Adoption Adventure by Rob & Elissa

To heck and back?

2009-01-12T13:10:00.002-07:00

It is hard to believe that it was over a year ago that Sam and Abby arrived in our home. The road has been hard, very hard. We have suffered with these two children as we never could have imagined. Our family has suffered, our children have suffered, and physically, mentally, and spiritually we have been through the ringer.

Sam is doing well, he is happy and well adjusted. He has times of great sorrow and sadness over his losses but nothing that love, compassion, structure, and prayer can not help. Abby's struggles are much deeper and darker. Her anger is clear to everyone in our home. A year after her being here she is often on "line-of-side" which means that she is hitting, pinching, pushing, stealing, and or lying every time she is out of our site. She has almost every symptom of Reactive Attachment Disorder we have done therapy, family therapy, individual therapy, medication and therapy. Love, prayer, discipline, more love, and more prayer but to little avail.

We sent in an application for the Ranch for Kids last week. It is in Montana and takes internationally adopted kids, they try to help them work through some of their baggage with the hope that they will be able to come back to their families. The question now is do we really send her? Last week I would have said "yes, we are on our way" but last Tuesday she told Rob that she had accepted Jesus Christ into her life and ask Him to give her "a new heart". I have to tell you all that I have been extremely skeptical, she is a master at manipulation and having played the game with her for more than a year now trust dose not come quickly.

She has at this point not physically or verbally assaulted anyone in our home for almost 1 week! The longest she has gone is 2 days and that was only once. She is still not getting much as far a privileges go, as I said we have played this game to many times. But I wonder, it is true? Has God finally gotten a hold of this angry little girl, will she be willing to change? Currently I have to deal with the fact that this might be true. It seems odd but having watch her hurt and attack everyone in the house for a year now the truth is I just want her out. Now I have to put that back into God's hands and say "your will be done Lord not mine". So I wait, I wait with hope yet again, my heart dares once more to believe that there is a purpose in the pain. The sacrifices will be worth it in the end for now that is all I can do.

Updates!

2008-09-16T11:30:00.002-06:00

It has been a while since we have blogged and although we have been talking about it alot in the past month or two neither of us have actually done anything, sorry!

We had a pretty harsh April through June but God is faithful and we are a family working on being a family. Sam has is prostethic leg which is good and bad, it rubs a blister on one area of scar tissue so he cant wear it for long periods of time. We will be going in to "revise" the scar on Oct. 7th they said 85% chance that it will fix the problems and just make it more comfortable in general. Sam is excited to do it, he really wants to wear the leg all day and not have it hurt!

The rest of the family it busy, school is in full swing we have a 9th grader (so not ready to have a high schooler) 6th, (2) 5th, 3rd, and 2nd! They all love school though and are very happy to have friends and social interaction with more than just siblings and an occasional friend.

We are busy with that soccer and the orphan care ministry at our church. We are working on a concert/informational evening in Nov. Other than that we are continuing to grow together not always easy or fun but it will be so worth it!

Check the Basket

2008-03-11T10:20:00.004-06:00

At 3 months old Moses was put into a basket and sent down the river so he would be saved from the Pharaoh. Pharaohs daughter went down to the river to bathe and found the basket with Moses in it. She had to know what would be in the river because a few verses earlier we were told that Pharaoh ordered all baby boys were to be thrown into the river. Not a great place for a bath in my opinion. But God had a plan for the little boy in the basket and was able to use the family of the Pharaoh. As we continue to read we know of the amazing things God did through that little boy.

I can't help but wonder what is waiting in the 143,000,000 baskets today. When we look at some of the people who were once waiting in the baskets it is an amazing list. The Philosopher Aristotle, Bo Diddley (the musician), Eleanor Roosevelt (former first lady), Dante Culpepper (professional football player), John Hancock (Signer of the Declaration of Independence) and Nelson Mandella just to list a few. Nelson Mandella was not adopted until he was 9 years old. He was taken in by a family who loved and nurtured him and the people of South Africa are so thankful for the leader he became.

Does God have a basket waiting for you today? As Christians we first and foremost need to understand that all of the waiting children are loved unconditionally by the same God who loved us and gave himself up so we may live. What is God calling you to give up so an orphan can live? I understand that God is not calling all Christians to adopt, but there are so many ways we can honor God by helping one orphan at a time. (See the my favorite posts on the right for 10 Ways that every Christian can help an orphan or waiting child)

Psalm 68:4-6 Sing to God, sing praises to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds, his name is Lord - and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in family's, he leads forth the the prisoners with singing: but the rebellious live in a sun scorched land.

We are Gods family and the body of Christ is where he desires to place the lonely. Does God have a basket for you that you are afraid to open? Are you afraid that this will change your life? As an adoptive father I promise you that it will! Pray for Gods leading in where he wants to use you to help the orphans and follow the calling he lays on your heart. It can be anywhere from being an adoptive parent to simply praying regularly for an adoptive family, but open your heart to the possibilities.

A funny thing on the way to Chinese

2008-03-11T10:17:00.003-06:00

Last night a few of us went to pick up Chinese, as we were leaving the parking lot there is a little day care place with the little buses out front when Abby asks "Why Mom?" I start telling her about the fact that some parents work long hours and the buses come get kids from school...... Abby grows more and more upset, "Cold Mom, Ethiopia Mom, no food" she is pratically in tears at this time when I catch a glimpse of what she is seeing. There are two people on a bench infront of the day care. "We will go back Abby we will help them okay." We turn around and go back, Abby is so upset her seat belt is off and she is ready to jump out of the car and run to help these poor people and then.... they are statues!!!

We laughed and laughed, it was a statue of a little girl reading a book to a little boy. I was happy that it was only statues but it brought back memories of cold, hunger, and despair for Abby. I am so thankful that I know God can use the worst of circumstances and turn them into something for His glory. Because Abby has known hunger, cold, and fear she is unafraid to seek those hurting out and to do all she can to help them. May we all have moments of laughter in our lives to mix with the tears of sadness. May we all use our sadness and pain to lighten the load of others.

Torn between two worlds

2008-03-06T09:04:00.002-07:00

Little Abby's home sickness is profound. She has lost a very ill mother and a little brother whom she worries about anytime she is not busy. Her home, language, food, friends, and way of life. One moment she tells me she wants to stay with us until she is very old and literally two minutes later she is telling me she will go back to Ethiopia to marry and raise a family as soon as she is 18.

She is torn; her two worlds clash in so many ways. I am sad for her, broken with her, and waiting for God to turn her mourning into gladness. No matter where she goes neither place will really be "home" at least not right now. They both have good and bad things about them as every season of life has it's positive and negative attributes. Her favorite things about Ethiopia: Mom, brother, Ethiopian food. Her favorite things about America: Hannah Montanna, french fries, shopping, and powdered doughnuts! I don't know what the future holds perhaps she will return to Ethiopia when she is old enough and live out her days there. Perhaps she will visit and find that it no longer holds the memories and allure.

Numbers

2008-03-03T10:25:00.003-07:00

I love numbers, I work with numbers, I often think in numbers. Numbers are always the same, there is no gray it is black and white it is right or wrong. Recently I was sent an email with some numbers that have caused me sleepless nights.

I have known for over a year that there are 143,000,000 (143 MILLION) children in this world who are waking up with no one to care for them. They survive the day to return to restless slumber with no one to hold them in the dark night. This is disturbing to me and I think it should be to anyone with a heart. But I learned something more heart wrenching than that....

