Stressful ETA / Est-ce qu'on va être en retard?

This past Tuesday (9th) we received news that we had a MOWCYA court date for that Friday (12th). Now the MOWCYA court date is when the Ethiopian courts research the child’s history and interview his or her living relatives or the finder for him or her if they were abandoned.  Typically, when the child passes MOWCYA court, the adoptive families will travel to Ethiopia for their court date approximately one to three weeks later. So that morning I had written a blog post about how we were still waiting for that MOWCYA date and had asked for prayers. I felt a little discouraged thinking we wouldn't get one before court closure in early August. I took the kids and went grocery shopping and thought : "hey, I'll stop at the craft store in town and check the price on those nice wall stick on chandeliers." Once I got there they only had one of them and it was on sale for $4 instead of the $15 I was not willing to plunk down. Kinda stupid to anyone else, right? To me it was God kindly reminding me to relax; "I've got this. I know the desires of your heart. Don't worry about MOWCYA, it's coming." 

You'd think I would have been so amazed that I would have learned to never worry again about the details of this adoption, right? Nope! I find myself counting the days, reading disheartening posts about how MOWCYA is late in writing recommendation letters for adoptive families and my heart doubts. God never promised me we would meet our son before court closes after all. He is able to, but do I let Him drive me there. I have got to be the worst back seat driver that ever lived when it comes to this adoption journey. I keep reminding God how late we're gonna be, how long we've been driving, what shortcut I think He should take. But all the while He keeps on driving and invites me to sit back and relax. "Enjoy the view!" This is a stressful drive, how could I? I feel like I'm in a suspense movie. But when I take a look in the rear view mirror I see His past faithfulness and I can't help but smile with confidence that "He's got that!"

This adventure has taught me so much about Gods perfect timing, His never ending love for us and His great sense of humor. I think God gets a great deal of joy from turning my anxiety into surrender with surprise stops along the way. I want the faith of a child. I want to pray with a faith that expects my Father to be moved by my requests. "To Him who is able to do above and beyond!" Ephesians 3:20

 Allthough passing court before they close in August is nothing short of a miracle I will fight to believe that His will and timing are best. I serve the God of miracles.

Mardi dernier (9 Juillet) nous avons reçu la nouvelle que notre date de court pour MOWCYA était pour Vendredi le 12 Juillet. Vous voyez cette date est fixée pour que la court en Éthiopie fasse un évaluation détaillé et personnelle au cas de notre garçon sur son histoire et aussi interroge la famille si toujours en vie ou la personne qui a trouvé le dit enfant si c'est le cas. Habituellement, quand le cas d'un orphelin passe en court avec MOWCYA,la famille adoptive doit s'attendre à voyager de une à trois semaines plus tard. Alors c'est ce matin là (mardi) que j'ai écrit un nouveau billet sur mon blog expliquant notre situation et demanda vos prières. J'étais un peu découragé à savoir que nous n'obtiendrions peut être pas de date pour MOWCYA avant la fermeture de la court. Mais malgré le découragement le devoir m'appelait alors je suis allé faire l'épicerie. Sur mon chemin je me suis dit que j'arrêterais voir le prix des stencils décoratifs en forme de chandelier au magasin. J'en voulais un pour ma cuisine mais n'étais pas prête à payer trop cher non plus. Quand je suis arrivé au magasin le seul stencil en spécial était celui d'un beau chandelier juste a mon goût pour $4! Ça m'a fait un p'tit pincement au cœur. Pourquoi? Pour moi c'était un p'tit clin d'œil de la part de Dieu qui tout gentiment me disait de ne pas m'inquiéter pour ce qui était de l'adoption. "Je connait les désirs de ton cœur. Relaxe, ta date de court pour MOWCYA s'en vient."

Me semble que ce clin d'œil qui m'a coupé le souffle aurait suffit pour me dompter de mes inquiétudes face à cet adoption. Non! Je me surprends à compter les jours qui restent avant la fermeture, a lire des publications décourageantes qui disent que MOWCYA est en retard dans leurs dossiers et mon cœur se remet à douter. "Dieu ne m'a jamais promis que nous rencontrerions notre fils cet été après tout." Je sais qu'Il en est totalement capable mais est-ce que je lui donne la chance de m'y conduire? Je dois être la pire des passagère à bord! Je rappelle constamment au Conducteur que nous allons être en retard, que ça fait longtemps qu'on est sur cette route et je lui donne même mon opinion sur les raccourcis que je crois qu'Il devrait prendre. Mais Il continue de nous conduire paisiblement et m'invite a m'asseoir et a relaxer. "Profite du paysage!" C'est un voyage stressant comment est-ce que je pourrais? Je me sens comme dans un film de "suspense". Mais quand je regarde dans le rétroviseur je  peux revoir sa fidélité et je ne peux m'empêcher de sourir avec confiance.

