Quick Update from Ethiopia

Their embassy appointment went very smoothly and Minte's visa was approved. They all spent most of the day at the children's home, hanging out with the kids. Wednesday night is New Year's Eve, when they do their traditional celebrations for the Holy Day tomorrow. They are planning on celebrating a tradition where fathers and sons burn bundles of dry sticks on New Year's Eve. They are hoping that Minte will be able to stay with them tonight. He is completely comfortable with his new family and it would be nice for him to stay with them tonight, since it is a special occasion. They wished eveyone a Happy New Year!

O Happy Day!!

Hi Everyone,
Cyndi has been unable to access her blog from Africa, so you get me, a friend with no writing ability whatsoever! But, I know you all want an update, so here we go...

First of all, big sister said that they met Minte and he is "precious! just precious!" The love in her voice just moved me to tears. She said that he is very funny, loves to joke around and has already been playfully pranking her with his big brother. :)

They actually met Minte for the first time at a local coffee type shop. They were there, standing in front of the shop and saw Tegist drive up with Minte! After watching them find a parking spot and stop the car, Minte got out of the car, opened his arms as he walked towards them and then hugged all of them. They have had a lot of fun with him today and he even asked if he could go back with them tonight. (such an answer to prayers!)

He speaks some English and his birthday is actually on October 2nd instead of in September.

They had their Embassy appointment this morning and that went well, no glitches.

Tomorrow they will get to be with Minte again for most of the day, get his Visa and visit a museum in Addis. They also plan to visit the baby home and love on the precious little ones there.

They sounded tired, but so joyful. They were getting ready for bed and hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight. Please pray for that.

More updates to come...

One Day More

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make His face shine upon us,
that Your ways may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for You rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations on earth.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.

Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67

What a fitting Psalm to read today. This day that we embark on our journey to another nation, another land, and another season in our family's life. This is truly what it is about! What a great God we serve.

"One day more" until we are in Ethiopia! Today is the day, our departure! We have been working feverishly all week, and finally all the bags are zipped up and ready to go. Along the way there have been moments of sheer excitement and moments of utter panic, with every emotion in between. I am learning to stop and actually picture myself in the palm of God's hand, holding me and all of our circumstances. Our loving God started this process and He is with us even now.

We depart today at around 4:00 PM our time. We will fly from DFW to Frankfurt, and have a short 1 1/2 hour layover there. From there we fly to Sudan, where we will be for just under an hour while we refuel (and where some passengers will deplane) and then it is on to Addis Ababa Ethiopia! We will arrive at approximately 8:00 PM there, so after we clear customs we will go straight to the guest house and try to settle in and s-l-e-e-p. Early Tuesday morning we will go to the childrens' home and meet our sweet Minte for the first time. What a precious moment that will be! Sometime while you're sleeping on Monday night, across the world a new family will be "born." (So if God wakes you up in the wee hours Monday night, please spend some time rejoicing with us!)

Our Embassy appointment is Tuesday as well, so after spending some time at the children's home with our new son we will head over there, where we hope and pray all will go smoothly. Then we will go out to dinner to celebrate!

Wednesday we will spend the day at the children's home with Minte and all of the precious children and babies there. We have brought some games to play and some music and activities. We are anticipating just soaking them in! Minte is there with his 3 friends who are older boys as well, a 3 year old little girl who is a sister to his bestest friend, and about 8 babies. It is a beautifully-designed, brand new home where they have lived for just a few months. We hope to be able to enjoy time with him (most of all!) as well as play with his friends and love on their caregivers.

Thursday we will go do some sight seeing. Minte is a "history buff" we've been told, so we are planning on going to the museum where "Lucy" (the oldest human skeleton that we all learned about in Social Studies) is. There are another couple of museums and a palace that we might visit as well. We are excited to soak up some of the rich history of this ancient and beautiful land.

Friday we are having a "Thank You" party at the children's home, for all of the children. We have prepared a fun puppet show of one of their favorite children's stories, "Silly Mammo." We also have Twister, songs to dance to, a few other games, some silly string and all kinds of fun planned. What a day of celebration! This will be Minte's final goodbye to his friends and caregivers there, so it will be an emotion-filled day for sure.

Saturday we have an opportunity for more sight-seeing. This day is somewhat open, and may possibly be when we go to a village where we have been working with our non-profit and have identified two orphanages with paper-ready kids but who have no known affiliation with an accredited agency. Please pray that our relationship with them will be strengthened and that we can love on these kids, and that God will give us some direction for this area of our ministry.

Sunday we are excited to attend church for the first time with Minte. I absolutely cannot wait to worship in Ethiopia. Cannot wait! There is simply nothing like worshiping in an African church. And to do so as a first time family of five... "one day more"of celebration!

Monday is a shopping day. It will be interesting, I am sure! I am not good at the "bargaining" side of shopping in other countries, and am easily overwhelmed in markets. I usually come home with such odd assortments of items because I simply buy things just to be able to move on the the next vendor! But, Bethany has never met a market she couldn't navigate through, so I'm counting on her!

Tuesday we have another free day, and it could be that on this day I meet with some teachers who are coming in from a village where Buckner/Bright Hope has a school. I have been asked to provide some "teacher training" for these precious teachers. I have prepared a few things, but since I'm not entirely sure what their needs are, I'm praying that God will completely guide our time together and that they will be blessed by the materials and information. We also pick up our German visa on this day.