There are 2,100,000,000 that is 2.1 BILLION people who claim to follow Christ in this world. With those statistics if 7% of those claiming Christ to be their Lord would adopt 1 (only one) child we could wipe out this sickening tragity called "orphans". I weep for the children, I weep for the families, I weep for the memories that have not been made, the lives that have been lost alone when God intended them to be in a family. There are people out there who God has been speaking too. Guiding to adopt He has shown them what to do but they have not been able to trust they have allowed fear.... selfishness... ignorance.... or perhaps a calloused heart... to keep them from paths of incredible adventure. We struggled with all of these things too; but this life is not our own, we have been bought with the blood of Christ. His heart should be our heart, His ways should be our ways. I am not pretending to be perfect or saying that I always do what God would want me to do.

I am sick and tired of living a life of routine, I am tired of being self absorebed, I am not an American.... I am a follower of the God of heaven and Earth. I am ready to be broken for Christ's sake, to live a life that is a clear picture of grace and love, I am ready to serve. Are you ready? What holds you back? I beg of you go before the Lord with an open heart allow Him to impart truth into your life and then ACT! The path is not always clear but the purpose is; that we may be known by the love we have for others.

Moving Forward

2008-02-27T18:47:00.002-07:00

Abby & Sam are in school full time now. Abby is doing great. She is still shy, but has made friends and is learning academically. Her best subject is Math, but is enjoying meeting with
Mrs. Pasquel who is her English Second Language Teacher. She also likes to do homework which is not normal for our family. Her and Zoe are the only two who we don't have to fight to get it done! Today she got to go on her first field trip on a school bus. We live a couple blocks from the school, so this was her first time. I am not sure what she thought of the play the went to see, but she thought the bus was awesome.

Sammy on the other hand does not want to go to school. He feels his time would be better spent watching The Chronicals of Narnia. Once he gets there he usuailly does pretty good, but to get him out of bed and ready to go is like pulling teeth. Ok pulling teeth might be easier! His teacher has had to pull from the staff to get additional help to keep him on task. He is making friends and everyone wants to help him and hang out with him. It is not school that is the problem so much as submitting to authority; he is not dangeriously deffiant but he certainly has a strong will. We knew going into this that Sam's will is what kept him alive for so long, his lack of family relationships, and selfreiance would alsi be issues that would have to be over come. Considering that he has only been home 2 months Sam has made incredible strides, he has sadly had to start many, many things later than a child should and some behavior patterns will be hard to relearn.

This past weekend we were invited to visit the local ethiopian church. It was educational and the kids had a great time. The people were very accepting and friendly everyone was willing to extend extra grace to us when we didn't know protocall for different things. All in all we are pleased we went it was good for all of us in different ways. We didn't learn much spiritually as it was all in Geeze or Amahric but we all serve the same God and that is what is important!

Week In Review

2008-02-14T20:05:00.002-07:00

Abby and Sam both went to 3 full days of school! We had kids home sick almost every day this week but we have survived. No school Friday or Monday so it is a 4 day break! Sam and Abby got to meet their Papa Ron for the first time. That was VERY EXCITING! Abby ran right up to him and gave him a huge hug. Sam waited as everyone squeezed in for a hug but he was very excited to meet his Papa.

Valentines Day is a first, filling out cards was great practice for writing our letters, passing them out was good pratice for sharing! Last night Abby was so funny. She loves to punch people and she started punching Dad in the kitchen. Abby punches, Dad punches back, Abby punches, Dad punches back. About the third time Abby pretends to be hurt and Dad says "Show me the tears Abby" Abby replies "Wait!" She runs to the sink and splashes water on her face, "See Dad, see!" It was hysterically funny. It has been amazing how quickly they are learning english!

Over all things are going well, Abby is starting to become accustome to American food. It has helped a lot that she likes to eat lunch in the school cafeteria. So now Mom's food isn't so bad after all! We have found several things she really likes and a lot of stuff she will eat anyway. Sam on the other hand has found food he doesn't like; including school food! He love cheddar brauts and still laughs with such sheer joy at the silliest things! It really helps when we are having a bad day to be able to listen to that laugh.

The Tax Collector & Us

2008-02-07T19:04:00.001-07:00

I have recently picked up an old study that I did on the book of Mark years ago. I love the book of Mark, I got as far 2: 13 - 17 today; The Calling of Levi. Levi is a tax collector and Jesus simply said "follow me" Levi wisely chose to follow and it changed his life forever! Levi is also the apostle Matthew.

This is such a meaningful passage to me right now because I keep hearing comments about how wonderful we are. Honestly don't feel wonderful at all. I know people are saying it kindly but we are nothing special; we are tax collectors whom Jesus called and chose to follow. We have not done anything grand, nothing extordary. We are failing the calling god has put before us in so many ways. We are simply living out the grace that God has bestowed upon us. It is not easy, it is not always fun, it is work just like anything else worth doing well! But there are certainly great rewards. The smiles of our children, the life lessons of compassion, grace, patience, and sacrifice. Comparing the first pictures of the kids we got to the pictures we take now. That is priceless....truely, honestly, and humblingly priceless.

Good Stuff

2008-01-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

The good stuff; Sam's all out laughter at the smallest of things. Abby's love of every thing she comes in contact with (with the exception of food:) Praying together, growing together, learning together. Celebrating a new life and a new family unit.

Abby started going to school on Tuesday, we went for math, Wednesday she went for math and lunch with Dad! Today we are going to leave Abby in the class room, it is a big step. I think Sam and I will go all the way down the hall to the library! Sam met his teacher after school on Tuesday, he will start going to school for an hour or so on Monday. They are both anxious to get going. The teachers and kids have been wonderful every time we have gone to lunch or visited the school they have been so friendly and kind.

They are also excited about learning to ride a bike. We have two trundles (they hook on to a regular bike and have the back wheel, pedals, and bike handles) so Rob hooked those up out of sheer insantity last night. It was very lightly snowing by the time we got tires aired up and everyone ready to go. We rode for around 15 minutes (the trundles are great for helping with the idea of balance) by the time we got home it was really coming down. We have about 5 inches out there this morning. Normally I would not go biking in snow no matter how hard the kids begged, most of the kids went though, only the two oldest (wisest) stayed home:)

It is incredible to watch all of us growing together. I am so thankful that we have been blessed with 6 little lives to guide and direct. May God give us the wisdom to guide them well and keep all of their hearts soft towards Him. I pray constantly that each of them will have the grace to forgive us too, as parents make mistakes too, who doesn't need forgiveness!

We are so very blessed, even in the hard times that I can not express the joy growing can be. It is not always easy or fun but it is good, very good, for all of us.

Remember Me

2008-01-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

"Remember me" that is what Sam's ET father told him the last time he saw him. It has been very hard for all of us as Sam's memories are not good. How do you tell a 7 year old who doesn't speak your language that he can remember his father but he doesn't have to live in the past? Sam has shared with us some things that happened with his father even with our limited communication we knew it was not pleasant. We were blessed with a visit of some older children who moved from ET 2 years ago and when Sam began to tell a very wise 16 year old what his memories were the young man ask him to stop. He very wisely told Sam that he didn't want to hear those things and that Sam needs to focus on all the opportunities he has now and not the past. We are so grateful for his wisdom!

Yesterday was very difficult for Sam as he struggles to figure out does he follow the advice of his new friend or his father's last request. It was a long day filled with mood swings, temper tantrums, tears, and mostly confusion. He is having a better day today for which I am exceedingly grateful! I will be so pleased when we have better communication with him.

I think now, that at 7 he bears an awful burden, choices that only he can make. Will he chose to participate in our family or be sullen, depressed, moody, and angry forever? To be faced with this choices that many adults struggle with; to forgive or hold on to anger, live in the past or for the blessings of today? To us it seems clear, embrace the family that has prayed for you, loved you, and sacrificed for you. Not to make you forget your past but to give you a future! Yet I know adults who chose to hold on to all the bad not seeing that there could be so much good if only they would let go of their hurts.

