Still Here

For those of you who have not been counting down every single day, hour, and minute, these past few weeks may have gone fast. For us... they have been CRAWLING.


We're finally less than a week away from leaving and the anxiety and excitement is really starting to set in. Many people have repeatedly asked/said, "You must be so excited!" and the obvious answer is, "Yes!"; however, it's been a strange, "Is this really happening?!" kind of excitement. 


If you've followed our blog for long, you've heard me moan about the fact that we're 2.5 years into a process that we anticipated taking 1 year, and the delays and set-backs have had a way of wearing us down. 


At the beginning of the process, I used to think about the day we'd enter the orphanage and they'd hand us our baby (didn't think we'd get twins) and cry just thinking about it. Then I had to stop thinking about it because it just kept getting further and further away. 


Then we got the referral for our twins and I began to anticipate that day again. And again, I'd cry just thinking about the day when we'd finally see them and hold them. Then we had some strange delays in being issued a court date that made us wonder if we'd even be able to adopt these boys. 


And now we're about a week away from this all becoming a reality and I feel a little like doubting Thomas in the Bible who declared that unless he saw the marks in Jesus' hands and placed his fingers into the marks of the nails and into Jesus' side, he would never believe. And I feel like until we stand before the judge in Ethiopia and hear her say, "They are yours." I just can't believe that it's really going to happen. 


So, yes, we are SUPER excited, and still a little cautious, and still praying like crazy that God will make this a reality and that he will give us these boys to be our sons. 

Planning a Trip

We've been a little preoccupied over here... in the very best of ways! After 5 months of doing nothing but waiting and praying, it's a welcome change of pace to feel like we're scrambling a little!


Our tickets are booked, and we will be gone for 9 days: in Ethiopia for 7 days, plus 2 extra days of traveling. The major items- our travel schedule, the court date, and our lodging are completely taken care of, so now we're working on the "littler" items, like:


What kind of donations will we take to the care center? Probably a couple of Bumbo chairs, diaper rash cream, wipes, soap, shampoo, clothes, etc. 


Where will we eat? I'm making a list of recommended restaurants from other adoptive families, plus we're planning on bringing granola bars and other snacks... if you know me, I'm pretty picky (though I've gotten WAY better over the years- but I still won't eat the "chicken butts"- long story). It may be a challenge to find places that are both safe to eat and that fit my discriminating tastes. :)


What do we need to pack for ourselves? That list is too long and boring and it changes daily as another idea pops into my head. Of course, we're going to pack light, but I want to make sure we don't forget important things like hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and flip flops for the shower...


What will we pack for the boys? We have no idea what we're doing and don't have the slightest clue of what they'll need while they are with us, so we're going to be as prepared as we can be and pray for lots and lots of help!


I basically have pages and pages of lists around the house, emails that I've sent to myself, and other reminders on my phone to make sure we don't forget anything!


Two special things we are planning for our trip involve visiting the little boy we sponsor through Compassion International and a day-trip to the Blue Nile Falls/Gorge, which is about 3 hours outside of Addis. I got the name of a man in Ethiopia that will probably be our guide for both our Compassion tour and the trip to the falls, so we've been emailing him and trying to work out those details. He is a former Compassion kid who went through their leadership training and now does tours for them and has a small side business doing tours for adoptive families in and around Addis. 


As you can imagine, the highlight will be seeing our boys and wearing ourselves out loving them. I'm envisioning very sore arms because I'm sure once we're holding them, we aren't going to want to put them down very often! 


And this is getting long and random, but since I hardly ever post anymore, I'm going to keep going...


These pictures are from the night we went out to celebrate our court date. We had a really nice dinner and then ended up at Panera drinking coffee and finalizing the boys' names. We've had names in mind since our referral, we've gone back and forth on a few, but now that we're really going, we're really going to see them, and Lord willing, they'll really become our sons, we wanted to make some final decisions. We're very happy with the result and have started using them at home to talk about the boys (no more big guy/little guy- though those names will always be special, too).

We'll share their names and pictures once we pass court. Please pray both for our preparations and for the court case. Pray that all of the letters/documents will be there and that we'll pass right away. Pray that the Ethiopian government will process our court decree right away so that we can begin the process of being submitted to embassy. 


So that we can have them home. Home. Their cribs, double stroller, toy cars, and swings at the park are waiting for them. And so are their mom and dad. 

