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.