Food!

2008-01-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Food is with out a doubt our biggest issue with Abigail. I was feeling frustrated yesterday as I offered her at least 20 things and "no Mom" was the response to all of them. But then she looks at me and says "Eat Mom?" It is frustrating after almost a month home and still not being able to find stuff she really likes. The bigger perspective; that is our biggest issue! She has attached well, is communicating effectively, and seems to be adjusting with out any major hitches. Not to mention she will let me do her hair! I am not great, and certainly not fast, but she is tolerant.

Sam has some food issues too but they are getting better. He is the complete opposite of Abby, he eats everything! At first he struggled with hoarding, over eating, and sharing (even a loaf of bread). Sam has suffered sever hunger and his reactions were nothing that we had not been prepared for thanks to a wonderful and informative conference by Kingdom Kids. We have made food available at all times and this last week Sam actually said "no" to food when it was offered to him! That is huge; we didn't expect him to trust that we would care for him and meet his needs so quickly.

In short the fact that food is our biggest issue is a blessing and an answer to the many prayers we sent up while we were waiting. They are happy for the most part and have blended pretty well with the family. There are small things to look at but they are small; not all consuming huge issues. I will continue to remind my self of these things as the familiar phrase "America food bad" is repeated for the thousandth time. :)

Communication

2008-01-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

We have been able to communicate with Abby & Sammy more and more everyday. We have been using Amharicdictionary.com and it is proving to be an amazing tool. We are finding out about their family history and about their life in Ethiopia.

We now know that Sammy has a little brother who still lives in ET with his dad. We are now praying for him (Abraham) and his safety, not sure of what his dad plans to do with him. Sammy thinks it would be a good idea for us to go get him. We will put that in Gods hands and pray that his will be done. We also found out his leg was taken later than we thought. Sammy still remembers the surgery very vividly. He is excited about the possibility of getting a prosthetic. We have an appointment with the Shriner's in February to have him evaluated and will be advised of a timeline after that.

We also learned that Abigail graduated her first year of Karate. She would love to get into it here in the State's. She loved her little brother very much. We have not been able to find out why she was removed from the home, but she will tell us when she is ready. Every day she is using more English in her communication. We are amazed at how quickly she is picking it up!

We are looking at starting both of them in school. Our local school got together with all their teachers and councilors to put together a game plan on how to make this successful. We are thinking that we will put them in Math Class, Gym, Music, Recess, Art etc. We are thinking that it will make the transition easier, and allow them to get more exposure to learning our language without a lot of pressure.

Routine

2008-01-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting to get into some kind of routine around here. It is good for everyone to know what to expect from the day ahead. Today we had a translator and Sam's desires, "I don't have enough clothes or games and when do I get my leg?" Don't you just love human nature! I have not let the kids go shopping, in an effort to keep them from getting into the mind set that they can have everything they want but they are certainly NOT without clothing! Sam alone has two drawers stuffed with pants and plenty of shirts. He collects shoes no matter the size, he has at least 8 that he has claimed as his own. It reminds me of my self and how God has granted me so many gifts and I still don't say thank you often enough. Instead I come whining for something else.

Abigail seems to be content except that we have not let her call her ET Mom. She is allowed to write but are not to sure about telephone calls just yet. It is hard to have your heart in two places at the same time! We need to be sure that she is part of our family before we foster a continued relationship with those in Ethiopia. Speaking of phone calls Sam called 911 the other day, at least they called before they showed up at the door. It only takes a minute and with 6 kids in the house it is easy to slip away. We had to explain that 911 (the prefix for any calls in Addis Ababa) calls the police in America! He hasn't done it again at least:) well not yet!

God's Sovereign Hand!

2008-01-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Just in case you have been wondering where we have been I will give you a recap from the last week. Rob felt yucky; not horrible just not great Saturday and Sunday. Monday his sinuses were bleeding terribly! He had sores in his mouth and was very pale, he called to get into the doctor's who recommended he should go directly to the ER. From there I found out he was in quarantine for TB. Then he was out but being run through a bunch of tests. By around 1:30 pm the doctor called to tell me Rob was bleeding from his ears and nose and covered in ulcers! I knew his sinuses where bleeding but also found out he was bleeding from his ears and developing ulcers; things had taken a serious turn for the worse. He was being admitted and just so I knew it was very serious; he was being run through a CAT scan to make sure his brain wasn't bleeding. By the way he has ITP and just in case I hadn't figured it out it could be life threatening.

I decided not to tell anyone but the oldest kids as my information had left me with a lovely picture in my head of my husband sitting in a bed with open wounds, tubes, and blood pouring from his body. And yes I kind of had a feeling things weren't great even before the doctor was so wonderfully supportive. Normally I would have been at the hospital but we have two new children who have personally experienced the loss of at least one parent. It is not highly recommend for healthy bonding to bring a child home and two weeks later go into the hospital nor is it to bring them to see their Dad who looks like a monster from the description. Needless to say I was very concerned for Rob and the kids as well.

At the hospital I (Rob) was not being given all the information they were telling Elissa. The bleeding was all internal and the external ulcers were tiny red spots. I felt OK and did not look like the monster that Elissa had been told. I was told that my immune system had identified my Platelets in my blood as the enemy. When they figured this out my Platelets were down to 2000 and they should have been around 50,000. They gave me a CAT scan to find out if I had bleeding in my brain, that was the life threatening part. Luckily there was no bleeding in my brain and they admitted me to the hospital to start treatment. I was told that if all went well I would be out by the end of the week.

After the first treatment it was not looking good. (This was Tuesday when they told Elissa that Rob was not responding to treatment and they would try the steroid drip once more before they went with more invasive treatment. As a wife and mother this is when I became truly afraid. What was going through the heads of our precious new ones? They must have so many questions that we cant answer, or even understand! Our biological children were all told and each responded in their own way fear and again questions I could not answer. I knew that God was in control but it is very hard at times to trust the driver when you are blindfolded! God's ways are often not our ways, His plans not ours. Through trials we are to drawn closer to God, through suffering we are to be made more like Christ. They are not pleasant experiences ever but "God never wastes a heartache".) Rob's platelets had only come up to 3,000 and they were expecting 20,000 before they would even consider letting him go home. He was being pumped full of steroids to shut down his immune system and allow the other treatments to work. We found out that this disease was most likely caused by the live Malaria vaccine with Quinine we were given for our trip to Ethiopia. Rob very specifically told the nurse who was giving the vaccinations that we didn't want that one because of the possible side effects, but she assured us that that it was not the live version with Quinine. So it goes, this is why we researched all the shots and side effects before we got them!

Praise be to God, Rob was released on Wednesday evening! Much earlier than expected and to our great relief! We are truly thankful to God, our church family, and our friends as I don't know how we could have managed with out the prayers and support that went up for our family. We are thankful that Rob did respond to treatment and are praying that it will not be a chronic problem. God's hand formed this family one by one and His will be done for each of us.

It is amazing how many people have tapped into this blog and we don't know many of you, so we want to leave this with you today "Though the fig tree may not blossom. Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls- Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" Habakkuk 3:17 & 18

The sovereign part of the story is not only that God knows what he is doing but by trusting that His timing was perfect we were not in Ethiopia when all of this happened. It would have been horrible to have to put Rob on an airplane and have him taken to most likely Egypt or Italy to find a decent hospital! By trusting that God's timing to get the kids was right we were at least able to be home with family and friends to love and support us through this trial. Rest asured more trials will come and for some trials there is no happy ending on this Earth. There are no Earthly answers and no words to comfort in those times; personally today we also remember a precious life taken from us all to soon. May we all know that God has plans that we do not see and that heartaches don't have to be wasted! Grace and peace to all of you!

