no news...

No news is good news... I guess? It hasn't even been 2 weeks yet, but I am having a hard time keeping calm and not freaking out! I know God is in control of this whole thing and that is the only thing that keeps me sane! 

We are continuously praying for a court date before August 6th, please pray with us! I'm starting to get a little worried because we haven't even heard word of a MOWCYA (Ministry of Women's, Children, & Youth Affairs) date (we don't attend this one) where they will hopefully write us a positive letter that will then allow us to receive a court date (this is the one we will attend, our first trip to Ethiopia.) I'm trying to brace myself in the event we don't get a court date before August... this will mean most likely another 8-10 months before he is home. I don't even want to think about that! All I can do at this point is pray and pray some more!!


Last week we went on our last childless getaway with some precious friends of ours. Chase and I went to Garner State Park in November of 2012 and couldn't believe all this beauty was just hours away from our big city! A few months ago we planned a trip with our friends and it came at a perfect time to kind of decompress from all that has been going on. It is just so beautiful out there. If you are nearby and haven't been, do yourself a favor and go!! Even in the middle of June it didn't seem to be that hot there. We hiked one day and I wasn't really ever uncomfortable, in fact it was cool by the river! We had such a great time with Andrew and Laila, we have already decided we are definitely going back next year with all 3 of our kids! Can't wait. :)

I also coincidentally got a really good "after" picture on top of the "mountain"! I started working out with Perception Fitness on December 3, 2012. Ashly is the owner, she is just amazing. She also has an eating plan/diet she designs for her clients for free- can't beat that! I always hated working out in the past. Unless it was running a couple of miles in ideal temperatures, I didn't want any part of it. Between not exercising and eating more like my husband (sorry babe), I managed to put on a few pounds over our almost 8 years of marriage. I tried joining gyms, training for half marathons, counting calories, but I just couldn't stick to anything. That's where Ashly came in to save the day! After working out with her and following her "Basics", I have lost 46 pounds!! My goal was originally 50... now it's a little more, but I know I will get there thanks to all the hard work Ashly has put into making me successful! I am now running a 10 minute mile, enjoy working out and miss working out, feel better and have more energy than ever before! If you're in the Austin area and need someone to help challenge and motivate you, I cannot recommend her enough. I know there is no way I would be where I am without her! Stop on over to her website and learn more!

Back on the adoption note... we have a couple of fundraisers going on!

Our family and close friends are throwing a "Fajita Fundraiser for E" on July 13th at 7pm, in Round Rock. If you are interested in joining us please email me for more details: awaitingethiopia2012@gmail.com

We are also taking pre-orders for our t-shirt fundraiser until Tuesday July 2nd, get more details and place your order here!

We can't thank you enough for all your support and prayers! We are overwhelmed with how God is providing and working out all the details for us. We are just in awe of how He continues to orchestrate this whole journey. God is good!

get your t-shirts!

Update:::: we are extending pre-orders through next week! Get 'em before they're gone! :)

My awesome sister created this t-shirt to raise some funds to bring E home! Thanks Jamie!!

We are taking pre-orders for shirts now!

Youth Small - Adult XL= $25

2XL and up= $28

Please add $5 if you need yours shipped. :)

We're happy and plan to hand deliver as many as possible! You can pay via CC or PayPal at the PayPal "Donate" button just below this post near the bottom of the page...

After you enter your PayPal or CC information and continue on it will give you a place to leave a special message. Please list the number of shirts, size(s), and if needing shipped the address to send it to!

Email me at awaitingethiopia2012@gmail.com or message me on Facebook if you have any questions!

Thank you soooo much! We greatly appreciate the support!

we say yes

I have been waiting for this update to come... I just had NO idea it would be this soon (and even THIS soon was still quite a wait for this impatient girl...) We submitted our application to AWAA on 6/26/2012... 

This is the moment, here and now

To let love be our cause

And we say yes, yes Lord

Yes to anything You ask

As of 6/16/2013 we have accepted the referral for a precious 10(ish) year old boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, we can't share his picture or name till we pass court (which we are praying to happen before courts close August 6th!!!!!!!), but for now we will call him "E." 

Say what???!!! You thought we had requested a 0-2 year old? Yeah, so did we. God had other plans, my friends! And we are SO thankful that He's got this whole thing in His hands- cause we definitely would have screwed it up on our own.

We surrender to the wonder

Of the story of redeeming love

So starting about the time we were DTE (3/29/13), God really started tugging on my heart to broaden our request. I didn't say anything to Chase, but just kept praying, "Lord, write it on the wall for me pleeeeease." I finally told Chase, of course he wasn't opposed, so then I really needed some clarity. I found myself telling everyone that asked about the wait, "Well it's about 24-30 months right now, unless we raise our age request... but we just don't think we can handle an older child, we're not even parents yet!" Over and over I was saying this till I finally started asking myself after these conversations, "Why not?" 

