We will be getting back to blogging soon. It is amazing how life with 5 children impacts what you get done in a day!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Our 5 kids!
We will be getting back to blogging soon. It is amazing how life with 5 children impacts what you get done in a day!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Lost in translation
Melissa and the kids came by the office today as people have been clamoring to meet Gabriel. Afterwards, they went to State Farm Park to hang out at the pool with some friends. It was Gabriel's first experience at the pool and he was very excited and very loud. We have found that God has already blessed him with a voice that carries long distances.
Compounding this is the fact that in Amharic, the word for going pee is "shinte" which is pronounced "shint". You can probably see where I am going...when Gabriel had to go today, he would call out to Melissa "shinte, shinte". To say that there were a few raised eyebrows would be an understatement!
He played so hard today he crashed on the way home...
Gabriel and Sarah Beth are getting along well...
Compounding this is the fact that in Amharic, the word for going pee is "shinte" which is pronounced "shint". You can probably see where I am going...when Gabriel had to go today, he would call out to Melissa "shinte, shinte". To say that there were a few raised eyebrows would be an understatement!
He played so hard today he crashed on the way home...
Gabriel and Sarah Beth are getting along well...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Homecoming
With five kids we are beginning to realize that not only is our life not our own, neither is our time! We will be posting thoughts and pictures from Ethiopia, we promise. Here are a few photos that our friends, the Semlows (recent parents to a set of three siblings from Ethiopia themselves!), took at our neighborhood park when we got home...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Home!
We are home and getting acclimated to the new normal of 5 kids. We will be posting photos in the coming days while we begin to fill in the gaps during our time in Ethiopia.
Eyob and Sarah Beth are doing very well together (in fact, better than we thought they would).
Eyob and Sarah Beth are doing very well together (in fact, better than we thought they would).
Friday, July 31, 2009
Delayed an hour
For those meeting at our neighborhood park today we have been delayed one hour in DC so we will get there between 6 and 7 now.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The journey home begins!
Just a very quick note, because the van is waiting...We are on our way home!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Embassy appointment
Yesterday we had our Embassy appointment and so now the only thing that remains is to get Eyob's travel visa.
Quick update: Praise – the ticket issue has been resolved.
For anyone coming after us, we cannot recommend Ethiopia Guest House strongly enough. We have especially enjoyed the community meals. We have met so many families that have such amazing stories of how they have ended up in Ethiopia adopting a child or children. It has been such an encouragement to us. When one family is struggling with an issue other families come alongside and share words of encouragement or some advice from personal experience to help.
Eyob continues to do well with the transition with us. He is enjoying his brozzers and seester very much. We have found that when we go out anywhere he gets very quiet (which is very much out of character for him) and so we will be glad to get home to begin some sense of normalcy. Have to get ready for the day, more later...
Quick update: Praise – the ticket issue has been resolved.
For anyone coming after us, we cannot recommend Ethiopia Guest House strongly enough. We have especially enjoyed the community meals. We have met so many families that have such amazing stories of how they have ended up in Ethiopia adopting a child or children. It has been such an encouragement to us. When one family is struggling with an issue other families come alongside and share words of encouragement or some advice from personal experience to help.
Eyob continues to do well with the transition with us. He is enjoying his brozzers and seester very much. We have found that when we go out anywhere he gets very quiet (which is very much out of character for him) and so we will be glad to get home to begin some sense of normalcy. Have to get ready for the day, more later...
Monday, July 27, 2009
A new approach
We realized today at the Hilton that we have no problem accessing our email account remotely, so we are going to attempt to use email to post directly to the blog.
After I completed the last blog, Melissa asked me all sorts of questions about what I commented on in our successful blog and I realized that in the vein of "men are from Mars..." that I failed to comment on the really important stuff, instead focusing on the administrative stuff. So here is my attempt to comment on the important stuff: Our incountry cell phone number is 011-251-091-0103887 (we have already added the US exit code and Ethiopia country code).
Eyob is doing remarkably well in the transition to life as a Miller. He has a very winsome personality and enjoys entertaining us and others. He knows more English than we were expecting and is able to repeat what we say very well. In addition to "welcome", we love the way he says brother (sounds like "brozzer") and sister (sounds like "seester"). He is sleeping well at night, and typically wakes once in the middle of the night for a drink of water. Although I am sure it hurt Tesfanish's heart, I think she did a remarkable job of preparing him for the transition. She is truly a wonderful woman and one we want to make certain Eyob remembers as he grows up. We can build on the strong foundation that she built.
We have really enjoyed Ethiopia Guest House and would strongly recommend it to anyone coming to Addis Ababa to adopt or do mission work. We have really enjoyed getting to know the families that are here as well. It is neat to see such a diverse group of families from places like Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Denver, and Santa Barbara, with a similar call to adopt from Ethiopia. It has been really great to hear everyone's story of how they got to this point and it has been such an encouragement to us.
