Skating Party

Just a quick reminder that our skating party is this Saturday, 5/30 from 4:30 - 6:30 at the Orbit Fun Center in Lebanon.

3 Months

Well, we have now been DTE for 3 months. I am feeling kind of down today and really having some trouble with not having my baby home with me. I seem to be continuously stopping myself from crying today:( which as many of you who know me, doesn't happen very often. (I am not really the crying kind of girl!) So, needless to say, I am having a hard one and am trying to work and do everything else that needs done. I have a calandar that our agency sent us with pictures of families and children who have adopted hanging on my desk. It also has different scripture verses on it. I looked over at it a little while ago and it made me feel a little better. The scripture is Isaiah 54:10 "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." It helps to know that God has it all under control, that he has a plan, and that when the timing is right, under his guidance we will be united with our child. I am trying really hard to have patience and grace, however, some days it is very, very difficult. It is also very hard to describe some of the feelings that go along with this process. All I know is that God has it and I must continue to pray faithfully and give it all up to Him.

On another note, one of the family's who is over in Ethiopia now, picking up their child, wrote this comment about the head of our adoption agency making a trip to Ethiopia to try to straighten out and help Ethiopia w/the investigation, etc. that is currently occurring. "I spoke with Brian Luwis (head of our adoption agency)today here in Ethiopia about the situation. He obviously could not give me details, but what I am very pleased with is his desire to get it straightened out quickly. He spent time at the embassy today in meetings with officials and presented a plan to them to create a more stable process for Ethiopian adoptions. He and Duni came to the Guest House and they both were very kind to each of the families and took genuine interest in each of our adoption stories.
This may not be helpful to those waiting, but know that AWAA is working hard on the situation here in Addis. He is leaving here tomorrow to go to several other African countries to develop the adoption process there as well." I also wanted to invite you to participate in a day of fasting and prayer with our yahoo group on Friday. Let's lift up the US & Ethiopian AWAA staff, the MOWA/ET court system/staff, the orphanage directors/workers, and of course our precious ET kiddos & waiting families. Please join us in prayer and help us bring our children home.

5/14

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post...so busy!! I want to give a late shout out to all the mothers and mothers-to-be! Happy late mother's day! I didn't forget, I just didn't have time to post!! Tim was so sweet. He got me a very nice mothers day card, telling me what a great mom I am going to make and that he is so thankful for me. I almost cried reading it, then he gave me a necklace that I have been wanting for forever!! It is a pendent of Africa with a heart cut out where Ethiopia is. There is a really neat lady who sells them and donates part of the profit to families who are adopting(more on this later). You can find them at www.etsy.com. Anyway, Tim put it in a sock and gave it to our dog, Kettle to give to me. It was soo cute. The only problem was, Kettle didn't want to give up the sock!! It so totally made my day. I couldn't beleive that Tim remembered the necklace, as I mentioned it several months ago when I ran across them. I think he's a keeper!!

I was just catching up on reading posts from our Yahoo Group and I ran across some really disheartening information. Here is a post from the state department's website. May 13, 2009

Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:
The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Currently neither MOWA nor the First Instance Court are accepting any abandonment case from any orphanages in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry.

On one hand I am really heartsick and sad about this, but on the other, I am really glad that Ethiopia is so commited to ensuring that the children that are placed for adoption are orphans and that the program is free from corruption. Please pray that they are able to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. It is my understanding that none of the orphanages that our agency, AWAA, works with have had this issue and are not under investigation. I feel very confident that our agency works very hard to ensure that the children adopted through them are true orphans and that they work with honesty and integrity and do everything in their power to prevent any kind of corruption in any of their programs. When I learn more information,I will be sure to pass it on.