A New Season ...

I have had many thoughts and things I wanted to write down, but have found little time to actually execute my desires! So here is a feeble attempt to share how the last few weeks have been ...

Esther is doing remarkably well. She is such a happy girl, and very easy going. She is the easiest part of my day! Feeding and changing diapers is so much less challenging than convincing a two-year old that slivers really do need to come out, or agruing with a four-year old that scrambled eggs aren't "disgusting," or shepherding a six-year old into serving and putting others first. So, at this point Esther is a piece of cake! The kids ADORE her. Like Wai Tim keeps saying, it is like Christmas morning at our house every day when Esther first wakes up. It is good she was accustomed to being around so many other children at the orphanage, so the craziness of the three kids doesn't feel overwhelming to her. And it is fun to see Esther start to recognize them and light up when the kids come around to play with her.

We were only home a couple days after getting back from Africa before heading back to Chelan so Wai Tim could start working with his dad in the orchard again. I think we have been home 8 days out of the last 8 weeks! I'm beginning to forget what our house looks like. Our plan is to return home on Saturday, so we can have a couple days to get Titus ready to start school. His first day of school!!! So exciting ... scary, too, but very exciting. He'll be going into 1st Grade. I have those "rookie-mom-sending-her-firstborn-off-to-school" fears and I have no doubt tears will be shed on that Wednesday morning I drop him off, if not before. Veteran mom's can laugh all they want, this momma is nervous. Have I done enough? How do I help him navigate through the currents of school, friends, fears, hurts, joys? Is his heart etched with the truth? At the same time, I'm excited to see how he'll flourish and be able to put so many of his amazing traits to use in new territory. This is a bit of a new season for all of us ...

She seems to be fitting in quite well :)

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We're Home! (and a picture is the best I can do for now)

Wednesday, August 5, 6:15pm

The generator has finally kicked on, so we are no longer sitting in the dimness of dusk. The power here has been off more than it has been on. But the hotel here has a generator that they run in the mornings and evenings.
 
We've had Esther since Monday and it has been wonderful. She is such a fun and peaceful baby girl. It has been so fun to watch Wai Tim really take to her, too. He's very sweet on her. She's hard not to love. The agency asks that we lay low once the baby is in our care, so we are limited to a 1-2 block radius. This "homebound" feeling has really wet our appetite for home and we are beginning to countdown the hours until we leave for our 20-hour flight back to Seattle. As we ached for Esther while still in the states, we now ache to be back home with Titus, Jude, and Lydia. We're ready to give this new family thing a run. We head to the airport in about 24 hours, and we'll be on the ground in Seattle in a little over 48 hours.

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Getting home from the doctor

We visited the doctor today and got a clean bill of health (other than a diaper rash)!

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Nap time

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Just to make Jude laugh ...

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Introductions

We introduced Esther to Titus, Jude and Lydia by pictures today. She loved looking at them!

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Monday, August 3, 2009, 10:15am & 1:30pm

   We are currently sitting on a place, headed back to Addis. Our flight changed two times, and then was an hour late ... definitely have to roll with the punches here. We just touched down in Lalibella, a very small town, for a quick (hopefully) stop to drop off some passengers. Soon we'll be back on our way. We are axiously awaiting our return to Addis because we will be getting Esther permanently this time! We've really missed her smiling face. We will just lay low for the next several days before we fly back home and spend the time bonding with her. I think we only have one other thing scheduled for tomorrow. We've been working to arrange a visit to AHOPE orphanage in Addis for HIV+ children.
 
   We are back up in th e air ... they know how to do a quick turn-around. We were only on the ground about 15 minutes. We have about an hour flight back to Addis Ababa. If I didn't feel like I was going to die every time I stepped on a place, I would actually like flying. It is so beautiful up here. Africa is so much more green than I had imagined in my head.
 
 
... we have arrived safely back to Addis. An hour and a half they will bring Esther back to us!

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Sunday, August 2, 2009, 10pm

   Our very kind host, Ato Mulu, invited us to his home today for coffee. Lesson to self: that means something very different in Ethiopia than it does in America. His beautiful wife greeted us when we arrived and brought out two baskets covered with a cloth and two hot pots. Unfortunately, we did not know food was involved, so we had just stuffed ourselves at the hotel before we left. We sat down on the couch and they removed the cloths from the baskets and put huge rolls of enjera (the traditional and most common Ethiopian food) on our plates. Then scooped on the sauce, and the spoonfuls of beef tips. Our eyes grew bigger as we saw the amount of food we were expected to consume. And wondered how our weak stomachs would handle the new food. The food was delicious and slowly, bite by bite, we worked our way through the food. At one point I told the wife how delicious the meal was. "If it was delicious," she said, "you would eat it all." No pressure. :) As we nibbled on our food, she prepared a coffee ceremony for us. She sat on a small stool made of cow skin at a very little chest on the ground. She brought out a very small charcoal fire and began by washing the coffee beans with water over the warm plate. For about an hour, we sat and talked, and watched her washing, roast, and grind the beans, all by hand. Then she made us the most rich, wonderful coffee we've ever had. No filters, but not a single ground in the bottom of our cups. Typically they sit for three rounds of this, but they allowed us to just have two since we were so full. It was such a wonderful experience. They gave us wonderful Ethiopian scarves that resemble the Ethiopian flag. It was exciting to see into their lives and daily living. They are such hospitable people here. She said they would have coffee again that night with their neighbors, They sit and sip coffee, just enjoying each other's company and sharing life. We left with wonderful memories and very full stomachs.