Cet aventure m'a beaucoup appris sur le temps parfait de Dieu, sur son amour pour nous et son grand sens de l'humour. Je pense que Dieu aime vraiment changer mon anxiété en abandon avec ses escales surprises. Je veux la foi d'un enfant. Je veux prier avec une fois qui s'attend à ce que mes requêtes touchent le cœur de mon Père Céleste. "A celui qui, par la puissance qui agit en nous, peut réaliser infiniment au-delà de ce que nous demandons ou même pensons" Ephesiens 3:20

Même si ça va nous prendre tout un miracle pour pouvoir passer en court avant la fermeture je vais me battre pour croire que le timing et la volonté de Dieu sont meilleurs que miennes. Je sers le Dieu des miracles.

1,2,3... Red light! / Feu Rouge

We sent our care package with another family last month and she sent us pictures of our little man  opening his care package.  She said that he kept looking through our photo book very intently.  When it came time to put all his stuff back in his box he kept the album with him. It was so nice to see updated pictures. We should receive more pictures this week of him opening his second care package.

We are currently waiting for a Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) date from the court.  These dates are issued sporadically apparently.  We need the recommendation letter from MOWCYA before we are issued a court date.  Once this letter is received, we are told we should be prepared to travel about a week later.  This will be the first of our two trip adventure. This will be when we meet our son face to face, spend time with him and go to court to officially make him a Cyr boy. We have been told that we should plan on traveling at the end of July. This is cutting it close with court closure. Ethiopia's court system shuts down completely during their 2 months of rain season. So unless we can get a court date before August 6th we will have to wait until court reopens in October to go see him. 
Would you pray for a miracle with us? Would you pray for the light to turn green soon?

Le mois dernier avons fait parvenir, par l'entremise d'une autre famille adoptive, un colis surprise à notre petit garçon. La maman de cette dite famille nous a dit qu'il avait regardé très attentionnément l'album de photos que je lui avais envoyé. Quand c'est venu le temps de serrer ses choses il voulait garder l'album photo avec lui. C'est tellement l'fun de recevoir des nouvelles photos de lui. Nous devrions recevoir d'autres photos de lui avec son deuxième colis cette semaine.

Présentement nous attendons de recevoir une date pour le Ministère des Femmes, Enfants et Jeunes Affaires (MOWCYA) en Éthiopie. Ces dates ne sont pas donné dans l'ordre apparemment. Nos avons besoin que MOWCYA écrive une lettre de recommendation positive avant de pouvoir recevoir notre date de court. Une fois que cette lettre de recommendation sera écrite nous devrions nous préparer à voyager une semaine après. À ce voyage nous rencontrerons notre garçon face à face, passerons une semaine à aller le visiter et passerons en court pour qu'il devienne officiellement un petit Cyr. Nous nous préparons a voyager à la fin Juillet. C'est tellement proche de la fermeture de la court. Vous voyez le système judiciaire en Éthiopie ferme pendant leur saison de pluie, ce qui veut dire 2 mois. Débutant le 6 Août jusqu'à la mi-octobre aucun dossier n'est ouvert. Alors c'est pour ça que ça commence à être stressant un peu.
Est-ce que vous auriez l'amabilité de prier pour un miracle avec nous? Priez que la lumière tourne verte.

I've got news. Let's start with the bad one./ J'ai deux nouvelles. On commence par la mauvaise.

Friday afternoon we received an email from our agency announcing a change in the ET adoption process. Nothing encouraging. We (the adoptive parents community) had all been expecting this change to be good news but it turns out it will only make the process longer and more expensive. We were told that starting September 1st the wait time from referral to embassy (child coming home) is estimated to go from 4-6 months to 8-10 months. Nearly doubled! All of our hearts sank. One more bump on this long road. At this point we all hate "red tape" with a passion. But we also know that God our adoptive Father is in control and that there is nothing surprising to Him.