Praises:
- The flight went very well and we managed the time better on this flight. Sleep was less of a problem.
- All of the luggage was allowed without any fees.
- Abby's luggage that was lost was found with everything intact.
Prayer requests:
- Eyob's ticket issue is still unresolved and we ask for your continued prayer. The problem has been escalated to the person within Ethiopian Air who can choose to resolve it so we travel as planned or choose not to, pushing us to a later flight (not a desired outcome).
Believing that the ticket issue will be resolved well, we are planning to land at O'Hare about around 1:20 pm on Friday, July 31st. From there we plan to drive to Bloomington and go to our neighborhood park between 5 and 6 pm to see any of you who can make it.
More to follow...from Ethiopia we hope (if this works as anticipated, I will try to push some photos through to the blog as well).
After I completed the last blog, Melissa asked me all sorts of questions about what I commented on in our successful blog and I realized that in the vein of "men are from Mars..." that I failed to comment on the really important stuff, instead focusing on the administrative stuff. So here is my attempt to comment on the important stuff: Our incountry cell phone number is 011-251-091-0103887 (we have already added the US exit code and Ethiopia country code).
Eyob is doing remarkably well in the transition to life as a Miller. He has a very winsome personality and enjoys entertaining us and others. He knows more English than we were expecting and is able to repeat what we say very well. In addition to "welcome", we love the way he says brother (sounds like "brozzer") and sister (sounds like "seester"). He is sleeping well at night, and typically wakes once in the middle of the night for a drink of water. Although I am sure it hurt Tesfanish's heart, I think she did a remarkable job of preparing him for the transition. She is truly a wonderful woman and one we want to make certain Eyob remembers as he grows up. We can build on the strong foundation that she built.
We have really enjoyed Ethiopia Guest House and would strongly recommend it to anyone coming to Addis Ababa to adopt or do mission work. We have really enjoyed getting to know the families that are here as well. It is neat to see such a diverse group of families from places like Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Denver, and Santa Barbara, with a similar call to adopt from Ethiopia. It has been really great to hear everyone's story of how they got to this point and it has been such an encouragement to us.
Praises:
- The flight went very well and we managed the time better on this flight. Sleep was less of a problem.
- All of the luggage was allowed without any fees.
- Abby's luggage that was lost was found with everything intact.
Prayer requests:
- Eyob's ticket issue is still unresolved and we ask for your continued prayer. The problem has been escalated to the person within Ethiopian Air who can choose to resolve it so we travel as planned or choose not to, pushing us to a later flight (not a desired outcome).
Believing that the ticket issue will be resolved well, we are planning to land at O'Hare about around 1:20 pm on Friday, July 31st. From there we plan to drive to Bloomington and go to our neighborhood park between 5 and 6 pm to see any of you who can make it.
More to follow...from Ethiopia we hope (if this works as anticipated, I will try to push some photos through to the blog as well).
Hopefully a post that will go through...
This is Chad writing as I sit in the Business Center of the Addis Ababa Hilton. We have had issues with our internet connection at the guest house, so I am hopeful we finally get an entry in. We will have to input some entries when we get home to fill in the blanks that I don't have time to write right now (as well, I was hoping to post some photos, but even that won't happen until we return to the States)...
When we went to the transition home, Eyob came running out with is his nanny, Tesfanish, and announced with bright eyes, "WELCOME". I will date myself, but if you imagine back to Fantasy Island, you will get a pretty good picture. The only downside of our visit is that of the 11 pieces of checked luggage, the only one that did not make it was Abby's bag (we took the Semlows' advice and moved some clothes around the other luggage to handle this if it happened) which also had the gifts for Tesfanish and the other nannies.
We got to see several children who are awaiting their parents (two beautiful sisters are meeting their new mom and dad now, as I type).
We have also been able to do some things that we will look back on fondly--attended a church service and ate a traditional Ethiopian meal. We had Doro Wat (a spicy chicken spiced with the local spice berbere) and Bere Tibs (a grilled beef dish) that we ate with Enjera (you need to look this up online because I cannot do it justice--it involves the use of fermented, decayed something).
We are out today to confirm our return tickets (please pray about this because due to an error with the travel agent that was compounded by Ethiopian Air at this moment we do not have a ticket home for Eyob), do some shopping, and visit a coffee warehouse. I will continue to try to get another post out from the guest house, but this may be the only one incountry. And we thought we faced posting challenges in China!!
When we went to the transition home, Eyob came running out with is his nanny, Tesfanish, and announced with bright eyes, "WELCOME". I will date myself, but if you imagine back to Fantasy Island, you will get a pretty good picture. The only downside of our visit is that of the 11 pieces of checked luggage, the only one that did not make it was Abby's bag (we took the Semlows' advice and moved some clothes around the other luggage to handle this if it happened) which also had the gifts for Tesfanish and the other nannies.