Court Date

On Friday, we FINALLY received our court date! 


Lord willing, on May 7, these two little munchkins will officially be Jones' boys.

And the first order of business (outside of lots of snuggles and kisses) will surely be a wardrobe change! I'm pretty confident that our "big guy" (on the left) is wearing a pair of shorts for a 3 or 4 year old as his pants and his shirt is more suited to a 70 year old man golfing in Florida than to our happy, silly baby boy. Our "little guy" on the other hand is sporting a yellow terry-cloth blazer and gingham, ruffled shorts with flowers on them. I'm not sure which is worse, but I do know that I'll be packing their dinosaur pajamas and striped onesies for our trip.  


We are so thankful, excited, overjoyed, and even a little shocked- the reality of it all is just starting to sink in. Thank you for supporting us, for praying for us, and for hanging in there with us throughout this very long journey. 


Though May 7 is much later than we had hoped for, we are confident that May 7 is the right day.

"I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is, 

or should be in all respects,  

And if thou bidst me decide for myself in any affair,

I would choose to refer all to thee,

for thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss,

as I am in danger of doing."

- "God the All" Valley of Vision

Today

Today is 2 years and 4 months since we started the adoption process, or if you think in terms of weeks, our 121st week of waiting. 


The past 45 days, out of the 843 days that we've been in this process, have been the hardest. No question. 


We're still waiting on our court date, and every single day (every.single.day.) for the past 45 days since we were submitted to court, we have been praying, and hoping, and anticipating good news. Before we go to bed, we pray that God will work for us while we sleep, that our file will be picked up, reviewed, and assigned a date. And every morning we wake up hoping for the phone call or the email that will tell us that we have a court date and that we'll finally be able to travel to see our babies. And every afternoon for the past 45 days, we've had the crushing disappointment that it still hasn't happened. It's a hard cycle to be in.


Please pray for us. We are not without hope, but we definitely feel a heavy burden and sorrow over the time that has been lost. 


Lord willing, later this week, our agency's representative in Ethiopia is going to talk to one of the judges on our behalf to try to find out why we still haven't been assigned a date- please pray that they will be able to resolve this issue right away and that a court date will be assigned this week (tomorrow would be nice).  


Pray that God will cause us to persevere in prayer, and that He will sustain our hope and our joy. 


Pray for the boys that God will provide all that they need and that he will give them much happiness. 


Speaking of the boys... today they are 8 months old! They are both growing like crazy and while we are thankful for the growth, part of me wants to slow the whole thing down and keep them tiny babies until we can go and get them. It's hard to miss even a day with them, let alone entire stages of their lives.


Thank you all for your support and prayers- we have been well-loved throughout this entire journey. I can't wait to be able to post good news- hopefully soon!

Third Care Package

We're sending off another care package! This time it's going with the families that we hoped to travel with, but it's okay because they've promised to take pictures and to spend some time loving our boys.


We haven't seen a picture in two months and we CANNOT wait to see how they've grown!! We've watched our little video of them so many times and have thoroughly analyzed every picture we have, so we can just imagine what their reaction is going to be to their new toys... 


Big Guy: probably give it a little shake and then break into a huge smile.
Little Guy: probably give it a shake and then stare in amazement/wonder. 

So thankful for families that understand how our hearts ache to be with our babies and who are willing to take time to give them some love on our behalf! I can't wait to return the favor!

It's In- Still Waiting

The document we needed arrived yesterday. The judge has everything she needs to issue us a court date. The courts are behind (surprise, surprise), so our anticipated wait is 1-2 more weeks, though we're praying it will be much, much sooner! Please, Lord, let it be sooner! 


Since most of my prayers of late have taken on a repetitive nature, this was a helpful post that we read recently from Between Two Worlds on using God's word for prayer:

Word-Woven Prayers

Joni Eareckson Tada:

Often I attend prayer meetings where various requests for healing, finances, safety in travel, or job promotions are divvied out. Naturally, we desire prayer for such things. But a closer look at God’s Word would reveal deeper and more divinely inspired ways to pray for friends and family.

Is there a cancer? Yes, prayer for healing is in order, but so is prayer for the robust blessings of Ps. 119:140: “Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.” How rich to pray, “Lord, this cancer is testing Your promises in the life of my friend who is ill, but You are faithful to every promise You’ve made to her. May Your servant love Your promises through this time of testing.”

