Amazing Outpouring of Prayer and Love…

On December 6th we found out that JLuke had pneumonia, we sent out a mass text and ask for prayer and healing for his little body. On December 17th we found out that his little body wasn’t responding to the medicine, so they started IV antibiotics, and again, we sent out a mass text, asking for prayer. The response we got still brings me to tears. We had friends and family praying, placing him on prayer chains, small groups praying for him, people coming to me saying, “I have a friend who knows you and they told me about JLuke and we are praying for him”, connections made with a doctor in Ethiopia to see if he could help our little man….and the stories go on and on. It touches my heart to know the outpouring of prayer from people we know and from those we don’t. At a time where I just wanted to be over in Ethiopia holding our little baby, comforting him and loving him…but couldn’t. God sent His prayer warriors and with this I was held, comforted and loved.

We got an update last week that JLuke is responding to the medicine and he is doing so much better. When we pray, with one heart, one voice, one mind….GREAT things happen!

Today we got our court date and travel dates for our first trip. As Jeff talked to our case worker and repeated what she was saying, I jumped up and down in the kitchen with tears…happy tears. It’s actually happening; we finally get to hold our little man. This journey has been quite the rollercoaster but in two weeks, we will be in Ethiopia! So again…I sent out a text:

We have a court date! We will be in Ethiopia Jan 10-14. We will be meeting JLuke Jan 11 and going to court of Jan 13. Exciting times! I can’t believe it is finally here! Lots of jumping up and down in our house! Plus some tears from me…. I can’t help it!

The texts in return again showed me just how much support we have in our journey. The excitement of others, the jumping up and down that was not only happening in my kitchen but in other homes and again the outpouring of prayer for this portion of our journey.

This post is not only to update everyone on our journey, but also to say THANK YOU for the prayers from everyone, whether you know us or not. You will never know how much it has touched my life and how God has used you to be His tool!

Tears...Healing...and Excitement

I have exciting news, we have a new referral.  Some of you may be thinking, wait...what about the last referral.  In September, we lost our first referral.  The Ethiopian Government put a hold on all adoptions from the southern region and our first little guy was from that region.  This hold turned into a sort of recall, the government took back children from that region and we lost our first referral.  This was a sad day... week... month...as we tried to sort out and understand what was going on in Ethiopia and wrap our emotions around losing our first referral and preparing for the future.  I don't understand why things happen the way they do but I have to keep telling myself that God is in control, he knows the bigger picture and has the best plan for our life.

So back to our exciting news.  Our new little man was found abandoned in a vehicle driving training course on November 7, the day he was born. His mom could have left him anywhere, but in leaving him at this facility, he was sure to be found.  He was taken into care at Hannah’s Hope on November 11, 2011.

On November 14 he was examined by a Hannah’s Hope physician. He weighs 5 pounds and is 19 ½ inches long. He is malnourished and has low iron, but those are really the only concerns that both the Hannah’s Hope physician and our international adoption physician have. Hannah’s Hope is also beefing him up on multi-vitamins to help with the deficiencies.

When talking with our adoption case worker, she said that our first trip to Ethiopia could be as soon as January. Seems to all be coming together!

Please be praying that this little guy will stay healthy and that we will be able to bring him home quickly.

Praying JLuke home

I want to give everyone an update on the adoption because PRAYER is needed!

Last week we got an email from our agency that informed us on closures to some of the state ran orphanages in the southern areas of Ethiopia. The reason given for the closure was poor living conditions for children. When a child is given up for adoption, they are placed in a state ran home before going to the orphanage that they will be adopted from. A few days later our social worker called and told us that JLuke is from one of the southern orphanages that closed and at this point, they are investigating to see if any illegal matters were taking place. She told me that it shouldn’t have an effect on our case but that she wanted us to be aware. I asked a lot of questions, like what kind of illegal matters, but she didn’t have any other information. On Monday she called and told me that this issue is bigger than they thought and the southern government would like to see all children who originally came from the southern orphanages to be replaced in state ran homes and for all adoptions to be postponed, if not terminated. On Tuesday, she called explaining that they may be able to place the children whose families have already made the first trip but because we have not made that trip yet, that doesn’t include us.

Jeff and I know that God is in control. We don’t understand why things happen the way they do, but we know that His plan is better than our plan and that we will continue to trust Him through this. It is hard to look at the pictures of this little guy, thinking that he is ours and then not knowing what will happen to him.

I know that our prayers are bigger than the Ethiopian government, so today, please take time to say a little prayer for JLuke and for the government officials who are making all of these decisions. In the email from our social worker there is a quote from Almaz (she runs Hannah’s Hope Orphanage) stating the meaning of JLuke’s Ethiopian name (Mintesnot). Mintesnot means God is there, there is nothing that God cannot do. There is truly NOTHING that God cannot do and I pray that He will make a way for us to bring our little guy home.

Thank you for praying and supporting us through all of these challenges.

Praying JLuke home!

Exciting News!!!!

We have some exciting news!!!!
Ya’ll know the year that we have had, with me finishing my masters and Jeff away at pilot training.  All of this while waiting patiently (at least trying) for a referral.  As we look back, we understand God’s timing and we know that we couldn’t have accomplished all that we did if things would have happened according to our plan. 

Jeff and I haven’t been together for more than a week in the last 6 months.  When I came to Jacksonville for this trip, I didn’t know what I was going to do with all of my free time….with Jeff still in the RJ program (school for 10 hours a day) and then finishing up his last week of work.  I love the sun and the beach, but there is only so much of that you can do by yourself for 2 weeks.  I looked into getting a 2 week job but no one hires for 2 weeks and even volunteer work was not available.  Like always, God had a bigger plan!