We got to see several children who are awaiting their parents (two beautiful sisters are meeting their new mom and dad now, as I type).
We have also been able to do some things that we will look back on fondly--attended a church service and ate a traditional Ethiopian meal. We had Doro Wat (a spicy chicken spiced with the local spice berbere) and Bere Tibs (a grilled beef dish) that we ate with Enjera (you need to look this up online because I cannot do it justice--it involves the use of fermented, decayed something).
We are out today to confirm our return tickets (please pray about this because due to an error with the travel agent that was compounded by Ethiopian Air at this moment we do not have a ticket home for Eyob), do some shopping, and visit a coffee warehouse. I will continue to try to get another post out from the guest house, but this may be the only one incountry. And we thought we faced posting challenges in China!!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
We made it!
Just a quick post to advise we made it. We are about to leave for the transition home to get Eyob!
Prayer update:
1. Praise - all the luggage was allowed with no penalty.
2. Praise - the flight was not too bad and we got some sleep.
3. Prayer Request - every bag made it but Abby's. We took the Semlow's advice and had moved clothes around to other bags so she has clothes to wear for a few days. The biggest issue is that this is the bag with the gifts for the nannies and a special gift for Tesfanish, his primary nanny. Please pray that it is found quickly so we can get those gifts to everyone.
Prayer update:
1. Praise - all the luggage was allowed with no penalty.
2. Praise - the flight was not too bad and we got some sleep.
3. Prayer Request - every bag made it but Abby's. We took the Semlow's advice and had moved clothes around to other bags so she has clothes to wear for a few days. The biggest issue is that this is the bag with the gifts for the nannies and a special gift for Tesfanish, his primary nanny. Please pray that it is found quickly so we can get those gifts to everyone.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
In DC
We are recovering from our day in a hotel near Dulles. What a day!
We got to O'Hare at 1 thinking we were in good shape since we flew out at 4. Turns out we needed every minute!
We found out that we could check our luggage all the way through to Addis, but it was all or none. We made quite a sight on the sidewalk moving clothes and stuff from our regular bags into a carry-on. Then we waited in a very long line to check all of us and our 11 bags in. (Keep praying for waived fees--that 11th bag might cost $250)...from there to a very long security line...by the time we reached the gate they were boarding.
Things were looking good, when a big thunderstorm temporarily shut down the airport--the neat thing about that was that as we were waiting Air Force One landed.
The flight went great and we made it to the hotel about 9 pm. We planned to walk across the street to a Chinese restaurant when the skies opened up. The boys and I ran through the rain to the Chinese restaurant...as we got to the door we realized they were closing! Luckily, there was another one nearby that we ran to. We were soaked by the time we got back to the hotel.
Now out of wet clothes and full of great food we are settling in for the night. Tomorrow morning we will leave DC on a 15-hour marathon to Addis Ababa. The next time you hear from us, we will be in Addis and will likely have Eyob. We will probably blog on Saturday evening local time (Addis is 7 hours ahead of Bloomington).
Stay tuned...
We got to O'Hare at 1 thinking we were in good shape since we flew out at 4. Turns out we needed every minute!
We found out that we could check our luggage all the way through to Addis, but it was all or none. We made quite a sight on the sidewalk moving clothes and stuff from our regular bags into a carry-on. Then we waited in a very long line to check all of us and our 11 bags in. (Keep praying for waived fees--that 11th bag might cost $250)...from there to a very long security line...by the time we reached the gate they were boarding.
Things were looking good, when a big thunderstorm temporarily shut down the airport--the neat thing about that was that as we were waiting Air Force One landed.
The flight went great and we made it to the hotel about 9 pm. We planned to walk across the street to a Chinese restaurant when the skies opened up. The boys and I ran through the rain to the Chinese restaurant...as we got to the door we realized they were closing! Luckily, there was another one nearby that we ran to. We were soaked by the time we got back to the hotel.
Now out of wet clothes and full of great food we are settling in for the night. Tomorrow morning we will leave DC on a 15-hour marathon to Addis Ababa. The next time you hear from us, we will be in Addis and will likely have Eyob. We will probably blog on Saturday evening local time (Addis is 7 hours ahead of Bloomington).
Stay tuned...
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Why do we adopt?
This video just grabs me--especially on the days when I think I have lost all my marbles. The song that plays with the video is a great song (to pause the music that plays in the background of our blog, scroll down to the playlist at the bottom and hit pause--then hit play on the video)...
We leave tomorrow!
Chad writing: Hard to believe, but we leave tomorrow. We will drive up to Chicago tomorrow morning and board a plane for Dulles in the afternoon. Between the five of us we have 11 bags/boxes (4 of them are crammed full of donations for the transition home). Please say a prayer that United will waive the fee on them since they are donations.