My heart was so heavy. After trying to encourage other adoptive parents with the thought that God is probably crying bigger tears for the kids stuck in the middle of this than we ever will I decided to call Adam to inform him of this change. I know all of the right godly ways to look at this trial. I know and believe the wise way to deal with this is to give it to the Lord but it doesn't take away the discouragement and as I am talking to Adam I can't help the tears. Adoption is a battle. It's messy and hard. Worth every effort I'm told, but so draining. We hang up and I decide to go on with my day because after all what else can I do! "Take it Lord! You're in control!"

Now the good news.

Two whole minutes go by. 120 seconds later the phone rings and you've guessed it, it was our family coordinator calling us with a REFERRAL. I can't believe it. My God loves to surprise His kids with the best gifts. I just love how He waits for the best moment to do it. Once I got done talking with my family coordinator I gave Adam a call and could barely contain myself. I cried tears of joy, relief, stress, and amazement of God's timing. My God cares for me more than I will ever know.

What's next you ask? The next step in this adventure will be our first trip to Ethiopia for court. We hope and pray to get a court date before September 1st as this would disqualify us from the new and longer process. The tricky part is that Ethiopian courts close for 2 months starting in August. We could use all of your prayers for a miracle. I can't wait to see what God has up His sleeves this time!

Vendredi après-midi nous avons reçu un courriel de notre agence d'adoption nous annonçant certains changements dans notre processus d'adoption. Rien d'encourageant. Nous (la communauté de parents adoptifs) nous attendions a ce que ces changements soit pour le mieux mais nous nous sommes vite rendu compte que ce n'était pas le cas. Au contraire débutant le 1er Septembre le temps d'attente entre le "match" avec un enfant et son arrivée à la maison ira de 4-6 mois à 8-10 mois. Presque le double! Tellement déprimant. Voilà encore un autre délai. Rendu là on haïs tous la bureaucratie avec passion. Mais nous savons aussi que notre Père Céleste est au contrôle et que rien ne le surprend.


J'avais le cœur gros. Après avoir essayé d'encourager d'autre parents adoptifs j'ai décidé d'appeler Adam pour lui faire part de cette mauvaise nouvelle. Je sais que Dieu est au contrôle. Je crois que la chose la plus sage à faire est de lui faire confiance mais je suis quand même triste. En parlant avec Adam c'est plus fort que moi et les larmes coulent. L'adoption c'est une bataille. L'adoption c'est douloureux et difficile. Ça vaut la peine qu'on me dit, mais c'est tellement épuisant. On raccroche et je décide de continuer ma journée. Qu'est-ce que je peux faire d'autre? "Prends tout Seigneur! Tu es au contrôle!"


Maintenant pour la bonne nouvelle.
Deux minutes plus tard. 120 secondes pas plus, le téléphone sonne et vous avez deviné, c'était notre coordinatrice famille nous appelant pour nous annoncer qu'ils avaient un petit garçon pour nous. J'en crois pas mes oreilles! Mon Dieu aime surprendre ses enfants et ce avec un timing parfait. Je serais toujours impressionné par son amour pour moi. Je rappelle Adam pour lui annoncer la bonne nouvelle et cette fois-ci ce sont des larmes de joie qui coulent sur mes joues. Mon Dieu est vivant!

La prochaine étape de cette aventure sera d'aller en Éthiopie pour rencontrer notre fils et aussi pour passer en court. Nous espérons et prions pouvoir passer en court avant le 1er Septembre et ainsi éviter les nouveaux délais. Le « ick » c’est que le système judiciaire d’Ethiopie est en vacances pour 2 mois commencant en Août. Pourriez-vous priez avec nous pour ce miracle? J'ai hâte de voir ce que Dieu nous réserve.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting!

This is pretty much what we are up to these days;
Waiting.
Waiting for a referral.
Waiting to see him face to face.
Waiting to hold him close and bring him home.
Waiting for a son we don't even know.

I never thought that having to wait for something we didn't ask for in the first place would be so hard. We are already so blessed with everything we need and want, how on earth could I be longing for someone I don't know anything about? Why do I feel like a piece of my heart went missing? I believe that it is the proof that God has changed my heart. He has been molding it from the start to be filled with love for this child that will be our son. Isn't He just so awesome?