Wednesday is our last day in the country, where we will have some last minute running around and then depart, following the same path home. (Ethiopia to Sudan to Frankfurt to USA!!) "One day more" until we arrive at home!

We will arrive back on American soil on Thursday the 18th, at around 2:30 PM. And begin life here where there will be a "new normal." :)

** Note: I have written all of the above with this scripture running through my mind: "Man makes plans, but God directs his steps." We know that it is all in His hands, and that each day will take the turn that He planned for it. **

Internet is sketchy there, so I'm not sure how often I will be able to update. I have given some trusted friends my blog password so if I do get a moment in between power outages and when the internet is up, I'll shoot them an email and they can post it on the blog. Or if the internet is okay, I'll post here myself. I hope I'll be able to send some pictures, but that may or may not happen. It will be pictureville on this blog when I get back, though!

Thank you, THANK YOU for your prayer up to this point. We would not be going forward if not for those faithful prayers and our powerful God. Here are some things that we would love prayer for in the days ahead:

*Physical health for all of us. I have had quite a few issues in recent weeks (not the heart this time, thankfully!) Luke began getting a migraine last night, and realized he only has one "one time use" migraine medicine left. Please pray that he experiences NO migraines while we are there. Please pray that if any of us experience any stomach difficulty that we can manage it and that it is short-lived. Minte has been on medicine for a tapeworm and has had discomfort, and we have been praying that he is much better. (We have heard that he has not been slowed down by it at all!)

*Bonding, bonding, bonding. This is our main prayer request. If our family comes to your mind at any time, please PLEASE pray for our bonding with our new son. This is our first and utmost concern on this trip and in the months to come. He is the reason we are going there and we are trusting God ahead of time, believing him for the miracle of knitting our hearts together as a family. I am so prayerful for his relationship with his new siblings. Please pray that for them as well... that they will not be able to imagine a time when they were not brothers and sister. I am taking my Power of a Praying Parent book with me, to pray through on the plane, and the prayer about family relationships is a powerful one. If you have that book, will you join me in praying that for my children? I will be praying that repeatedly while we are on this trip. We have been told that he is excited, but also quite nervous about meeting us. He is wondering if we will like him. He is wondering if he will like us! And there is a fair amount of nervousness on our side of it as well. So, above all, please pray that God will do what only He can do. He is a God who makes things new, who creates, who knits secret things together, who sets the lonely in families.

*Details. There are so many details which must come together on this trip. Namely, all of the documents that should be waiting for us at the embassy, and all of the documents that we must carry over with us. What we are supposed to say and when, to what authority, etc... Until Minte is sitting right here with me on this couch someday there is are opportunities for this to fall through! (Okay, that was dramatic, but still. There is much to still be done to get him here!)

*Above all, that God will be glorified in each area of this trip, in each one of us. It's all for Him. He has faithfully brought us this far and will continue... not for our glory but for His. And there will be such gladness!!

Thank you, thank you. You are such a blessing. Thank you for reading this far, for praying with us all the way from the "we-think-we-might-adopt" stage, through the "we-think-it's-him" stage and now the "bringing-him-home" stage. You are very much a part of this with us! For those of you we will see at the airport on the 18th, I can't wait for you to meet him!!!! I know you will be such a blessing to him, and I know he will bless us all.

We love y'all.

Ciao!

Considering an Older Child

"Two years ago, my family adopted a 10-year-old boy from Ethiopia. Of our seven children — four by birth, three by adoption — Fisseha has been in every sense the easiest transition. I tell people now: You should simply start your family with a 10-year-old Ethiopian boy."

Melissa Fay Greene
Author of There Is No Me Without You

(The entire article is found here. Her blog is found here.)

Preparation

If you live in the Gulf Coast area or have connections there, please know that we are praying for all who are being effected by Hurricane Gustav. My heart goes out to all who are having to evacuate, and I admire those rescue workers who are going in to be on hand to help.

This is the first year in a l-o-n-g time that we haven't gone to my Grandmother's house for Labor Day weekend. We usually spend this long weekend with her and celebrate my birthday there. I am so sad that we couldn't go this year, but since this is our last weekend at home I find myself with quite a bit of preparation to do for our trip. The rest of my family is out hunting today, so I have the house to myself to finish some packing details and work on our preparations to travel. Ahhh...

Speaking of preparation, I wanted to share something I came across this summer. I have this printed out and on my mirror in my bathroom. I realized a few months ago that many times I have gone on with my day, not fully "armed," and thus, not truly prepared to do what God has for me to do. I hope this blesses you as much as it has blessed me.



“Father thank you for the provision You have made for victory over Satan.

Now by faith I put on the girdle of Truth. May my life today be motivated by Truth. Help me to maintain integrity.

By faith I put on the breastplate of righteousness. May my heart love that which is righteous and refuse what is sinful. Thank You for the imputed righteousness of Christ.

By faith I put on the shoes of peace. Help me to stand in Christ’s victory today. Help me to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker.

By faith I take the shield of faith. May I trust You and Your Word today and not add fuel to any of Satan’s darts. Thank You that I can go into this day without fear.

By faith I put on the helmet of salvation. May I remember today that Jesus is coming again. Help me to live in the future tense. Protect my mind from discouragement and despair.

By faith I take the sword of the Spirit. Help me to remember Your Word and use it today.

Father, by faith I put on the armor. May this be a day of victory.”

