Questions

A fellow Ethiopian Adopts mom was sharing her struggles with what to tell her children when they ask why.

• Why did my mom and dad have to die?
• Why didn't God answer me when I asked him to save her?
• Why?
• Why?
• Why?

What will we tell them? Because I seriously have no good answer. I know that God uses rotten circumstances for good, but will that bring comfort to a child whose entire life has been turned upside down? I doubt it...

So here is my plan... I will pray with my kids, we will cry together and I will listen when they tell me how perfect their other mom was... And when they ask me why... I will tell them that I don't know, and that I am sorry because I think I would have loved their mom too.

Introducing... my dad

My sister sent this to me the other day... I thought you would all like to know what my dad looks like - so here you go. OK, he is a bit older now and no longer has the long hair. But still an amazing guitar player and very handsome! He is the one on the right sitting down.

Happy Happy Happy

We received this email from Ben's cousin this morning... I cannot tell you how happy we are to know that they are coming home soon.


Ben and Brooke,
Alex and I visited your kids yesterday! Funny part of the entire episode is that I spent an hour trying to find the CWA Transition House only to eventually find it two blocks from the guesthouse I am staying at! The road is under construction so all of the building signs have been removed and put behind their fences so I never saw even though I drove and walked right past their gate. The good news is that you have 3 wonderful kids. The counselor agreed to let us meet them but until they pass court they can not be photographed. I first met A and E as the main compound is for the boys. E is along for the ride and doesn't really know the meaning of everything that's going on except that he's going to America to live with you guys. A though knows what a great opportunity it is. He reads English very well and can read your letters word for word with only a few questions. I asked them the questions you had for me and they really didn't have much to say except M wanted to know what kind of food we have in America. A said he's not sure what to be nervous about yet. They wrote small notes and pictures for you and I have their basic measurements I'll give you when I return. The most emotional reaction was from M . She walked into the office not sure why she was there and then the counselor told her that I was visiting her and that I was her cousin. Her face light up so bright I've never seen anyone so filled with joy. She then gave me a long and hard hug as if I was her long lost father come back to life. She then gave me the traditional Ethiopia kisses and told me she loved me. Wow. Her smile is great - she's going to be a lot of fun to be around. An interesting fact is that she likes to swim and has swam in the river where she used to live - unusual for most Ethiopians. The boys like soccer - no surprise there. A is very loving and caring and also has a contagious smile. E I think will hit it off with Danny and turn into a typical American kid really fast - watch out. They opened their gifts and then I taught them how to play UNO and E won the game. A thought it quite funny to keep giving me draw 2 and draw 4 cards. The counselor says hello and the kids send their love. The counselor thinks they will pass court in 1-2 months max so you may be coming in March-April timeframe. They're great kids and I look forward to spending time with you guys. Talk to you soon when I return.

John and Alex

Takamafala

That is our word for the week... it means "share" in Amharic. I know that the kids have learned the word well because as Lilly was groggily walking down the steps this morning, she yelled, "takamafala the stairs". It made me smile!

Dossier is in Ethiopia

Or at least it will be VERY soon! They sent it on January 23rd so I am guessing it will be there sometime in the next couple of days. Aye-chee-wa-wa!!!! This is all so very real! I cannot believe it is nearly here!

I have some specific prayer requests...

• for peace for the all 6 kids as this time of HUGE transition comes near.
• for peace for our Ethiopian kids that they are excited for this time and that any scary thoughts are put to rest.
• for decisions about the grants we have applied for... we are still waiting to hear about them and are needing to apply for a loan if we do not get the grants.
• for my national board papers to somehow get done... for focus and time to finish them

I have tears in my eyes as I write this because I am incredibly greatful to all of you who are walking with us on this adventure. Your prayers have kept us going and we are so thankful. This past month with 2 funerals, trips to California, work, sick kids, national board papers, and adoption plans would have been completely overwhelming but through prayer and your kind words we have not merely survived, as a family, we have thrived. As we get closer to the finish line... to bringing our kids home, I am constantly amazed by the blessings God has given us through our church family and friends. You guys rock!!!

No Church for us today...

We have 2 inches of snow outside that is covering quite a sheet of ice... so even though we only live 3 blocks from church, we slept in. Lilly climbed in bed with us at 6:00 and she and I stayed asleep until 8:49. I don't know the last time I slept that late! It was lovely!!!! I can't wait to cuddle with all 6 of my kiddos, I wonder if they will like to cuddle right away or feel super uncomfortable, for a while, I REALLY don't know. My aunt sent a big box of clothes yesterday - it was full of t-shirts, sweaters, pajamas and sweats that will fit A and M mostly. What a great surprise! It has been so fun shopping and going through clothes for the kids.

Ben's cousin, John will be visiting with our kids someday soon. I am beyond excited to hear what they are like. I want to hear John's input because he knows us well and he know our three straight haired kids well and soon he will be the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD who knows all 8 of us well. I am so anxious to see video about their trip and hear about the kids. Saturday can't come soon enough (although he will probably not be up to telling us until Sunday).