Is there a need for finances? Yes, prayer for needed money is in order, but so is prayer for the rewards of Prov. 15:17: “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” How invigorating to pray, “Lord, financial blessing isn’t the focus; Your Word says that love should be. May we learn to live on little if it means leaning harder on You, as well as each other.”

When I pray for disabled children I know, I intercede with Mt. 19:14 in mind: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ ” In verse 15 we’re given a picture of Jesus tenderly placing His hand on each child. “Lord Jesus,” I’ll say, “Your heart went out to children when You walked on earth. I can picture You tousling their hair, bouncing them on Your knee, and laying Your hands on their heads to bestow a blessing. If Your heart went out this way to the boys and girls who could walk up to You, how much more must Your heart overflow toward little Jeanette with spina bifida or Benjamin who has cerebral palsy? Today, may they feel Your hand of blessing on their heads.”

Often it’s good to quote an entire passage, substituting a person’s name for the pronoun in the passage. Colossians 1:9-12 is a good example of scripture to pray this way: “I ask God to fill Susan with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And I pray this in order that Susan may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work she does, being strengthened with all power, so that she may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully give thanks to the Father.”

Remember, God’s Word is alive, active, and powerful. Prayers laced with the Word of God not only bring about fundamental changes in people and situations, but such prayers keep us in touch with God’s priorities. Weaving God’s Word into our prayers brings His purposes to the forefront of every request

The Latest

 It's been a tough week. We found out on Monday that the reason we didn't get a court date was because there is a document that is missing from our file. Basically, we need the written approval of the district court where our boys are from and it hasn't come in yet. The courts have been closed for what seems like almost a month now. I still don't fully understand when they exactly closed or when they are re-opening (which I thought they had already done but I was wrong), so that is why there has been a delay in getting the written approval and ultimately the delay in the court date.  


Apparently when they re-open- hopefully on Monday- they are supposed to submit the approval letter we need. And then- hopefully- we will get a court date. 


Please pray that this happens.


And we haven't seen a new picture of our babies in seven weeks. We miss them. We really, really, really want to go see them and to have the legal portion of this process finalized. We want them to be home sleeping in their cribs, playing in the bathtub, and pushing their toy cars around on the floors. You can also pray that this happens soon- it feels like we've got miles and miles to go before this is all over, and with our track record, we're going to have to double, triple, and even quadruple the already-too-long estimated time frames. Please pray that the last portion of this process actually speeds along and goes quicker than expected. That'd be a nice change of pace.   


Despite the heaviness, I am thankful for Psalm 103, which has been a constant companion this week. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

 who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

 who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

 The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

 He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

 He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

 He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

 as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

 As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

 For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

 As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting 

to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children's children,

 to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers, who do his will!

 Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! 

Child Sponsorship

In case any of you are looking for practical ways to love and care for orphans in Ethiopia, here's a great opportunity through Lifesong!


For only $19 a month, you can provide a child with food, education, and spiritual mentoring:

The model that Lifesong employs in its schools – excellent education combined with two meals every school day – enable families to stay together, and kids to break the cycle of poverty and grow up into self-sufficiency. 100% of all donations to Lifesong go into the field, directly changing the lives of orphans and vulnerable children.

To read more about the project and to see the many beautiful children waiting for sponsorship, click here: 


http://www.adamituluproject.com/ 

And So It Continues

I think it was providential that our last post addressed the "why?" of all of the delays because we ran right up against it again this past week. 


To explain it briefly:


We were submitted to court almost 3 weeks ago.
We were told to expect our court date in 2 weeks.
Courts closed.
Courts re-opened.
The other families submitted along with us got their court dates.
They leave in 3 weeks.
We did not get a court date.
No one knows why.
We are still waiting.
Our boys are still waiting. 
We're sad.


And we still trust in the sovereign and good hand of God. 

Why?

Why has our process taken so long? Why the years of trying to get pregnant? Why the years of waiting on our adoption?

Why has God allowed us to go through these delays?

We may never know the full answer to this question. But we do have a partial answer. Here is our response to the “Why” question. It’s a list of the things that God has been showing us and teaching us through these years of waiting. (And no, we don’t have it all figured out; we still have tons of progress to make in each of these areas.)