Loss

2008-01-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

With the bio kids back in school and Mom unable, and unwilling, to provide the constant entertainment that 4 siblings can bring to ones life, both of the kids have begun to deal with "loss". As Americans we often think we are the answer to all these kids problems with out considering what their native land and people offered them. They have now lost their friends, language, food, sense of identity (to some extent, I will get into that more later), even the smells, and the way people drive!

Some things are funny like them wanting me to go through red lights and around the people who are clearly in our way! Others are hard and sad such as Abigail wanting to dye her hair blond and make it straight (identity). She is beautiful just the way God created her, how do you tell that to an 11 year old who barely speaks English! We have tried but I am not sure we have succeeded, I had expected the hair issues but I thought it would at least wait till she was in school!

Sam is having a hard time too, which translates into moodiness and an occasional battle of wills. Fortunately he has pick battles that are currently easy for us to win! His favorite thing to do right now is to listen to his Amharic music; this seems to put the home sickness at bay.

We did doctor's visits yesterday, it turned into an all day event. I do mean event, they both charmed everyone they came into contact with but it was a hard and long day. I ended up calling Rob to come help out. We still had to give Sam a sedative as well as get an Amharic translator. It was exhausting in every area. The up side; Sam slept till 7 am, a new record! Every cloud has a silver lining right!

Ethiopian food

2008-01-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had a good day, we worked on some school stuff and then cooked some ET food! I am very excited, it was our first shot and it tasted good! Abigail helped me make Kit Fo, sirloin steak cut very small, onion, butter, and salt. The best part was; she ate it!!!! Sam helped make beef and peppers; sirloin steak cut, diced chilies, diced red pepper, and some seasoning. Yummy, both of them.

They are both very motivated to work on school now that all the rest of the kids are gone and they are home. "School, Mom" we have told them once their English is better they can go to school. So refreshing; kids who realize that learning is a privilege. Our local school is so excited to work with them. Abigail and Sam went up to the school and met the office staff and shortly after we left we got a call from the Vice Principal who has some home school ideas for us to help prepair them for when they enter the school.

They played Foose Ball, Uno, and ran on the tread mill today. Abigail is a true Ethiopian girl, she LOVES to run. She put on 2 miles last night and 1 mile tonight. Sam is struggling with jealousy on this one, we tried to let him the treadmill last night but it didn't go to well. He really wants his prosthetic leg, then they will both be running marathons!

Derka, Derka

2008-01-06T17:44:00.001-07:00

Around our house we have a phrase, "derka, derka" (Thanks Cliff) This means you have done something... well, not very bright. Like tipping your glass before it gets to your mouth causing you to spill some down your shirt will get you a "derka, derka". Or perhaps your looking for your car keys and they are in your hand, "derka, derka." I am sure we have all done this stuff from time to time, anyway, we have had the kids home for under a week and Abigail has all ready learned "derka, derka!" It was the other night at dinner when Rob set a cup of water on top of silverware, the cup spilled and Abigail looked at her wonderful father and said, "derka, derka!"

The silly little things that make us family! They have been doing so well this week, aside from waking up at 4:30 am every morning and having a hard time eating; as a family we are bonding. There is bickering and I know I am crazy but the first couple of tiff's I have been excited to hear. It means that being on our "nice behavior" is over and we are starting to really know the nice things about each other and the not so nice too. I am going to have to read this again in a couple of months when the not so nice is driving me nuts!!! But for now I am going to enjoy it.

Expirencing the New World

2008-01-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ever since we got home, Sam has been hounding me to ride a bike. I went out and shoveled all the blowing snow from the driveway and side walks to give it a try. Then I took one of the kids bikes and tried to fashion a strap so he could lift up the peddle. We ran up and down the driveway several times. I could not get the strap to hold on or it was too tight for him to get his foot out. I will need to get a toe clip and some new peddles, but as determined as this boy is he should riding by this spring. We will keep you posted on his progress and get some pictures. He is so excited about the possibility.

We also took them out to Westernaires today to watch John Ride horses. For those of you who don't know, Westernaires is the fastest precision drill team in North America and we are lucky to have it in our backyard. Sam and Abigail sat in amazement watching the Steppes Team perform. On this all boys team the boys will take turns jumping off the horse while the next boy standing on the ground jumps on without the horse breaking stride. Both Abigail and Sam are asking to ride! This should be fun. We put them on our horse just for kicks and if I wouldn't have been so nervous I would have gotten pictures! The smiles on their faces! I think they could be wonderful riders and Sam could diffenantly do trick riding or "freedom riders"; he is FEARLESS. If you want you can visit the Westernaires site they have video clips that really show you what they do: http://www.westernaires.org/

FYI

2008-01-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is going to Ethiopia or has already been to get their kids I found a very helpful web site. If you punch in the English word you want to communicate it will translate it into Amharic. I have found it very useful when I need to communicate something to the kids.

www.amharicdictionary.com

Good luck. Abigail is helping me with annunciation.

Unphotographable

2008-01-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of things that happened on our trip that I have been working to process. Things that we did not get pictures of and even if we had they never could have captured what was really taking place.

One of them for me was a child at AHOPE. While the kids were for the most part kids. Some, like the little fellow whose name I just found out to be Moyasu, were happy to have a smile, hug, or a hand to hold. Others ignored you completely. But one child walked right up to me and when I offered my hand he just looked at me. That look is unphotographable, such deep sadness. Language was unimportant and for a brief moment I saw into his world. Probably 3 or 4 and HIV+, alone in a group of 45 others. No Mother to hold him when he scrapes his knee, no Dad to learn to wrestle with. He is shunned by his people and only a shadow of what God has created him to be. It was as if a simple touch by me would have broken loose all the terrible lose this small child has suffered. That he would have lost that small reserve that kept him functioning on a moment by moment bases. To be honest with you I am not sure what I am going to do with that memory.

The other situation was at a stop light, a girl around 10 years old came to Rob's window selling those little Kleenex's wrapped in plastic. She is perfect, beautiful, and sweet. "One Birr, tissue for you." She said, Rob gave her 4 Birr and told her to keep the tissue, "Thank you, oh, thank you" was her response as we were moving away. We ask our driver about her, "she is just another street child, but at least she isn't begging." "What will happen to her?" She will probably be mistreated, possibly abused and die of AIDS or some other sickness that we should be able to be prevented. Unphotographable.... Her eyes were so bright, her smile so sincere. Does she know the fate that awaits her, what is the hope that she clings too? Can I change the dark coarse that our driver just laid out as her probable life? I wanted to go back, to put her in the taxi with us, to bring her home. I want to change what is in her future, to give her a future. Instead I am left a world apart, thinking and praying for her, I am left wondering.... what do I do with these memories?

I do not want to forget them, I want to do something with them. To change the fates of children I do not know. To change the "Zeros" into faces, hopes, dreams, to make people see with their hearts. I can not do it alone, I can not change the fates of 143 Million children alone. I want to be part of an army, an army of caring people who are willing to do something, to make a difference, to think beyond our fears, to change the world one "zero" at a time.

10 Ways

2008-01-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

The following list was put together by Family Life's Hope for the Orphans Ministry. I know we said we would post it yesterday, however we are suffering from Jet Lag so here it is a day late.

1) Plead with the father for them. (Matthew 7:7-8) Pray for a waiting child, you can go to http://www.adoptuskids.org/ and pick a child waiting for a family and pray for that child until he/she gets placed with a forever family.

2)Speak up for them. (Proverbs 31:8-9) Keep a picture of the child you are praying for and share his/her story with every believer you come in contact with. You never know that may be the family God wanted for that child.