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Saturday, August 1, 2009, 7pm

   Today we began our day at 10am by being picked up again by the orphanage coordinator, Ato Mulu. He took us to the Bete Hisanet Orphanage. He gave us a tour and the rundown of life at the orphanage. The children followed us around, until Ato Mulu called out to them to scatter away. It was a nice building, and had beds and cribs for the children to sleep on, and several large stacks of clothes. There were no toys in sight. Ato Mulu had business to attend to, so Wai Tim and I took advantage of the free time to play with the children. We started in the nursery with the babies, about 12 babies, and rubbed their backs when they cried, propped their bottles up with their blankets when they fell, and made little cooing sounds with them. They were easy to please.
 
   After that, the children were done with their lunch, so we followed them outside to play. We handed out the fruit snacks we brought for them, and they were quick to gobble them up, but also very kind to share them with each other. There weren't any tables or chairs to play at so we all sat on the ground and we pulled out the cartons of playdough from our backpack. They had never seen it before, so I would create something and they were quick to copy me. We made hearts, elephants, smiley faces, and crosses. Again, is was so amazing to see how they generously shared with each other. For several hours we taught them Follow-the-Leader, Tag, Duck-Duck-Goose, and a few English words. They taught us how to play volleyball over the swingset frame (that had no swings), Keep-Away, and giggled when we tried to pronounce the Amharic words they tried to teach us. They were so sweet, helpful, playful, child-like when we engaged in games with them. But they were a bit reserved and distant when we first arrived and then again when we had to leave. And very proper and attentive when the guardians (caretakers) came out where we were playing. Probably protecting their hearts. It was a blessing for us, and we felt honored to share in their day and be trusted by them to come into their world. They are such treasured, beautiful images of Christ.

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Friday, July 31, 2009 10pm

   I don't even know where to begin. What an adventure we went on today! It all began at 4:30am this morning when we got up to head to the Bole Airport (main airport in Ethiopia). It was only a ten minute drive, with thunder and lighting and a downpour the whole way there. We checked in and hoped the storm would pass quickly and not delay our flight. Sure enough, as it has every day since arriving, the 30-minute storm swept through. We loaded on to a small propeller plane and began our 1-hour flight to Bahir Dar, we even saw a rainbow while up above the clouds. This is the location of the first orphanage that Esther was taken to. Our hope in making this trip was to visit her first orphanage and spend time with the children currently there, as well as attempt to see the location that Esther was found. Understandingly so, we were told to not have our hopes up by our agency in the states.
 
   Landing in Bahir Dar was so beautiful, much like the the scenery from The Lion King (before Scar was in power). The land was like a beautiful patchwork from the sky, farmland with different crops and at different stages of growing gave an array of different tones and colors to the land. And the trees, oh the trees, are these amazing pieces of art, not one the same. They are scattered, just one at a time, throughout the land. I will have to ask the name of the kind of tree today. They slightly resemble a Bonzai tree, or again, like the iconic trees shown in The Lion King.
 
   Slight miscommunication left us at this itty-bitty airport without a ride, so we hopped in one of taxis that was headed to our hotel. We called the man that was helping organize our trip and he immediately sent a man (and driver), named Ato Mulu, who is the coordinator or the Bete Hisanet Orphanage here in Bahir Dar, where Tsion was first brought. (Esther's given name here was Tsion, so that is how she is referred to here.) He said he had made some phone calls this morning and was able to find out a little more about Tsion's story, and we were going to take a trip up to the city where she came from, Weste Gorjme. On our way out of town, Mulu said that he needed to stop and pick up two new children that he had received a call about that morning whom needed to be taken to the Bete Hisanet orphanage. We pulled up to a little clinic and two nannies climbed into the seat behind us in the van. Tucked away under their shawls came two tiny babies. "Just like Tsion," Mulu said, "the circle of life. Just three days and five days old these babies. This is how it happened for Tsion, too." It was so amazing to sit and actually see the process and know this was the road and transition that little Tsion went down. It was touching to see the how all these people cared and how this was just the beginnng of these little babies journey to adoption.
 
   The drive took about an hour and it was wonderful to see the more rural parts of Africa. The people were working everywhere: using oxen to plow the fields, driviing donkeys pulling carts loaded with wood posts (not the kind we would think of in America), children selling bushels of their latest crop, shepherds herding their flocks of goats, farmers spreading seed on newly plowed soil, women carrying huge sachels of sticks on their heads, women and children carrying large urns full of water on their backs. The streets were often lined with people walking and carrying things ... always barefoot and for miles and miles. I was a bit in awe of the intensity of the laboring. Life does not look easy.
 