So I am off to eat pancakes made by Ben... and then spend the day cuddled in our house and reading The Shack. I will tell you more about it soon - the word fabulous comes to mind.

Blink

This came from a VERY WISE mom when talking about the struggles of bringing home a "less than completely perfect" (but totally and completely amazing) child.



God didn't blink...sometimes he knows that if he gives us too much info in the beginning we'll think we can't do it and not adopt that child....so he has to show us WE CAN DO THIS some other way...that's how it was with our child....and you know what? We can do this! so can you!!



I am constantly thinking about this... how GOD knows us so well. HE KNEW Ben and I NEVER would have said yes to the kids if we knew it was going to be this expensive (we are going to be close to $25K by the time we are done). We were SO fearful about the adoption costs that at times we were paralyzed by it... but through MANY hours of prayer we knew that bringing these kids home to be OURS is what He wanted for us. HE KNEW that we could only say YES to $10,000 - and when we have more than doubled that cost, HE is using His people to help.

God didn't blink!

It was never an acoounting mistake on HIS part and we are so thankful that we are so close to bringing our kidlets home! I can hardly believe how lucky we are to be trusted by our God to do this great thing!

Bras... Underwear and Socks... OH, MY

OK, so I don't really know what I was thinking... I had started shopping for clothes and backpacks and even bought 2 pairs of shoes hoping they will fit A and M. But now, I have to shop for underwear, bras and socks for 3 more kiddos. Problem #1 is that I have a hard enough time keeping socks sorted and put away with only the 5 of us. Problem #2 is sizes, what should I buy for the new kids? :) So not really a huge problem - but just needs to be figured out.

I spent the day in class learning about new school programs and spent my break time asking some of my mom friends (who have 9-11 year old girls) what type of underwear and bras the kids will need. 1 friends said, "Well, just wait until you get home (from Ethiopia) and then take them shopping... they will have clothes there." THAT is the problem.... the kids will leave the care center with NOTHING! Well, maybe they will have the photo albums and things we sent, but then maybe not. The clothes they leave with, often need to be returned to the care center... so really - we must take EVERYTHING! I should confess too, I am the WORLD'S WORST PACKER. Nearly everytime we go somewhere, we have to buy someone some clothing article because I packed 2 pants and no shirts or forgot someone's underwear. I must improve, so I created a list and am checking it twice (or 200) times.

For those of you who have been asking - this is the sizes that we have been told.

A is 5'7" and weighs 120. We are guessing shirts are adult small but have no idea on pants.
M is 5'1" and weighs 86 lbs. We are guessing a 14/16 shirt and 14 pants or maybe 16 slim...
E is a 7X or 8 shirt and 7 slim pants.

We hope to have foot tracings soon so we know what shoe size they wear - it will be so nice to have this all figured out.

California

Here we are in California again... it has been 3 weeks since we were here last. 2 cousins have passed away, both WAY TOO YOUNG.

I finished the book There Is No Me Without You today while Ben was driving. It is the story of Ethiopia and AIDS and Orphans. I cried through much of it and read parts to Ben while trying to keep the emotion from my voice. In one part she talks about her daughter who had been adopted from Ethiopia and how she would react to meeting new friends. Right away she would ask if her friend had a mom... and the friends were always so incredulous, "of course I have a mom" but in her daughters world, in our new kids world, having a mom is not a given... 6.5 million orphans, 6.5 million kids without someone to send them to wash their face, say their prayers, or eat more vegetables. 6.5 million kids without someone to sign their reading log and hear the goofy jokes they made up. Truly, this cannot be...

Danny woke up this morning and while I was running around like crazy he told me that God gave him a message in his dream last night. I stopped what I was doing (tried not to giggle) and asked him what he meant. He said that in his dream there were crabs in our shower. And the crabs were nice and that means that M will be nice.

Oh, he makes me smile.

Blogger News

My very fun loving, good cooking, tatoo loving cousin Meghan died yesterday. Oh, that is so very hard to type. She had multiple heart surgeries as a child and then got the flu last week. It was more than her body could handle and she passed away. I cannot imagine how horrific this would be for my aunt and uncle. Please keep them in your prayers. It feels surreal and as I type this I keep thinking this cannot possibly happen.

On another note, have you been wondering what happened to so many "fun" parts to the blog? A very sad thing happened to a family waiting to adopt. Somehow the Ethiopian government found out that they had pictures (I knew better than to do that) of their kids AND were without all the necessary funds for adoption (gulp) and they LOST their right to adopt from Ethiopia. It was really sad and sent all the rest of us into a frantic mode to make sure our blogs were OK... We talked about taking it down completely, but this is how our family and friends know what is going on. So, we just took down the extra stuff that we were not sure about. Sorry for those of you who have been wondering, I should have explained it before.