Fresh Joy

Wow! After our learning about the court case being "closed" until further notice today, my son and I decided to have a party of a different kind. No pity party here! We sang praises to the Lord, went riding bikes in a torrential downpour, hitting all the deepest mud puddles at least 15 or 20 times. Once we were all cleaned up, we ate Crab legs (my favorite) and macaroni and cheese (Noah's favorite) and played games. What a way for God to restore your perspective and bring fresh joy! He is so good!

Plus, we were a lot less rumpled once Brett arrived home. The only downside was that Dad couldn't join the party!

Thanks again for all of your prayers!

More Hurdles to Jump before we pass!

We are disappointed but not surprised this morning as we just received information that we did not pass our first court date. Not only did we not pass, we were not even presented. The case was marked "Closed". A document that we jumped through hoops to update last week will arrive to them in a few hours, but wasn't able to get there in time for court. Faxed copies wouldn't appease the judge. This document by the way was accepted for the last 10 months then changed on a dime last week. Does it sound like there is something working against us? There is and it is the devil. He wants to keep us stirred up with little peace.

My desire is to be aggitated beyond belief, not because we didn't pass, but because of the reason that our case wasn't heard. I was prepared for a "No", but would feel a little better if it was for a good reason like maybe the relinquishing relative couldn't make it to court or maybe some information was missing that still needed to be collected. This situation just feels like antagonism and breaks my heart that power politics may be playing a roll in this, rather than putting the good of the children first.

As it stands now, the document will be delivered and looked at on Wednesday, again this will be in the middle of the night for us here in the US. I asked if there was a possibility if our case would be heard tomorrow. The answer was, "doubtful because so many have been canceled for the same reason." There is no way that the judge can catch that many cases up tomorrow. The next court cases being scheduled are after June 18th. Unfortunately, the relative that relinquished our child lives 7 hours away and probably showed up for court this morning. I don't know if he would have been able to stay over night to be able to be there in the morning, so more than likely, they will be inconvenienced to have to come back again for a later date.

Please God, give us your ability to pray for those who seem to be pulling all the strings right now and who seem to be antagonistic to this process. Please give us your eyes, your heart and the peace that you are in control and that your timing is perfect. Please be with all of the families that didn't pass yesterday and today because of the same thing and may you somehow be glorified through this situation! Please grow us in ways we aren't expecting and use this time for miracles! Praise God for He is Good All the Time!!!!

Thank you for all the prayers! Keep praying!

Tonight is the night for the next big milestone!

Tonight is the night! As we sleep tonight, our court case will be being heard. Thank you all for your prayers! We are so excited no matter what the outcome of the court no matter what it is! Of course we are praying for a "Pass", but we are trusting in God's timing for it all and just know that this is one step closer to bringing our sweet new son home! I can't wait until we can post pictures to introduce him to everyone! Blessings to All!

Thank you Charles for this verse I will cling to today:
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Court is almost upon us!!!!!!

Tonight, we finally finished painting the bedroom for our new child and hope to go get his bed tomorrow! It is so surreal trying to picture how our new son will view all of these things that are so foreign from everything he has ever known. If you think about it, we all grow into everything we are now used to. I imagine it will be a bit of shell shock and overload for him when he first comes into country. We tried to be pretty subdued with the bedroom, yet light. Maybe I will put some pictures on here when we get the furniture in it. Taking a look around our house trying to see through his eyes makes me want to hide much to help prevent to much overwhelm. We still have much work to do before he come! What a wonderful reason to get your home into better order!

One weekend left until our court date on the 26th. Please keep us in prayer, along with the judge and the family member that has to show up at court. The family member who relinquished our child must be present at court or we do not pass. This family member lives 7 hours away and may find it very difficult to make the trip for many reasons. Please pray all goes smoothly! I will be putting out an update with a yes we passed or no we didn't on Tuesday sometime. Thank you for your prayers!


In Christ,
Mary

What can 1 person do here in the US to make a difference? A LOT

Friends and Family,

Please read the following post with an open heart. I also encourage you to ACT on behalf of these babies. You may never go to a foreign land and you may never feel the urging of the holy spirit to open your home and heart to an orphan. BUT!!! YOU can make a difference in the life of a child. YOU can be the hands and feet of Jesus from your own home.

Famine and poverty are increasing the rates of malnourished infant babies in Ethiopia. Children's HopeChest has worked with the America World Adoption Agency (AWAA) on projects in Ethiopia and Russia over the past five years. This request came to us from their transition home where they are receiving severely malnourished babies into their care. This month, in honor of mother's day, I want to raise $12,500 to provide specialized baby formula to this transition home for these malnourished babies.

A malnourished baby cries in his mother's lap at the Médecins Sans Frontières intensive care unit near the southern town of Sheshemene. Radu Sigheti/Reuters. [Tom's Note: This is not a child from AWAA's transition home.]

Here's a view from the ground from Duni, an Ethiopian woman working for AWAA at their transitional home:

Even though I grew up in Ethiopia, I never knew just how badly babies suffered from malnutrition until I returned to Addis and started working at the AWAA office there. The children at our Transitional Home come from very remote areas. Their families are unable to feed themselves let alone their children and usually relinquish them to their local orphanage when it becomes evident their children will die if they don't.

It is hard to see malnourished babies, so tiny, with just skin and bones. I remember the first one I saw, we will call her Gracie. She looked like an old woman in a baby's body. She had big eyes that seemed so wise and testified to what they have seen in the short months Gracie has been alive.

That was a few months ago, since then we have admitted many more babies in such condition. And looking at Gracie today, I can't believe she is the same baby. I knew she was a beauty but it really came out once those cheeks filled up. She is still tiny but the pound she has gained in the past week has made a world of difference in her appearance.

I look at the others and feel the same way I first felt with Gracie, dejection and fear that she may never make it. The right type of formula for such babies is hard to come by. In fact any kind of formula is expensive and hard to come by. We have babies who need this today so we work tirelessly to get the best formula possible for malnourished babies shipped from the US.

It is not fair for a baby to have sad eyes like Gracie's or for a baby to cry out of hunger and not have that need met.

Worse yet, it is not fair for a baby to die because of malnutrition. And yet, that is what happens daily in Ethiopia. Today, I am praying for the babies lying still in their cribs. I am praying I will see them feed soon (they are now on feeding tubes). I am praying that their tiny lifeless legs will slowly fill with flesh and will wiggle and play like normal babies do.

Here's what we can do to help. CHC will raise $12,500 to purchase what is known in the U.S. as "Nutramigen" formula. This type of formula is necessary because traditional formula cannot be digested by malnourished infants.

You can participate by making a gift of any size. A gift of $30 will buy and ship one can of formula to the chidlren in need. Right now if you give $30 it will be doubled to $60! The first $500 we raise will be matched dollar-for-dollar. If we hit our goal, we can send 400 cans of formula to starving infants in Ethiopia.

PRECIOUS LIVES WILL BE SAVED THROUGH YOUR GENEROSITY!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE! Please put "Ethiopia Formula" in the note section of the donate page

Awesome Video by Sara Groves- "I Saw What I Saw" song inspired by her trip to Africa

Enjoy this video by Sara Groves. May it touch your heart as it did mine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdP6PqsbJY

Learn Some Basic Amharic Phrases

Hey Everyone, I just found a link that really gives a glimpse of Amharic and how it is pronounced. If you have interest to learn a little to connect with our child when he arrives, this is a great crash course. http://ethiopianadoptiontravelogue.wordpress.com/?s=Amharic+Phrases .