the paperwork is in!

As of last week, we turned in the entire dossier (a humongous amount of paperwork that involves government documents, notary public signatures, financial records, medical forms, etc. etc.) Now, we are waiting for Bethany to approve it all and then we will get government seals on each paper and send it to Ethiopia!

And then it could be a few months until we receive the call to go pick up Trey and Tessa! Please keep praying...
1. for the dossier to be complete and to move quickly through the Ethiopian government
2. for Trey and Tessa to continue to be strong and healthy and well cared for
3. for God's perfect timing in our travels to Ethiopia

We are so excited but also so anxious for the time to come! More updates soon...

The Latest Update!

We just returned from a meeting with our social worker at Bethany Christian Services to try and complete our dossier (all the paperwork that will be sent to Ethiopia). Other than a couple papers that need new dates or signatures, everything is almost complete! As we were about to leave our social worker, Kim, asked, "Did you get that information I sent to you about the kids?" No, we hadn't. She left and returned with two packets of information about Trey and Tessa!

These packets were filled with pictures and information about our kiddos...games they like to play, what their daily schedules look like, their favorite foods, their gross motor abilities, and their family background. Currently, they are not at the same orphanage and they both miss each other so much. Trey has had somewhat of a difficult time in school because he misses his sister so much. Also, when the worker asked Tessa how much she misses her brother, her response was to hug herself! How great it will be when they are reunited with each other and with us. We love them so much already! And, now we are just continuing to wait...

PLEASE keep praying! This is God's heart...He is the "father to the fatherless" (psalm 68) and he has adopted us as his dearly loved children.

• Pray for God's protection over Trey and Tessa -- that he would surround them with great people who demonstrate God's love to them.
• Pray that paperwork would go smoothly and quickly.
• Pray that God would be made known in this whole endeavor!
• Pray that we would find a notary public soon to help us sign some of the last pieces of paperwork.

"In this world, you are an orphan -- eagerly anticipating your adoption as God's child. In this world, you are a widow -- longing for reunion with your bridegroom. In this world, you are a stranger -- a pilgrim waiting to become a citizen of heaven. And in this world, God has called you to care for the orphan, the stranger, and the widow. Christianity is about giving yourself to others, being Christ to a hurting world, and living for the one that comes next." - Tom Davis in Fields of the Fatherless

Keep Pressing On...

Although we have not updated the blog lately, we are still in the process of bringing Trey and Tessa home! As always, the stacks of paperwork are daunting and all of the little details are adding up to be quite overwhelming.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and

take heart, and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27:4

It can be easy to get discouraged, especially when nothing seems to be going right and others do not encourage the dream.

Mother Teresa once said, "Don't give into discouragement. No more must you do so when you try to settle a marriage crisis or convert a sinner and don't succeed. If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers...Leave it to Jesus."

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encouragement from Bill Johnson

Well, to be honest, there are many times that I wonder if we are absolutely crazy to attempt this adoption......I mean, it will really complicate our lives.
We have not formally introduced Trey and Tessa.....and unfortunately we cannot include pictures. Not yet. Trey is six years old. Tessa is 2 1/2 years old. They live in an orphanage in Ethiopia. Their dad has died of AIDS and their mom is dying. And God commands us to care for the orphan, the fatherless, the motherless, the poor. So we want to be obedient. But do we feel adequate or prepared or ready for the challenges that will come? Not on our own strength.

I recently read these thoughts from Bill Johnson (pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA):
Part of our problem is this: We are accustomed only to doing things for God that are not impossible. If God doesn't show up and help us, we can still succeed.....
His righteousness/character is not built into us by our own efforts. It is developed when we quit striving and learn to abandon ourselves completely to his will.....
If he (the Holy Spirit) is to be free to move in our lives, we will constantly be involved in impossibilities. The supernatural is his natural realm.

So please pray for us in those moments of discouragement. Pray that he will strengthen us, give us family unity, eyes to see the spiritual realm clearly, faith to trust in our heavenly Father's provision.

One of the best (and also most difficult) parts of this venture is trusting God for huge amounts of money. But I wouldn't want to miss seeing him at work for anything!! There are amazing answers to prayer to report already.......
I'm a part of a Jericho team (from the Bridge Street House of Prayer). Our team prays every Monday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. I am the senior member of this team and most are high school or college students. I asked them all to pray a couple of weeks ago because I knew $1,050 would be due the next week for immigration. I didn't really know where this money would come from. We prayed that night for God to release this sum of money......and I saw some possibilities in the next week of how God might be providing. But we didn't have the check for immigration yet. The following Monday our caseworker called me to ask for the check and I told her: "We will have that check for you this week." Then I hung up and wondered why I said that because I didn't know how I would get $1,050 that week. So that evening our Jericho team prayed again. We even thanked God for providing. One of our members said, "I just know you are going to get a phone call tomorrow morning about this money."
Well, I was out running errands Tuesday morning and when I walked into my house, my voicemail was picking up a message from our caseworker. She said, "You won't believe it! I came into the office this morning and there was a check for $1,000 in my box for you guys! You even have some extra for future expenses!"
I know this is only the beginning of watching God meet our needs financially.....and this is HIS idea. So he will bring Trey and Tessa home. It will be fun to watch.

How It All Began

Our adventure actually began a couple years ago when Kate and Abby started asking us to adopt again. It was quite easy at the time to quickly say, "no." I was still recovering from chemo, still wondering if I would live in fear of cancer's return, getting too close to the big 5-0. So many reasons to say no.

Then late August of 2008 we went up to UPBC for a few days. Kevin Dyer was there as a speaker and had written a book entitled The God Who Makes Things Happen. I read it of course...I think in one night. I decided that we were not going to live the rest of our lives just trying to preserve our lives. What a waste! (We also read Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper).

In my prayer journal on August 26, 2008, I wrote "HIV-positive Ethiopian orphan -- girl." With a huge question mark. This was before the email with a picture of Trey and Tessa.

Some verses starting jumping out at me...

"On your clothes is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor..." (Jeremiah 2:34)

"They do not promote the cause of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor..." (Jeremiah 5:28)

"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream." (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

"Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God..." (Micah 6:8)

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -- when you see the naked to clothe him, and to not turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:1-3, 5-7)

Phil also had prayed about this. His only question was: "Why not two kids?"
WHAT?!

Phil: "I also was reading this summer (!) and I encountered the book Red Letters by Tom Davis which began outlining the huge problems of disease and malnutrition in Africa. It is overwhelming to think about, but that stupid starfish story is actually a valid metaphor for what we need to do. We may not be able to change the world, but we can help change a life (or two). God help us...Here we go."