Not in God's time ... Yet

Well, we did hear there are currently no girls up for adoption. At least the babies. We are holding very strongly to God's promise and His call to us. It has been hard knowing we still have to wait, but I know it will be worth it. The "package" only contained boys. I just know there is a girl out there for us. I am so happy for the families who have their little boys. How exciting. I just wish we could travel with them!

Someday soon I will be able to post pictures of my little ones and you can see all their beautiful faces! Pray for courage to make it through each day and that we are motivated to get the house ready!

On a happier note, we are getting ready for a garage sale in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we will make some money to cut down on the cost. Anyone with donations is more than welcome to bring them by!

Blessings to you all!

Tomorrow maybe?

Another day almost over. I am excited because I think we get to spend a family night together! Who knew! Nick won his tennis match today - phew the second set was close. They are getting ready to go to divisionals to compete to hopefully go to state.

Still no news on the girl front. I do know that God is just not ready to give her up yet. She is there and we are here and He knows that, so we wait. There has been so much going on today. We heard back from one of the families that just returned with their twins and they are soooo sick. One of them almost didn't make it. The conditions in Ethiopia are so horrible. I just can't even describe some of the stories I have read! I just pray God will take care of the faithful and lead those who don't know him, to him!

Thank you all for you continued prayers. It is only through God's grace and mercy that I make it through each day. He is so faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to him. It was through Christ's blood that I can be hear today asking for prayer and for forgiveness. Praise God!

What a day

Well, we are still in waiting mode. Only about another hour and Tracy will be gone for the day and then we have to wait one more. I didn't realize how stressed I would be today. I knew we wouldn't hear, but I still had hope. It is great knowing I have other mom's who feel the same. I was really hoping to hear from either Tracy or Michelle today. Oh well. That means that God has picked the perfect girl for us and she is not ready yet to come home. I am getting nervous too about airline availability. There are a lot of families that are having trouble finding open flights.

On another note, we heard from UCIS Yakima unit. Angela (bless her for her patience and help) said there are a few things we need to send to clear up some stuff and then they can proceed. Hopefully George gets his part done quickly so we can hear back!

Other than the anxiety and stress, things are still going along. Nick is starting to get summer fever because it has gotten so nice. School will be over soon and he will hopefully get a job and his driver license!

I hope and pray your day is going well, and keep posted! I will let you know when we know!

A new week ...

What a great weekend! I got to meet some of the other adoptive families. We had a training at Kingdom Kids. It was so great to meet everyone. I am pretty exhausted right now, and I just want rest, but instead we have things to do. As you can see nothing new has happened. Tomorrow is the day all of us waiting for referrals has been waiting for. We are all hoping the package made it to Tracy, but I doubt it will. I talked with my case worker and she didn't think it had come yet. Oh well, we are still waiting on our immigration paperwork, so either way we have to wait. God is definitely teaching us patience. We still have so much to do here at the house. We are all getting excited to go to Ethiopia and experience some things in life we never have.

Well, I better get back to getting something done. I think we are having pizza for dinner and going to play a board game.

Still waiting and holding to promises...

I just found out today our baby boys aren't in Addis yet. I just sent out my care package to a friend who will be travelling May 2nd. I hope they are there by the time she gets there! I know this will all be over soon. I have so much support and understanding from my adoptive moms, I couldn't imagine life without them! I hold strong to God's promise to me for these children. Habakkuk 3:18 - "I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains." This is so true! I rejoice in my stress and fears, it means I have something to look forward to.

Months ago, God promised me His three children. It has been great to see His plan unfold. I hold steadfast to His love!

Operation Care Packages

Finally, we get to make contact with our boys! I just put together 2 care packages for Gela and Yuranos. They have crayons, coloring books, a scrapbook of us, an outfit, stuffed animal, chapstick, cars and a note from us. It was so fun, I just wish I had more room! Blessings on Sharon for bringing it for me.

I keep praying we will hear soon. We are going on 5 weeks and still no word. We will let you all know soon enough!

Labor Pains of Love

A wise woman (mom) once told me (last night) that the wait we have for our referral is like the last month of pregnancy. You want it over with and you just want to know. Well, that is how we feel right now. We just want to know. We want to move on to the next step. I don't know what pregnancy, labor or any of that is like, but I do know I love something unseen. God has put these babies on my heart and they are born of my heart. It does not matter that they won't look like us (hello have any of you seen my snow white skin?), they will most likely act like us and be so overly loved like us. Kevin, Nick and Malcom are not mine, but I love them like I did.