   When we arrived in this very small village in Weste Gorjme, I'm quite sure that many of the people there had never seen a white person, either in a book or in real life. We bounced down the bumpy road and pulled up to a small tin builiding, with a fence around it. "This is the police station," Mulu said, "you stay here and I will go see what I can find out.: As we waited in the van in the middle of the street, people paused around our van and laughed when they saw us sitting inside. We waved and they laughed even more. Mulu returned after several minutes with a woman dressed in a navy blue uniform. "This is the police officer that took Tsion from Weste Gorme to the orphange in Bahir Dar." We introduced ourselves and she came in the van with us and said she was going to take us to the woman who found her. We drove just a few hundred yards down the road and again Mulu told us to stay in the van while he and the young police officer woman went inside. During these ten minutes inside, the excitement and curiousity around our van grew. The children began to gather and call to their friends to come look. There apparently is no culture taboo about staring! They giggled and pointed. I wasn't sure if I should feel insecure or like a rock-star. We opened the windows and smiled and waved to them. They giggled some more. Mulu came back with the police officer. They said they knew who the woman was, but this was not her home. They loaded back in the van and we drove several minutes out of the little village area to more of a farmland area. The road to the woman's house was too muddy for the van to drive down, so Mulu and the police officer got out and walked. We stayed with the driver. There was a small hut nearby with several children playing outside. They spotted us and came to inquire. I was so wishing I had brought things to give them, but was not prepared that this was going to happen. I took out my camera and motioned to them if I could take their picture. The giggled as I don't think they had any idea what I was asking them. So I took a picture of a couple of the older girls and called them closer to come see. I turned around the camera so they could see their picture on the digital screen. Their eyes grew big and squealed in delight. So the younger ones came closer. I took picture after picture, pausing after each one to show them the little 2x2 image of themselves. I wish I would have been able to provide them with an actual picture to keep. Our driver got a call on his cell phone and he turned around and headed back down the road we came. He didn't speak any English, so we did not know what was happening next. In essnce, he drove "around the block," a very big block, to where Mulu, the police officer, and another woman were standing along the side of the road. The three of them piled into the car. "This is the woman who found Tsion," Mulu introduced us. She was a beautiful African grandmother, named Marie. "She will take us to the place Tsion was found." We drove just down the road a bit, and she called out in Amharic for the driver to stop. The five of us piled out of the van and she led us off the road, down into a field. She walked to a bush, next to a small stump along the side of the field and stooped down and motioned as if she was placing a baby beneath it. She spoke to Mulu, "This is where Tsion was found," Mulu translated for us. Marie went on to explain the story ... A farmer was walking through the field early in the morning (police report reads "6:30am") when he heard a noise and went over to find a baby crying under a bush. He went to the police station and informed them of what he had found. (It is a crime to abandon a baby, so people are not allowed to "disturb" the crime scene, so to speak, so the farmer could not just pick her up and take her to the police station.) The police have nothing to care for a baby, so they stopped at Marie's house, the sweet grandmother, who is well known in the area for volunteering to help women. Together the two of them, were led by the farmer to the location he saw the baby. There Marie found Tsion with a small cloth on her, crying, still covered in blood. She scooped up the newborn baby. We had been told that they estimated her to be a week old when she was brought to the orphanage, but Marie said that could not be accurate, she was born during the night. Marie took her back and gave her a bath and paid 15 birr (about 12 cents) to buy Tsion some clothes. It was then that Marie gave her the name Tsion. Marie also said that along the road, woman were offering her money for the child, saying they could raise her. But Marie said, "No, I am taking her to a big government agency." Together the police woman and Marie, rode to Bahir Dar together in the police vehicle to leave Tsion at the Bete Hisanet orphanage.
 
   I hugged and kissed Marie, thanking her over and over for her loving care of Tsion and for sharing the story with us. Wai Tim pulled out our digital camera and showed them new pictures of Tsion with her big happy smile. Marie smiled with great delight and kissed the picture of Tsion on the camera. I told Mulu I would send pictures, so if he was ever back in the area, maybe he would share them with her. He agreed. She was a precious woman, and even through the language barrier, we were both so thankful to each other for the life we had both givien to Tsion. "Tsion's grandother," Mulu said outloud as Marie and I posed for a picture together next to the bush. "Yes!" I exclaimed, "Tsion's grandmother."
 
   We dropped the police officer and Marie off along the side of the road by her home, and kissed and hugged again. And then we returned home with our new-found story and an hour car ride to digest all that had happened.
It was an emotional journey. It was heartbreaking to see where our girl was left alone and crying, but even more so, it was exiting to see the location where she was found and how the Lord has woven these pieces together and see the very beginning of where her journey to us all began.

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Wednesday, July 29th, 7:00am

Last night on our way home, we happened to run into Ato Teklu (our attorney and "host" more or less), and Mr. Menywab Assefa, director of Bete Hitsanat Association (an association that has hundreds of children at 3 orphanages in Ethiopia--one from which Esther came). They invited us to have coffee (or kaffe) with them. We had a wonderful 2-hour conversation about life in Ethiopia: the struggles, the attempts at development, needs, growth, outside organizatons, the culture. It was wonderfully insightful. I love Menywab's desire to make a difference, and his ability to believe he can and is. In a sea of great need, I often wonder if I would have such courage.
 
I treasure these "random" moments that the Lord has brought to us.
 
We are off to the market. :)

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Cleared at Embassy ... get Esther's Visa Tomorrow

Tuesday, July 28, 2:15pm
 
Our trip to the US Embassy went very well yesterday. We sincerely applaud the efforts and diligence of our attorney here who has worked so hard on our behalf getting everything in order. It has been smooth sailing.
 
We even kept little Esther with us all day yesterday and last night; it was wonderful to have some time to bond with her. She makes us laugh with her big smile and gorgeous big eyes. We can't wait to share her with you all. We are going to attempt to attach some pictures for you, too.
 
Today we took a taxi to the Hilton to confirm our airline flights (they have airline offices in the hotel). I cannot begin to explain how diffiicult it is for my brain to understand the complexity of the economic differences within a 100 feet of each other. Here we sit in luxury, sipping a Sprite by the pool. Yet since we arrived, we have been staying just down the road on the main street in Addis, and up until now, have only experienced the extreme poverty; it is indescribable, unlike anything we could have imagined. The two worlds are but a street apart, yet one breathes hope and possibility, and one breathes hopelessness and despair. I suppose this must be true of most third-world countries, but it is more than this mind can come to peace with. My heart aches for more answers, to make sense of it, hating that I feel so worthless in this sea of great need.
 
We are still amazed everyday at the kindness and hospitality of the Ethiopian people. It is wonderful and heart-warming to interact with them. Such beautiful people.
 
Blessings to all of you! We miss you!

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Off to the US Embassy

Monday, July 27, 11:45am
So I am operating under at least half of the amount of sleep I normally need to function, so at best, these postings will communicate that we are alive and happy ... exhausted, but happy.
 