3)Give them what they need. (James 2:15-16) Find and orphanage to support. you can send care packages, do mission trips to help maintain the facility, or financially support their efforts. We have some great friends in Cambodia who run an orphanage for HIV+ as well as abandoned children. Cambodia is a country closed to adoption and with out their help these children would have no hope. Go to http://www.cambodianoutreachproject.org/ for more information.

4)Support those who support them. (Hebrews 10:24) Find a foster or adoptive family to help. Go mow their lawn, offer to baby sit so they can have an evening out, throw a shower for an adopting family. Most of all let them know you appreciate what they do.

5) Provide them a safe place. (Psalm 146:9) Consider becoming a foster parent or an emergency foster parent (for short term placement) You can also build an orphanage, it is not as hard as it sound. Go to http://www.worldorphans.org/

6) Go visit them. (James 1:27) Take your family on a missions trip to an orphanage. There are construction trips, medical trips, help conduct a vacation bible school. taking your family on a mission trip can be life changing!

7) Give Sarcificially to them. (2Corinthians 9:7) Support a reputable orphanage or adoption ministry. You can contact us regarding donations to the Rocky Mountain Adoption Alliance Fund which is set up to give to family's in the process of adoption. Also Cambodian Outreach Project is always needing financial aide and are doing a great work. http://www.cambodianoutreachproject.org/

8) Cheer Them On. (1Thessaloians 5:14) Spenser a child. There are 20,000 teenagers that "age out" of the foster care system every year. They have no family to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, or any other holidays with. They have no place to call home. You can contact your local foster care office and let them know you would like to help a child "ageing out" of the system.

9) Give Them a Forever Family. (Psalm 69:5-6a) You can give a child a forever home through international, domestic or foster care adoption. To learn more about these types of adoption call 1-800-FLTODAY for a free booklet entitled Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption

10) Mobilize Your Church for Them. Matthew 28:18-20 Churches all over the country are launching ministries dedicated adoption and orphan care. The impact has been remarkable. For more information you can go to http://www.shaohannahshope.org/ or http://www.hopefororphans.com/

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at rob@ductsunlimitedinc.com

Snow!

2008-01-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

The first two days home the kids have loved the snow! They have spent several hours playing outside and enjoying the swing set. They are starting to bond as brother & sister, talking and sharing these new experiences. What a blessing it is. We hear them often commenting to one another and only understand two words "Addis Ababa" and "America". We think they are comparing the two, hopefully the good outweighs the bad!

Zero!

2008-01-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Now that we are at home I am sitting and reflecting on our trip. The first morning after we got the kids Samuel (Abete) told me he was hungry. The girls were just hanging out and still in their PJ's so I decided that I would take him to breakfast in the hotel. The waitress was great and asked him what he would like to eat, then went to the buffet and filled him a plate. When she returned they talked some more then the waitress told me that he said "he was lucky that he has a family." At first this made me feel good until I thought about how a child should not feel "lucky to have a family". What a sad statement that there are children in our world who do not know what it is like to have a family to love them.

There are approximately 143,000,000 orphans in the world today. I believe that it is the Christian churches responsibility to be caring for them and we are failing in this area. In Addis Ababa Ethiopia alone there 70,000 living on the streets with no one to feed them or even care for them. Before we left I took all of the food and a few Birr we had left over and split it into 2 bags for the boys who sat outside the hotel where we stayed, they polish shoes to earn money. I encountered an Ethiopian man standing out side the hotel who told me that one of the boys I was trying to help was a lousy worthless boy who deserved nothing. I tried to explain to them that Jesus loved them (regardless of what this man said), but where is the Body of Christ to show these boys the truth? They are told that they are not worth anything day after day? James 1:27 says that"pure and undefiled religion is to care for the orphans and widows" Where is the church?

I know that 143,000,000 is a large number. I read on another blog (I can't remember who's) who spoke about the large number of zeros. How overwhelming it is to look at all those zeros? What a daunting task to help all the zeros that there are in the world. What can I do? I hear the question all the time "How can God allow this to happen"? The question should be how does the Body of Christ, the church, stand by and let this happen? Colossians 1: 24 We can start one zero at a time. I now have 2 children who are no longer Zero's!

Ephesians 1: 3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance to His good pleasure and will.

Tomorrow I will post the 10 things every christian can do to help the orphans and only one addressed adoption!

OSHA who?

2008-01-01T09:15:00.001-07:00

I thought the construction practices were very interesting. They use 2 1/2" wood poles to build and support everything. then they cover it with the metal panels. It is common practice to build there scaffold out of the same wood poles, then they take out 2x4 or 2x6 that the walk on. In the third picture they have supported the entire second floor of concrete with the poles. The only place they took them out is where the walls were built. I think that the job of building inspector does not exist.

As far as the housing and and majority of their shops are concerned they are built out of the poles and metal panels. Some even have power ran into them. They have entire blocks of homes built on top of one another using their neighbors walls as their own. No power running into any of them. We visited the Christian music store to get some music for the kids which was 6' x 10' room built of the wood and metal where they had a CD burner copying the music to sell.

It appears you can go the the local Home Depot to pick up all your supplies!

Are we there yet?

2008-01-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

We were able to get a flight out of Addis on Sunday at 9:30 pm Ethiopian time. We flew to Rome for refueling which turned into a 2 1/2 hour lay over because one of the passengers had a panic attack and needed to get fresh air. Unfortunately she was the only one who was allowed off the plane while the rest of us waited. We were able to get some sleep, but Samuel (Abete) was a little restless. What seemed to be every half hour he would poke me in the ribs and ask "America"? it was hard to get upset because of the huge smile on his face. That portion of the flight was about 19 hours.

Next we went into Dulles for immigration and customs. At this point we were 2 hours behind schedule and my stress was starting to elevate. Of course we got behind a lady who did not fill out her paperwork until she got to the front of the line. The immigration people would not let anyone from that line move forward until she was completed. We finally got to present our paperwork and move through to get our baggage so we could recheck it to move forward to our next flight. Of course our luggage was the last to show. We were then running trying to find the spot to recheck our luggage. The very helpful people with the Dulles airport pointed us in the wrong direction three times before we stumbled onto the baggage area. Next we ran to the United check in (at the opposite end of the airport) to get out transfer tickets. We were put in the wrong line twice before getting a very nice lady who got us the tickets and we ran to the security.

At security they separated our family so Samuel would not have to wait in line. I explained that our flight scheduled to leave in 35 minutes and asked if they could move us through together, but the TSA felt if would be a breach of security to be helpful to our family. After Samuel and I were thoroughly screened for bomb making material we waited for Elissa, Zoe and Abigail to make it through there line so they could be thoroughly screened. We had 15 minutes to get to concourse D to board our flight. Dulls uses a weird bus transport system to get you to the different terminals so patience was needed while we waited for the bus to get us there. We sprinted to the Gate, but made our flight.

Our three hour lay over in Dulles was over and we were on our last leg home. Though our seats were scattered all over the plane we made to back to Denver. We were welcomed home by my mom, Jen and Jill. They delivered our car and left us to be alone as we introduced the kids to their new home and brothers. We all went to bed at about 6:00. I now know the meaning of Jet Lag!

Trip to A-Hope

2007-12-29T22:08:00.001-07:00

We made our trip to A-Hope yesterday. We were able to bring 35 new T-Shirts (thanks Again Trish), 52 bottles of Children's Tylenol, 4 Jumbo bottles of Adult Tylenol, 4 Jumbo bottles of kids chewable vitamins, (Thanks to a matching donation from Sam's Club), 25 stuffed animal's (Thanks Dayna & Eric), 120 pairs of socks & under ware from a donation drive that Zoe did at her school, and $300 Birr from Joshua's $26.00 that he collected from our neighbors and John threw in $4.00 of his money to make it an even $30.00.