We have submitted our dossier to Ethiopia 27 months ago. Now that's a long pregnancy people! So while we wait we are getting some of our paperwork updated. It's been a longer wait then expected so our government and ET's government want fresher papers. So here we go again with millions of signatures, and copies of copies and special stamps and appointments and... You get the idea. We have been blessed with another brother in the Lord who is willing to notorize all of our paperwork for free again. Yay for a big family in Christ! Speaking of our family in Christ, tomorrow we will be sharing our story at a local church as part of AWAA outreach. Might as well do something while we're doing nothing! (said with my Napoleon Dynamite voice)  :) Hopefully the testimony of God's call on our lives can touch hearts for His glory.

HE knew all along / Dieu le savait

It's a girl!
I'm 23 weeks pregnant with a little baby girl. We're also 15 months "prego" (paperwork wise) with a beautiful boy.
Have we seen her? Just on the black and white ultrasound machine screen. Never very clear.
Have we seen him? Only through faith.
But one thing is for sure, our Heavenly Father has seen both of them and has plans for both of their lives.

When we heard God call our family to adopt a boy I wondered; Why a boy? My personal choice at the time would have been a beautiful exotic Ethiopian princess of course, but I felt so strongly that God wanted us to ask for a boy that I obeyed by faith. Little did I know that I would get my own little french princess and my son would want a brother. God knew!

The waiting time for a referral went from 4-6 months to 18-24 months. God knew!
Now that we are expecting we aren't allowed to receive a referral from Ethiopia until our daughter turns 6 months old. Next March, 24 months after submitting our dossier to Ethiopia. Coincidence? I choose to believe that God knew!



Our older daughter, happy to find out we are having a girl through a baby gender cake reveal.
Notre plus vieille qui est contente d'apprendre par l'entremise d'un gâteau rose qu'elle aura une autre petite soeur.

 C'est une fille!
Je suis enceinte d'une petite fille et j'ai 23 semaines de fait. Notre famille est aussi "enceinte" d'un beau petit garçon.
Est-ce qu'on a vu notre fille? Seulement sur l'écran flou du sonogramme. C'est jamais trop clair!
Est-ce que l'on a vu notre garçon? Seulement avec les yeux de la foi.
Mais il y a une chose qui est sûre, notre Père Céleste Lui les a vu tous les deux et Il a un plan pour chacunes de leur vie.

Quand Dieu nous a appelé à adopter un garçon je me suis demandé; Pourquoi un gars? Mon choix dans ce temps là aurait été de demander une belle petite princesse exotique, mais l'appelle de Dieu était si forte en moi que par la foi nous avons obéit et demandé un garçon. J'étais loin de me douter que j'aurais éventuellement une troisième princesse et que mon garçon souhaiterait avoir un frère. Dieu le savait!

Le temps d'attente pour un "match" enfant-famille prenait 4-6 mois et prend maintenant 18-24 mois. Dieu le savait!
Parce-que je suis enceinte, nous n'aurons le droit a ce dit "match" avec notre garçon seulement lorsque notre fille aura 6 mois. Mars 2013 en fait, exactement après 24 mois d'attente. Une coincidence? J'ai choisi de croire que Dieu le savait!

Dying a little bit on the way / Mourir un peu sur cette route

It's been two years since we answered God's call for our family to adopt a son from Ethiopia. It is also our 10th month of waiting for a referral. Like I have mentioned before the estimated wait time for a referral is 10-16 months. When we compare our DTE to other families that have just received referrals we can expect another 5 months of wait time.
The hardest thing for me (Tina) so far with this adoption adventure is trusting God's timing in building our family. A while back I have experienced the surrender of my will and plans as far as how many children the Lord might have wanted to bless me with. Now I am longing for more children but the Lord has different plans for us right now. While we are waiting, this adoption feels like a dream. It's easy to lose focus when I haven't seen my son's face. I keep reminding myself that God's timing and calling are best. So in a nutshell I am learning to die to myself and my plans to let the Lord Jesus live in me. It hurts at times but it's a good kinda hurt! :)
                                                    