We are heading out to our US Embassy appointment in about 45 minutes. One more step that is necessary in order to obtain Esther's visa. Plus, we get to take Esther with us, so it is one more time that we get to spend with her. We have chosen to spend time with her during the day and then let her stay with the nannies at the transition house during the night. We are flying up north in a few days to visit the orphanage at which she was originally placed. From there we will also travel by car to visit the police station of the policeman who found her, and visit the location at which she was found. So all that to say, we thought it best to spend time letting her get used to us, but still have the consistency of her "home" with the nannies at night, rather than bring her to the guesthouse with us for 3 days and then take her back to the transition house for 3 days while we travel. Too much shuffling for this little babe. So we will wait until we return from Bahir Dar before we bring her to our room with us.
 
I sure hope the embassy doesn't ask me anything that requires an articulate or intelligent answer. "Yes" and "No" questions are best at this point.

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We're Here!

We arrived in Ethiopia late last night and made it to bed around 11pm. It has been a whirlwind the last 18 hours! But the best part of the trip is that we just got to meet our sweet girl. She is so beautiful and it was SO wonderful to hold her and finally meet this beautiful life we have been praying for and dreaming of meeting. She is such a happy, happy baby! And the nannies are so wonderful with the children. They were the only ones that could get Esther to giggle. It was priceless. We are amazed and thankful for the wonderful care she is receiving. I think I said "Oh my goodness" about 100 times in 5 minutes. We were speechless and so deeply moved to hold her and be with her. It was such a special, special time. All the children are wonderfully happy, yet also wonderfully excited to be a part of a forever family.
 
Even in this short amount of time, it has been such an emotional trip. I was feeling so many different emotions and confused at to what I was actually suppose to be feeling! But then I realized, so we are experiencing so many loaded things that it makes sense that we are experiencing such a range of emotion. Traveling to Ethiopia for two weeks and leaving our 3 small children at home was very challenging; going two nights without sleep is exhausting; seeing such extreme poverty is, at times, paralyzing; meeting our girl was so exhilerating and moving; seeing so many other children without families is heartbreaking; experiencing the love and hospitality of the Ethiopian people is humbling and life-changing. And we've only been here less than one day.
 
We are beyond tired. But so passionately thankful.

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And We're Off ...

We will do our best to keep up with postings! Thank you for praying.

Great News!

Our agency called and said that Ato Teklu, (our attorney and representative in Ethiopia) is "confident" that we will be able to have everything we need to make the US embassy appointment on Monday! So, Lord willing, we will all get to come home together after our two week stay!

A Bump in the Road

I have put off writing this post because it seemed too confusing to try and explain (and I was secretly hoping it would just resolve itself), but this is part of our journey, too, so I will try and explain it as best as I can.

Our adoption agency, has US embassy appointments in Ethiopia every other Monday. This is the appointment that we are required to be at and determines when we travel to Ethiopia. For several reasons, our adoption agency requested an additional embassy date in between their two normally scheduled dates. The US embassy granted their request, so we purchased our plane tickets. Several days later, we were informed that the US embassy had decided to overturn their original decision and no longer allow us to have our embassy date on August 3rd. So that left us with two options, 1) change our tickets to one week later for embassy on August 10th, however, just in those few days the coach seats sold out and only business is available, which puts us at a total of $4,500 to change the tickets, OR 2) leave the tickets as is and pray all our paperwork arrives in time for us to make the embassy appointment two weeks prior on July 27. However, if the paperwork does not arrive, I will have to stay until the next emabsssy date on August 10th, and Wai Tim will return home. And then I will just have to buy a new one-way ticket home on August 13th. Certainly not an ideal situation, but we press on with what we have before us. Either way, we will come home with a beautiful little girl.

WE have decided to leave our tickets as is and pray for a miracle that all our documents are ready to go by Monday. It is a bit of a stretch to say it mildly. This change also effects when and how we will be traveling around Ethiopia, but like the agency keeps telling me ... "we will make it work." So we may have to audible things as we go, but we should know more by the time we arrive in Ethiopia on Saturday.

We fly out Friday at noon and arrive on Saturday at noon (a 20 hour flight with a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam). Ethiopia is 10 hours ahead of us, so that puts us in Ethiopia about 10pm Saturday night. We are so hoping we get to meet sweet Esther on Sunday, but again, plans have been all turned around and we have to stay flexible.

Thank you for following our journey, and thank you most of all for praying for us. I feel covered by the Lord and surrounded by your love.

Our Letter ...

This is a letter we've written up for a few friends and family. Also wanted to post it here. Happy reading! :)
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"When does God begin His special plan in a life? Is it when He gives a promise or when He finally brings the promise to pass? Although it may not always be obvious to us, there seems to be one distinct moment when God begins a new story in each of our lives. He writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out. Then with His own great hand, He begins to write the script. Experience by experience through seemingly ordinary days, He supernaturally orders our lives. Only when we look back and reflect on what appeared to have been the ordinary events of life does it become clear what a miracle the Lord has performed." - The Strength of Mercy, Jan Beazely.

On January 4th we heard a sermon on adoption. A message of how we, as children of God, were orphaned children, lost without a home, until Christ came and adopted us into the Kingdom of God. And what a price He paid that we would have a place to call home, a forever family. His sacrifice was great, the reward greater still. What a beautiful representation of adoption. Independently, we were both deeply provoked, stirred, painfully and wonderfully moved to a moment of action. We were both silent on the car ride home from church, broken-hearted for the orphaned children and afraid of the awakening we both were feeling, but not quite ready to articulate outloud.