Labor is not just giving birth it is years of raising your kids!

Now we know

Well, we found out today that we won't know about a baby girl referral until around April 24th. The package didn't make it by today. Sooooooo the CWA case worker won't get to it until she gets back from Washington D.C. on April 24th. Then she has to go through the package and determine who gets who. That just sounds funny - Raskells this one, Walatkas this one, oh Ewings this one. Ha! Maybe she will do rock paper scissors! Boy, I sure hope God has a sense of humor! I just wish she had an assistant to open the package or something! I don't think there is anything to do but pray and pray and pray. Only God knows what will happen.

At least now we know and I can enjoy next week and not check email every 5 minutes or be afraid I will miss a phone call or something. Now I can not stress so much and actually enjoy my family. Maybe George won't be so grumpy with me, either. :)

Baby girls and Our most High Son

On the eve of the day our most precious Son was crucified, I pray for a special Easter blessing. It has been a hard day praying and waiting. I keep to God's promise, I just wish it was sooner than later. I am so excited for the families that just received notice they were accepted in the Ethiopian courts for their babies and I am reminded my time will be soon. God is awesome and gracious to my prayers and worries.

Please pray for us that we hear word soon! Our little Ethiopian boys are waiting for us and the Raskells are waiting to hear about their third addition - our baby girl!

Love,
Sandra

Break Time - Care Packages

I have a little bit of a break in my emotions today. I get to make a care package for my boys! I don't know what I want to put in it, but it gives me something to think about while we wait. I am thinking a tshirt for them, bubbles, toothbrushes, chapstick, scrapbook of the family, and a little toy. Any suggestions? I love having so many families helping me deal with all my emotions and to pray for us.

Satan has been on overtime this week. Thanks Mike for reminding me of what this week is about. No wonder Satan is afraid! Easter is going to be awesome - I can tell!

I am excited for next week when a lot of the adoptive families will be here for a training. It will be nice to meet them and learn more about them.

I am watching the Amazing Race and yes Lake and Michelle are last! I can't believe I get so caught up in this show. I am hoping the hippies win, but we will see next week!

I am heading to Montana on Friday. I am pretty excited to see everyone. I talked to Mom tonight and she was doing ok after the surgery. I am curious to see how she is tomorrow.

I can't believe it is already mid-April. We are going on our 2nd month in the process but it feels like we are years into. It is so hard waiting to find out who are baby girl is. I just want to see pictures of her precious face and buy her little clothes. I talked with Michelle today and it sounds like our boys should be moved to Addis soon. Then with each family that travels they can send us more pictures and it can be all the more real. She told me she would call the moment she got our referral. I really pray it will be this week and she will be our Easter present!

Hope you all have a blessed day!

Still waiting....

As a fellow adoptive mama said today...
no

nada

zip

zilch

nothing....

Still waiting...

and waiting...

and waitin...

Some days are better than others. Yesterday and today the worst. It is hard to explain to a "non-adopter" how hard the wait is. One moment you want to scream and the next you want to curl up and cry. I focus really hard on God's choice in babies. He is handpicking her right now. In fact if I got to chose, she wouldn't be my little angel.

I leave Friday to go to Montana to help mom after her surgery. Aside from being excited to see my fam, I get to see Lora and Julz! I miss Montana. I can't wait to take my little ones there to see Yellowstone, go hiking, etc. I love Montana! I also love no tax, we are buying a pool from Costco there this weekend so as to avoid the tax.

Nick did well today in Tennis he won 6-4, 6-4. He plays Mead High School on Thursday.

Kevin and Malcom are still working away being "young adults" enjoying freedom and their friends. Keith - their friend- is leaving to join the Army. Keep him in your prayers!

Well, gotta go pick up the boys' bunk beds! I can't wait to have them home to help me paint!

Keep your eyes posted for good news! I will also be selling tshirts too soon, so keep an eye out for them!

Love you all!