Deja 2 ans depuis que nous avons repondu a l'appel de Dieu concernant l'adoption d'un fils en Ethiopie. C'est aussi notre 10eme mois d'attente. Comme je l'ai deja mentionne avant notre temps d'attente estime est de 10 a 16 mois. Quand nous comparons les dates de dossier d'autres familles qui viennent tout juste de recevoir leurs "match" nous pouvons estimer un autre 5 mois d'attente.
La chose la plus difficile pour moi (Tina) a date avec cet adoption c'est de faire totalement confiance a Dieu pour le futur de notre famille. Il y a quelques annees j'ai appris a faire confiance a Dieu et son controle souverain pour l'agrandissement eventuel de notre famille. Maintenant alors que j'ai vraiment le desir d'agrandir notre famille le Seigneur a d'autres plans pour nous. Durant cette longue attente, tout semble etre un reve. C'est facile de perdre de vu le but de Son plan quand je n'ai pas encore vu le visage de mon fils si loin. Je me rappelle sans cesse que Dieu a toujours de meilleurs plans et aussi un meilleur "timing" que le mien. Alors en grosso modo J'apprends a mourir a moi-meme et a mes plans et a laisser le Seigneur Jesus vivre en moi. C'est douloureux mais c'est une douleur qui me fait du bien. :)

DTE - 8 months!

Eight months ago our dossier made its way across the ocean and all the way to Ethiopia (DTE, Dossier To Ethiopia). A lot of you ask how the adoption is going. Well, just like a pregnancy has its nine months of waiting, we too are anxiously waiting to meet our son. The waiting time for a referral is estimated at around 10-16 months.
Meanwhile, when things seem to be moving very slowly, God is at work. He amazes us with His faithfulness to His word. He continues to provide financially as well. Last month we received two large grants totalling more than $4000.00. WOW!
Two years ago, this adoption adventure was like Everest to us, unsurmountable. But with the God of the universe as our personal chauffeur everything seem so easily doable.
To God be the glory!

Deja 8 mois!

Aujourd'hui nous celebrons!
Deja huit mois que notre dossier a traverse l'Atlantique et franchit l'Ethiopie. Beaucoup d'entre vous se demandent ou nous en sommes avec notre adoption. Et bien voila, nous sommes dans la periode d'attente. Tout comme pour une grossesse, c'est le temps ou nous attendons avec impatience de rencontrer notre peti garcon. Notre temps d'attente est estime de 10-16 mois. Par la suite nous devrions recevoir une proposition pour notre dossier.
Pendant ce temps, meme quand rien ne semble bouger, Dieu est a l'oeuvre. Il nous epatte par sa fidelite a sa parole. Il continue de pourvoir financierement aussi. Le mois passe nous avons recu deux dons cummulants plus de 4000$. WoW!
Il y a presque deux ans maintenant, ce projet etait a nos yeux semblable au mont Everest, insurmontable. Mais avec le Dieu de l'univers comme chauffeur tout semble facilement attaignable.
A Dieu soit la gloire!

Job 1:21

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name


You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

"Have you asked to be made like your Lord? Have you longed for the fruit of the Spirit, and have you prayed for sweetness and gentleness and love? Then fear not the stormy tempest that is at this moment sweeping through your life. A blessing is in the storm, and there will be rich fruitage in the afterward."

Double blessing in the making!

Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Here's the whole story on our newly found pregnancy and its blessing.

When we sent out our dossier to Ethiopia the waiting time for receiving a referral (a match) was 4-6 months but because of the changes in the Ethiopian gov. the wait time changed to 5-8 months less than a month after. Then it increased to 7-10 months and I was a little dissapointed but knew that the Lord had already chosen a specific little guy for our family and I was willing to wait for him. While families are in the process of adopting, adoption agencies don't "allow" families to seek any type of family building either through another simultaneous adoption or pregnancy. But a couple of months ago AWAA made the announcement that they were changing their policy on family building for waiting families because of the expected increasing adoption process. Adam and I decided to pray about it and I sensed that the Lord was asking me to focus on the adoption and not to seek to be pregnant at that time. I gave that "mommy" desire back to Him and believed that He knew the future and was in control. So when we found out last Sunday that I was pregnant, I was overwhelmed with God's love for me. It was one of the greatest gifts from the Lord. I knew that I had given all my plans and desires back to please Him and here He was giving them back to me like a father to his child. I could picture Him with the biggest smile on His face, happy to make me happy. I am so excited and thankful!


