Mommy's Coming!

When my children were little, learning how to ride a bike, I would sit on the porch steps and watch them teeter and balance, pushing their bikes down the sidewalk. They would inevitably tip and fall, get up and try over and over again. I would just sit and watch. Occasionally, arms and legs would go flying, balance would give way, and they would crash hard on the cement sidewalk. Loud wails would ensue as my child cried out for me. Instinctively, I would jump to my feet and yell, "Mommy's coming!" as I raced toward my hurting child. The adoption process can be long in any typical case. In many situations, the child knows they are being adopted, but doesn't know their new parents until they arrive for court. In our case, we have parented our children for two years from afar. We have loved them through email and Facebook, and heard their hearts on phone and Skype. We have walked them through ups and downs, trails and tests, joys and moments of pride. We have watched from afar as they have navigated life, falling and getting back up, teetering on the unpredictable vehicle of orphanage life. We have now come to the point, where one of our children has fallen hard. The wait has worn him down to the place he is crying for his parents. Hope is fading in his heart and he needs a glimpse of what is to come to carry his strength this last leg of the process. So, I am jumping to my feet and running toward Ethiopia. The first week of November, I will be traveling with two or three other moms to Kolfe Orphanage in Addis Ababa where I will wrap my arms around both my sons for the first time. The other moms and I will be investing a week loving on our children as well as the other boys waiting for their mom and dads to bring them home. The hundreds of other orphans at Kolfe will be part of our trip as well as we bring donations, shoes, and fruit to them. I plan to bring some Amharic Fire Bibles with me for the boys as well. Please pray for me as I prepare travel plans to go to Kolfe. If you would like to help me raise the money to travel, about $2500, I would be forever grateful. Thank you for partnering with us as I yell, "Mommy's coming!" and race to my hurting sons in Ethiopia. This blog has a donate button on the top right where you can donate through PayPal.

$40 For Food!

Late night Saturday nights are the times I hear from God most clearly...My heart is always preparing for Sunday morning as a pastor's wife and a worship leader. I sit here now at 12:30 am reading Judges 7 and the story of Gideon and listening to the sweet voice of Kari Jobe come through my computer, singing "You Are For Me". My heart is overwhelmed. The adoption process is so long and difficult and the wait so heavy as a mother. Last week, our oldest son and I talked on the phone. I am always amazed as I talk to either of my sons on the phone or computer. Eight hours ahead in a culture vastly different from mine, the soft spoken voices of my children come across the miles. It's always evening there when we speak and the boys make their way outside to escape the noise of hundreds of boys in the dorms. As we talk, I can hear a rooster protesting and dogs barking. It takes me right back to being there four years ago. Our oldest son is nearing 14 and has been in an orphanage for four years. He loves God and he dreams doctor. He shares with me how he walks along the road and dreams of a new life with us. His living conditions are difficult, his needs never fully met, yet he never asks us for a thing. He only says, "I only want you." He is a beautiful child full of destiny. However, his hope is fading. It's the rainy season in Ethiopia. He is on summer break, stuck inside the compound with hundreds of other orphan boys, waiting. We chatted as we normally do, with me passing the phone around to the family to talk. Knowing my minutes on my card were fading, I began to wrap up the conversation. I asked if he needed anything and he responded with the usual "No, Mom." I asked if he had enough to eat and he was silent. I said, "Are you hungry or full?" He responded, "Hungry." I heard a sniffle and I said, "Are you sad?" and he broke into deep sobs. He could not even speak. Eight hours ahead in time, across a massive ocean, and far away from my grasp, my child wept with such deep sorrow that I was overwhelmed. I cried with him. I reminded him that Jesus was with him, that we were coming soon, and that he is never, ever alone. He kept responding with ok, but continued to sob. It's hard to tell a child that Jesus is with him when his belly is empty. That is why Jesus always fed the multitudes or healed the sick or delivered the demoniac before He revealed His Presence to them. With the ache of natural pain and hunger gone, the ears can hear more effectively. I prayed for him over the phone and I know, as it was ten in the evening, that as we hung up, he went to lay on his tiny bunk bed, surrounded by hundreds of orphan boys, with an empty stomach and cried himself to sleep. I spent the day sobbing and praying. I went about my day, but tears continued to fall. I have been heavy hearted since that day. Why children have to suffer and starve and live fatherless lives I do not understand. These will be our third and fourth children we've adopted from Ethiopia. It's so life changing and generation changing for these four, yet it barely scratches the surface of the orphan and hunger problem. My heart is broken. As I listened to Kari sing this intimate song to the Lord... "I know that you are for me, I know that You are for me... I know that You will never forsake in my weaknesses...."I wrapped my heart around the lyrics and the promise behind them for my boys. As I sat there just after midnight, they were awaking to chilly rain and another day of desperation. It is this hope...the hope of the ever presence of Jesus that keeps me from breaking. My arms ache to hold them. Until that moment, I cling to the goodness of God. I know that God is for my sons and for the millions of orphans around the world. But, He clearly commissioned us to be FOR them too. We must be there for them. It's pure religion...to care for the widow and orphan. They struggle in a hopeless world of no hope. How can we live in such luxury in comparison and do nothing? We must be the heart of Jesus extended to our world. How will they ever know that God is for them if we remain still and quiet? The average family of four spends around $40 to go to an average sit down restaurant to consume a meal. Our two sons have thin arms, eyes glassy with malnutrition, yet they smile and embrace anyone who comes to visit. The boys at Kolfe are precious. They deserve more than life has offered them. We are desperate to move this adoption quickly. We have raised all the money for homestudy minus mileage and post adoption fees. We have thousands to raise for our agency fees yet. Our agency hopes to have our paperwork submitted to Ethipian court by the time it reopens in October. That is a big hope. We have much to accomplish to see that happen. Would you be willing to set aside one meal out with your family to help our sons come home to their family, to enough food, to no more lonely nights, to medical care, and opportunity, and community? $40 For Food! I don't want my sons to stay trapped in the cycle of fatherlessness and poverty and hunger and hopelessness. We need your help. Will you help us? Will you help them? Our blog has a donate button at the top which enables us to receive donations via PayPal. You can also send donations to International Adoption Net, 7500 E. Arapahoe Road, Ste 250, Centennial, CO 80112 and specify it to be given towards our adoption. Thank you for praying! This community of people that love the orphan and care about the hurting of the world have done amazing things to change lives! Thank you for praying for our sons and for the hundreds of boys at Kolfe Orphanage. Below is a picture of the kitchen at Kolfe and a picture of Easter Sunday this year when a group of women came and served the boys bread.