You are Amazing, God

You may remember last fall when I became concerned with unethical international adoptions. We spoke with our coordinator and found out about some changes that had been made in Ethiopia. We felt fine to proceed with our adoption. That’s not to say my concerns were in vain. God used that time of research and prayer to cultivate in me, compassion for birth mothers. Therefore when we received the referral for Joseph, my heart immediately broke for his mother. I don’t know if a day went by that I didn’t think about her. I knew she loved Joseph. I imagine she thought about him every day.  I prayed and prayed that if she was able to take care of him and WANTED to take care of him, she would be able to get him back.

When she appeared in court to relinquish her rights she gave information that was different than what she gave at the orphanage. This meant Joseph’s paperwork had to be amended. No big deal, right? Well, in Ethiopia (and probably all throughout Africa) they don’t get in a hurry. They get to it when they get to it. Sometimes I wish we lived like that.

Weeks went by with no word on his paperwork. Weeks went by without a court date. Then, finally about a week or so ago, Lesley emailed me to say we were just waiting on the paperwork to be finalized. Finally, we were on the home stretch!

Then, on Monday, my phone rang. It was Lesley.

 “I have some bad news.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Joseph’s mother changed her mind.”

“That’s ok,” then I smiled and praised God for being God.

We Three Kings

Did you know that that three kings did not visit Jesus at his birth and bring him gifts? It is simply a tradition of man that has somehow made its way into Christmas nativity scenes. The Bible never mentions how many wise men there were and it never says that they are kings. They did not visit Jesus while he was in the stable, but when they were living in a house after he was at least 18 months old.

There are other traditions that have become significant in Christianity and I am questioning whether or not they are honoring God. Christmas in general is always something that I deal with. Sunday worship is another.

I know, Paul says in Romans 14:5-6, "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God."

I question whether or not that passage can even be used in context of Saturday vs. Sunday rest or with celebrating Christmas. But even so, why do we often use Pauls writings to justify something we do that Jesus did not authorize?

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-19 "Do no think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

He also says in Matthew 7:22-23 "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name... and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlesness."

Matthew 13:41 "The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace..."

Matthew 15:6 "So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God..."

I would say those are some mighty condemning statements. I'm not trying to be legalistic here. I am simply searching for the truth. It's getting harder and harder for me to write-off the statements of Jesus as if he only meant them for the three years he went about preaching.

Stay tuned for more as I re-read through all the gospels without a filter, and without Paul.

One More Fundraiser

We expect to travel within the next 3 weeks. We checked on plane tickets and WOAH! They are double what they were at the beginning of the month. If our court date happens to be in January, I don't suppose they will decrease in price since Ethiopia's Christmas is in January.

We have enough for this trip thanks to our church family who have given so graciously to the adoption fund. However, we hope to leave some money in the account after we are finished in hopes it will encourage another family to adopt. Therefore I am launching another fundraiser.

I made these peg people for my son last summer. I had forgotten about them until today when he got them out to play. He absolutely loves them.

They come in a set of 8 (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white and black). You can specify if you want blonde (yellow), brown or black hair. You can  specify skin color. You can also specify boy or girl (girls will have a bow painted in the hair.) If you have no preference, I will mix and match randomly.

The cost is $16 for local peeps and $20 if you need them mailed.

If you need these by Christmas, I suggest placing your order by the end of this week. We hope to get travel approval next week!!

Peg People

Local Pick-Up/Deliver $18.00 USD w/Shipping $20.00 USD

Options

Girls Boys Girls & Boys

customize

This is Where it Gets Hard

Our preliminary hearing was yesterday. I waited patiently for Lesley to call and let us know how it went. The day came and went. I called her this morning and she basically said that no news is good news. Unless there is a problem, we usually don't hear from Ethiopia at this point.

So now we wait for the MOWA letter. It could be a few weeks. No one really knows.

And that's the hard part. Just sitting here, waiting for a call that may not come for weeks. Going about your day, hearing the phone ring wondering if it's Lesley.

But what's worse is knowing that this doesn't even compare to how it will feel once we have been to Ethiopia, met Joseph, been declared legally his parents, came home without him, then once again waiting on a call that may take months.

Anticipating

I am assuming Joseph's mother has appeared in court by now. I am anxously waiting to hear how it went. My heart aches for her, but I would be lying if I said I won't be sad if she decided not to give him up. I tried to guard my heart until it was official. However, a week ago while I was sitting in church, one of the recent photos we recieved of him popped up in my mind. I smiled inside at how healthy he looked. He appears to be kind of stocky. I then pictured him as a football player. At that moment, I fell in love. It had nothing to do with football. I don't even like football. I never want my boys to play the dangerous sport. It was just imagining him developing his own personality and his own interests. No doubt that whatever activitiy my kids decide to pursue, I will be there watching even if it's something as boring as dangerous as football, as boring as baseball, or as ear piercing as a saxophone (my least favorite instrument). I have already seen that in our daughter. She is not creative like me. She is scientific and mathematical and I love that about her. Because it's her. And I will love things about Joseph even if they aren't my favorite things.

My Playlist

I am old school. I don't have a smart phone and my phone, obviously is not an Apple. It does have an mp3 player, though. However, when I started the Couch to 5K running program, I discovered that it wouldn't play iTunes mp3s. Apple has made it so that you must have an Apple brand mp3 player in order to use their iTunes.

But there is a way....

You can burn a CD using iTunes. Then open the CD in Windows Media player. Rip the CD, then use that particular mp3 file in your non-Apple brand mp3 player. I know, it's a lot of steps. That's why any more mp3 purchases will be done via Amazon.

Now, on to my playlist that I will use to get me through the 20-30 hours of traveling.

How Can I Keep From Singing
From the Inside OUt
How Great Is Our God
Hear Us From Heaven
Revelation Song
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
Be Thou My Vision (one of my favorite hymns)
Before the Throne of God Above
I Have Always Loved You
Jesus Paid It All
Speak O Lord
You and Me (so far the only secular song)
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (my favorite Christmas song sung by David Phelps)
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
My Savior My God
The Wonderful Cross
While I'm Waiting (my theme song for this adoption)

I need more, so please leave a comment if you can think of one I should add.

Update

Ethiopia is making some changes to the adoption process and we are excited about it!

The preliminary hearing for our case is set for December 3. This is the hearing in which the birth mother is interviewed. Then, we must wait until all paperwork has been submitted before we will have a date for our portion of court. If you know anything about Ethiopian adoptions, you know that no adoption is completely approved before the MOWA letter is received. In the past, it was common for a family to pass court "pending the MOWA letter." Under the currect changes, we won't even have a court date until they receive the MOWA letter.

I can already see God answering our prayers. We have asked. We have seeked. And we have knocked. "Please God, let our adoption be totally transparent and ethical. We are proceeding in faith. You and only you can shut the door on this adoption!

So, now we just wait. We will wait on December 3rd to come. We may hear something the following day, we may not. We may travel in December, we may not. But I will gladly wait another month or two to meet Joseph if it means that the time between the two trips will be shortened. However, I do not know if these changes will affect the embassy side of things. We shall wait and see. It has been amazing to see how God is working in all of this. Rumor is going around that Ethiopia is trying to become a "one-trip" adoption process. Oh, that is our prayer for the families in the future!