We continue to ask for you to pray for us on this trip. We have had a few instances of snafus that I am convinced are happening to harry us as we go forward. The first was an administrative error by Ethiopian Air to charge us twice for our tickets (resolved...I think!). The second was the FedEx delivery this morning of our tickets that was soaking wet--we had papers and tickets spread out over our dining room table air drying (a little crumpled, but still legible!).
It is all worth it (and, yes, we have a boy's bike waiting for him!)...
Melissa writing: We are on our way, sweet Eyob. The time has FINALLY come to bring you home. We cannot wait to hold you in our arms! You have waited so long...but not much longer!!! We love you so much.
We continue to ask for you to pray for us on this trip. We have had a few instances of snafus that I am convinced are happening to harry us as we go forward. The first was an administrative error by Ethiopian Air to charge us twice for our tickets (resolved...I think!). The second was the FedEx delivery this morning of our tickets that was soaking wet--we had papers and tickets spread out over our dining room table air drying (a little crumpled, but still legible!).
It is all worth it (and, yes, we have a boy's bike waiting for him!)...
Melissa writing: We are on our way, sweet Eyob. The time has FINALLY come to bring you home. We cannot wait to hold you in our arms! You have waited so long...but not much longer!!! We love you so much.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Reminiscing
All the kids, except for Sarah Beth, are spending the night with friends. So Melissa, Sarah Beth, and I are sitting at the computer looking over Sarah Beth's blog.
It is amazing to see the physical and emotional transformation of our daughter since November 2007. The thing that struck me was the picture of our four children together in China. Little did we know then that there would come a day when we take a picture of our five children!
Take a look...
Stay tuned for the picture of five!
It is amazing to see the physical and emotional transformation of our daughter since November 2007. The thing that struck me was the picture of our four children together in China. Little did we know then that there would come a day when we take a picture of our five children!
Take a look...
Stay tuned for the picture of five!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
We leave next week!
Sorry we have not posted since we passed court, but we have been moving so fast that we have not taken the time.
Here is where we are now--the US Consulate in Ethiopia has now signed off on the adoption and given us an appointment date of July 28. Therefore, we are flying out on Thursday, July 23, and will land in Ethiopia on Saturday morning (we have to layover overnight in DC so we will actually take off for Addis Ababa on Friday morning, July 24. After the visa is completed on Thursday, July 30, we will take a late evening flight for home and will land in Chicago on Friday afternoon, July 31.
Here is our specific flight information as we would covet your prayers while we travel (the DC to Ethiopia leg is about 15 hours going and almost 17 hours returning):
23 JULY 09 - THURSDAY
UNITED 950
LV: CHICAGO/OHARE 110P
AR: WASH/DULLES 406P
24 JULY 09 - FRIDAY
ETHIOPIAN 503
LV: WASH/DULLES 1005A
AR: ADDIS ABABA 820A ARVL DATE-25 JUL
30 JULY 09 - THURSDAY
ETHIOPIAN 500
LV: ADDIS ABABA 1015P
AR: WASH/DULLES 755A ARVL DATE-31 JUL
31 JULY 09 - FRIDAY
UNITED 151
LV: WASH/DULLES 1221P
AR: CHICAGO/OHARE 120P
We will get Eyob (Gabriel--we will let him decide when he is ready to go by Gabriel) on Saturday and are looking forward to experiencing Ethiopia with him. Like we did in China, we will go to an Ethiopian church service on Sunday. There are lots of other things we are hoping to experience as well, like Mount Entoto, a coffee ceremony, and eating local foods (we have seen some amazingly frightening dishes on the Travel Channel).
Here is where we are now--the US Consulate in Ethiopia has now signed off on the adoption and given us an appointment date of July 28. Therefore, we are flying out on Thursday, July 23, and will land in Ethiopia on Saturday morning (we have to layover overnight in DC so we will actually take off for Addis Ababa on Friday morning, July 24. After the visa is completed on Thursday, July 30, we will take a late evening flight for home and will land in Chicago on Friday afternoon, July 31.
Here is our specific flight information as we would covet your prayers while we travel (the DC to Ethiopia leg is about 15 hours going and almost 17 hours returning):
23 JULY 09 - THURSDAY
UNITED 950
LV: CHICAGO/OHARE 110P
AR: WASH/DULLES 406P
24 JULY 09 - FRIDAY
ETHIOPIAN 503
LV: WASH/DULLES 1005A
AR: ADDIS ABABA 820A ARVL DATE-25 JUL
30 JULY 09 - THURSDAY
ETHIOPIAN 500
LV: ADDIS ABABA 1015P
AR: WASH/DULLES 755A ARVL DATE-31 JUL
31 JULY 09 - FRIDAY
UNITED 151
LV: WASH/DULLES 1221P
AR: CHICAGO/OHARE 120P
We will get Eyob (Gabriel--we will let him decide when he is ready to go by Gabriel) on Saturday and are looking forward to experiencing Ethiopia with him. Like we did in China, we will go to an Ethiopian church service on Sunday. There are lots of other things we are hoping to experience as well, like Mount Entoto, a coffee ceremony, and eating local foods (we have seen some amazingly frightening dishes on the Travel Channel).
