4 months since DTE!!!

I guess it's good that I have been so busy that I almost forgot that today is our 4-month DTE-versary. 

This means we are 4 months closer to our little girl! 

3 months waiting since DTE!

Today we celebrate (well, acknowledge) our dossier being in Ethiopia for 3 months.

Praying that the slow and steady progress up the wait list turns into SLIGHTLY quicker progress... but we trust that all will happen in God's perfect timing!

Famine - how can we help?

Who hasn't at some point in their life - 10 minutes before dinner, or after a long recreational hike, enthusiastically said "I'm STARVING!"? Yet, most of us comfortably eat 3-5 meals a day.

On the other side of the world, children and adults really ARE starving to death. I could write long articles about the fact that famine is a symptom of much deeper political and social problems... but this is neither the time nor the place (and besides, such articles already exist). Instead, I would like to encourage you and your family to think about how YOU can help the needy, the hungry this Holiday season.

An article was recently featured on Yahoo that showed the amazing transformation of a little starving 7-month-old Somali boy who was brought to a rescue camp. With food and expert care, he now is plump and healthy. Without FOOD he would have died.



Take a deep breath.



Ok, now scroll down.









"BEFORE":

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 file photo, then seven month old Minhaj Gedi Farah is treated in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Dadaab, Kenya. In this picture he weighs just over 7lbs. In July, Minhaj was one of dozens of limp babies under mosquito net shrouds in the sweltering wards of the IRC hospital in Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, but after months of intensive feeding the Somali boy has the chubby cheeks and cheeky smile of most babies his age.

Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011 file photo, after 10 days of intensive feeding and care

"AFTER":

In this photo released by the International Rescue Committee, Minhaj Gedi Farah is held in the arms of his mother Asiah Dagane in the International Rescue Committee (IRC) hospital in Dadaab, Kenya Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. ...after months of intensive feeding the Somali boy has the chubby cheeks and cheeky smile of most babies his age.

Several months of food and care have brought him back to life! 

How can YOU help this Holiday season? Can you give up a gift, or two, or four, or ten? Can you make a family dinner a little less elaborate? Would your family consider cutting out Christmas gifts altogether? 

Give a family in need a goat or other livestock (http://www.heifer.org/). 

Sponsor a child (http://www.hopechest.org/). 

Help build a well (http://www.charitywater.org/). 

Pack a shoe box for a child in another country (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/). 

There is so much, for every budget, that you CAN do. 

Photo Source: http://news.yahoo.com/somalia-famine-baby-back-brink-death-153615392.html

...a Momma's arms

This morning I dropped my 13-month old son off at a good friend's house so I could go to the doctor. When I came back, he just MELTED into my arms, wrapped his arms and legs around me, buried his little face in my neck, and wouldn't let go. My friend told me that he had spent the entire time I was gone crying for me. Not just whining, but all-out, snot and tears bawling.

On my way home the thought really hit me that on the other side of the world there are babies and children who cry and cry and cry for their Momma, and may NEVER feel the warm, comforting embrace of her arms again. They may NEVER feel that absolute relief of having their Momma rush to scoop them into her arms and kiss their sweet faces.

I have a hard time letting Little Guy cry himself to sleep at nap time... and on the other side of the world, a newborn may have been crying for hours in the alleyway he was abandoned in.

I doubt most of us have ever observed the real pattern of a child's crying past the point of distress. Can you imagine the millions of un-comforted little ones? They have gone past the initial panic of not knowing where their Momma is. They cried themselves to sleep, woke up again, and Momma wasn't there. They were hungry, thirsty, cold, hot, needed a new diaper. They cried and cried, and Momma still wasn't there. Can you even imagine?