On that following Tuesday we got an email from our adoption agency telling us that the wait time for referrals had increased to 10-16 months. Now the only rule for us to be able to accept a referral from Ethiopia is that the baby has to be 6 months old . The baby will be 6 months old  in 15 months from now. Did the Lord know or what?!!! It's so cool to see that He is involved in every detail of our lives, even the timing of blessings!

Do I choose to be blessed?

Once again I spent way too much time in my mind. Thinking things over and over again. I worry. I'm anxious. I am letting my heart be troubled as opposed to NOT letting my heart be troubled. I am "in control" but it is not a good feeling. I'm hurting myself more than anything.
Adam and I spent some time in prayer last night. I know this is the right thing to do. I give it back to the Lord once again and leave everything in His control. I traded my anxiousness for some shabbat and shalom. (He's  better behind the wheel than I am anyways!:)
This morning in my One Year Bible I read a verse I have read millions of times before. It jumped at me, and spoke hope to my heart like never before. Elizabeth tells her cousin Mary :

"You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45

She believed God's promise. He blessed her for it. Do I want to be blessed in this adoption adventure? Well of course, Yes! I want to see God's promise come true. I want to see His hand at work. I want to be blessed by His plan for our family. I want to be used. So then I need to BELIEVE Him. No more doubt. No more time spent wasted in my mind. Here's more of His great promises to us:

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

All in God's hand

In the last few days my heart has been troubled and here's why:

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWA) has stated a desire to reduce the number of recommendation letters they write each day for families in the court process. The number of recommendation letters have already started to decrease and we anticipate this will continue over the next few weeks as the court, MOWA, and other entities meet to discuss MOWA’s desire to decrease the number of recommendation letters they write overall. Rumors are they want to decrease by 90%.

So all of a sudden I find myself discouraged. But this morning the Lord reminded me through prayer that He has called us to do this, He is not surprised by this new turn of event and that He is powerful enough to change the "king's" heart. He could INCREASE the number of approvals by 90% if He wanted to! So my anxiousness has now turned into prayer and  discouragemnet into excitement to see what God's plan for our family is.

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."
Proverbs 21:1

Even as this continues to unfold, we know that the Lord places the lonely in families, and that the enemy does not want to see this happen. Please pray that God will break down the strongholds set up against adoption, and that His Spirit will direct the decisions being made in the coming days and weeks in Ethiopia. Pray for all of the families and children affected by decisions being made and that they will experience God’s peace and comfort through this time.

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3

We're "paperwork" pregnant!

Dossier is SENT!!!
This morning I ran around town like crazy. I had to photocopy our dossier 3 times, get a last minute notarized copy of my Canadian birth certificate, go to the bank and then finally mail all these papers. I told the lady at UPS to be careful. I was so nervous, it felt weird to hand over one full year of paperwork to a complete stranger. After it was all set and done I felt different; happy and excited. It felt just like when I have taken a pregnancy test and it was positive. I just wanted to scream to everyone in the store that my husband and I were gonna have another son. Don't worry I didn't! The emotions I am going through today are so strong. I never thought that adoption would be such an emotionnaly charged experience. I can't wait to meet him and kiss his little face.
So as of today we are officially "paperwork" pregnant! Our son should be home in 9 months.

JEHOVAH-JIREH, MY PROVIDER

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Last Friday afternoon (Feb 11th) Adam and I were reminded once again of the truth of the expression "Where the Lord guides, He provides". I went to get the mail and found a letter from some friends we met a long time ago. They heard of our adoption through Facebook and were touched. They wanted to be part of this adventure with us, and so they very generously gave as the Lord had put on their hearts. We were floored by the amount they sent us but also by the power of our Lord to rally us all together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Only His Holy Spirit can unite hearts like that for His purposes. It's beautiful to see!

So now we are waiting for two pieces of paperwork to come back to us from the Secretary of State. They should arrive this week or early next week. Once we get those two documents we are officially done our paperchase and can send our dossier to America World. Woohoo!!!

We are a little overwhelmed right now by the reality of this adventure. It's really happening, God is really doing this. It's humbling and such a blessing all at the same time. I'm excited to meet my baby. I started having dreams about this little guy. It's just like when I was pregnant and had dreams of the new baby coming. God is so good.