After lots more prayer and discussion we decided, let's raise it to 0-4! Even 0-4 in my mind was getting a little crazy... at 4 years old this child would be speaking, thinking, have a mind of their own- and they would know that we have no idea what we are doing!!! We contacted our social worker and were getting the process started when I told her to wait, we really felt the Lord telling us to not stop there. We told her to let us pray about it some more and we would get back to her next week. Well, that Friday afternoon the Ethiopian adoption world got some scary news- a new process, PAIR, was being put into place. You can read about it here. Basically, with this new process, wait times were expected to increase to about 3-4 or more years for a young child and possibly cost more money because of the increased time children would be waiting in orphanages. That night I just about gave up. There was no way I was waiting another 4+ years. 

Over the weekend Chase and I prayed and prayed. It didn't take long before I was reminded of our God's goodness, His promises, and that He was bigger than PAIR. We both knew then that we were in this for the long haul, but we definitely had to raise our age. Any case submitted to court after September 1st, under PAIR, would have on average about an 8-10 month time frame from referral to home. (Current time from referral to home is about 4-6 months.)  This is just crazy, these kids have waited too long already. 

We prayed about raising our age to 12 or 13, accepting special needs, when the Lord led us to "E". We can't go into much more detail due to confidentiality reasons and the privacy that is due to our precious boy. Just know that we are confident that the Lord has orchestrated this whole journey for us. A journey that has come about from profound brokenness in our sweet boy's life, but we are so thankful we listened to the Lord's call on our lives to be apart of this redemption story.  We can't answer any questions about his family, health, history, or current location right now but we do desperately covet your prayers. For this soon to be mama who dreamed of a little girl to dress up, tote around shopping, and have tea parties with- I would give that all up a million times, this boy has stolen my heart. I am now dreaming of playing legos, cars and dinosaurs, kicking a soccer ball, and hoping he isn't already outrunning me so we can do races together (heck, I can run a 10 minute mile now!) This amazing boy that we haven't even met yet has my heart. This boy that we have prayed for before we knew his name or his face is going to sleep on the other side of the world knowing that he has a family tonight. 

(I cannot wait until y'all can see his handsome face, but for now his cute little hands will have to do!)

We are trying to soak up as much wisdom and knowledge as we can over these next months. We know this road will be nothing but hard, but we also know the Lord will see us through that what He has called us to do.

We say yes

To the highest and farthest

We surrender to Your heart

To the lowest and the darkest

We surrender to Your heart

What happens next? 

We are waiting on a court date in Ethiopia where we will travel to meet our son for the first time. Our prayer is that this date is before August 6th when courts close for about 6 weeks for rainy season. If we are not submitted by August 6th then due to the new PAIR process we would have to wait 8-10 months to bring him home. This boy has already waited long enough for his family, we are praying that everything goes smoothly for a court date. After court, we have to return home without him while we wait for clearance from embassy. This can take anywhere from 1-3 months or more. Our prayer is that he is home by Christmas, but sooner would be even better!!! We could really use your prayers over these next months...

Specific requests:

- He should have found out last night that he has a family. Pray that the Lord gives him a peace about the whole situation. While this is ultimately good news for his situation, he will still be leaving behind his country, culture, language, and friends. We pray the Lord would start preparing his heart for this huge transition.

- Please pray that God holds our son in his hands and comforts him over these next months. Pray for physical and mental strength.

- Pray for the caregivers at his home and the other children at the transition home. We are forever thankful for these "nannies" who have cared for our son. We also can't forget how many other children are there,  still waiting on a family. Please pray that these children will find their forever families and that those who God calls will be obedient. 


- Please pray for a court date by August 7th. This is so huge!!!! After this we pray for a speedy embassy clearance.


- Please pray for our financial situation. We thought we were going to have a couple yrs to raise the rest of the funds needed, we are trusting the Lord will provide. 


- Lastly, please pray for wisdom and knowledge for us as first time parents. We have lots to learn about being parents, and also need to learn and prepare for adopting an older child, of a different race, from another country. Please pray for peace and patience as we prepare our home and hearts for this child we have been praying and waiting for.

I should apologize for the lengthy post, but I won't!!!!!!!! :)

Thanks for all your support, love, and prayers. Our family and friends have been amazing on this journey, we couldn't do it without you!!! 

I should be posting a little more regularly now as we get any updates so be on the lookout!

Isaiah 40:30-31 - Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

*lyrics from "We Say Yes", by Stephen Miller