We have always had a little seed in our hearts to adopt a child someday, but with 3 little ones at home, adoption had been tucked away until "another day," at best. At least, so we thought. After that service, our hearts could not be silenced. Not another day was going to pass without us taking the next step toward reducing the number of orphans by one. On January 20th, after countless hours of prayer, discussion, meeting with adoptive families, and 100 hours of research on adoption agencies, we turned in our application to adopt through WACAP's Ethiopia program. It every sense of the word and to some people around us, it did not necessarily "make sense" for us to adopt. We weren't looking for more things to fill our life with, the financial expense is heavy, nor do we feel like amazing parents, or super qualified to do this. And we talked with much wiser people than us, to address all of these concerns. But the urgency would not relent and it began to feel like an act of obedience to us. We really cannot look lightly at what a transformation took place in our heart that Sunday. We walked into the service that day, sure our family was "complete" with five, and we walked out of the service, assured that someone else would be joining our family. It is amazing what the Holy Spirit can do in minutes, that we could not even have conjured up in years. One of our favorite parts of the process thus far, is the assurance that He spoke to us that day, and the unity we've experienced in being confident of this. How turbulent the waters would be, had we not been in agreement, even ever so slightly. That's not to say that the process has gone without some unexpected turns, but we were forced to "not doubt in the dark, what God had shown us in the light."

One of our unexpected turns, is how quickly the process has gone for us. It will only be six months from the time we applied to adopt, to the time she will be in our arms. We're approaching a week and a half until we leave for Ethiopia to meet our daughter and bring her home. We just couldn't be more excited. Another one of our unexpected turns was that Wai Tim was laid-off from his job of three years, 9 weeks after we applied to the adoption agency. Of course at that time, people inquired whether or not we were still going to adopt. And though we paused to ask ourselves the same question, we decided we believed that when the Lord called us to adopt it had nothing to do with money, so we didn’t feel any less called to do it because of the "lack" of money either. So we plugged on. Wai Tim has been so diligently looking for work, but times are tough for everyone, and he is still looking. We have moved back to Lake Chelan for the time being, as his dad has graciously allowed him to work on their family orchard until something else becomes available.

We wanted to take this time to share with you an update on our lives and introduce you to our new, beautiful daughter, Esther. On April 4th, she was found along what is locally known as the "Mewat River", at what they believe was around 7 days old. The police took her to a nearby orphanage where she stayed for two months. She has now been transferred down to a transition house run by our adoption agency, where she will remain until we pick her up.

We are also writing to petition you to be praying for us, our baby girl, and our travels. As the Lord leads, we are jealous for your prayers! Sometimes we have a stirring in our heart that there might be more to this trip than just picking up Esther. We are traveling to Ethiopia a week early to visit orphanages and just see if there is anything else the Lord would want to reveal to our heart while we are there. Please pray that our spirit will be soft to hear and receive His heart and direction. And for sweet Esther, please pray that she would feel "chosen" all the days of her life, and never "orphaned," that she would live in the assurance of God's mighty love and favor over her. Please pray for her protection, and that her health would be strong and freed from all illness.

Lastly, we ask that you pray for direction and provision for our family--for Wai Tim's employment and financial resources to cover our adoption fees. At times we've been sticking our head in the sand, and plugging our fingers in our ears and signing, "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones ... " to try and drown out reality. And it's fun while it lasts. At times there are moments of fear. But like I told Wai Tim the night he lost his job ... we still have everything that matters. I keep praying for a swift, clear direction of the Lord's hand in moving Wai Tim to his next new job. Neither of us care where or what, but just to have the assurance that it is where He desires for us to be. Though, that is not how He has directed us in the past. Our experience is that we fumble around alone, in what feels like the dark, without any sense of real direction, and then sort of fall into place. It isn't until much later that we can look back and realize, we were never alone, nor in the dark, and we ended up right where He was directing us all along. So the good news is, we'll probably end up where He wants us. The bad news is, we have no idea how, where, or when we'll get there.

We have partnered with LifeSong for Orphans, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to help meet the needs of orphan children around the world. LifeSong has established an account in our name, that allows others to make donations towards helping fund our adoption. All donations made are tax-deductible to the giver, and a receipt will be issued automatically. 100% of the donations made in our name with go directly to only our adoption. Our desire is to raise $13,000 by August 13th--every penny counts. If you are moved to do so, the details are at the bottom.

This has been an exciting journey, and certainly one that goes down in the memory books for us. We anticipate our trip to Ethiopia will also go down as one of the memorable times of our life. We are trying to document as much as can, both for ourselves and for Esther to read someday. We also post updates on many stages of our life and the adoption process at www.waiandkari.blogspot.com. We don't want to romanticize our experience or over-spiritualize it to say that this has been a perfect process and God couldn't have done this without us. No! We just simply tried to listen as best as we could, and be faithful to what we believe He is asking of our life. That's all. And is it not a call for all of us to "care for the orphans and the widows?" So even if we "heard wrong" that Sunday, we have the peace the Lord still has us in the palm of His hand, even in our potentially naive attempts to fulfill His commands. We feel speechless and so incredibly thankful to be a small piece of His very large masterpiece.

"In this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love."- Mother Teresa (whom Esther will take the middle-name "Teresa")

We love you,
Wai Tim & Kari
www.waiandkari.blogspot.com
Note: Donations can be made out to LifeSong and sent to: LifeSong for Orphans, PO Box 40 / 202 Ford St., Gridley, IL 61744. Please be sure to include “Petersen 873 Adoption” in the memo." Thank you so much.

Flying Out

We booked our tickets today! Every step feels like it puts us slightly closer to our girl. Still so much to do ... time will fly by!

We Passed!