Thursday, June 18, 2009
We passed!
As of today, the courts in Ethiopia have agreed to allow us to adopt Eyob. It looks like we might travel around late July to get him. We are so thrilled and amazed we passed so quickly. We truly had surrendered this to God and were at peace this might be a long process, but wow we are so thankful it wasn't. He has waited so long for a family and we can't wait to welcome him home!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I am not my own
Through a friend's blog we found this blog entry...
http://blessingsfromethiopia.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-wish-i-could-tell-you.html. Boy, is it powerful!
http://blessingsfromethiopia.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-wish-i-could-tell-you.html. Boy, is it powerful!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Court date
Rejoice with us over God's goodness! Our court date is June 18th!!!!! If we pass court we should be traveling in July to bring home our precious son. We are so excited. We have decided to take the children (probably not Sarah Beth) so pray God provides us the extra money needed. We struggle with leaving Sarah Beth behind so please pray about that as well.
Wow, a family of 7 soon!
Wow, a family of 7 soon!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Songs, Part 3
Ran across a song called "Albertine" by Brooke Fraser when we were visiting another blog and the chorus just grabbed me because it echoed what we keep hearing:
now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are
We have added it to our playlist as a reminder to us, and maybe to you, that we have been given a gift in our relationship with Christ. We can choose to re-invest that gift in the lives of others...or not.
now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are
We have added it to our playlist as a reminder to us, and maybe to you, that we have been given a gift in our relationship with Christ. We can choose to re-invest that gift in the lives of others...or not.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Songs, Part 2
I (Chad) wrote a few weeks ago about a song that God had used to speak to me about this adoption and promised I would write about the other one. The other song is "Mighty to Save" which you are probably hearing right now if you just navigated to this page. Here are most of the lyrics...
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
I have highlighted parts of the lyrics that just seem to jump out at me as I hear them.
"Hope of nations"...I apologize for being a broken record, but God has so impressed on me that part of His will in bringing us to adopt at all, and adopt from Ethiopia, is to bring these children into His family by bringing them into our family.
"So take me as you find me"...I am so unworthy to be blessed with this opportunity and yet I want to be found worthy.
"Shine your light and let the whole world see"...Folks, I must admit that God is stirring something in me that I don't fully comprehend (it is most unlike me to have posted that quote from Kaj Munk), but I am becoming so convicted about the fact that faith without works (see James 2:14-18) typifies the American Church. We have it so good that we miss the fact that Jesus tells us that He can be found right now, right here--He is the "least of these" (Matthew 25:33-40). I realize that my life must reflect this truth and that I have a duty to impart this to our children.
I will stop now because I am beginning to ramble...we cannot wait until we can tell you more about Gabriel!
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
I have highlighted parts of the lyrics that just seem to jump out at me as I hear them.
"Hope of nations"...I apologize for being a broken record, but God has so impressed on me that part of His will in bringing us to adopt at all, and adopt from Ethiopia, is to bring these children into His family by bringing them into our family.
"So take me as you find me"...I am so unworthy to be blessed with this opportunity and yet I want to be found worthy.
"Shine your light and let the whole world see"...Folks, I must admit that God is stirring something in me that I don't fully comprehend (it is most unlike me to have posted that quote from Kaj Munk), but I am becoming so convicted about the fact that faith without works (see James 2:14-18) typifies the American Church. We have it so good that we miss the fact that Jesus tells us that He can be found right now, right here--He is the "least of these" (Matthew 25:33-40). I realize that my life must reflect this truth and that I have a duty to impart this to our children.
I will stop now because I am beginning to ramble...we cannot wait until we can tell you more about Gabriel!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
"On earth as it is in Heaven"
What is, therefore, our task today? Shall I answer: “Faith, hope, and love”? that sounds beautiful. But I would say - courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature… we lack a holy rage - the recklessness which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity. The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth … a holy anger about the things that are wrong in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God’s earth, and the destruction of God’s world. To rage when little children must die of hunger, when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lie that calls the treat of death and the strategy of destruction peace. To rage against complacency. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God. And remember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish … but never the chameleon.
--Kaj Munk, 1944 (spoken before he was martyred at the hands of the Nazi Gestapo)
--Kaj Munk, 1944 (spoken before he was martyred at the hands of the Nazi Gestapo)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Songs, Part 1
[Chad blogging] On Sunday, we sang "Salvation is Here". The first part of the lyrics are:
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright
Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be alright
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
We have sung this song a lot before, but on that day I was thunderstruck!