This second picture is of Zoe and Abigail (Kidist wants to be called by her American name) taking a tour of the A-Hope facility. This Facility houses 45 children under the age of 10 all of them are are HIV+. They have a second facility that houses kids 10 and up which there are 75 additional children there.

The first picture is of Elissa and her new friend. He grabbed her hand and would not let go. Wherever she went he was there. There was another boy that will stick with Elissa forever. He approached her as we were about to leave, she reached out to hold his hand and just stood there and looked at her with the most hopeless eyes she has ever seen. He knew we were not there for him and the momentary comfort of a hand or a hug would only serve to remind him of what he does not, and very likely, will never have. There were immediately tears in her eyes as he ran away. I tried to get a picture, but could not.

The man on the right in the second picture is Alizar. He is one of the drivers recommended by CWA. He is a Christian and was a wealth of information about Ethiopia. He told us that there are approximately 100,000 people living on the streets of Addis Ababa of which 70% are children. There are no Government orphanages or soup kitchens to get a meal. They are forced to live in the streets as beggars. At almost every stop light they approach the car asking for money. It is not like the people in the states because there is no one to feed them. Their eyes are empty and hopeless no amount of money that we can give them will change the life that they are destined to lead. It is enough to rip your heart out, the problem is so huge the answers, are they attainable?

The Girls

2007-12-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is the pictures of the girls saying good by to Kidist and Abete. There was singing, dancing, and crying. We are thankful for the visit as it will help give the kids some closure. Not to mention being able to see the dr. sadly Abete is not doing any better. We will be making a dr. appointment as soon as we get home. We did make it to AHOPE today but that will have to wait as our connection is terribly slow tonight. We are going to go out for real ET food tonight. Neither of the kids are very fond of American, not even rice! I had heard this was a great fall back, not for these two. Yikes, I think that the food issues could be one of our most difficult challenges. We will post more in the morning, that seems to be the best connection time.

We got an earlier flight !

2007-12-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

We got a flight home on Sunday night! We are ready to get hone to see the boys and introduce the new kids to the snow. Our neighbors have sent pictures of our house with what looks to be about 12" of snow. This should be fun.

Playground trip

2007-12-28T07:32:00.001-07:00

We were guessing from Abete's reaction that this was his first trip to the playground. I have never seen anyone laugh and smile so much. The hotel we are staying at has a very nice area to walk around, the playground and a huge hot springs pool. Kidist and Abete love to play in the big wooha (Pool)

We went back to the orphanage today to see the Doctor for Abete and allow the kids to say a proper good by to their friends. Abete was treated as the returning hero and all the boys were asking us to take their pictures. We were asked not to take pictures.

Next we went to the girls orphanage so Kidist could say good by to her friends. There was a much different response when we arrived. The girls all started to give her hugs and cry. The nanny's asked if they could pray over our kids. It was a unique experience. Then all the girls went outside and started to sing and dance and praise God for their friends going to America. They allowed us to take pictures of Kidist and her friends. It was an amazing experience!

I will post the pictures from that in the morning because I have to email them to myself and open them on the computer at my office which is a long process. The Internet here is sooooo slow. I am realizing how spoiled I am to have the T-1 Internet connection at work.

more pictures

2007-12-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

I tried to post these last night, but it took me two hours to post the 2 other two and I gave up.

The first picture is of Me, Kidist, Zoe & Abete at the CWA office going through our paperwork before we present it to the Embassy. The Embassy appointment went very well and very fast for us. Please pray for our new friends who's Embassy appointment did not go well. They are Heather and Josh from California. they found out that their finger prints expired on the 25th and will not be able to get the kids out of Ethiopia until the new information arrives from the states. They did have them re-done before they came and have a letter from the imagration department stating that everything was approved, but the Embassy will not accept it from them. They also had all of their luggage lost on their way here and their airline keeps telling them that it is in London and should be here tomorrow. They are on day 4 without it!

The second is of Elissa and Kidist at the orphanage. I don't think they knew we were coming. We were told that as soon as Kidist found out we were there she ran and put on her celebration dress. She is so sweet. (Dave & Diane the girl in the background is our daughter Zoe giving your gifts to Ganet and Zena. We will send more pictures when we get home)

New Pictures

2007-12-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is our view off our balcony. There is no fog, it is smoke from burning trash so people can keep warm. It is cold in the mornings.

Our first morning

2007-12-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

The kids woke up at 6:30. They will fit in good at our house since all of the boys get up at about that time. As an ice breaker Elissa brought some nerf guns that shoot when the handle is squeezed. We spent the first hour shooting each other and laughing. It was well worth the $1.99 per gun.

At this point we are watching Baby Einstein Videos. Kidist is very interested and is soaking up all the information she can. We found out that she has completed the Fourth grade in ET schools. We were told that she was an exceptional student and her favorite subject was math.
We brought a list of common words in Amheric words and we are trying to communicate. This makes Kidist laugh, a lot! She also laughed when she heard that we will probably have snow when we get home, and when we offered to put her dress on Dad. She said one of her favorite things to do is joke, when we ask at the orphanage.

Abete has not had a chance to go to school other than what he was taught in the orphanage. He does know his ABC's. He really wants to ride a bike! Every time we see a bike he is sure to point at it and imitates holding the handle bars. He has a flash card that he keeps in the photo album we sent him of "B is for bike". I was able to speak with a volunteer at the orphanage about Abete, this mans main job is as an Evangelist. He gave me a lot of information about Abete and absolutely adored him. He gave Abete some pictures of his father and another of Abete jumping rope! We are impressed by his physical abilities, he would like to get a prosthetic ASAP. We did have them let him know that we want to wait until we can communicate with him a little better but he is ready to go.

We will go to the US Embassy today to get passports and be able to bring them home. Hooray, actually they will start the process of the passports we should have them in a few days though, then if we can get an earlier flight out we can head home. We have a nice large room here, actually it is two rooms with the connecting door. It is very nice, we are all comfortable hanging out and shooting each other.

Abete just took a bath with Dads help, he does not mess around in there. Kidist is now watching a Curious George video she is quiet and tiny, Ron you defiantly have her beat for height. You have a "little" big sister.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. Psalms 68:5 & 6a

Got Um

2007-12-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

We had to wait until 2:00PM to pick up the kids. We went to the boys orphanage and got Abete! He is sweet and he showed us all of his friends. Then they brought over Kidist, she gave Rob a HUGE HUG! They also brought over Genet and Zena, who are anxiously awaiting their Mom and Dad. We have pictures of them with their shirts we will send those when we get home as pictures have proven to be impossible at this time! We saw so many children there it was sad, the great part is that they are all just waiting for their new families. They are all excited to see their friends leave and they are eager for their turn:)

Zoe is currently teaching them how to use the spiral doodle! She is also planning on doing nails soon! She is excited to have a little sister, finally. Abete got sick at dinner tonight, we don't know if it is nerves or a stomach bug. We are praying that he will feel better soon and not get anyone else ill. We haven't gotten to try out the pool here but I think it will be a first for both of them, swimming. I think the elevator was a first too. They are both very quiet, I am sure that wont last long but it is hard to see that they did not bond well before, maybe now they will see that they are going to need one another.

They both ask to go back to their villages and see their families Kidist's village is about 8 hours away and Abete's is even further. We had to say no to that, maybe some day we will come back and make both journeys. Who knows for sure. All the children wanted hugs if they belong to you or not, thank God that there are families coming to get them or I may never have been able to leave. Glenda did you say you wanted another 80 grand children! We will keep you posted on the final count!