We are more than thrilled to introduce you to our new daughter. Our agency contacted us--after a test of my patience--and informed us we passed court. We are the legal parents of little baby Esther. The legal aspect hasn't affected the "feeling" that she was already our daughter, but it is so exciting to be one step closer to being able to bring her home to us. We are hoping to know a little more about travel dates tomorrow, but we are looking at the end of July.

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions. The first week we received our referral, I was elated! The second week, I was so sad to be so far away from her. The third week, I was annoyed at having to be patient. And this week, I have just been so exhausted--waiting to hear something ... and then knowing I will have to wait some more to be with her. I have relied on "things" to provide hope, and "information" to be my strength. Tonight I am tired and need to go "renew my strength like the eagle's." Tonight I need to hope in the Giver of Hope. Tonight I am so thankful, that despite my lack of faithfulness, He is faithful.

We rejoice over you, sweet Esther, and we rejoice that you will rest in the shadow of His wings until we can come for you. "He who watches over you will never slumber." Psalm 121:3 We love you.

While We Are Sleeping ...

Time has been passing by so quickly these days ... preparing for baby, looking for jobs, fundraising, travel preparations (6 shots yesterday!), playing in the sun, 4th of July getaway, etc. It is hard to believe that our court date is tomorrow. The last few hours, I haven't been able to stop thinking that while we are sleeping tonight, that beatiful little girl in that white metal crib, will legally become our daughter. Ethiopia is 10 hours ahead, so their courts are just now opening and getting started with their cases for the day. We won't know the moment it all takes place, (and we actually won't even be notified until Monday whether or not we passed), but what a special moment. Wish we could be there to watch it unfold--and then run and hug and kiss her!
My heart is hurting for her this week ... wanting her to know we are coming for her.
Hoping we have great news to post again very soon!

A Happy 10 Years

It is hard to believe that 10 years ago today we were standing in front of 400 people and giving our promises to each other. Where has the time drifted off to? Three, and soon to be four, kids later, a lot has happened. There's no place I'd rather be.

Our day didn't look much different than any other day ... but it did end with a fun trip to the ice cream store with the kids. It probably wasn't the way most people would expect to spend their 10 year wedding anniversary (myself included), but I didn't need anything "extra" today in order to remind me how truly rich and blessed I am. Though fancy dinners and romantic getaways are always a treat, today was special in its own right ... I'm reminded of how much I have to be thankful for. I love you, babe.

Court Date

We got a call from our agency this afternoon stating we have a court date for July 3rd! For those unfamiliar with adoption terms, this is the date that our case goes before the judge in Ethiopia to adopt this little girl. Assuming we pass, we will become the proud legal parents of our new baby girl. We were told we can expect to travel 4-6 weeks after our court date! Everything is moving along very quickly! We are so, so thankful. We marvel that at every turn, we feel like a miracle is taking place.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

We want to shout out a huge "THANK YOU" to all the families that helped with our fundraiser yard sale. It was a huge success. It was the biggest yard sale I have ever seen! People donated, people helped set up, people helped watch my kids, people gave so much of themselves to make this possible. In the 3 days of the sale we were able to raise $2,500. And we still have several bigger items that we are going to sell on Craigslist, so I still don't have a "final" total of what we'll raise.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for helping me pull every item out of the garage and get it priced. Thank you to my mom for staying for 4 days to be with my kids and keep my home in order. Thank you to my husband for doing all those, "Honey, would you please ... " without grumbling and complaining. Thank you to the 15 families that donated items and sacrificially gave their time and resources. Thank you to the families that gave finanicial contributions. Thank you to all the words of encouragement and love that was given through phone, email, Facebook, etc. It was difiicult and humbling to receive all the help, but I know I couldn't have done it without all of you. Thank you for sharing in our vision and love for the little girl we are longing to bring home. We feel so rich indeed. Bless you.

Good-bye Patty

I am so behind in my postings, and so many things to share about! But for tonight, and considering it is 2am, I want to pay tribute to my dear, dear friend Patty. I just got home from such a fun night out "with the girls," but this night didn't end the way it usually does. Tonight I had to say good-bye to one of my dearest, treasured friends. Tomorrow morning she and her family are moving to California. For whatever fearful, prideful reason, I worked so hard to keep from crying tonight when it was time to say good-bye, and I succeeded ... that is until I got into the car. Patty, I thought of all our fond memories and the joy I experience when I am with you. You bring out the best in people. I cried thinking that we'll have less of those nights out, and I cried because I wish I would of capitalized on the precious days you were here. I wish I would have called more, I wish I would have had coffee more with you, or nights out to tell stories and spur one another on. I have regrets, that I didn't do more. But mostly I cried because part of the "beam" that I lean on, is being uprooted tomorrow and moving to California. I've always felt you've had my back, and could come to you with anything. I've always known I could depend on you, and could feel your love stengthening me. You are such a dear, dear friend, I miss you already. California is getting just a little richer tomorrow. I love you, Patty.

Referral Accepted

We drove up to our adoption agency this afternoon and signed all the necessary paperwork to "accept" the referral of our little baby girl. I had tons of nerves and fears come creeping out of the woodwork all the way up there, and then after we signed everything, I had so much peace all the way home.

We Received Our Referral!!!

I am speechless and quite emotional ... our adoption agency just called and said they have matched us with our little baby girl. I don't have much info yet, except that she is two months old. Wonderfully shocked and SOOOO thrilled to "know" her. I will update as soon as we know any more info. Thank you for sharing in this special day with us. Our hearts are so full.

Isaiah 45: 2-3

Oh, the comfort in experiencing the "hidden wealth" in those "secret places" that leaves my heart assured it can be none other than my Father.

"I will go before you and make
the rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze,
and cut through their iron bars,
And I will give you the treasures of darkness,
and hidden wealth of secret places,
in order that you may know that it is I,
the LORD, the God of Israel,
who calls you by your name."

