Steps Forward

It has taken us several weeks to find a Notary Public who's commission is good for a year or-more, to meet us at our Doctor's office. After multiple phone calls to "mobile" notaries without success, we discovered that a friend from Church is a Notary! What a blessing! Today we are finally getting our "medical forms" checked off the list. Thank you Keller family!!!

This Thursday is our first Home Study visit. We aren't sure what to expect, but I can't wait to get started. The paper work required before they would meet with us took over a month to gather. Clearance letters from every state we have lived in since the age of 18 was a major pain, considering how much we have moved. Well... it's also been a while since we were 18.

This is a great week of moving closer to our boys coming home. We received a call that Chernet, the oldest, had chicken pox. It was going around the orphanage. It made my desire to be mothering him and caring for him so very real. They assured me that he is being well taken care of and everyone encouraged me that it's a good thing that he has gotten the chicken pox over with.

Now we're off to the Doctor's office, then the Police Station (more about that later). Thanks for riding this roller coaster with us!

Going “Green”

The adoption process has brought attention to the fact that my “Green” card needs to be renewed. You wouldn’t believe (unless you-too are an “alien”) what kind of intimidating and oppressive atmosphere they create at the USCIS Office (a.k.a. “Immigration”). While at the immigration office I met a lady who overheard me mentioning that I was in the process of an International adoption. She shared with me that she recently adopted a 4-year-old special-needs boy from China. She gushed as she talked about her son stating, ”This is the best thing my Husband and I have ever done.” Her child has Cerebral Palsy.

Her next statement was, “I have learned so much about what it means to be adopted by God.” Wow. The more I’ve thought about her statement the more God has shown me that He loves us just as we are. He adopted us with all our imperfections. He takes full responsibility for our care. He gladly becomes our source for all of our needs, both spiritual, as well as natural. His grace and His love give us hope for a future, just like this little boy from China!

I’m thankful to God for the divine appointment of meeting this woman while standing in line at the Immigration office. She was from Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is where most of my extended family lives. It was such an encouragement to me (and a really-cool “small-world” moment…) as we continue on this adventure of bringing our boys home.

It’s a small world after all

This week I received “royal” mail. I opened the package with great expectation to discover it was certified copies of my birth certificate that I had ordered from England. Getting copies of a birth certificate sounds like an easy request, but not when one of you was born in England and the other was born in Japan.

David’s parents were serving in the military when he was born, so he entered the world in Fukuoka, Japan. The two of us now live in the birthplace of America, Philadelphia, and are adopting two sons from Ethiopia.

Our lives are like the ride at DisneyWorld with the beautiful dolls singing in their native tongue, “It’s a small world after all”. I was going to try and write it in French, but all I’ve got is “ Un petit”.

I’m so thankful to call the Creator of the Universe, “Abba Father”. Nothing is impossible for Him. He brought David and I together from two different parts of the world and now he is connecting us with our sons. He’s got the whole world in His hands!!!