Dr. Warren Wiersbe
From “Strategy of Satan”


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And now, our menu for the week. This is my last week to cook at home before we leave and come back with a new member of the family (who told us that his favorite American food is pasta!) so it feels a bit strange. I'm not sure why. I'm in the midst of thinking through what I would like to have in the freezer for when we get back. I may make some things this week. Or when we get back, we may have lots of pasta and frequent the Ethiopian restaurants in the area!

Monday: ~Labor Day~ my family is out, so no kitchen "labor" for me today!
Tuesday: Broccoli Cheese Soup (from FIFI but similar to this recipe), salad, bread
Wednesday: Happy Birthday to Me! Pizza for the kids and date night with my cute husband.
Thursday: Baked Chicken and Zucchini
Friday: Spaghetti

For more menus, visit Orgjunkie.com. Have a blessed week!

It's A Two Way Street

"It's an admirable thing you're doing."

"Oh, he will be SO blessed! He has no idea!"

Those words were spoken to me in the past day or two. Countless other sentiments like that have been shared with us over the past 8 months. Something inside me gets uncomfortable when I hear it, and I'll share more about that when I have more time. But, the overwhelming feeling I have when I hear those well-intentioned words is... "We're not rescuing him, he's rescuing us!" Or it could be that in some ways we're rescuing each other.

What is he rescuing me from? Among other things... from a life that's increasingly becoming more about "me" as my kids get older. From the temptation to not stretch myself or avoid effectively communicating with someone who speaks another language. From a hard heart. From complacency. From blending in and feeling comfortable doing so. From parenting within my "comfort zone." From being not as "fun" a homeschool teacher as I used to be. From avoiding grief (when I have a Savior Who modeled otherwise). He's rescuing me from missing out getting to know a huge part of God's heart. He's rescuing me from these and SO many other things.

I'm heading out the door this morning... but I just had to link this wonderful article written by a friend of ours who just joined the staff of World Orphans:

We Need The Orphan As Much As The Orphan Needs Us

It's a wonderful thing Minte's doing.

We will be SO blessed. We have no idea.

Closer Still

I FINALLY got a chance to sit at the computer just now, and couldn't wait to update and let those of you checking in know that, YES! They emailed (not DHL'd) our correct info to the Ethiopian Embassy late yesterday. Yey!!

So, that does it. We are booking our tickets to travel on the 7th, only two days later than the tickets we had to let go on Friday. We are so excited! Thank you SO much to all of you who have been praying about this with us.

I am so happy that this weekend will be Minte's next-to-last one without his family with him, and that next weekend we will be on our way. Of course, I'm learning to put "God-willing" in front of everything I say. It's all in His mighty hands and He is putting all of the pieces together in the way that will glorify Him the most.

I am thankful that it looks like one of my biggest prayers through all of this will be answered... that Minte will be with us before he turns 10 on September 22. In fact, I already booked his birthday party at one of those fun places where you jump around on all of the inflatables and slides. I thought he would think that's fun, and it's not heavily dependent on language. He'll definitely know he's being celebrated!

Today was "Kids' Clothes Day" according to my Grand Schedule And Supreme Plan. Well, we will now have "Kids' Clothes Day: The Sequel" on Friday because there are simply not enough hours in the day. But, we got some stuff for the party (Friday's category) yesterday and found some travel games/ entertainment items for the trip (which was one of my categories for next week), so we're ahead of the game in some areas. I'm simply amazed right now at God's provision for all of this... His provision of time, energy, resources, creativity... all of it. He is so faithful.

Again, thank you so much for praying!

A Step Closer

We found out yesterday that the USCIS office here emailed our updated information to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire yesterday. Yey! We had to release our plane tickets on Friday, so we checked to see if they were still available. They were not. SO, we have tickets on hold, departing two days later (Sept. 7th.) We are hopeful and prayerful that we will find out in the next couple of days from the Visa Center that they have processed our information and have cabled/emailed it to Ethiopia. We don't want them to DHL it, if at all possible. They indicated that they could handle it either way, so we're trying to get them to just do the fastest thing. Because, until we know the information is in Addis Ababa, waiting for us, we just don't feel confident booking flights. SO, if you would, please pray that the info flies through the world-wide-interweb and lands where it should, SOON!

Meanwhile, I have divided my days up into "categories" of preparing for the trip so I don't stand around, wringing my hands wondering what I should be doing, and I know I have it all covered:

Yesterday was Educational Materials Day. I'm taking some English Language materials to the kids there but have also been asked to do some teacher training at a school in another village while we're there, so I grabbed a few teacher materials as well as some supplemental materials for the school-aged kids. Educational Materials Day may occur next week, too. In fact, I'm sure it will. LOL

Today is Medicine Day. I am going to Walmart and buying every type of medicine for our trip, as well as get our travel prescriptions filled. I have a medicine bag perpetually packed for travel, but some of it is expired/depleted, so I am stocking back up. (Children's Tylenol, Pepto, first aid, etc.) One thing I also like to pack is powdered Gatorade. If someone gets a bug, you want to be able to re-hydrate and replace electrolytes quickly without the possibility of needing to be re-hydrated in a foreign hospital if at all possible. This really, really helped on our last trip to Ghana when Kyle was so sick.

Tomorrow is Kids' Clothes Day. The older two have clothing, but not enough for a 12-day trip, so tonight we are taking an inventory of jeans/t-shirts/jackets/etc. and grabbing whatever else we need tomorrow. Also, thanks to the wonderful gift cards from our shower, I can go buy Minte enough clothes for the trip. I packed him a bag back in July, but it's got summer shorts and shirts... and it's cooler there now! (The shorts will be put to good use when we return to Texas where we wear shorts through October...) I've got his "feet" in my wallet so I can buy him some shoes. Anyra traced around them while she was there and yesterday I cut them out and folded them up to take with me. Fun! (I made a copy of the original because I couldn't bear to cut the page where his actual feet had been!)