Oh, the peace and rest I find today in knowing that He calls me by name.

More Movement Up

With 78 days on the official "waiting list," we are now listed as 4th in line. Most days it is pretty easy to wait and be patient in the Lord's timing ... and then there are those days I check my email 20 times to see if there is any new information about referrals: my moments of weakness and desperation to know who and where she is. How do you miss someone so much you haven't even met yet?

Movin' Up

We were informed there were a couple of infant boy referrals this month, so we've inched our way up the waiting list and now hold the 6th position in line. We've been on the waitlist for 43 days so far. Fun to see movement in the program with the referrals. All six families at the front of the line are waiting for infant/toddler girls, so we need a surge of little girls!

Revelation 3:8

"Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut."

Staggering statistics

I can understand why some people wonder why we are traveling all the way to Ethiopia to adopt a child ... and these aren't the main reasons, but these are a few ... it leaves me speechless and so heartbroken ...

In Ethiopia,
-One in ten children die before their first birthday.
-One in six children die before their fifth birthday.
-60 percent of children are stunted because of malnutrition.
-1.5 million people are infected with HIV (sixth highest country in the world).
-720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.
-Half the children will never attend school. 88 percent will never attend secondary school.
-the doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

A favorite thought for the week ...

"Trusting God with our children, especially as they get older, gives a whole new meaning to baby dedication." - Strength of Mercy

Unexpected Turn

Two weeks ago Wai Tim was laid off from his job due to company downsizing. It came as a sudden shock, to say the least. At times we've been sticking our head in the sand, and plugging our fingers in our ears and signing, "Flinstones, meet the Flinstones ... " to try and drown out reality. And it's fun while it lasts. At times there are moments of sadness. But like I told Wai Tim the night it happened ... we still have everything that matters. I keep praying for a swift, clear direction of the Lord's hand in moving Wai Tim to his next new job. Neither of us care where or what, but just to have the assurance that it is where He desires for us to be. Though, that is not how He has directed us in the past. Our experience is that we fumble around alone, in what feels like the dark, without any sense of real direction, and then sort of fall into place. It isn't until much later that we can look back and realize, we were never alone, nor in the dark, and we ended up right where He was directing us all along. So the good news is, we'll probably end up where He wants us. The bad news is, we have no idea how, where, or when we'll get there. However, I do secretly delight in an opportunity to press my faith into trusting Him more. Seize the moment.

Off to Ethiopia

We were informed our dossier was mailed to Ethiopia today. Always exciting to hear we've crossed one more hurdle.

Off to D.C.

We were informed our dossier was sent off to Washington, D.C. today for verification and authentication. Another piece of the puzzle ...

It finally came!

Our long awaited I-171H form arrived today! (It took 30 days.) We are officially on the (unofficial) waiting list! Our coordinator is visiting the orphanges in Ethiopia currently, so she was unavailable to give me a slightly more specific timeframe now that we are considered "waiting." But she'll be back next Friday, so we might know a little more after getting a chance to talk with her. Until then, we still fall in the 3-10 month wait time until receiving a referral. But nevertheless, we are just so thankful to be "in line" and have our all our paperwork done and ready for when the Lord shares with all of us who this little miracle is!

Back to the Basics

Several people have asked some similar questions that caused me to realize I have missed mentioning a few of the basics referring to our adoption.

First, and the hardest question of all, "How long will it take?" The truth is, it is a difficult question to answer because one can never predict when and how many orphans will be dropped off at the orphanage. Some months there might not be any, while another month has 8. But in a vague attempt to satisfy our need to know, they tell us anywhere from 6-12 months until we have her in our arms and can bring her home. To prepare our hearts, we are leaning towards the longer wait times.

Second, the age of the little girl will be somewhere between 4-17 months when we pick her up in Ethiopia.

Third, international adoption is expensive because of many factors: homestudy fees, agency fees, international fees, documents, document authentication & translation, foreign aid, traveling costs to receive the child. Adopting from Ethiopia costs just over $20k. (Yes, we are set up to receive donations if anyone is led to do so.)

Fourth, no we don't have any name ideas, so all suggestions are welcomed!

Thank you for taking the time to ask your questions. Blessings to you.

Yard Sale Fund Raiser

If you've known anyone who has done an international adoption, you know the costs are great, so we are having a big Yard Sale at our house on the weekend of June 6th to raise money to cover some of the costs associated with bringing her home. Since Spring is approaching us (though the weather would say otherwise) and the "Spring cleaning" is beginning, I wanted to offer a place for you to donate your things. We are opening our garage to house any items that you might be wanting to get rid of. (And if you'd would like, we are working to arrange a tax-decuctible receipt for your donation.) If you have anything to donate, please let us know if you'd like to drop it off, or if you'd like to arrange us to pick it up. We are blessed by your consideration. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. We sincerely appreciate it.

Prints Passed!

So thankful to hear today that my prints passed! I won't have to make another trip to Yakima. But unfortunately we're still waiting for our I-171H. Our application is currently with the adjudicator still waiting to be reviewed. It has been three weeks since we turned our application in. Patience is a virtue.

Ethiopia Update

We received a little update from our Ethiopia coordinator from the adoption agency that I thought I'd share. I referred to "longer wait times" in my first posting, and hopefully it looks like that might be changing slightly, according to Megan, the coordinator. A little background ... "referral" is a term that is used when a specific child is matched with an adopting family and the family is notified. "Addis" is the capital of Ethiopia.
(From Megan)
"Today, I thought it would be helpful to recap the court process in Ethiopia.

