Photos, Second Medicals and Happy Days

First a very Happy Day to John Owen Thurman.

He's three today and it's been an incredible three year journey with him.

My life has never been the same.

There have been hair-pulling days and days full of joy, but I love being his mom and being a part of his life. He calls birthdays Happy Days! So let's all be happy today in celebration of his day!

We received fifteen new photos of Melaku yesterday. This is almost unheard of and was a sweet blessing from the Lord. We feel very blessed to be receiving all the information that we have.

Today we received word that he has been taken for his second medicals!! Woo-hoo! There is still one test that is not in country, but they feel that in two weeks he'll have that test and his second medicals will be complete.

And then...our case can be submitted to court.

Speaking of court---they reopen OCTOBER 5TH! Yay!

That's very soon (at least when I think about waiting and waiting for months, one more month doesn't seem so long.)

Thank you all for praying for us. I know God is hearing and working and answering and we pray He is glorified through all of this. May you truly see something of how the Father works in our own lives through the adoption of Melaku.

We are beginning a new fundraising phase for travel expenses and Melaku's medical expenses. We're praying through the right thing to do, so join us.

If you would like to help us you can still donate to our Lifesong for Orphans account and you'll receive a tax credit for it.

You can email me for the info if you're interested.

We love you all and praise God for you in our lives.

What a joy it is to walk this journey with you!!

God Sets the Lonely into Families

We. Got. A. Referral!

Last Wednesday I received a call from our case manager asking if I had a few minutes to talk. My first thought was is this more bad news or is this a referral. She then said, "I want to talk to you about a little boy." I said, "I want you to! Talk to me!"

And now our journey has taken a new turn---a wonderful new turn!
He is precious! His eyes are really big and BROWN! I've seen those eyes a thousand times before and now I can look at them and the face that goes with them.

He's little and young---much younger than we thought he'd be. We were sure we'd get a toddler, but NOPE he's a baby.

So we're digging out our cloth diapers and all the baby clothes we packed away! Yay!

The process now is to wait for his second medicals which have been ordered by our agency. We are told that this can take a few weeks to a few months, so PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that it happens quickly.
Our case CANNOT be submitted to court until we receive these second medicals.
After we receive his second medicals our case is submitted to court and then we wait for a court date which is when we'll travel the first time.
We think this might be sometime in October.

He's a precious boy and we feel so blessed to have this opportunity. We know God is in control and we pray that His will is done.
There are a lot of things going on in Ethiopia now that could or could not affect international adoption in a negative way.
Please pray that God would keep Ethiopia open and protect international adoption.
Adoption is war!
Also, we are not allowed to email or post any pictures of our boy. We are happy to show a picture of him in person, so don't hesitate to ask us!

We've also decided that how he became an orphan is his story and we've committed to not share it. I know we always wonder about people's situations, but we feel that it's his to tell and if at some point in his life he chooses to share it, then he can and if not, then we'll have allowed him that.

Just rest in knowing that God is mindful of even the littlest people!

Thank you all for your support and prayers and for walking this journey with us!
We can't wait to bring him home and introduce him to you all!!

Slooooooow

Slow.
That's how I would describe our wait for a referral. Very slow. Every week we get an update from our agency and it seems that more things keep happening in Ethiopia to slow things down even more.
I won't list all the things that have happened, except for the most recent which is the sudden death of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
This is big (or so our agency is telling us).
We have been asked to pray for the stability of Ethiopia and to pray that policies concerning inter country adoption aren't negatively influenced.

Many people ask about our adoption and we feel so loved when they do. We are encouraged that people are praying for us and truly interested in our journey.

We are coming up on one year on the waiting list for a referral. This means that it's been one year since our paperwork (a.k.a. dossier) arrived in Ethiopia.

We know that God is faithful and He can work through all the issues and seeming turmoil.
If we're honest...(and I usually am honest) it feels like we may never get a referral. These are the feelings and thoughts we fight.
We know satan wants us to believe that it's pointless and that we should give up. Maybe he's convinced you of that too. Maybe he's trying to tell you that there's no point to adopt, that the wait is too long.
But he is a dirty liar.
We will continue to wait. We will continue to trust.
BUT... We are asking you to join us in praying for a referral.
Not because it makes us happy
Not because it's what we want
Because John Owen has a brother half way across the world
Because we have a son half way across the world
Because a little boy is waiting for his family to be able to come and get him.

Pray, pray, pray and then pray some more. (please)