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Our little boy Caleb doesn't need to be told twice when Daddy tells him to go "put on your boots"! He doesn't know where he's going, doesn't know how long it'll take or how much it will cost; All he knows is Daddy asked him to go spend quality time with him and that's all it takes for him to obey. We have heard the same request from our heavenly Father concerning adoption. We are embarking on this adoption adventure with Him not knowing the where and how; All we know is God wants to spend quality time with us and teach us who He is on a deeper level.

Monday, June 10, 2013

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.



Friday, May 31, 2013

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.








Saturday, May 19, 2012

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!

Monday, January 2, 2012

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. :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

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!

Friday, November 4, 2011

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!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

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."