One Year!

One Year Ago!

We have officially been in our new home for one year. We moved Oct. 2, 2008. Wow. This is somewhat significant. Our hearts had definitely been moved toward adoption the Christmas before. Well, really before that, but that is when we really felt convicted that God was calling us to this. Shortly after, my brother and sis-in-law came to ask us if we still wanted to sell our house to them. (We had been contemplating moving closer to school/work for several years, but the timing had never been right.)

Long story short, we decided God was opening the door for us to move. We put adopting "on hold" until we got into our new house. We were hoping to just find a house to move into; however, that didn't happen either! Instead, we ended up building which took an extra five months!

So, when we were finally able to move into our home, we knew that it was time to start moving on the adoption. The only thing was that I was getting "cold feet"! All of a sudden, I wondered if we were crazy. Seriously!
One day, I just prayed that He would make it really clear that He wanted us to do this. A friend had sent me a Focus on the Family contest entry to win an I-Pod! I was excited to win, so I quickly opened up the e-mail. I had to watch a little clip, look for the Key Word, and then fill in the entry form. So, I'm watching, and there is the key word: ADOPTION! I burst into tears, knowing my sweet Father had just given me what I needed. The rest is history.

Now, it is difficult to imagine ever questioning our call to adopt. But, I guess I just needed a little push. :)

Shopping Spree!

Well, we made it for one month of not going out to eat. I'm excited to report that we saved $185! So, tonight we celebrated by heading to the store for our orphanage shopping spree! CWA gave us a list of much-needed items:
1. Disposable Diapers
2. Formula
3. Wipes
4. Soft children's toothbrushes
5. Lice shampoo
6. Anti-fungal cream
7. Antibiotic Cream
8. Children's liquid vitamins with Iron
9. Disposable latex gloves (any health care professionals know how to get these in bulk?)

This really was a fun time with our kids. They were soooo excited to shop for the orphans. Jackson even commented on how fast the month went!

If anyone wants to contribute to our stash, we'd love to hand-deliver the items to the homes in Ethiopia! Just let us know.

Waiting for our Cloud to Move

So, September is almost over. Each morning, I wake up wondering if today will be the day we hear about our son. It is a weird place to be. Some days, it isn't that difficult. Other days, I obsess. I just can't help it. I am trying to strike the balance between being excited in a good way and being anxious in a bad way. You get the idea.

This morning, I was reading about the Israelites wandering in the desert where God directed them through a cloud in the day and through fire by night. It struck me that they woke up every morning, wondering if they were going to move or stay. There must have been a lot of unknowns. Hmmm. In a way, it comforted my heart to know that, in a way, we are doing the same. It is o.k. to wake up each day with a little bit of unknown because God knows. And, we trust Him and his perfect timing. So, we will wait for our cloud to move us to the next step in this journey.

I've Never Cried Over Mail!

Let me start by saying I have been making the little trek to the mailbox daily, hoping and praying that our Favorable Determination Letter had arrived. I kept hearing of other familes who received theirs only a month or so after their fingerprints, so I wondered why ours hadn't come. It has already been almost three months since our fingerprints. We need this document in order to be able to schedule a court date after our referral; therefore, it is very important as we draw closer to a referral!

Today, I happened to stop by to get our mail before going to volunteer at the kids' school. I opened the mailbox, not even really looking for the document. To my surprise, there it was, and I burst into tears! I think some of the emotions of waiting just surfaced. I'm not sure how I'll react when we actually get the call. :) Oh well. They were happy tears! We are officially ready!

Notice the Africa t-shirt! I think it was good luck!

Half Crazy

Before. . .

On Sunday, Chris and I (and Adam, my brother) ran the Half Marathon. (Thus, we're only "half crazy"!) It was a beautiful, perfect running day. Chris has been my trainer and encourager all summer as we worked toward this goal. When we started, we had just turned in our paperwork and were on the waiting list, looking to September. I thought it would be symbolic to train for something like this while we waited to hear of our little boy.

So, as I ran, and as Chris kept pushing me to go faster, I kept thinking of this adoption process and how we were already at this point! Boy, it came fast! One of the most motivating thoughts that gave me a boost during the run was thinking about possibly going for a run IN Ethiopia while we were there to get our son. I don't know if I will be able to go, but Chris is definitely planning on it. I actually got goosebumps thinking of it, even while I was sweating my brains out!

At about mile 10, Chris mentioned, "Hey! We could do the Relay in the Wichita marathon in a month." I think I snapped at him. Oops. I shouldn't have, but I really didn't want to think about doing this again at that point.

After

It's funny how things change, because once I was across the finish line, it was all great! I ended up finishing around 1 hour, 46 minutes! Wow! I can't believe I ran that fast for that long. But, I feel like I got a lesson in running with a partner. There is NO way I would have been able to accomplish that without Chris running with me. He pushed and encouraged me the entire 13.1 miles, and I am so thankful! Thank you, honey!!! I hated it at the time, but I am proud of what we did. I ended up getting 8th place in my age group. I even got a little trophy/plaque thing. :)

I may even do this again. We'll see!

Here is a cool tree the kids found to climb.

I love Ethiopia!

We found this video tonight. It is short and sweet!

Pictures of Ethiopia

This couple was in Ethiopia just a few weeks ago getting their little boy! Oh, I just LOVE to see these pictures and imagine what it will be like for us. They did a great job capturing a lot of Ethiopia's culture as well as the process once parents get to Ethiopia.

We have officially been waiting 3 months, 1 week, and 2 days for our referral. The excitement is building!!!