Worth it All

The sun making it's glorious appearance as we headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor this morning.

Friday, June 7, 2013

We're on a plane! I've said this before and I'll say it again. The simple fact that I'm "OK" getting on a plane is a miracle itself! If this were about me and my desires, I would have to find a way to do adoption without flying across the world. But this adoption isn't about me or Paul or anyone other than God. It's ALL about Him and His heart and His purpose. And geez has He stirred up my heart in the process!

A precious friend of mine texted this to me as we waited at check in for our first flight...

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear.
No eye has seen a God besides You
who acts for those who wait for Him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember You
in Your ways.
                               Isaiah 64:4,5

Saturday, June 8, 2013

We just boarded the last of three flights and now feeling anxious - in a good way - to arrive in Addis and be closer to seeing our boys. This is all very surreal... and very God. I've had every opportunity to remember my faith and God's faithfulness to His children. Get this. Since boarding in Phoenix we've experienced...
1. Three planes; not one or even two, but THREE with what I would call "cause for concern". The first two planes had internal power source failure and the third had push drive mechanical failure. Three for three! Really?!?! All this when I haven't flown in 18 years and have been praying desperately for God to give me peace and comfort. He truly did. I guess He figured I may as well test it out!
2. A significant delay leaving Phoenix with our shortest connection time ahead of us in Atlanta.
3. MUCH turbulence (we flew over Oklahoma City, just to give you an idea) on the flight from PHX to ATL.
4. What felt like 3 miles of walking in circles at the Frankfurt airport.
5. The wrong gate assignment on our boarding passes in Frankfurt.
6. Not to mention NO Wifi at the FRA airport!


Nothing like up close and personal!

Flying over Frankfurt

 

Soon we'll be in the beautiful country of Ethiopia - after another 6 hours in the air.  God is good! Even through all this, we feel His peace and guidance.

Still Saturday...

I found myself in tears as Desfayu drove us from the Addis Ababa airport to the guest home we're staying in. I'm in awe... completely. God brought us safely to the other side of the world and in less than 12 hours we will be with our two youngest children! Incredible!

I'm feeling so many different things; desperately missing my kiddos at home, beyond thrilled to meet our two youngest, out of place in a country so far and different from our own, filled with awe about God and His plans...

So, I'm officially and thoroughly overwhelmed. It's 11:23 p.m. here in Addis. I'm exhausted but don't want to go to sleep in case we "miss" something. Nope! Don't wanna miss a thing!

Faith of a Child...

Rhyan's sweet friend, Gabrielle wrote this poem.

She is 13, and as you can see, is a very gifted writer.

What a blessing to know our children are surrounded by godly, precious friends.

I'm in awe of how many hearts God is preparing to receive our boys.

These words brought me to tears...

 



Better is one day in His courts...

This was the first picture we saw of the boys.
Can't wait 'til we can show you their beautiful eyes and smiles!

 

We were informed that "Family Court" for our boys has been scheduled for May 22nd. This is when any living relatives would appear before a judge to verify the relinquishment/abandonment of the boys. Now, this is all still a learning experience for us, but as far as I know, this date would not be scheduled if we were facing serious roadblocks. Of course, all legal technicalities must be carried out.

 

Things are VERY different in Africa, and record keeping there is not at all what it is here. It's not atypical to see a handwritten note taped to a concrete wall announcing court dates, postponements, etc. Email? Stamped and authenticated? Sure... You can ask a village mom when her baby was born and you'd be lucky with a thoughtful answer of, "When the rains came." Huh? Then remember that we aren't even following the same calendar. Sheesh. If we know anything about our boys' history and biological family, it'll be amazing. What we do know and believe is that they are our children through God's work and will. We're super-excited to be part of their story now!

 

Our coordinator told me that typically the adoptive parents are scheduled for court around a month after family court. That means we are preparing to travel sometime around late June. :) We will appear in court and legally adopt our boys! Then, we'll have to come home without them :( and wait for their passports and visas to be complete so we can clear Embassy. Then we'll get to bring them home! Alleluia!

 

Please pray that family court goes smoothly and that our court date is scheduled as expected. Also, pray that God will continue to provide the funds, favor, patience, and encouragement He has heaped upon us already! I'm reminded, Better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere. Psalm 84:10

 

It's all so surreal. To be excited for a transatlantic flight - actually four of those doozies... That is God and only God! All for His glory. Can't wait to see my babies!