Thursday is Parents' Clothes Day, with a fun shopping trip with my Mom who has graciously offered to buy me some clothes for the trip and for life in general. I also need to buy a few things for Luke (like maybe some more of the awesome carpenter pants he always wears on mission trips so that he has ginormous pockets...).

Friday is Orphanage Party Day. We are preparing a party for the kids at the orphanage, and my older two have been planning a puppet show. We will put the finishing touches on the puppet show and go to the party/craft store to buy the rest of the supplies for the party. This will be fun!

Saturday is Finish the Boys' Room Day (involving a trip to Ikea! Yippee!!) We have put off buying an extra dresser and doing wall shelves for the boys' room, partly waiting for the whole thing to be final and partly due to busy-ness and procrastination. WELL, he is officially ours and this is potentially our last weekend at home, so it's time to head to Ikea for two new dressers and some shelves for the wall. And closet organizers. And whatever else I find.

SO there's my Week In Categories. (In the meantime we are doing school!)

Thanks for checking in on us and for your prayers. He's almost home!

Just What This M.O.M. Needed

Several weeks ago I found another family (actually in our area of the state!) who is adopting a precious Minte. So, she and I have been emailing back and forth and have begun calling ourselves "M.O.M.'s" for "Mom of Minte." Isn't that fun? Please pray for her. She's over there now, by herself, having flown over with her oldest son to join up with Minte and wait for the baby to pass court. Her husband will be joining them soon. I wanted to mention her and link her blog so that you could join me in praying for them. Their Embassy appointment did not go well yesterday (which very well could've happened to us if our case worker hadn't caught the age discrepency in our file at the embassy).

On our end, we have been contacting the National Visa Office every day this week, and my proactive and awesome husband even contacted our congressman's office yesterday. Please pray that the visa office would send the appropriate addendum to the US Embassy in Ethiopia quickly. We cannot book airfare until we know this is taken care of. And it's time. It's time to bring him home.

So, here's what I got this week. So fun!!


These are his school books for third grade. It's hard to tell in the picture, but they are about the size of composition books, and each are FILLED with writing. Lots and lots of copying and writing. All subjects. All I could think as I thumbed through them was that if Kyle had to do that much copying for school his arm would fall right off. Wow.

Isn't this fun? This DOES look like a 3rd grader's notebook, for sure! Lots of doodles.

For the most part it is in Amharic, of course. I am impressed! It looks like he has neat writing. :)

Some of his work is in English. One word in particular caught my eye. Look at number 3 above. He had no idea when he wrote that word months ago that he had one. And she's getting there as quickly as she can!!!

We haven't had time to capture the video and edit it, but I just had to show you some glimpses of him finding out about us.

This is a little boy reacting to the news that he has a family. He is crying tears of joy and Tegist (the director of his orphanage) is lovingly wiping the tears from his eyes.


Here he is, seeing the faces of his new mom and dad for the first time. I have watched this over and over, trying to imagine what must have been going through his mind. This is amazing to me.


Here is his big smile after he had gone through the whole book of pictures and it was given to him. I imagine the news was still sinking in!

This is the part that makes me stop breathing. He looks right at the camera and says, in English, "Mom? Dad? Thank you so much."

Yes, it's time. It's time to bring him home.

Monday's Menu and Mishmash

First of all, happy birthday to our precious niece, Gracie! Here she is with her Uncle Luke and cousin Bethany last week at a shower for her new cousin Minte. She looks so grown up! How quickly they go from the little girl on the left to the grown up girl on the right. Time flies!! Gracie, your smile and your spirit bless us all (and you can catch fish like nobody's business!) We can't wait to celebrate with you tonight at Peter Piper Pizza! We love you!


So, I haven't posted a menu or, well, anything at all in the past few weeks. As I always say, sometimes I'm too busy living it to blog about it! I haven't stopped menu planning, though, as it is always a sanity-saver for me.

This morning we are having these awesome waffles and homemade syrup. Yum!

Here's the rest of our week:

Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: baked potato soup, salad, bread
Wednesday: pan-fried tilapia, stir-fried vegetables, pasta, salad
Thursday: Bar-b-cups, green beans, corn
Friday: leftovers

For more menus and some GREAT organizing tips (perfect for this time of year!) visit Laura at OrgJunkie.com.

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Okay, on with the "mishmash." I looked up that word earlier to make sure it was a word. Yes, I am a geek that way. Here's what it means: "n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge." That's exactly what this post is!

First of all, a Minte update.

Our case worker has been in Ethiopia for the past couple of weeks. Before she left, we put together another photo album and a folder of notes that we and some of our friends and family had written to Minte. I printed the notes and emails on colored paper and put them in page protectors, then decorated a folder with his name on it. Of course the notes will have to be translated or read to him, but we wanted him to know he has a whole group of folks here waiting for him! We also sent him some black soccer shorts and a bag of dum-dum suckers. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)


A few days after she arrived, she sent us a couple of pictures and an email update:

"Most importantly, Minte is doing GREAT! Is so excited about ya'll coming. He has watched your dvd over and over again. He sends his love and is very interested in getting to know you. I have asked him the questions you had for him on video. BTW he likes to be called Minte. What a wonderful kid! He is a natural leader. All the children look up to him, even the babies. He is very good with the kids and is a good example for the children. He is silly, like we thought but can be serious when necessary. He loves history. He was so excited about the picture/letter book you sent and his shorts and he made sure to share his candy with everyone. You are very blessed! He can't wait to meet Bethany and Kyle."