God reminded me that in everything, and especially in this adoption, He is working His plan and will for not only my life and Melissa's life, but also the lives of our children and their children (the generations).
To give some background to that, as a family we have talked about the fact that God has called us to a multi-generational vision--that we must be very intentional with our kids about salvation and why we believe what we believe so that they will be equipped to do the same with their kids, who will do the same with their kids...
The other thing He spoke to me is that He is at work around the world and has chosen to graft vines from China and Ethiopia into our family tree (the world) with a purpose of bringing salvation to two children who need the Lord.
I cannot help but wonder how He is going to use these children in the next generation. It is my fervent prayer that we will be faithful in the plans He has for us.
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright
Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be alright
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
We have sung this song a lot before, but on that day I was thunderstruck!
God reminded me that in everything, and especially in this adoption, He is working His plan and will for not only my life and Melissa's life, but also the lives of our children and their children (the generations).
To give some background to that, as a family we have talked about the fact that God has called us to a multi-generational vision--that we must be very intentional with our kids about salvation and why we believe what we believe so that they will be equipped to do the same with their kids, who will do the same with their kids...
The other thing He spoke to me is that He is at work around the world and has chosen to graft vines from China and Ethiopia into our family tree (the world) with a purpose of bringing salvation to two children who need the Lord.
I cannot help but wonder how He is going to use these children in the next generation. It is my fervent prayer that we will be faithful in the plans He has for us.
An amazing journey
Gosh, I feel somewhat overwhelmed before I even begin!! God is amazing and why He would call us on this road to adoption humbles me. Most days I am just trying to make it through--teaching, loving, feeding, etc. our beautiful but quite ACTIVE 4 children. I wonder sometimes if I am even equipped for the ones I have now but I have to remind myself--minute by minute sometimes that He is sufficient and that His power is made perfect in my weakness!
Let's see, I guess I need to go back about a year and and a half ago when we came home from China with sweet Sarah Beth. I need to let you know a few things about our children. They have tremedous hearts for adoption and God loves to speak through them to their somewhat stubborn parents! Actually I think before we even left for China the kids were planning our next adoption, but I remember distinctly soon after we returned Abby and Noah began drawing pictures of their brother. He had beautiful brown skin and curly dark hair.
Although Josh wasn't "into" drawing pictures he too was very on board. We wonder if they get up very late at night and plan and scheme while Chad and I are sleeping!!! After many pictures they said emphatically, "We have a brother and he lives in Africa." Whoa.... Chad and I were a little overwhelmed to say the least. I remember saying we just needed some time to get adjusted to Sarah Beth!!!
Well, God did give us about 6 months to rest before He started speaking to Chad and me! In late Spring of 2008 I was attending Beth Moore's Daniel bible study. I was at one of our Monday night discussions when the Lord clearly spoke to my heart about our new son and that we were to call him Gabriel. Although the kids felt certain that he lived in Africa, Chad and I were not convinced until May of 2008 when we read "Red Letters Campaign", by Tom Davis. This book truly led us to understand the plight of Africa with its magnitude of orphans due to the AIDS pandemic. We both became so drawn to Ethiopia and knew we were to adopt from there but were not sure of the timeline. In steps God again. He is always right on time although in our flesh many times He appears to be ahead or behind OUR schedule. So thankful it is really HIS schedule and not ours anyway!
In October of 2008 Sarah Beth and I were taking a Kindermusik class, which she loves (We just keep taking classes)!! I had been praying about God's timing to adopt and feeling fearful about starting the process again. The second week of class we stopped at the sign in table to fill out our nametags and when I went to throw our paper away, on top of the trash was the nametag Gabriel. It shook me up because I had just been praying about the adoption and here was our son's name right there in plain view. Well, I just let it slide until the next week, same story... on top of the trash was the nametag Gabriel AGAIN. Well, I grabbed it out of the trash and later that day showed it to Chad. "Do you think this is God speaking?" I asked.
We decided to pray about it and ask God for a "fleece" or a sign that this was really from him. So... the next week SB and I go to the sign in table and there was no nametag on top... I guess I had just imagined all this was God but then was stopped in my tracks!!! I looked up and there in front of us walking to another class was a little boy with the nametag Gabriel on his back!! I just stood there crying....not only had God given us a sign, but we felt he had gone even further to show us a little boy. We knew it was time to act, because certainly our son must be waiting. We began immediately looking for an agency and through God's leading found our agency, Celebrate Children International.
We began our homestudy process in November and here we are again...waiting for yet another child to join our family. We feel so blessed and honored but frightened at times as well. We are always wondering what God is up to!!
As Chad shared we had been looking (I guess I should say I had been looking) at our agency's waiting children list. Both of us felt overwhelmed by the prospect of choosing a child when they ALL needed a family. We were shocked when Sue our director called us about two boys. We both knew this was from God so we began fervently praying for God to direct us to our son or sons. Through much prayer and further discussions with Sue we felt the younger one was to be our son. But we are amazingly open to another child if that is God's desire for us. Please pray we will hear God clearly on this!