 

Love,

Patty

Here is where the world of adoption has taken us. I have a friend in Homeland Security!

 

We are STILL waiting for a court date in ET. Sigh... How long, Lord? Yes, I know. As long as You say. Your plans are perfect.

 

So, now we find ourselves more than two years into the process of adoption and we have important papers ready to expire. We need an updated home study. Oh, yeah. Again. $400. We need an updated I171H. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services  (USCIS) must have on file a "provisional approval" to file an I600A. The I171H is the provisional approval which gets filed so the I600A - orphan petition - can be approved and filed. I just thought you might want a glimpse into what all this paperwork is. Thank you Ms. "J" at the National Benefits Center of Homeland Security! You saved the day when you told me I can scan our papers straight to you! We have to be fingerprinted and processed by May 28 and I realized that the end of May is just a month away.

 

Time seems to crawl when you are separated from your children.

 

We are asking for continued prayers:

That our boys are nourished, nurtured, and protected while they wait. They have seen pictures of us and know that we are waiting to bring them home.

That we remain patient and continue to trust in God who has this all worked out already - in His perfect timing.

That we aren't discouraged or beat down by questions, doubts, negativity, costs, etc.

That God's favor is on our paperwork and requests for updates and appointments.

 

 

At the end of the day, not a moment has gone by that I'm not extremely humbled, grateful, and giddy-excited about how God is growing our family and what He is teaching us about orphans and adoption. This is an adventure, and sometimes difficult and chaotic journey. I can honestly say it's the best "thing" God has done in and for us! Not just the adoption of our boys. I'm talking about His adoption of US! Yes. Adoption ROCKS.

 

Easter... New Life, New Sons!

Aaaahhhh... The colors of Spring. The colors of Easter! I LOVE Easter. I love the vibrant colors and the refreshing outdoor breeze of the season, and the time with family and friends in celebration. Most of all, I love what we celebrate. We remember Christ on the cross and Christ absent from the tomb and alive once again! His body made new and perfect as He takes His rightful place at the right hand of the Father. Alleluia! I love that all the pain, sorrow, agony, and darkness of the torture, spilled blood, and excruciating death Jesus experienced for us is not what we're left with as we break bread together on Easter Sunday; but fervently we remember with joy His resurrection and the new life He gave us. It's this gift of new life I like to set my mind and heart on, especially when I want to break down in sobs when I think of Yeshuah's sacrifice. The price has been paid! We are debt free and will make it home to our Father with a new body and a new, eternal life!

One of the more beautiful displays of color during the holiday is beheld in the rainbows of eggs dyed and decorated by young and "mature" alike. :) I know some Christians choose not to do the whole egg-dye thing, but we do, and we still like to display them, too. Historically, eggs have been seen as a symbol of winter passing and spring and life reemerging from what seemed to be death. In Jewish tradition, hardboiled eggs are eaten when mourning the death of a loved one. They are served during Passover as the Jewish people mourn the destruction of their Temple where Passover lambs were sacrificed. In our home and on our plates, a hard boiled egg serves as a reminder of the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins, defeating death forever and bringing new life.

It can't be mere coincidence that we received an email last night (the day after Easter Sunday) that we will be submitted to court in Ethiopia next week! We are closer to bringing two new lives into our home! So, we should know within the next three weeks when we'll be traveling to appear in court and meet our boys. Sigh... We are continuing to celebrate the truth and joy of Easter. Christ died and rose again for each of us and God wants all to know this. He has chosen our boys, and our family, for a new life. This is what He does for those who walk in faith and know truly who He is.



Do these little hands have any idea that God has been holding them since He was forming them in their mother's womb? Now I get to be Mom to them, and hold their hands, and bandage their scraped knees, sing to them at bedtime, wipe their tears, teach them English, and help them dye eggs next Easter. We get to tell them about the sacrifice Jesus made for them and how much He loves them!

Next

What's next? That's the thought; sometimes the words we speak as we move about our daily routine and monotony. Why do we ask what tomorrow brings? Why do we try to predict where we'll be in the next week, or month, or year? Human nature, I suppose. Yucky - human nature. We need the nature of Christ, not that of the flesh. Me thinks...the only "next" we should be pondering is eternity. Yes?