Just LOOK at this picture! I LOVE IT!!!

I love seeing him holding what we sent him. I have pictures of him, and pictures of the stuff, and there are he and the stuff together! (Maybe that's weird, but I get a kick out of that.) I also think it is SO cool to see him holding a picture of us holding a picture of him! (The picture in the photo is here.) And, he looks so grown up. Oh my goodness!

And here is that fabulous smile I have come to love. SO fun.

Our caseworker is back this week, and she has the video of him finding out about us, as well as a video of him answering a whole page of questions I sent. We are SOOO ready to meet with her and get those videos!! Those will be gold to us! She also has his clothing sizes (I asked her to trace his feet on paper so I can cut around them and fit them into shoes to take to him) as well as his school books and report card. I am beyond excited to get all of that this week... I'll feel that much closer to him!

We had an itinerary reserved to travel on the 29th, but there's a small glitch with one of our papers at the US Embassy, so until that is resolved we did not book it. We had to let that itinerary go on Friday, so our next reservation is to leave on Sept. 5th. Please pray that the matter at the embassy is resolved and we can have a Sept. 9th embassy appointment! (For those of you who speak "international adoption", the glitch is that our 171 still reflects that we are adopting a child up to 5 years of age, they need the addendum that states that he is over 5. We don't have to be "re-approved" or submit a new 171, they just need to update the one we have. And they can do that electronically. If the immigration office here checks their email. Because you can't talk to them in person about it. No sirree.) SO, we've gone from 4 inches of papers away, to one paper away, to an email away. We're still getting closer and God is sovereign over it ALL.

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We recently went to dinner at a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant with two other couples who are adopting from Ethiopia through our agency. It was so much fun! A. had made the most beautiful Ethiopia-shaped cookies for each of us (including all 3 of our children!) using cookie cutters that she got here. I forgot to take a picture before we ate ours. Luke and I shared one, and Bethany and Kyle shared one. The other 3 are in the freezer for the kids to share when Minte gets here. (That'll be an even better picture!)

These two couples are so precious to us, and we feel so blessed to be walking this road together.

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Last week some dear friends gave us a "shower" for Minte. It was so much fun! So many generous family and friends gave us gift cards so that we can buy some clothing and some of the other things he needs. We are taking some things with us, but I look forward to taking him shopping sometime after he gets home and letting him choose what he likes to wear. I was looking at a picture of him recently in which he was wearing a donated "Grand Ole Opry" shirt and bright pink flip-flops, thinking that I bet he's never really chosen what *he* likes. He's always been given clothes (which is a blessing) but by age 10, certainly he has preferences. I can't wait to stand in Target with him and watch him decide which jacket or pants he wants. So, thank you to all of our friends who gave us gift cards and will be part of that day for him.

Isn't this fun? It's the Ethiopian flag made out of cupcakes! And and star made out of M & M's... "M" for "Minte" of course.


They had a big basket of popcorn from a wonderful gourmet popcorn shop in town. Someone told them that popcorn is popular in Ethiopia, and it must be because there was a recipe for spiced popcorn in the "Foods of Ethiopia" book I recently ordered. I have begun buying things that have the word "family" on it... picture frames, wooden signs, etc. because I want that to be one of the first English words he learns. I loved how Kristin used this as a centerpiece. It was very meaningful to me.

Everyone brought a photo of their family and a note to go in a book for him. Kristin had printed out the email update (from above) and framed it so everyone could read how he is doing. She also decoupaged a couple of photos of him onto canvases, and they perfectly match our decor in our house. What a treasure!

Many precious people came, and it was so moving to see so many people come who are excited to meet Minte. Luke made a wonderful video of him that played throughout the party, so everyone could see him, watching him sing and play with his friends. I would post pictures of the people, but in every one of them either my mouth is open or my eyes are closed. (Maybe that's vain, but hey... this is my blog, LOL.) I thought we got a picture with the hostesses, two of my very favorite people in this world, but it must have been on someone else's camera. **(Edit: Here it is!)

It was a very special day that meant the world to our family. Thank you to all of you who were there!

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The week before that we had my brother and his family staying with us. We had such a fun visit! They have three precious kiddos and we had fun going to Chuck E Cheese, Hawaiian Falls, blowing bubbles, making snow cones, playing with the toys, and laughing and LOTS of eating. They recently moved out of the area, so this was the first time we had a "visit" where they stayed for a few nights.

Helen Montellin

Kyle and Thomas in the tube at Chuck E Cheese

Bethany making snowcones for everyone

Enjoying snow cones and time together!

It was a blast! We have decided to make this an annual event!

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Last but not least in this Monday Mishmash... how about those Olympics??? Wow! We have had so much fun watching them, especially the gymnastics!

This banner is hanging above our TV right now. It's from China and it's what they would wave when the torch came by. Bethany brought it home from China a few weeks ago because we are Olympic NUTS around here. (That actual banner was waving as the actual Olympic torch went by on the actual street where Bethany actually stood about a week later. A brush with greatness.) The kids and I even have the Olympic music on the iPod we listen to in the car, and listen to it even in non-Olympic years. Did I mention that we LOVE the Olympics?? We will be sad when they're over, but at least we'll get to bed at a decent hour!