My sons both cried as if they were dying if I didn't nurse them within minutes seconds of waking up from a nap. Don't even ask me to tell you how torturous sleep training a baby is for me. Have you ever even thought about how babies cry after they have cried themselves to sleep, woken up, cried some more, fallen asleep hungry and lonely, and woken again, still hungry and lonely? The lucky ones are found before it is too late. Scooped up into stiff arms, gruffly toted off to an orphanage. In-processed. Placed in the baby room or the toddler room. Fed enough to survive (hopefully). Cared for by (hopefully) wonderful nurses and nannies, but just how much attention and love does a little one get when a caretaker is shared among 6, 10, 20, 50 other little ones? Even the most loving, caring nanny can't replace the warm, loving embrace of a Momma.

I run to comfort my Big Guy when he skins his knee, and on the other side of the world, (heck, even in our own country) a child has no-one who even cares if he is hurt.

When my boys are hungry, I seat them at the table, open my fridge, and choose one of many nutritious and delicious foods for them. Yet all over the world, millions of families don't know when their next meal will be.

I feel so humbled. So powerless and small.

As my toddler sleeps in my arms after he has filled his little round belly with good warm Momma milk, I wonder about the many little ones who have no arms to sleep in, no Momma milk, and certainly no chubby bellies.

I look at these arms of mine, and think, wonder, pray. I can't wait to bring our daughter home from Ethiopia, to hold her in my arms. To love her. To rock her to sleep. To comfort her when she cries. To feed her when she is hungry. Maybe even nurse her (*gasp*).

There are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. FIVE MILLION (yes, yes, soon to be minus 1 and all that). Clearly more needs to be done. By me. By you. By all of us together.

~Do you have any ideas?

2 months since DTE!!!

Today marks 2 months waiting since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia.

Right now the average wait time for an infant girl is between 11 and 18 months, counting from DTE. This means our wait will most likely be another 9-16 months. How's that for a long "pregnancy"...?

~Please join us in praying for the other families who are currently waiting to bring their little ones home. A lot of children have been referred, but still need to pass court and be cleared by the US Embassy. Lets bring those sweethearts HOME.

1 waiting month since DTE

Today marks 1 month waiting since our dossier arrived in Ethiopia.

During this month our oldest son started Kindergarten, and our youngest son turned 1 year old.

~Life ticks on as we wait... we pray and yearn for our daughter every day, and every day we are one day closer to holding her in our arms!

...and we WAIT.

AGCI just made several referrals for infant girls, age 3 months-11 months.

I too am hoping our AWAA girl line will start moving along again soon - but we know that AWAA is a competent, ethical agency, and they are making sure to do their research beforehand so as only to refer out children who truly are adoption ready.

I know it's probably easier for me to say because we are at the very beginning of "the wait" ...but I hold fast to the knowledge that God has JUST THE RIGHT little girl in mind for each of the waiting families, and she will come into each of our lives in God's perfect timing.

We're hunkering down for a long wait. Ben (the hubby) and I were talking about the advantages of a longer wait yesterday evening, and for fun I thought I would share our little list:
-more time to raise funds
-more time to prepare our heart and home
-more time to pray for birth Mom
-more time to talk to other families and encourage them to pursue adoption (cuz remember, there ARE 5 million orphans in ET!)
-more time to practice doing corn rows on my friends' little girls' hair... I'll be GOOD at it by the time we bring our daughter home
-more time to learn how to cook injera and tibs
-more time to get healthier and into better shape so we will have the energy to run after our sweet girl!
-more time to paint adoption art for our home and the homes of other families
-more time to build that tree fort for our oldest son
-more time to pursue formula manufacturers and shoe retailers and other companies asking for donations for the orphanages (our dentist is going to supply us with a big box of tooth brushes and toothpaste!)

I know we are all hoping that the "more time" will turn into "less time" ... our arms and hearts all yearn to hold our sweet girls...but let's try to be positive.

What are YOU thankful about having 'more time' for while you wait?

~Dear Lord, please protect the joy in my heart, and grow us closer to you while we wait for our little girl. Please show us how to pray for her, and how to prepare our hearts and our home. Show us how to love and encourage others while they wait, too.