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
                                                                                        2 Peter: 8-9

We want tomorrow to come so quickly that we forget about the good things that God has for us today! We can make so much more out of each moment of each day if we just stop to think about the eternal impact each moment can make. That was a mouthful. Think about it, though. If I am still and intentionally stand in the presence of God each day I will receive the best of what He has for me, and the best is Him. His heart. His desires. His will. In the end, and the end will come, that which truly matters is what Jesus did for us. Do we overlook the love displayed on the cross and the blood spilled for our sins? Or do we kneel at the cross and gaze at our Savior; spending time with Him so we can know who He is... and what He has for us?

In those daily moments I imagine the thought of tomorrow, or next week, or next year can become fleeting, and the anticipation and joy of eternity with this King I've been spending time with... it makes me see time as a precious gift to use within the will of God - to get to know Him better, and to serve Him and our loved ones with the gospel. Each and every day becomes like one thousand years of loving, serving, learning, praying, worshiping, teaching. Being with and being like Jesus for just today is the same as one thousand years in the eyes of God. And what is one thousand years to Him? In terms of "earthly time" it's a blink of His eye. Here today. Gone tomorrow. That's why we can't take for granted what is here today, because it will be gone tomorrow. Yet, one thousand years in the sand of God's hourglass was purchased for each of us by His Son on the cross.

Before He was arrested, Jesus told His disciples that He would have to leave them and that where He was going they couldn't follow; not yet. Then He willingly suffered the most heinous, excruciating torture and as He yielded His spirit to His Father He said, "It is finished." Done. Finito. The end. We don't have to worry about what comes next. NEXT includes whatever God has for us. It might be a successful, prosperous life with few challenges, but maybe not. Maybe what comes next is illness, poverty, hunger, death. If we are in Christ and He is in us, each day is still a gift. We can show one thousand years worth of love to those around us, and tell at least one more person about Jesus each day.

I thought I might have at least hugged and kissed my African sons by this Easter, but we haven't made it there yet. Some days it feels like we'll be waiting one thousand years before we get a court date! :-) That is our "next" and it will happen, and I'm pretty sure it won't take one thousand years. In the meantime, I'm living for Christ each day trying to love and serve my family, appreciating and praying for each friend, hoping for someone to share the gospel with, and finding myself on my face in repentance knowing I was the reason - the culprit - that nailed Jesus to a cross. This Easter I thank God again for His redemption and for the gift of eternity in heaven; my ultimate NEXT. I'm amazed at how patient and longsuffering He is with me!

For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!
                                             Psalm 84:10-12

What are YOU waiting for?

I know what I'm waiting for! I want my boys home! Sheesh. Rhyan says she "misses" her brothers in Ethiopia, like she's known them all her life. Well, maybe she has. Sometimes I feel like I have. Even so, I can't wait to study their little faces, hear their voices for the first time, find out which hand they like to hold their fork in, take pictures of them playing baseball with Ty and sitting on the couch while their sister reads to them. Sniff, sniff... I am waiting...

Isn't this exactly what God asks us to do? I mean, since the dawn of time as we know it, He has told His children to wait. Wait Noah! I will send the rain. Wait Abraham! I will make you a father of nations. Wait Moses! I will deliver my people through you. Wait David! You will be King of the Israelites. Wait Elizabeth! You will have a son and he will baptize My Son, in My name. Oh yes, and - Wait Son! Your time to serve and teach my people will come, and then you will die for them. Whoa.

You will die... Have you ever thought about that wait? Hhhhmmm... What did that feel like? Ouch. Here's the thing. I find myself almost being ashamed of any kind of "complaining" or "anxiety" over this wait for a court date and our Gotcha Day. (That refers to the day we "get" our boys forever. :-)) It's going to happen. God has made promises all throughout history and I trust that when we line up with His will and plans, He continues to deliver. The wait that I sit in now is a joyful, expectant wait. I get giddy knowing that we are adding LIFE to our family. Just like a pregnant woman knows that child in her womb before she sees what color each strand of hair on his head is, I know my boys and eagerly await the precious gift of tangibly loving them as sons.