Well, if you've hung in here for this entire post, thank you! I can't believe I haven't posted all month long, but I've not been on the computer as much. SO much to do. And it's all wonderful.

God has shown me that He is a God of preparation. There are so many scriptures with the word "prepare" in them. I have found that as I prepare... meals, clothing, schoolwork for the year, Awana, everything for Minte's arrival, learning some Amharic words and phrases... He has been broadening the path under my feet and enabling me to do it. He has actually seemed to multiply my time and make it enough, IF I'm careful to be doing what I know I need to do. Which most days involves less time on the computer, at least for now. I feel like so much of what I'm trying to do is over my head, but I remind myself that it's ALL under His feet.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our sweet son and for our upcoming union with him. (I almost typed "reunion" because it feels like we've been with him before!) I'll post more about him after our meeting with our case worker this week. Yey!

Have a great week!

Party of Five

And I DO mean PARTY!
We are celebrating at our house today. We passed court! "M" is officially our son!!! And since he is now officially, legally our son, I can tell you about him and show you pictures!

SO, without further ado... let me introduce you to our precious Ethiopian son, Mintesinot (Min-TESS-i-note):

His name means, "What can he not do?" Isn't he just beautiful? He is 9 years old, and will be turning 10 at the end of September. This is one of my favorite photos that we've received so far.

This is another favorite! We don't know where he got that outrageous hat, but from the looks of this picture he'll fit right in around here... he totally reminds me of Kyle in this photo! (In fact, when Bethany returned home from China, she had brought each of her brothers a funny hat!) The shirt he's wearing is one that we sent him, and the stickers all over the side of his bunk were from us as well. It looks like he used some of the stickers to write his name (in Amharic). Fun!

We are beyond excited. Unspeakably overjoyed. Ecstatic!! I'm sure some coherent words will come to me later, but for now I'm just stunned and overwhelmed with excitement. We are SO glad he's officially in our family. We will find out in the days ahead what our travel schedule will be. We hope to travel as SOON as possible, but it could be anywhere from 3-5 weeks or so. Our case worker is on her way to Addis Ababa even as I type, so she'll be getting back to us with specifics (and MORE pictures and video!!!) very soon.

OH, I'm just so happy. So very, very happy. He's so precious. And he's my son.


We are SO happy to be a "party of five." Yes, I did say "party." Here we are with our Ethiopian Cokes... the perfect beverage for today's celebration!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of our whole family, for your prayers during this adoption and for this court date. Thank you for checking in on us via this blog and for your comments and emails of support. Knowing you have been praying and are continuing to support us in prayer on this journey blesses each one of us so much.

Almost Close

On our most recent trip to Ghana, we had to take a l-o-n-g bus ride. On top of that, it was a long bus ride that had immediately followed about 25 hours of air travel and layovers. I remember thinking it was taking us FOREVER to get to the little villages where we would be ministering for the week. Of course, we had no idea where we were going and were completely relying on our hosts and translators to get us there. All we could do was sit there for the ride, enjoy the scenery, and wonder how long it would take. One of our favorite quotes from that trip was when we had been riding for quite a long time and one of our sweet Ghanaian friends turned to Luke and I and said: "We ah almost close!"

We have felt "almost close" to this adoption being finalized for several weeks now. We had the first court date that wasn't. We had the second court date that was actually the first court date. We had the "stop-by-the-court-on-Monday" date yesterday, at which time they were given an appointment for Wednesday. Tomorrow (Wednesday, July 30) is the court appointment in which the judge will (we hope) finally render his decision! M could finally, officially be our son!!!!!! And I can post pictures of him!!!! And, most importantly, we can make plans to travel to bring him home!!!!!!!! (Sorry, I've had all those exclamation points in me for a few days and haven't let them all out yet. I feel better now...)

To be honest, this has been harder on me emotionally than I thought it would be. I remember when I had my first baby thinking how miserable it would be to go to the hospital thinking you were in labor only to be sent home due to false labor. I knew people that had happened to, and I remember praying that that wouldn't happen to me. Well, now I feel like I've been to the hospital and sent home three times!

Last Friday while I was feeling particularly discouraged, I happened to catch a glimpse of the ginormous 4-inch binders which hold the duplicates of ALL the paperwork we've compiled during this adoption. As I looked at those binders my mind went back to before Christmas when we were a 4+ inch stack of papers and many months away. As of last Friday we were finally 1 piece of paper and two days away. Now that the paper was deemed satisfactory on Monday we are no pieces of paper and potentially just a few hours away.

God's timing is perfect.

We are almost close!

Thank Goodness It's Funny

Okay, I am bummed.

Our court day news (below) was not what I was hoping for today.

Laughter is the best medicine, though, right? My son knew just what would crack me up... He pulled this up on his computer a few minutes ago and we've been watching this:

Court Day Update

First of all, thank you SO much for all of your prayers for our adoption court date today in Africa. Here is an opportunity to keep praying:

Apparently it went well today, but not completely well.

One of his documents has some wording that needs to be changed. The lawyers feel like they can get the appropriate document changed and back to the courts on Monday, at which time the judge will give his final decision.

We'll just keep praying and trusting in God's sovereignty!