Well, let me tell you about our precious new son. We have tons of pictures of him and he is adorable. We can't wait to share them at a later date when we we can. He has those bright eyes like Sarah Beth and a never-ending smile like Noah. We are in love!! He is quite a bit younger than we had anticipated. We think he is about 3 1/2 to 4. We are pretty sure he and Sarah Beth are not even a year apart. Wow, two preschoolers running around again but we love our crazy life!
When we heard his story we were heartbroken. He was given over by his mother about a year and a half ago as she was dying of AIDS. We thankfully have pictues of her and she is a lovely, dignified woman who loved her son dearly and wanted the best for him. I am so thankful we have pictures of her for Gabriel someday. He was actually adopted by another family in Florida but when they got to Ethiopia they changed their minds. We have no idea how anyone would could say no to him but rejoice that God saved him for us!!! We found out that the other couple are not Christians so we feel so thankful God would choose us to raise him in faith. We cannot wait to wrap our arms around him and welcome him into our family. Sarah Beth said last night, "brother's coming home." Yes he is, and soon we pray!
Let's see, I guess I need to go back about a year and and a half ago when we came home from China with sweet Sarah Beth. I need to let you know a few things about our children. They have tremedous hearts for adoption and God loves to speak through them to their somewhat stubborn parents! Actually I think before we even left for China the kids were planning our next adoption, but I remember distinctly soon after we returned Abby and Noah began drawing pictures of their brother. He had beautiful brown skin and curly dark hair.
Although Josh wasn't "into" drawing pictures he too was very on board. We wonder if they get up very late at night and plan and scheme while Chad and I are sleeping!!! After many pictures they said emphatically, "We have a brother and he lives in Africa." Whoa.... Chad and I were a little overwhelmed to say the least. I remember saying we just needed some time to get adjusted to Sarah Beth!!!
Well, God did give us about 6 months to rest before He started speaking to Chad and me! In late Spring of 2008 I was attending Beth Moore's Daniel bible study. I was at one of our Monday night discussions when the Lord clearly spoke to my heart about our new son and that we were to call him Gabriel. Although the kids felt certain that he lived in Africa, Chad and I were not convinced until May of 2008 when we read "Red Letters Campaign", by Tom Davis. This book truly led us to understand the plight of Africa with its magnitude of orphans due to the AIDS pandemic. We both became so drawn to Ethiopia and knew we were to adopt from there but were not sure of the timeline. In steps God again. He is always right on time although in our flesh many times He appears to be ahead or behind OUR schedule. So thankful it is really HIS schedule and not ours anyway!
In October of 2008 Sarah Beth and I were taking a Kindermusik class, which she loves (We just keep taking classes)!! I had been praying about God's timing to adopt and feeling fearful about starting the process again. The second week of class we stopped at the sign in table to fill out our nametags and when I went to throw our paper away, on top of the trash was the nametag Gabriel. It shook me up because I had just been praying about the adoption and here was our son's name right there in plain view. Well, I just let it slide until the next week, same story... on top of the trash was the nametag Gabriel AGAIN. Well, I grabbed it out of the trash and later that day showed it to Chad. "Do you think this is God speaking?" I asked.
We decided to pray about it and ask God for a "fleece" or a sign that this was really from him. So... the next week SB and I go to the sign in table and there was no nametag on top... I guess I had just imagined all this was God but then was stopped in my tracks!!! I looked up and there in front of us walking to another class was a little boy with the nametag Gabriel on his back!! I just stood there crying....not only had God given us a sign, but we felt he had gone even further to show us a little boy. We knew it was time to act, because certainly our son must be waiting. We began immediately looking for an agency and through God's leading found our agency, Celebrate Children International.
We began our homestudy process in November and here we are again...waiting for yet another child to join our family. We feel so blessed and honored but frightened at times as well. We are always wondering what God is up to!!
As Chad shared we had been looking (I guess I should say I had been looking) at our agency's waiting children list. Both of us felt overwhelmed by the prospect of choosing a child when they ALL needed a family. We were shocked when Sue our director called us about two boys. We both knew this was from God so we began fervently praying for God to direct us to our son or sons. Through much prayer and further discussions with Sue we felt the younger one was to be our son. But we are amazingly open to another child if that is God's desire for us. Please pray we will hear God clearly on this!
Well, let me tell you about our precious new son. We have tons of pictures of him and he is adorable. We can't wait to share them at a later date when we we can. He has those bright eyes like Sarah Beth and a never-ending smile like Noah. We are in love!! He is quite a bit younger than we had anticipated. We think he is about 3 1/2 to 4. We are pretty sure he and Sarah Beth are not even a year apart. Wow, two preschoolers running around again but we love our crazy life!