It feels like we have been away for at least a week! I miss the boys at home and cant wait for them to meet their new brother and sister. I hope they are being good while we are gone! Internet is intermittent to say the least so we had better go for now.

We made it!

2007-12-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Addis at 7:30 PM. The flight was long! There were no movies, the light over my seat would not shut off, Elissa's seat would recline, but would not stay in place. Within about 10 minutes it would be sitting straight up. Elissa and I took turns in each seat. The good news is we are here safely and all of our luggage made it here. When we packed we split all of our clothes in each suitcase in case one got lost. After we separated everything we realized that two suite cases were full of donations for the CWA orphanage and A-Hope . Thank you Dana for the stuffed animals, thank you Trish for all the kids shirts, ans thanks to Sam's Club for all of the Children's Tylenol.

We are anxious to meet our new children today. It is currently 6:30 am here and we are waiting for a call from CWA to let us know what time they are going to pick us up. It feels like it won't be soon enough, but is finally the day.

We are having trouble with the Internet here and are having to link to my computer at the office to post blogs. This is creating a problem posting pictures. I am trying to figure out a way to overcome this. Thank you for the comments we have received. They are encouraging as we are so far away from home.

Waiting on a Plane

2007-12-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the Washington DC Airport waiting to leave. The first flight was uneventful. There is a Young Life Group heading to Addis on our flight. Elissa and I met while doing ministry with Young Life, what a small world. We didn't realize they had a camp in ET. There are several kids in the group who were adopted from ET and are going to do missions and visit family. We will do our next update when we arrive in Addis. Hope you are all having a Merry Christmas

The Battle Continues

2007-12-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

This week we have felt the clutches of Satan nipping at our heels in many ways. I was just on the phone talking to my Mom feeling that the worst was over when... my cell rang. Rob answered it to get a recording that our 1st of 3 flights has been canceled!!!! After frantic phone calls Rob is now finally speaking to a human so we will get it worked out one way or another!

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8. We will fly out... an extra 3 hours early! At least we are getting out though! Looks like our layover of 4 hours in now 7! I hope they have a great airport. Thank you Lord. These children must pose a formidable threat for Satan to have worked so diligently to keep them from coming home. Doesn't he know he is going to loose? Revelation 20:9-10

Please continue to pray for our flights, safety, health, and spiritual wisdom! I am not sure how long this battle will continue but I don't think I will be so easily lulled to comfort, lesson learned. Rob and I would also like to thank everyone for their kind emails, prayers, and support.

Have a Blessed and Mighty Christmas.

Moses, Gideon, and Mary

2007-12-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

God tells Moses to go and lead his people out of Egypt right. Moses responds "Who am I?" then "What if they do not believe me?" and, "I have never been eloquent... I am slow of speech." (Exodus 3:11, 4:1 & 10) I find my self so often in Moses' shoes, I know God wants me to act but I begin laying out all the reasons I am not "qualified" for the task. I can go through the list, and I can come up with more than Moses did too!

Now take Gideon, Judges 6:14 "The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?'" Gideon replies "My clan is the weakest" followed by "Give me a sign" THREE TIMES! (6:17 & 36 &39!) Oh how I can relate! I know what I am to do, I hear God's voice, I see his leading, but yet I resist! I am afraid, weak, and unfaithful.

Then there is Mary, "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38) Oh how I pray for a heart of faith like Mary's! To know that what God's asks will cost, but to trust. This has been my meditation this week, God give me a heart of faith like Mary. I am uncertain, afraid, and I do not know the outcome of what you ask; but I believe that your hand will not lead me where your grace can not keep me.

Elissa

It's all good!!!!

2007-12-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

We received an email today from Christian World Adoption letting us know that all of our paperwork has been completed. I want to acknowledge and thank Senator Wayne Allard and Congressman Mark Udall. We provided them a copy of our I-171H and they made sure it got to the Conciliate in Ethiopia with a note asking them to process the paperwork so we can move forward. Praise God for his continued provision!

Merry Christmas to All and I pray as we celebrate the birth of Christ our Savior we will focus on his amazing provision, grace and love!

Paperwork #!@*#!

2007-12-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

We are waiting to hear from the US Embassy in Ethiopia regarding our I-171H form. This is the form provided by the US Immigration stating that we are allowed to bring the kids back to the States. At this time the Embassy in Ethiopia dose not have it and they will not give us passports for the kids. The worst part is I have the form! Only they will not accept it from me. I have contacted our local Senator and faxed it over to them and they should be able to help. Our Senator's office said they would fax it over on their letter head but they can not gaurntee anything! Oh, and if we do get stuck in ET we cant call until after the first because their offices will be closed. :) Some times you've just got to laugh at the insanity of it all!

Please pray for us that this will be resolved before we leave. If all else fails we will be in Ethiopia and Elissa and Zoe will head home and start raising a stink until someone, anyone, can actually do something to get us all home together. Hopefully it wont come to that but at least we know what our back up plan will be, if necessary.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly relms." Eph 6:12

From the mind of a child

2007-12-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Monday before we broke the news to our kids Elissa was helping the boys to get their homework done. This can be a daunting task, with math, spelling, reading, and miscellaneous projects. While working with John and Ron she looked at Joshua (our 7 year old) who was working diligently on a project. It became quickly apparent this was not a school project. When she questioned him what he was up to he showed her a collection box. He took a juice box and taped it all up except for a slot in the top. He made a sign for the front that said "donete for etheopue please!" He drew a picture of a mom with her adopted child running to give her a hug. He wanted to go door to door and collect money for the AHOPE orphanage because they need medicine for their sick kids. (a link is available for AHOPE in the right column)

Elissa let Josh (accompanied by Zoe our oldest) go around and ask for donations. Zoe had some flyer's she used at school from a sock and underwear drive she had done and explained what Josh was doing. Josh collected $26.00!

Here we Go!

2007-12-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

We received a call today letting us know that we will be meeting with the US Embassy in Ethiopia on Thursday December 27th. This was not what we were praying for, but God has a plan that may not always meet with our expectations. We will be flying out on Christmas eve and landing in Addis Ababa late Christmas day.

At this time we are feeling very overwhelmed. Fortunately Keri with Susan Parr Travel has been able to confirm all of our flights. The bad part is due to the Holidays we will not be able to get back to Denver until January 5th. This means a two week vacation? We will be able to take in some extra sites and spend a little more time with our new kids.

Please pray for us to find a place to stay on such short notice. We will not find out what our hotel option will be until tomorrow. We had some friends not find out until they got to ET. I am not sure that my nerves will be able to handle that much stress.

Please pray for John, Ronny, and Josh our other boys who will be staying home. I am sure that it is going to be hard for them because we will not be here for Christmas. We plan on doing our Christmas celebration the Sunday before we leave, however it may still be hard.

Watching the Hand of God

2007-12-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Once again I stand in amazement watching the hand of God in action!

Elissa and I have been working with and praying for Foothills Forever Family's. They are the Orphan ministry at Foothills Church here in Arvada. They have teamed up with Jefferson County Social Services and have a professional photographer take pictures of all the children in the foster care system who are available for adoption in our county. The Program is called Portraits of Hope and they post the pictures in different churches in the county and "advertise" for the kids; trying to help find them forever family's. In the last year they have helped place 20 foster care children in permanent home.

Recently they sent out an email pleading for help with Christmas presents for the foster care kids. Elissa responded and volunteered. We were sent the bio's from a brother and sister named Justin an Tiffany. The bio's from the kids read as follows:

Tiffany (10)- I was born in August 1997. I enjoy playing with baby dolls, Candy Land and memory games. I like to get my hair done and I like to wear purple and pink clothes. My favorite movie is The Incredibles. I want a mom and dad who will love me and my brother Justin. I hope I can be the youngest kid !