One year later

I know, I know, It's been way too long since my last post. Please forgive me :/


Since the last time I blogged, a lot has happened. First I have worked on the look of our blog. It is still in remodeling mode but a few new things are up and running. I have added some pages, most of them being descriptions and links to our different fundraisers (cakes, Rada cutlery, ChipIn). Click on their individual tabs above to see what I'm talking about. We also have a new blog address that is much easier to remember: cyradoption.blogspot.com


It's been a full year since we embarked on this adventure. All year long we have gathered necesssary paperwork and signatures. For whatever reason it took us longer than most adoptive families, but we believe God's timing is perfect. Maybe God has allowed this slow and steady pace just so our friends from church, Jonathan & Tiffany Stewart, would be able to catch up to us and maybe travel with us? That would be such a huge blessing to be there with them. We'll see...
To read more on our friend's adoption :
www.ourmustardseedadventure.blogspot.com


Minus 3 signatures and a few family pics, our dossier is ready to be sent out. We are pretty excited about that. It's all the more real now that our paperchase is coming to an end. It means we will meet our son very soon through what we call referral (4-6 months). A referral includes a brief description and a picture of the little guy. We pray our family is the best match for him.

Why Ethiopia?

God has the "gas money".

So we sensed since the beginning of this journey that God would provide the "gas money" to get us where we are to go. We were not to stress about it. After all, He is driving, not us. And we couldn't afford the trip anyways. So it has been very interesting to watch where this gas money has come from.

A few weeks ago, I had the priveledge of preaching at a sister church in Lincoln, Maine. I taught from Deuteronomy 5. In this chapter, God reminded the Israelites how He brought them out of Egypt - on the wings of eagles. Or as a father carries his son. God did the "work" for them. They simply witnessed His power. In the same way, God is doing the work for us. Yes, we do our part but God has been faithful to bless our venture so far. Money for this adoption comes from the most unusual places. Tina makes cakes. I teach at church and mow lawns. We have a yard sale. God's people give. A letter arrives in the mail containing a check. General Electric pays a bonus for help in hiring a talented worker. God keeps pulling gas money from places to pay for the ransom of a soul! And we get to witness it.

When this adoption has been finalized, and all is said and done, we will not be boasting about how we made the adoption happen. The best we can say is that God drove, paid for the gas, meals, and lodging, and we were fortunate enough to witness these events from the passenger seat.

Where are we? / Ou est-ce qu'on est?

So it's been 5 months since we've answered the call of God to adopt. A lot of you have been praying for us and we are so thankful for your prayers. This is a very long and trying process but our God can move mountains. So I thought that today I would try to explain where we are in this adventure and what's next.

Today we are getting pretty much all of our paperwork notarized (Thanks Dan!). We are almost done our dossier paperchase, a total of 25 documents. All we need right now are passport photos and 4 photo pages of our family.($30.00)

We have completed our home study visits and in about a month or so we should receive our home study report. Basically it's a 20 page document about Adam and I and the kids. ($1,050.00)

Upon receiving our home study report we will be filing an I-600A document with the dept. of homeland security for our little boy and we'll need to go get fingerprinted. This should take about one to two months to be complete.($830.00)

Then, our paperchase will be "done". We will submit our dossier and start to wait. Our agency will review it and send it to Ethiopia to be translated. ($7,700.00)

We are told about 4-6 months after submitting our dossier we will receive a referral. A referral is a picture, medical report and short description of our child. Once we receive that referral we will travel to meet our boy and go to court in Ethiopia. ($11,690.00)

After a few days in Ethiopia we will travel back home and wait for court to give us the "A-ok" to go get our child, that could be a 1-2 month time frame. ($7,000.00)

Hope this helps get you situated. Please pray as to what God would have you do to help out.

Ca fait maintenant 5 mois qu'on a repondu a l'appel de Dieu concernant l'adoption. Plusieurs d'entre vous prie pour nous et nous en sommes tres reconnaissant. C'est un procede tres long et eprouvant mais notre Dieu peut deplacer des montagnes. Alors aujourdh'ui j'ai pense que je vous aiderais a vous situer dans cette grande aventure.