You will die... Really. My week started out rough as I learned that it might be another month before we receive a court date in Ethiopia. Boo. But my lament was put to shame when a childhood friend passed on Wednesday morning; a victim of an evil disease. Let me add that he was younger than me, father of two boys, husband of a best friend from junior high, and just a really great guy. Ugh. Pain. My heart breaks for all his loved ones. My heart breaks thinking of their wait. They didn't wait for life to start anew. They didn't wait knowing that joy would invade their home in a few short months. When the diagnosis came, they waited in anticipation of loss. They prayed and hoped for a cure, but ALS is unforgiving and we live in a world broken and damaged by sin. The truth hurts and the disease took Gary way before what we think his time should've been. How can I come to grips with that? How can I make sense out of the wait that was necessary on the part of all of Gary's loved ones? I can only rest on the knowledge that waiting is what God calls all of us to do, because He has something good waiting for all of us who love Him and are called to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) He knows the plans He has for us, even when all we see is the pain and the loss. How can He ask this of us? Because He experienced it Himself FOR us, through His Son.

You will die... What did that wait feel like to Jesus? Well, we know a couple things. We know that Jesus chose to spend his last hours on this earth with his loved ones. He broke bread with them, drank wine with them, and celebrated the time they had left together. Matthew the disciple also tells us that they sung a hymn before they went out to the Mount of Olives. (26:30) They sung to God - led by Jesus is my guess, as He waited to be executed! While Jesus waited for His impending death He felt and experienced all that any other human would feel being diagnosed with mortal finality. Yet, He praised His Father and worshiped Him in song. He seized life and He loved without fail. He didn't try to change the inevitable. He didn't question His Father. He simply waited.

We know Jesus was scared and filled with sorrow. The gospels tell us that He voiced His sorrow to His disciples. He said, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful..." (Matthew 26:38) Then He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39 Jesus waited in agony for His flesh to be destroyed. He cried out to God in His sorrow, yet He submitted in obedience. He prayed not simply for His life to be spared. He prayed for God's will to be done. And I believe He asked His Father to give Him strength and perseverance to endure what needed to happen knowing that the end result was so worth it all! This is LOVE fellow Christians. This is knowing how to wait on God.

Be still and wait. How are we still when waiting on God? We take each day for what it is and what it brings us. We cherish the moments with loved ones and celebrate life with them. We live in mercy, practicing forgiveness and grace; knowing that which flows from us also returns to us. We pray and spend time with God sharing our thoughts, feelings, desires, fears. Laying it all down and listening for His still small voice - or earth-shaking revelations. I learned even further what it means to be still and wait this week. I learned that we are all waiting for God to move in our lives and we need to see the goodness of what is on the other side of the wait. For some it's bittersweet. The goodness may be the promise of eternal rest from pain and suffering, and the bliss of heaven with Jesus. There is sorrow in that waiting as our human hearts break at the expectation of loss. We grieve at the close of these waiting periods, BUT I pray that the grief passes into a promise fulfilled of something beautiful. A gift from God who rewards our waiting when done in faith.

For others, the wait is one that has us on pins and needles knowing that a new chapter of life that isn't entirely about loss is upon us. The waiting time must be a season of rest but also of preparation. I've come to understand there actually is a loss to prepare for in our family. It's a loss of what we know; how we do things. The old will be gone and the new will be here, and we'll have to learn how to do life and family differently. Is it amazing and joyful and miraculous? YES! Will it be easy? My guess is, no. There will be difficult days and new challenges. Yet, the reward and goodness of what comes after the passing - the death of our old family and the birth of our new family - is priceless.

Jesus waited for his death on the cross to come to fruition. There was pain and suffering. His family waited and mourned. Can you imagine what His mother felt, knowing her son would be put to death an innocent man? Huge ouch. I know a mom who experienced that same emotion and pain. God bless and strengthen you, Kathy Demarino. What we all need to see is what the purpose of our waiting really is. In the end, it's really about God's love and grace for His children. His plan for His Son to be crucified was all about His rescue mission for us! When we are waiting on God, whether we are waiting on something joyful or something tragic, let's be still, listen for God, and know He has something so good on the other side He's just waiting to do for us.

Worshiping in the waiting,
Patty