Justin (11)- My birthday was in June of 1996. I love Spiderman! I want to be a superhero like Spiderman some day. I also like to play with cars. My sister, Tiffany, and I like to play candy Land and memory games. I really like to play games on the computer. For my forever family, I want a mom and dad and my sister, Tiffany, too!

Elissa forwarded the information to our newly formed adoption group (Hearts of Grace Orphan Ministry) to encourage and remind them of the mission God has placed before us. Attached was the link to a video from Stephen Curtis Chapman called All I want for Christmas and a few links to additional orphan ministries.

Elissa received a call from Becky who has shown interest in the new group and is on our email list. Becky was a little freaked out with the email she received. As the hand of God would arrange things Becky got on the Jefferson County Foster Care web site about two months ago. She had two kids stand out to her and God had been consistently reminding her to pray for. The kids were Justin and Tiffany!

We are so encouraged to hear how God is moving in the hearts of the members at Grace Church and bringing us to a common focus. You can get on www.adoptuskids.org and find kids in your state foster care system to pray for too! Another idea is to start a group like Portraits of Hope, maybe you or some one you know are gifted in the area of photography. Get together with your county foster care system and see how they would feel about nice photos with small biography's of the children on the photos. Portraits of Hope ask around and got the frames, easels, and photos donated:) An issue to hammer out early is what kind of churches you feel comfortable placing the pictures in. Make sure this is discussed early on so that it doesn't become an issue later!

Anxiously Waiting

2007-12-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

We are packing and checking the list. I will probably take forever getting through airport security. I have managed to get all of my electronics in my carry on bag. The lap top computer, camera, video camera, portable DVD player, all the chargers and the power adapters you could imagine. I sure hope they don't have any weight restrictions on international flights. If so I am in trouble.

We are trying to figure out what we need to take vs. what we want to take. Our neighbor is a sales representative for a clothing company and is going to send along clothes for the CWA orphanage. Hopefully we can dedicate one entire suitcase just to that. We have also asked Sam's Club if they will donate vitamins and children's Tylenol that we can deliver to AHOPE. (AHOPE stands for African Hiv Orphans: Project Embrace, as you can probably guess from the name they care for Hiv/Aids positive orphans.) They have agreed to make a donation. We are still not sure how much they they plan on giving us or if they are going to help with some kind of matching agreement.

Our next concern is that the US Embassy has decided to do additional days through the holidays. Normally adoption embassy dates are always Tuesday, however, Christmas is on Tuesday, and New Years, is on Tuesday too. Which would mean that we would not be able to go until the first or second week of January. In order for children to still get home and in and effort not to have a huge back log they decided to fit adoption dates in on Thursday for both weeks! We are concerned that if we get an embassy date of the 27th of December we will have to leave on Christmas eve to be in Ethiopia on time. Please pray for us that we won't get that date! As great as it would be to get the kids sooner we would have to leave the boys alone for Christmas!

We feel horrible praying not to get and embassy date! But wow, it would be so hard for the younger boys to understand why we would choose to leave them to go get their new siblings on Christmas! Zoe is praying we do get the 27th so that she will still be on Christmas vacation and wont have TONS of homework upon her return. So once again we find ourselves trusting that God will do what is best for EVERYONE involved.

Are we CRAZY?

2007-12-05T18:48:00.001-07:00

I still remember the day Elissa told me that we should adopt. Being the Christian man that I am, I lovingly looked at my beautiful wife and told her "that she must have bumped her head". You see, we have four children of our own and I some day look forward to retirement and spending lots of time with her. I envisioned lots of traveling, Golf, snowboarding and all the fun stuff retired people do. I knew immediately that this was something that God had planned for our family.

I continued to resist the idea of adoption for several months. My wife (who is awesome by the way) continued to pray for me and asked God to change my heart. She understood that it was my selfishness that was stopping me from moving forward with the idea. She , in her quiet wisdom never pointed it out to me the selfish attitude that was in my heart. I slowly started to allow God to speak to me and change my heart. The final straw was when we were watching a video from Family Life Today. Dennis Reiney was asking the crowd how many of them were adopted? A few people in the audience raised their hands. He then read a passage from Ephesians 1:3-5 which reads: "Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." I suddenly realized that I had been adopted when I did not deserve it! All of my concerns about where they came from and the baggage they would bring was dismissed. At no time had God said that we had too much baggage, or the cost was too high. "In love" he accepts us just as we are. Who am I to reject the children that God has planned to be part of our family?

On March 1st 2007 we sent in our preliminary application to the adoption agency. Elissa had a vision of getting two toddler girls to add to our clan. Shortly after sending in the application we received a video of waiting older kids who needed family's. We watched the video and dreamed of what God was going to do. One of the kids was a boy (about 7 years old) who had a leg amputated at birth. We were told that his mom was attacked by cattle while pregnant and his leg was deformed and had an infection when he was born. At the end of the interview we were told that he could not figure out why all his friends were going to family's and no one wanted him. I knew immediately that God was calling us to be his family. This did not meet with the idea Elissa had in her head. We agreed that if he was available when we were far enough along to put in the request for kids we would move forward with Abete.

Elissa was still praying for wisdom on the second child. It was going to be a toddler girl. After all we promised Zoe (who is our only girl) that we would get her a little sister. We looked through the videos over and over praying about who the little girl would be. Elissa kept coming to the same girl named Kidist. She kept dismissing the idea because Kidist was about 10 years old. On mothers day weekend we attended an adoption conference with Kingdom Kids in Spokane Washington. We met an amazing family who had adopted 3 girls from China and 3 girls from Ethiopia. All 6 girls were special needs kids. One specifically had a leg amputation exactly like Abete. We spent a lot of time talking to Yolanda the mother of the girls and she shared with us everything we were wondering about dealing with the issue we were going to face. It confirmed for Elissa that Abete was the child for us, however there was still the little girl we were praying for. Then Yolanda looked at Elissa and asked her "What about Kidist?" At no time had Elissa mentioned that she was being led to this beautiful little girl. God used this wonderful lady to confirm that he intended Kidist to be the one.

So back to the question "are we crazy". Many people think we are, but we are not accountable to people. We will stand before Jesus Christ and give an account of what we did with the gift of salvation he gave freely to us. If you don't understand this principal it is simple. 1) We are separated form God because of our sin. No amount of work will pay for what we have done. We can go to church every Sunday, we can give all of our money to him, we can volunteer all of our time and it will not cover our sin. 2) Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago and lived a perfect life. Jesus was put to death on the cross for all of our sins. Past, present and future. 3) three days after being crucified Jesus was raised from death. His sacrifice was the required atonement to pay for our sin. 4) All that is required of us now is to accept the free gift that he provided for all of us. When Jesus was asked "what works were required to enter the kingdom of heaven?" He replied that we are "to believe in the one the Father sent." John 6:29. If you need further information, please go to grace-alone.org.

Rob

Getting Ready

2007-12-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

November 16th was our ethiopian court date for Kidist and Abete. Abete passed the first time with no issues, Kidist however, took a little longer. The important part is that she has passed now and we have 2 new kids! I (Rob) remember being concerned that I would not be able to love the new kids as much as I love our own, but when I got the email confirming that the adoption was complete I was overwhelmed! I have not felt like that since the birth of Zoe , our first child. It is incredible to feel the rush of children being born into our family not by physical birth but by the gracious hand of God.

All of our shots are done (Elissa did not like this step too much, ok not at all!)

So our current situation is this: Waiting but starting to pack. We think our embassy date should be in early January but we have no dates yet! Our embassy date will be a few day's after we meet the kids for the first time. I pray that God is granting them dreams of being with a family once again, together, and loved. I pray that He is preparing all of us for the transitions that will have to be made.