As you know, after you accept a referral, your case will be submitted to the Ethiopian courts, and a court hearing will be scheduled. Currently, we have been seeing court dates scheduled anywhere from two and a half to three months out. While these delays are frustrating, they are understandable since the vast majority of adoption cases (if not all) are heard at the First Instance Court in Addis. Therefore, thousands of adoption cases, as well as criminal and judicial hearings, are competing to get on the court’s schedule.

I was very pleased to hear from Ato Teklu (WACAP Director in Ethiopia) that he had been successful (along with several other agencies) in petitioning the court to schedule hearings within 1-2 months. We are hoping that court dates scheduled in the future will not be so far out. (For those of you who have court dates already, I do not expect dates to be rescheduled or moved up).

You might remember that the courts close from August 1 to the end of September for the “Summer Recess.” Even though the courts are closed during these months, we do expect to receive referrals as children become available and are in need."

Busy Days, Blessed Lives

I had a friend ask, "How are you guys?" recently, and this was my reposnse to her. This is less about the adoption, and more about the responsibilities of life at the moment: finishing a short plat, a house remodel in Seattle, homeschooling, adopting, starting a women's Bible Study at PLU, etc. Busy days, blessed lives.
We are ... stretching our muscles, I guess you could say. Running on the highest octane available! And though we can't think of a more "stressful" season of life between responsibilities, financial uncertainty, big decisions, timelines and deadlines, I have had precious moments of thankfulness and gratefulness that have to be only initiated by the Lord, because "life" would say otherwise at the moment: real conversations with Him about faith and trust. This season of uncertainly has brought emotions I haven't yet had, and doubts I had yet to trust the Lord with. I feel His nearness ... but not any false security that it will all work out the way I'm hoping it will. It has been sweet to me to get to feel Him sustaining me inside; for example, I had to pick up large rocks for 3 1/2 hours in the pouring down rain this week, and wheelbarrow them all the way up our driveway. I was alone, wet, sweating, covered in mud, blisters on my hands from hauling the heavy wheelbarrow, and my leg muscles were quivering from the strain of bending over and picking up the rocks for so long. But not once did my heart grumble, and I was acutally able to delight in seeing Christ sustain my heart in a not so "fun" situation. Something I could never have mustered up on my own.
So all that to say ... I'm not sleeping so well because I am so consumed with the things that need to get done, I've had a headache for about 10 days, and I'm still not sure if there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, in the midst, I'm okay with confessing my anxiety, praying for a miracle, hoping in something greater, and being sustained each day.

We made the trip over to Yakima on Tuesday to get our fingerprints ... and all went well ... except for the fact that they said my prints have "worn-off." I suppose that could benefit me in my future as a criminal. But for the time being, it means that the FBI may reject my prints and require I do it again. What will a second round of prints do? It's not as if they grow back over the next few weeks. Apparently, the FBI can then match round one "bad prints" with round two "bad prints" and give the clearance at that point. Besides, not wanting to make another trip back to Yakima, it would set us back several months in the adoption process. Needless to say, we are praying my "prints" mysteriously clear up in route to the FBI! At the same time, it still remains a delight to trust in the Lord's perfect tapestry of our journey ... even if it means another trip to Yakima.

In the Beginning ...

"When does God begin His special plan in a life? Is it when He gives a promise or when He finally brings the promise to pass? Although it may not always be obvious to us, there seems to be one distict moment when God begins a new story in each of our lives. He writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out. Then with His own great hand, He begins to write the script. Experience by experience through seemingly ordinary days, He supernaturally orders our lives. Only when we look back and reflect on what appeared to have been the ordinary events of life does it become clear what a miracle the Lord has performed." - The Strength of Mercy, Jan Beazely.

Where to begin ... hard to start a new page when there has been so many pages previously unwritten ... so just to dive into this stage of our journey in life, feels vague and disconnected, but nevertheless, this is where we will begin ...

On January 4th we heard a sermon on adoption. A message of how we, as children of God, were orphaned children, lost without a home, until Christ came and adopted us into the Kingdom of God. And what a price He paid that we would have a place to call home forever. We have always had a little seed in our hearts to adopt a child someday, but with 3 small ones at home currently, adoption had been tucked away until "another day." At least, so we thought. After that service, our hearts could not be silenced or still. Not another day was going to pass without us taking the next step toward bringing an orphan to our home. On January 20th, after 100 hours of research on adoption agencies, we turned in our application to adopt through WACAP. We met with our social worker the following week and two weeks from the day, she had our notarized homestudy in our hand! Meanwhile, I was on turbo-mode to complete all the paperwork needed for the dossier (documents needed for adopting) and sent them off to the state for verification. We drive to Yakima next week to get fingerprinted and then just have to wait for our I-171H to be the final piece before they can send of our dossier to Ethiopia. Yes, Ethiopia. Without having a "reason" why we chose Ethiopia, other than our hearts kept being pulled back there whenever we looked into other places, we looked at the sheer number of orphans in Ethiopia and the massive growing number of orphans.

So for the most part now, we wait. We don't get put on the actually "Waiting List" until our I-171H comes back, and that will be an exciting day to finally hear where we fall in the scope of timeframes. I wonder if the waiting will be hard? The only bummer news is that the wait times to travel after receiving a referral have be increasingly longer and will only continue to get longer because the court dates are getting pushed further out because of the increased number of families applying to adopt from Ethiopia (what a great problem to have)! Ethiopia courts are closed August and September for the rainy season (we'd be closed year-round if we had a rule like that!) so they just fall further and further behind each year. So instead of it being 5-12 weeks to travel after referral, it now is growing to almost double that. But I told the Lord in the beginning I trusted His perfect timing and I still do. So it is a delight to wait on Him.

That is a piece of our update. So much more to come. The paperwork is done ... at least for now. Thanks for sharing in this with us.