When we heard his story we were heartbroken. He was given over by his mother about a year and a half ago as she was dying of AIDS. We thankfully have pictues of her and she is a lovely, dignified woman who loved her son dearly and wanted the best for him. I am so thankful we have pictures of her for Gabriel someday. He was actually adopted by another family in Florida but when they got to Ethiopia they changed their minds. We have no idea how anyone would could say no to him but rejoice that God saved him for us!!! We found out that the other couple are not Christians so we feel so thankful God would choose us to raise him in faith. We cannot wait to wrap our arms around him and welcome him into our family. Sarah Beth said last night, "brother's coming home." Yes he is, and soon we pray!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Where do we even start?
For all of the bloggers out there who have disowned us for our lack of focus on blogging, we apologize. Our original intent has been to blog from the beginning of our second adoption process, but we just did not feel ready. Over the next several blogs Melissa and I will update this blog to share with you where we are with the process (keep reading for some very important news!) and to share our hearts with you about what God has been doing in us and for us in this adoption journey.
I'll (Chad) start...
For me, there has just not been a connection to this process. I clearly knew that God was calling our family to adopt (God was speaking to all of us, not just Melissa and me) and that He had impressed upon us that we were to go to Ethiopia, but every time Melissa wanted to scan the pictures of children on our agency's site I could not connect. It's not that I was resistant to the adoption, but I just did not feel that that would be the way we would find our son.
We were working through all the various things that must be done (Home Study, I-600A stuff, and dossier prep), but not with a clear focus toward a timeline. Then it happened--God moved!
We received a call from the head of our agency to tell about two boys that she felt led to share with us from her recent trip. As we prayed through whether this was how God would reveal our son, I had to come to grips with whether I would let God be God. Melissa can tell you that when people would ask me about the adoption, I was emphatic that I was prepared to adopt one son, but no more.
In our prayer time I had to commit to God that if he brought both boys to us to adopt, then I would follow Him in faith. In my mind I was thinking, "God, you are killing me!", and you know what? He was. It was about dying to self. In Luke 9:23 and 24 it says, "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.'"
At this point, He has led us to the younger one and we have completed the paperwork with our agency to adopt him, but we have also updated all of our paperwork to reflect that we will adopt another child if God leads in that direction.
With this direction at last, we have moved in earnest to complete the dossier and as I type, it is in Washington, DC with a courier who will shepherd it through the US Department of State and The Embassy of Ethiopia. The dossier should reach Ethiopia in May and be heard by the courts in July. If we pass court, we will travel in August. I will let Melissa with her mother's heart share more with you about our son (who we will name Gabriel).
I will blog later about some of the many ways that God has spoken to us through books, Scriptures, and songs during the last several months. The song that you are probably hearing right now is "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong--I will write about this more later, but this song continues to speak to me about what God is doing through this adoption. Another one that is powerful is "Salvation is Here", also by Hillsong.
I'll (Chad) start...
For me, there has just not been a connection to this process. I clearly knew that God was calling our family to adopt (God was speaking to all of us, not just Melissa and me) and that He had impressed upon us that we were to go to Ethiopia, but every time Melissa wanted to scan the pictures of children on our agency's site I could not connect. It's not that I was resistant to the adoption, but I just did not feel that that would be the way we would find our son.
We were working through all the various things that must be done (Home Study, I-600A stuff, and dossier prep), but not with a clear focus toward a timeline. Then it happened--God moved!
We received a call from the head of our agency to tell about two boys that she felt led to share with us from her recent trip. As we prayed through whether this was how God would reveal our son, I had to come to grips with whether I would let God be God. Melissa can tell you that when people would ask me about the adoption, I was emphatic that I was prepared to adopt one son, but no more.
In our prayer time I had to commit to God that if he brought both boys to us to adopt, then I would follow Him in faith. In my mind I was thinking, "God, you are killing me!", and you know what? He was. It was about dying to self. In Luke 9:23 and 24 it says, "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.'"
At this point, He has led us to the younger one and we have completed the paperwork with our agency to adopt him, but we have also updated all of our paperwork to reflect that we will adopt another child if God leads in that direction.
With this direction at last, we have moved in earnest to complete the dossier and as I type, it is in Washington, DC with a courier who will shepherd it through the US Department of State and The Embassy of Ethiopia. The dossier should reach Ethiopia in May and be heard by the courts in July. If we pass court, we will travel in August. I will let Melissa with her mother's heart share more with you about our son (who we will name Gabriel).
I will blog later about some of the many ways that God has spoken to us through books, Scriptures, and songs during the last several months. The song that you are probably hearing right now is "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong--I will write about this more later, but this song continues to speak to me about what God is doing through this adoption. Another one that is powerful is "Salvation is Here", also by Hillsong.
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