Preparing My Heart

One year ago this weekend there was nothing notable going on in our family. A cursory glance at July 11, 2007 on my calendar shows blank squares. No appointments, nothing in particular to keep track of. I did not post anything on my blog that day. My July blog archives for 2007 show that we had just gotten back from a family trip to San Antonio, so I'm sure the days following our return involved laundry, unpacking, picking up mail, returning phone calls, resting, setting the house back in order. Nothing earth-shattering... the usual. I'm sure the kids and I spent time reading books and maybe going swimming, enjoying our summer and trying to stay cool in the typical triple-digit Texas heat.

While we were living our ordinary life, across the world something extraordinary was happening. How could we have known that what happened on July 11, 2007 in a sub-city of an African capitol would change our family forever? For it was on that day that a little 8-year-old boy arrived at an orphanage. It is hard to wrap my mind around what his little soul had been through in the years leading up to that day. There is much I do not know about him... yet... but I do know that on that day last summer, he arrived at a place with the word "Hope" in its name. In the midst of a journey marked with loss and pain, someone took him by the hand, he crossed the threshold of Hope and started a new chapter in his life.

As I imagine that day in his life, I have so many questions: Did he cry? If he did, did anyone wrap their arms around him and tell him it would be okay? Were they tender with him as they brought him there? Was he able to sleep that night, or the first few nights? Was the boy who is now his best friend already there, or was he the only boy his age? Did he bring anything with him? Was he scared? Did he have any idea his life would never be the same?

I don't know what he did last Friday, one year later. I do know that on the one year anniversary of his arrival at the orphanage, by God's grace, he had in his possession a book of pictures of a family who is eagerly waiting to come for him. That precious little boy who just a few months ago told someone he really wants a family because he "wants to belong," should receive in the coming days a DVD with messages from his new family telling him how precious he is and that he belongs with us. Sometime this week he should receive his care package, filled with as many goodies and as much love as I could fit in it, along with notes from each of us telling him what an important part of our family he already is. And that beautiful boy, living in a place called "Hope," can begin catching glimpses of what hope looks like.

Of course, I have been praying about our upcoming court date, July 25. As I have been praying about it, I have continued to have the phrase "Prepare your heart" go through my mind. Every time I pray about our court date, I "hear" the words: Prepare your heart. Prepare your heart. To be honest, I don't know what that means. Prepare my heart for what? A positive outcome? A negative one? Something devastating? Something joyful? And how, exactly do I prepare it?

SO...the next two weeks - the weeks between the anniversary of his arrival at the orphanage and our July 25 court date - I will be spending some time preparing my heart. Or, more accurately, laying my heart before the Lord and letting Him prepare it. I will be taking a break from this blog (and the computer in general) to spend more time seeking Him and praying for our upcoming court proceedings. Our family covets your prayers during this time as well. If you feel led, please pray that God would prepare all of our hearts, and prepare M's as well, for whatever is in store.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, and for your prayers!

Trusting the Unseen

So much of what is going on in my life right now, especially concerning our adoption, is unseen. Unseen people doing unseen things with unseen papers in a country we've never been in, all so that we can adopt a child we've never met. Of course, all of those places and people can be seen by someone, as they do exist in the "natural" realm. Still, there is remains an element of "trusting the unseen" in all of this.

Of course, I am trusting in the One Whom I know to be real (though He remains unseen) to guide and direct it all. The degree to which I'm really trusting Him is what effects my stress level each day, I suppose. Admittedly, that's a struggle for me at times. SO much of this process is "unseen," at least by me. I know that someone, somewhere (and most of all the Someone Who's everywhere) sees it... but I can't see it. And some days that's maddening. But it needn't be, and shouldn't be. And it remains a great object lesson for the Christian walk.

Amy Carmichael, in her book Gold By Moonlight, says:

"No Christian man or woman was ever meant to walk on the natural plane. There is no provision made for such a walk. Always, God's promise is that His child will break through and live and endure as if he were seeing only the workings of the invisible world, not fixed on physical senses. God himself made full provision for us to live this way: 'My grace is more than enough...' (2 Corinthians 12:9)"

Glory in the "Now"

"Whatever your circumstance is right now, and whatever mine is, we have the immediate opportunity for defeating Satan and bringing glory to God. How? First, by whispering to Him, "I love You and trust You," and asking that He increase that trust and love. Second, by longing for an increase of truth within us as we say, "Not my will but Thine be done" in the middle of this period of exhaustion, this anxiety, this particular shock, this prison, this wheelchair, this set of bandages on our eyes, this kind of frustration, this pile of dirty dishes, this lack of understanding, this attack by friends, this disappointment, this accident, this unbearable monotony, this unending succession of changes. Whatever the immediate "now" is made up of, it is not "after this is over" that we will have an opportunity to do something important for the Lord."

- Edith Schaeffer, Affliction

Monday's Menu and Minute Management

Happy Monday!

I love the flexibility of our summer schedule... when we make other "spur of the moment" plans for dinner, what I planned gets bumped right into the next week! This week was easy to put together for that very reason.

My sous-chef-son helped me make this plum pie last week and it was delicious. We also loved the Georgia Peach Chicken Sandwiches as well. (Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever made a Rachel Ray recipe that we didn't like!)

So, here's our plan for this week... (For more menu plans, recipes and some great organizing tips to try this summer, visit Laura at Orgjunkie.com.)

