First, this is the example we hope our children will be as they interact in school and with their peers.  Secondly, we are working on these attributes in our own home.  Yes, we'll admit, on many days and on many moments, we lack some of these things with each other; humility, patience and speaking in love.  Gasp, I know ... but it is true.  Lastly, knowing that we will soon add a brother to our home, we also know that we will be working to exercise these things even more so as he transitions into being one of the family.

Next, we focused on praying for our teachers.  Between my 3 kids; they will have 10 teachers this year (not counting the GT teacher, and specials).  That's a lot of influence which brings a lot of reasons to pray.
"As for me, far be it from me, that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you ..." 1 Samuel: 12:23.  Indeed, we are committed to pray for our teachers each and every day by name.

The kids also thought through and wrote out some goals for this year.  I loved this part and I loved seeing some of the things that they had in mind and saw as important.  What a window into their hearts.  Boy, I like what I saw.

Lastly, our table would not have been complete without our 6th place setting.  Indeed, this year we included a place for Levi "Z".  We are ready to see him fill that seat and so thankful for the Lord for showing us just who it is we have been praying for this entire past year.  We are already in love and excited that this will be the year He will complete our family.

Thank you to a friend, Jennifer Conant, for inspiring me to take the time out to enjoy such a special night.  We have added this one to our "Traditions" list ... it was a HIT!