Learning to trust. Our journey has brought us face to face with obstacle after obstacle after obstacle.  Big obstacles that we are powerless to overcome. We are learning (slowly) to look to God to overcome our obstacles for us. In the words of Jehoshaphat, “We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. (2 Chron. 20:12)” We are learning to be at peace while in a state of uncertainty and dependence. In short, we are learning to trust God. We hope that this will bear fruit for the rest of our lives.

The church is beautiful. Our adoption journey has allowed us to see and experience the precious beauty of the church. The church has prayed for us, mourned with us, rejoiced with us, supported us, comforted us, and encouraged us. They walk with us, understand us, and they are genuinely excited with us. Words can’t describe how beautiful God’s people have been in their support of our adoption. Our view of the church will never be the same.

We were created for adventure. We have tasted the thrill of God-glorifying, God-dependent adventure. We feel that we are on a great (and difficult) adventure together with our God. We are going to Africa! And God goes with us.

God himself is our treasure. God has used the years of discouragement and disappointment to turn our eyes toward him. By withholding a small blessing (children) he has directed our focus more fully and completely to a much deeper and bigger blessing (God himself).  “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” (Isaiah 55:2)

Learning the Gospel. God is teaching us how to apply the Gospel to our situation. Since we are separated by thousands of miles, we cannot care for our sons. We must completely entrust their welfare to God (both their physical/emotional/mental welfare as well as getting them home soon). God is teaching us that we can entrust our sons to him because he gave his Son for us. God has given up his Son for us; therefore, we can know that he is utterly good and dependable. We can give our sons over to God because God has given his Son for us. The Gospel proves that God is for us and that he is utterly trustworthy.

Don’t idolize children. Children are an incredible blessing from the Lord, but they can’t satisfy our souls. If we look to our kids for our deepest satisfaction, two things will happen: 1) we will use our children, and 2) we will be deeply disappointed.

God hears prayer. We are discovering that our God hears our prayers. The ways that we have seen God answer our prayers--specifically in the past 6 months--has deepened our confidence in this simple truth: God is a prayer hearing God. This confidence has spilled over into other areas of our life.

Intensified pursuit. The sorrow caused by our waiting period has forced us to drive deeper and harder into God himself.  Being in a dry desert makes you crave water all the more.

This world is cursed. We don’t mean this in a bitter, depressed, “Eeyore” kind of way. And we don’t mean to say that there are no blessings and joys in this world. But the fact of the matter is that we live in a deeply broken and cursed world. Only a fool would put all of their hope in this world. Our journey has helped to turn our gaze towards the world that is to come—a world of continual, non-stop joy and blessing (Phil 3:20).

Rejoice in the joys of others. We have watched our family and friends have children and move on to the next phase in life; we have had to wait. God is teaching us to rejoice for them and to be content with where God has us. God is exposing and overcoming envy, idolatry, and discontentment.

Outlook on life. God has hit the pause button on our life (in the sense of progressing through the various phases of life: marriage, job, kids, etc.) This has given us tons of time to reflect on what we want our life to look like. To ask searching questions, such as: What is really important in life? What are our priorities? What do we want to accomplish? Instead of rushing forward into the chaos of children, diapers, soccer games, sleepless nights, etc., we have been allowed a time of extended reflection. This has helped us see through the smoke screen and façade of the American Dream. That’s not what we want. Life is about much more than pursuing the American Dream. Our waiting period has helped to transform what we want our lives to be about. To quote Martin Luther, “Riches are among the most trivial things on earth and the smallest gift God gives to a person.”

The church is our family.  As we have had to wait to expand our immediate family, God has shown us that we are—right now—surrounded by a precious family of brothers and sisters in Christ. The bond between believers is deeper and more central even than the bond within a family.  The wait has caused us to open ourselves more fully to God’s people, and to recognize them as our true family (Matt 19:29; Luke 8:19-21).

We are adopted. Our process has taught us that adoption is central to the very heart of God. Our God is an adopting God. God’s people are an adopted people. Adoption is not shameful—it is at the center of God’s plan and purpose.

So why has God allowed us to wait so long? Here’s a better question: Why has God been so kind as to bring us through this difficult but enriching waiting period? Why did he choose to give this blessing to us?

We can only think of one answer: because he loves us.