Cet apres-midi nous allons faire certifier tout nos documents devant un de nos ami qui est notaire. Un total de 25 documents. Il ne nous reste seulement que quelques photos passport et 4 pages de photos de famille a ensuite ajouter a notre dossier.
(30.00$)

Nous avouns termine nos visites pour notre etude de foyer. Dans environ un mois nous devrions recevoir un document de 20 pages expliquant qui on est. (1,050.00$)

Une fois ce document en main il sera temps d'appliquer pour un certain dossier d'adoption au gouvernement americain (I-600A) ainsi que de nous faire faire nos empreintes. Ces documents devraient prendre environ 1-2 mois a etre complete. (830.00$)

C'est la que notre "chasse aux papiers" s'arrete et que le moment d'attente commence. Nous remettrons tous nos documents a notre agence d'adoption qui par la suite les enverra en Ethiopie pour etre traduient. (7,700.00$)

On nous dit que notre attente pour recevoir une "reference" sera de 4-6 mois. Une reference c'est une photo de notre garcon, un bilan medical et quelques breves descriptions de sa personnalite. Une fois notre reference recu nous nous preparerons a voyager pour rencontrer notre petit bonhomme et pour passer en court. (11,690.00$)

Apres 5-7 jours en Ethiopie nous reviendrons a la maison pour attendre que la court en Ethiopie finalize nos papiers, ce qui pourrait prendre de 1 a 2 mois. Ensuite nous voyagerons encore une fois pour maintenant aller chercher notre garcon.
(7,000.00$)

J'espere que ca vous aide a vous situer. SVP prier pour savoir comment Dieu voudrait vous utiliser pour nous aider.

Mon coeur pour le sien / My heart for His

"Je ne vous laisserai pas orphelins, je viendrai à vous." Jean 14:18

Seigneur,
Quand je lis ce verset, je ne peux m'empecher de penser a ce petit garcon que Tu veux qu'on adopte. Je me sens tellement pas a la hauteur de cette vision. Pourquoi moi? Seigneur Dieu je ne comprends meme pas c'est quoi etre orphelin. Apprends-moi a t'aimer encore plus en m'enseignant comment moi aussi j'etais orpheline sans Toi. Aide-moi a prier pour les orphelins, donne-moi Ton coeur pour eux. Rempli-moi de Ta compassion. Brise mon coeur comme Tu es brise pour eux. Merci Seeigneur de m'aimer avec tout mes defauts et surtout mon coeur de pierre. Rempli-moi de ton Esprit. Enseigne moi. Fais moi gandir.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

Lord,
When I read this verse, I can't help but think of this little boy whom you want us to adopt. I feel so inadequate, so small before this vision. Why me? Lord God I don't even understand fully what it is to be an orphan. Teach me to love You more by reminding me that I also was an orphan without You. Help me to pray for orphans, give me Your heart for them. Fill me with Your compassion. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Thank you Lord for loving me with all my faults and despite my stone cold heart. Fill me with Your Spirit. Teach me. Grow me.

Whispers / Chuchotements

Last Friday I wrote about how I started to worry and was not trusting God fully to provide for the ride. That night I also prayed to my Father in heaven and asked Him to send me a little encouragement, a little glimpse of His provision. In the afternoon I was surprised with a bag of clothes for Storm. He was outgrowing his old ones but I didn't want to spend too much money on new ones. With each little shirt I pulled out of the bag, and each pair of pants, I was hearing God whisper to my ear, "I'll be taking care of You, don't you worry a bit!" My heart was and still is overwhelmed. I don't wanna doubt Him again. He provided in such a great way on Friday (and with great style I might add!). If only I could trust Him at all time, the ride would be so much smoother.

Vendredi passé j'ai écrit au sujet de la façon dont j'ai commencé à m'inquiéter et ne faisais pas entièrement confiance à Dieu de pourvoir a nos besoins monetaire entourant l'adoption. Cette nuit la j'ai également prié à mon Père Celeste et lui ai demandé de m'envoyer un peu d'encouragement, un petit aperçu de comment Il pouvait repondre a nos besoins. L'après-midi j'ai recu un sac de vêtements pour Caleb. Son linge etait rendu vraiment trop petit. Avec chaque petite chemise que j'ai retiré du sac, et chaque paire de pantalon, j'entendis Dieu me chuchoter a l'oreille, "Je vais m'occupper de toi, inquiete toi pas!" Mon coeur était, et est encore tellement emu. Je ne veux plus douter de Lui. Il a repond d'une si grande manière vendredi (et avec beaucoup de style aussi!). Si seulement je pouvais lui faire confiance en tout temps, le chemin serait bien moi rocailleux.