Most recent adoption update

Well, it has been a long road since we were with our son in Ethiopia (mid-November). When we left ET, our lawyer had been hopeful that we would be back to pick him up in late December, but that obviously did not happen. We were submitted to the U.S. Embassy at the end of January, so we had hoped we would have cleared by now, but again, we obviously haven't. Long story short, there was a mix-up on the part of the U.S. Embassy that delayed us several weeks, but we are feeling blessed the (hopefully) end is in sight! A's father's caretaker has an interview with the U.S. Embassy on March 20th! For people who are familiar with ET adoptions, this would be the equivalent of the birth parent interview. From what we have heard, and are hoping for, we will likely receive clearance to come pick him up within 2 days. SO, please keep praying that this process continues to move along and that we can pick him up soon! My spring break begins on March 24th, so if we clear quickly, it will work out quite well for us! Please pray to this end! Blessings to you all!

Submitted to U.S. Embassy!

Many of you already know, but our case was finally submitted to the U.S. Embassy this past Thursday! There were a few hiccups in this process because of the holidays and certain pieces of paper. Now that we are submitted, we just wait to hear about when we can go pick up our son! Despite my dislike of long flights, I can't WAIT to go back!!!

The reading plan is continuing along and I have successfully completed day 8. Only 82 more to go! I am truly excited about this plan and am enjoying my reading so much! On a side note, Jay and I watched the movie Courageous last night and it was AMAZING!! I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially if you are a father or might be one some day! :)

3 down, 87 to go

Before I update you on my reading plan, I have exciting news to share! Jay and I got to talk with Ashebir on the phone this morning! It was a little hard to communicate because we were on a conference call and there seemed to be a delay in him being able to hear us, but it was neat to hear his voice! Each time we said something he didn't understand, he handed the phone to the adult who was there helping with the phone call and we would repeat so it could be translated for Ashebir. Ashebir kept tell us he loved us and that was super neat! Our case is supposed to be submitted to the U.S. Embassy tomorrow along with the cases from two other families who are waiting to go pick up their children too! Please pray that all of our cases are submitted and that the U.S. Embassy finds the cases acceptable and approves them quickly!

As far as the reading plan goes, like I said yesterday I am reading through the bible in 90 days! Today I finished day 3 and read chapter 17-30 in Job. Even though I am not the best singer, I love to sing along to songs, especially in the privacy of my own car! :) Therefore, as I read, I am writing down songs that I know (which is a MUCH more limited list than songs that exist!!) that come directly from that day's scripture reading. Today, the song that jumped out at me directly was from Job 19:25-26 and is a song by Crystal Lewis called "My Redeemer Lives." I honestly had never heard of Crystal Lewis, but I have sung this song countless times over the years and I LOVE it! I am looking forward to posting many more songs that jump off the pages of the Bible as I read over the next several months!

Days 1 and 2 down, 88 to go

I have decided to read through the Bible in 90 days! I am not as disciplined as I wish I were, but I think I can do it for 90 days. In the past, I have read through the Bible in a year, although when I got to the last month, I was well behind where I had hoped to be and it became marathon reading sessions to finish in time. I am hoping that the 90 days is a more manageable time frame for me! I have decided that I will document my readings here just to keep myself accountable! Yesterday was kickoff day and I read Genesis chapters 1-11 and today I read Job 1-16. Each day it has taken me about 45 minutes, but I am amazed at how much it has helped my understanding of how things fit together in just such a short time! In the past, I have done a lot of deeper reader of shorter chunks of scripture, which is SO important, but I love reading it in these big sections too, as it is really starting to flow! Can't wait to keep going!! Blessings to you all today!

Long overdue introduction

We are so blessed to be the blessed parents of Ashebir! We have passed court and are now waiting to hear when we can return to Ethiopia to bring him home with us! The delay in making this post has been caused by my lack of ability to even explain the joy, exhilaration, and feelings we experienced in meeting him and spending the first week with him! He is a strong boy, both physically and emotionally. He LOVES his dad, for which I am so very grateful! He is smart, sweet, joyful, active, funny, and the list goes on! We cannot wait to continue life as a family of 3!!

SOOOO Close!!!

We are getting very close to one of the most exciting days of our lives! We get to fly to Ethiopia to meet our son for the first time this Friday! There is lots to do before we go; for me I have to finish up a few more parent-teacher conferences and write 6 days worth of sub plans, and we both have a bunch of shopping and packing to do! When you think of us, please pray that God will grant us traveling mercies, that He will little A's heart together with ours, and that we pass court! Can't wait to update when we return!! Blessings to you!

It's September Already?!

Obviously I have been a bit preoccupied recently! Even though I worked in my classroom throughout the summer, when August hit, I went back nearly every day!

Our biggest news since our last post is that WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!! We will officially get to meet our son in mid-November and are SO excited!! From the time our paperwork arrived in Ethiopia until we had a court date was so fast we were amazed! Because we are adopting a "waiting child," we did not have the anticipation of waiting for a referral call, but getting the news that we had a court date was exhilarating for us! Just 2 days before we got that news, our case manager had told us not to get our hopes up because it could be a long time, and so we were all the more shocked at the speed and which the date came through! Praise God! This whole process has been all about HIS timing anyway!

Another highlight of the past several weeks is that we met a precious family who lives about 45ish minutes from us who used the same agency that we used! The entire family met our son when they were in ET and brought us a sweet picture of him! We feel incredibly blessed to have this family so close to us! Their little daughter was so cute when she referred to us as "A's mom" and "A's dad." It was such a wonderful time together and we look forward to many more get togethers with them!

School's officially back in session, so my life has regained some structure and some craziness! Teaching kindergarten is the best job (outside of family life) I could possibly dream of and I LOVE getting a new bunch of kids and learning all about their unique personalities!! They certainly keep me on my toes and I never lack comedic relief!!

Until next time, blessings to you!