Adoption as God's call

So, I went through some pictures today and thought I would share them with you. Remember, I am about 3 years behind! Things are going ok right now. George and I went kid clothes shopping today at the fairgrounds. It was fun, we found a lot of cute things. I just wish we knew how old the girl is! But God knows and that is all that matters.

Dad came up to bring us our new (used) truck. It has been a great weekend to visit and catch up (eventhough HE kept us up late). :) He heads back tomorrow to Montana to prepare for Mom's surgery.

I heard from Tracy (CWA) that a "package" shoud be here anytime. We will see if our referral is there! I have been talking a lot with some ladies from the program which helps. It is amazing how many of us feel the same! I do want to say one of the moms wrote on her website a piece about adopting. I have included her comments. I agree with what she has to say. Until you go through this, it is hard to understand.

Adoption is NOT Plan B-
People constantly say to us "once this child comes home, you'll get pregnant." I know they are well-meaning so I try not to get upset but here's my opportunity to share some facts that everyone who has said this (or thought this) should know:
First, adoption is not "Plan B." It is a choice to have a family -- just like achieving a pregnancy is. Whether the decision was spawned out of an inability to achieve a pregnancy does not mean that it is a less favorable means of starting a family. It's simply a different course toward the same goal, which is having a child.
Second, you're wrong. Everyone hears stories about the women who get pregnant after adopting because not getting pregnant after an adoption is, well, not exactly "newsworthy." However, statistics show that only 8% of adoptive parents ultimately have a biological child.
Third, please understand that when you say this to an adoptive parent it sounds like you are trying to console us. We, as adoptive parents, are no less thrilled, excited or grateful than a birth parent to have been blessed beyond measure in words by God with the charge of caring for this child (who, though not flesh and blood, is our own).
Simply put, if you placed him in my womb we could not love him more.

Although some of it sounds harsh, I think she is right. Until you go through this process you can't understand what it is like! In George and I's mind we ARE pregnant! We are just giving birth to a 5 yr old boy, a 3 yr old boy and a baby girl all at once. How many of you have 2 or more kids, you manage. Just because we are doing it all at once doesn't mean we can't handle it. There are so many kids out there that need a home, why should we be selfish and stress and worry about when (and if) we will get pregnant. I yearn for my babies and can't wait to bring them home. Will it be stressful, absolutely! Will our lives change? I hope so!

SO, Why adopt? Well. we are called by God to care for all children. So I ask, Why not?
Matt. 25:40 says – The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” When we take care of the fatherless, we are caring for God's child. When God speaks, shouldn't we answer his call? I am not saying everyone should adopt. There are many ways to help the orphaned children. Sponsor a child, donate to agencies such as Christian World Adoption, Kingdom Kids (see my links) or your local church. Through help, these children have a chance to survive and to learn about Christ.

Thank you for reading my ramblings. Let me know what you think!

In Christ,
Sandra

Virginia Beach right before Hurrican Isabel.

Mom and I braving Hurrican Isabel 2003.

The three beauties visiting Grandpa Jack at Arlington.

We love you Grandpa!

The three generation of beautiful ladies!

Great-Grandma Mabel, Grandma Karen, Sandi

What do you mean I turned 40?

George's 40th surprise party (yes, 2 yrs ago!)

Our little Reese's Pieces! He is 2 yrs old now!

Greetings from Edmonton 2003!

HI!!!!!!

I can't believe Kevin got lapped by a kid...

Nick's 8th Grade Graduation - OK so it has been awhile, but isn't he CUTE!

Can you believe there is anything more beautiful?

Yellowstone Park

African Children's Choir

One of the other moms from CWA mentioned the African Children's Choir. Here is their link: www.africanchildrenschoir.com You should check it out! I know we will be going.

Today is our first day as a "blogger". I, like many other adoptive moms, am having a normal stressful, anxious, and emotional day. I found out today that our dossier was approved in Washington D.C. and it is been sent to Ethiopia tomorrow! NOW, we just have to wait for the referral for a baby girl.

For those of you that don't know, George, Kevin, Nick, Malcom and I are going to be bringing home 3 little ones from Ethiopia in the next few months. We have accepted a referral for 2 brothers - Galay 5 yrs old and Yuranos 3 yrs old. No, we haven't figured out what names we want yet, we will be sure to let you know!

Keep posted for future posts and more information about the Raskells!

Sandra