A Trip to Ethiopia

This past week, my friend Ben Butler and I traveled to Ethiopia for some preliminary work for “The James Initiative.” We met with local businessmen, church leaders, and orphan care experts to determine the location and scope of our first project.

There is a shift going on in the world of non-profits overseas. They are beginning to realize that the needs of the children do not rise and fall with the American economy. Those organizations who rely 100 percent on foreign donations are struggling right now in the wake of the economic downturn of the West. “Sustainability” projects are popping up left and right as these groups try to determine how to generate income from the local economy in order to support their work. This not only supplies income for orphan care, but it also provides jobs for the local economy. Plus, it just makes sense.

We toured several orphanages that Gladney works with and I fell in love with a little boy. He had an older sister that was 7. Unfortunately, they were not able to be adopted. Their story was like so many others in the orphanages there. They are in the system but a relative won’t relinquish their rights, so the kids are stuck. I had hoped that I might locate a child while I was there, but no such luck. For now, we wait.

Waiting

Psa. 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

We have finally made it to the waiting stage. All of the paperwork is done for now, and we wait. Within the next 3-12 months (really have no idea how long it might take) we will get a picture of our daughter. This moment feel so much different than it did last time.

What makes the waiting so difficult this time around is that we aren’t waiting for a baby. Babies don’t know their situation isn’t the best. But an older child is left wondering and waiting, hoping a family might adopt her some day. To be honest, there really isn’t much chance for adoption at that age. Except for her. And she doesn’t know that yet. I want her to know that she is loved and chosen, and no one has told her that yet.

In the meantime there is much to do. The rooms have to be moved around in our house to create space, a closet has to be built, and we have a LOT of money to raise. We will not be waiting aimlessly, sitting on our hands while we wait for a phone call.

We will work while we wait until we can bring her home.

Bringing the Kids Along

We have four kids. As you learned in the last post, we are working on adding #5. One of the biggest hurdles we worked through when deciding if we would move forward with adoption was how it would effect the four children we already have.

We have tried to help Easton and Catherine, at 6 years old, understand their place in all of this. We let them give input and opinion in an effort to make them feel like they have a say in the decision as well. They pray for their sister almost every night and are anxious to get her home. Even though they were on board, we still had concerns.

The same questions repeatedly entered the conversation as Erin and I worked through the decision.

Will it be hard on our kids? Yes. Will it cause us all to sacrifice? Yes. Will it be difficult to adjust? Yes. Does it make sense? Nope.

Then we began to really look at how we want to raise our children, and what we want them to know about God and the world when they leave our house and authority.  Do we want them to think that life is easy? No. Do we want them to make sacrifices for the sake of the Gospel? Yes. Do we want them to live by faith? Yes.

What they will be learning about life, love, and the God who loves them unconditionally will overshadow any hardship that may come. At least, that is what we pray over them every night.

Those People…

We have four kids. People look at us funny when we are at the mall or restaurants.  We are young parents, so some probably think we are just babysitting. If they ask anything at all, the most common question is “are they all yours?” Yes, they belong to us.

Slowly, we have grown more accustomed to the fact that we don’t look like the average American family. It rarely even comes up in our discussions any more.

Then, we started talking about adding #5.

That is when we truly had to consider what it meant to be “Those People.”  You know, the ones that get made fun of because they have so many kids. The ones that get introduced as “the family with lots of kids.” The family who hears the “you know how that happens” joke WAY too often.

For six months we have prayed and sought God’s direction for the future of our family. God has confirmed over and over again that his plan for us is to adopt again. And his message has been clear.  On Tuesday night, after wrestling through the decision to become “those people” one more time, I (Erin) called God to the carpet. I realize, that is a dangerous thing to do. But we were both needing to hear it one more time. I announced,  “If we are going to do this, I need You to say it loud and clear, one more time. And You have till tomorrow night.”

The next morning, this is what I woke up to.

The devotional went on to say, “Adoption is amazing. Someone who wants a child purposely chooses them and takes them as their own to love and care for.” Then later, “A good father is not silent toward his children.” Thank you God for not being silent towards us.

We heard it, loud and clear.

So, we are beginning the journey of our second adoption and our fifth child. Some of you will be excited.  Others will think we are crazy and irresponsible. You will call us, “Those People.” Especially once you find out that we will be adopting an older child, 5-9 years old, from Ethiopia.

We will wear the title with honor, knowing that for us, earth is work and heaven is rest. We get the privilege to live and work for a short time, ushering in a new kingdom and seeing his will done on earth as it is in heaven. He adopted us, recklessly loving us to the point of death. This is a small part of the overflow of that love.

There is much work to be done, and we have one more seat left in the minivan.

Adoption Video

I was asked to highlight some of the families in our church that have adopted for our Pastor’s message on Sunday. We are so thankful that our church was so supportive of our adoption of Addis and that he is able to grow up in a place that celebrates adoption.

Some of the referral pictures are blurred out because the families are still in the process of adopting.