Monday: Summer Squash Chicken Alfredo, salad, garlic bread
Tuesday: Asian Salad (modified per the advice of the second review (to reduce fat), with chicken and mandarin oranges), green bean "sticks" on the grill
Wednesday: grilled pork chops, rice, grilled lemon-pepper zucchini
Thursday: YO-YO ("You're on you're own"/ leftovers)
Friday: crock pot BBQ short ribs, corn on the cob, carrots, fresh green beans



The past couple of Mondays I've shared passages out of Elizabeth George's book I'm re-reading, A Woman After God's Own Heart. Since today's topic is planning, here are 12 excellent tips about time management. I've been reviewing this list and implementing some of them myself in recent days. Very helpful.

1. Plan in detail. I have found this to be helpful in all areas... writing it down.
2. Deal with today. As she points out, "Jesus himself said, "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things."... God also says, "This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Excellent advice in my opinion, especially following #1. Plan for tomorrow, but deal with today.
3. Value each minute. "Are you facing a two-minute task or a 20 minute one? Decide if the task is the best use of the time. And how much is a minute worth? It's priceless or worthless- depending on how you use it."
4. Keep moving. (SO hard for me!) "A body at rest tends to stay at rest, a body in motion tends to remain in motion." She says, "Use this law of physics to your advantage. Tell yourself, 'Just one more thing... Just five more minutes." Keep moving and you can cross one more thing off your "to do" list!"
5. Develop a routine. "Trying to do the same thing at the ame time each day conserves and generates energy. It conserves energy by cutting down on indecision. You perform menial tasks by rote. It generates energy through habit- the habit of expecting to make phone calls, plan the meals, read the paper, attend a class, or go to a meeting- at a particular time." Not all of our tasks fit into a routine, but putting as many of them as possible into a routine would be helpful. I'm working on this.
6. Exercise and diet. "Studies show that exercise increases metabolism, creates energy, causes you to sleep better, and produces pleasure hormones which contribute to positive attitudes, joy in life, and a general lust for life." Also, "diet" simply means "a way of life." "Develop a dietary 'way of life' that gives you the energy and health you need to accomplish God's best.
7. Ask the "half-the-time" question- "If my life depended upon doing this task in half the time I have allotted, what shortcuts would I take?" Then take them.
8. Use a timer for everything. Her reasoning, "Setting the timer for 'just five minutes' can get you started; setting the timer for 'I'll quit in five minutes' can keep you going." (I understand this, but I haven't done it yet. I'm afraid hearing the seconds ticking all day would make me want to set my hair on fire.)
9. Do the worst first. We do this in school... everyone picks their least favorite subject and tackles it first. Hey, if it works for math, surely it can work for folding laundry!
10. Read daily on time management. I've started by going over this list everyday. A couple of other great resources are Shopping for Time and More Hours in My Day.
11. Say no. Just for fun, practice saying it out loud right now. "NO." Didn't that feel good?
12. Begin the night before. Very, very helpful. There are so many things that can be done "the night before" and it blesses me so much the next day when I've done that!

Hopefully these time management have helped you (and maybe even challenged you) like they have me. Summer can be a lazy and relaxed time, but the schedule of fall is on the horizon! This is a great time to practice some time management techniques when there is somewhat less to manage, getting a system in place that is ready for the demands that a busier schedule will bring us in just a few weeks.

Have a blessed Monday and a wonderful week!

Happy Fourth of July!

An Oscillating Fan

When I reflect back on my childhood, many images pop into my head: Being in church whenever the church doors were open. Summers at a rented cabin in Colorado. Ski trips. Family friends. German Shepherds. Piano lessons. Saturday morning cartoons. And, always... ALWAYS... the Dallas Cowboys.

My parents are ardent Cowboys fans. Like you wouldn't believe. My husband frequently likes to watch the NFL channel and at times they replay classic Cowboy games from the 1970's. When I see Tom Landry on the sidelines wearing his trademark hat or hear the announcer say "Staubach," I'm immediately transported back in time. Just the sound of one of those games is the soundtrack of my childhood Sunday afternoons/ Monday nights. My parents even bought a blue and silver van once, and I (then, in the thick of my teen years) held my hands over my eyes when they brought it home, afraid to look at it because I just KNEW it would be one of the ones with a Cowboys helmet or blue star on the side. It wasn't. But I wouldn't have been surprised.

Alack and alas, despite their best attempts to instill a strong faith in me for my hometown team and to "train me up in the way I should go"... my parents ended up with a "fair weather fan" in their only daughter. My brother has always remained faithful (so thankfully they didn't have two wayward children) but during the 80's I drifted away. Friends became more important to me. I didn't live for the Cowboys at all. One might have never have even known I came from a Cowboy home.

Well, then the 90's "dynasty" came, and once I finally got over the fact the Tom was no longer the coach and they began winning Super Bowls again... I was back. I had my own child by then and it was time to return to what I had always known. The "weather was good" so I was a Cowboy fan once more. But, as with most mountaintop experiences, this was not to last, and when the pressures of life returned and they stopped winning as much, I drifted once more.

Then there was last season. We were so close! I just knew we would go to the Super Bowl, and this time I rooted for them as hard as I could because... well, because if Dallas was in the Super Bowl my husband and I had predetermined that we would cancel Awana for that night. (Oh, how I desperately wanted a week off!) I cheered them on wholeheartedly, and felt a faint flicker, a reminder of what I had once known to be true deep in my soul. Sadly, it was not to last.

So, what's it going to be this season? Has my fire returned? Will I once again go back to what my family of origin instilled in me and be the Cowboys fan I was raised to be?

OH yeah.

And (besides another shot at a night off of Awana) here's one of the main reasons why: DeMarcus Ware.


Here is his precious family:


And here is their incredible story.