While in Florida, we got a call…this call was different than any other call we have received from AGCI.  Her voice was excited and as she told me to look on my email for a possible referral, I felt her excitement…I also felt overwhelmed, scared, not ready….what am I saying…not ready….of course we are ready, it just felt so un-real!  As I went through all the information, medical records, court documents, legal paperwork from AGCI, it was explained to me that before any decision was made, we needed to talk with an international doctor and find out any medical issues.  I started to get all our ducks in a row and meetings were set for this week.  When Jeff got back to the hotel, I had the picture of this little guy up on the computer and explained everything to him.  We prayed and gave him to God, asking God to direct and guide us in our decision making.  We sat in our hotel room and looked at each other, realizing that this could be our JLuke and then thinking, this could not have come at a better time.

Today we talked with our international adoption doctor from Seattle, via cell phone. J  He told us that given the circumstances he is in relatively good health.  He said that the information that we have is some of the most detailed that he has seen and that he has heard very good things about Hannah’s Hope (orphanage).  This is what we needed to hear to go forward with this process.  

So we have a referral!  He is a between 4-6mo…not sure of his actual birth date because information gets lost in translation and the Ethiopian calendar is different than ours.  Between now and when we go to Ethiopia for the final trip, his birth mother can still change her mind.  We are trusting in God’s plan, knowing that any changes made are made for a reason, but also praying and hoping that this in fact is our son. 

So with all of my free time while in Florida, I completed the paperwork (pages and pages) so that the process could move forward.  We will not know when our first trip date will be...most likely some time in October...we wait (we are good at this).

Please continue praying for this journey that we are on.  We can’t wait to bring him home to his forever home so that everyone can meet him face to face!

Looking back...ready to move forward

If you have been following this blog, you can tell that I am a bit behind.  As you can see the post that is titled "January brings change" was not posted on here until June.  This post was an email that we sent out (back in January) to our friends and family, giving them an update.  Now it is June and as I look back over the past year, so much has happened since we were first put on the "wait list".

I have been in the process of completing my masters in Education Administration...which I have just completed!!!  Jeff has been in airline school to become a professional pilot, finishing all of his courses and internship at the end of this month.  We are praying now that he gets a job with an airline.  For the past 7 months, Jeff has been in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Jacksonville for schooling and I have traveled around visiting him when I have long weekends or vacation time.  All of this flying has truly taken away my fear of flying.  Plus, helping Jeff study has educated me and I have an understanding of what goes on in the cockpit, which somehow makes me feel safe.

As I type, I am sitting in a hotel in Jacksonville.  This is the first true down time I've had since August.  I often wonder why the adoption process has taken so long.  My emotions go from being patient and knowing that God has a plan and a timeline, to not understanding why Ethiopia keeps changing laws, my patience shot and feeling frustrated. 

Over the past few days, I have had time to think, to look back on this year and really take everything in.  This school year, to say the least, has been the most challenging for me.  Transitioning to a new school, taking on the job of co-ASB/Leadership director, completing my masters, interning for my masters, coaching and teaching.  It was a crazy busy time.  I have learned so much and I feel that the experiences have challenged me and changed me.  This all while Jeff was also in school, also being challenged and stretched, gaining the training that he needs to be a commercial pilot.  Looking back...God knows how much we can handle and God knew that we just needed to get through this year and then we would be ready.  Yes, the wait has been hard, but God knows, His timeline is the best....so stay tuned because we are ready!  

January brings change....

I haven't written anything for awhile so here is a little update on the adoption. Our January number is 19 and we continue to patiently wait………patiently………some days I do way better with this than others. :) The adoption journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions and we are so lucky to have the support of our family and friends throughout this time. Thank you all for your prayers, support and words of encouragement. I love that we have all of you going through this with us!


Jeff and I have really been praying for God's guidance during this time. We know that he is leading us in this journey and that He has amazing plans for our family. When we started the process, we knew that we wanted to adopt a precious baby boy and this little guy is now known as J Luke. As we continued the process, we talked about the future and the desire to adopted another baby from Ethiopia…..once we had the opportunity to go through the process, the travel, all the aspects of the adoption. The waiting and praying and waiting and wondering why it is taking so long and why Ethiopia has changed so many laws and procedures has made us really depend on God and His direction for our lives. We have talked with other families who have adopted, read blogs, researched and we have a love and a tender heart for the people of Ethiopia. I can't explain how excited we are to travel to Ethiopia….even the plane ride doesn't scare me anymore.

As I stated above, we have a desire to adopt again. Through the waiting and gaining more of an understanding of the need for these children, this desire has only become more intense. After the January phone call with AGCI and again finding out that the process has been extended (MOWA is slowing down the number of cases they are processing per month, we really don't know what this means, however, we are told that it will extend our wait time), I felt a bit of a nudge from God. I can't explain it. As I thought and prayed about this, I thought, Jeff will never go for it. So I took my nudge to Jeff and explained how I was feeling and I knew that he would say…."Mindy, slow down, lets just see how this process works"……But instead, he said, "I'm down with that!"…..and he was excited too like God had been nudging him too!!!!! I called AGCI and told them what I wanted to do, expecting them to tell me that I had to do all of this paper work and that it would be a huge process and it wasn't, it was so simple and we stay at the same wait list number!

As of today, it looks as though we will not have J Luke for at LEAST 6 months. However, we may have another little baby coming with J Luke. We changed out parameters to except twins. Meaning that we may still get one precious baby boy…J Luke, or that J Luke will have a twin sister or brother. Our Agency has said that twins are very unlikely but that obviously it happens. So please continue to pray for us and for the adoption and for God's will and direction. When you feel the nudge, you have to follow it and that is what we are doing.