A Beautiful Tapestry

Time for a Good Laugh ...

2010-12-17T12:25:00.003-06:00

OK, so my last post was heavy. I feel like lightening things up a bit. And when my family needs a good laugh, Karis is always happy to provide one. :)

Enjoy.

Karis Having Some PhotoBooth Fun from Jason Egly on Vimeo.

Yes, Yes, a THOUSAND Times YES!!

2010-12-17T00:38:00.005-06:00

If you are an adoptive parent, future adoptive parent, know an adoptive family, or are part of a church with an adoption/orphan care ministry ... PLEASE read the article from the Christian Alliance for Orphans entitled The Most Significant Challenge Facing Adoption in America.

Shelley and I have been saying for some time now that the challenge described in this article is THE major issue facing adoption. I can't tell you how encouraging it is to hear another voice saying the same thing.

This paragraph is key:

Perhaps it may sound overblown, but I believe there is no single factor with greater potential to derail the growing Christian commitment to adoption and foster care than failure in this point. This is especially true as Christian families increasingly open themselves to the adoption of older and special needs children. In short, for every enthusiastic but ill-prepared and poorly-supported adoptive family that crashes on the rocks of unanticipated challenges, dozens of others will permanently write off the call to adopt.

I have become so passionate about this topic I could write a book. I'll try to be as brief as possible. We MUST do a better job preparing families who are in the process of adopting for the potential struggles coming their way. And we MUST resource them to survive once they are home with their new child(ren.)

I am tired of seeing families be torn apart because they were ill-prepared to face the challenges of adoption/attachment related issues. Seriously, I wish I could tell you the stories of some of the families we have talked to.

Somehow, I think, we are worried that to talk transparently about the difficulties of adjustment and attachment as a new adoptive family to a potential adoptive family might scare them off. So instead, we glamorize the process, put the majority of our focus and resources on fundraising and orphan awareness, and create almost a fairy tale dynamic around adoption with our emotional Gotcha Day videos and such. And, yes, we did one of those Gotcha Day videos. And I'm not saying we shouldn't. What I AM saying is that we should also just as freely share the not-so-heartwarming moments. (Probably not with a video, but you get my point. I hope. Can you imagine posting a temper tantrum video? Ha, ha, ha.)

I'm afraid we just don't trust the sovereignty of God in the calling of adoptive families. As if telling someone the truth and being transparent about our struggles could somehow revoke His call. There's a Greek word for that: Baloney.

Yes, we must be adoption advocates. We have a scriptural mandate to care for the fatherless. But we also have a scriptural mandate to tell the truth (10 commandments anyone?) and to equip people for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). And yes, adoption is a ministry. We must share both sides of the story, even the scary sides. We must both encourage families to consider adoption but also strongly exhort them to count the cost (and I'm not talking money.)

Allow me to speak from personal experience, with a touch of dangerous transparency: Shelley and I feel like we have had virtually NO assistance from our adoption agency after we returned home, aside from the mandatory post-placement meetings with our social worker (whom we love.) Additionally, we feel like we were NOWHERE NEAR PREPARED for the challenges we would face. And not only do we feel like we could have been, we feel like we SHOULD have been. No, it would not have prevented our struggles, which have been many. It simply would have kept us from being blindsided.

By the grace of God, with the support of friends and family, and with the help of some excellent therapists, we are on the road to adjustment. But that road has been extremely difficult. And in our case, if someone had helped us "count the cost," it might have rocked our world, but I PROMISE YOU we would have still adopted. God called us. And these are our children forever. We couldn't imagine our lives without them. And wouldn't want to. But I also promise you that if someone had truly talked through these issues with us, we would have been much better prepared.

And to think we thought the hardest part was raising the money and going to bring them home ... oh, the naivete. :)

The preacher in me wants to get down off my soapbox in this way:

Adoptive families, it is up to us to lead the charge on this one. To not only ADVOCATE, but EDUCATE, with an almost brutal honesty. And then once the family comes home, gather an army of people to PARTICIPATE with them. Unfortunately, all too often, what I have experienced is that we ADVOCATE and then ABDICATE and ISOLATE. That is sinful.

Thanks, Jedd Medefind, for a beautifully written article, prompting this post. Lord, help us to be the change we wish to see take place on this issue.

Starting new lives among people who need New Life

2010-11-30T12:45:00.004-06:00

As you may or may not know, Shelley and I recently quit our jobs and relocated to downtown Nashville in order to follow God's call to plant a new church there, in the city.

Over the past few months, God has been giving us and our team a vision for this new church. Here is a link to our church planting blog, where we are sharing this vision. We'd love for you to read it!

http://bit.ly/gMGqU7

Thanks!
Jason

The Cost of Adoption

2010-11-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

[It has been a ridiculously long time since we posted. We'll do better. Girls are growing like CRAZY. Pictures soon. We promise. :)]

Recently, Karis has been very curious about how we get money (the little that we have ...) then following logically, what I do for a living. I've found it more difficult than I would have thought to describe the concept of "church planting" to most people (even church people, go figure), but ESPECIALLY to our limited English proficiency adopted daughters. The first time I described "planting a church" to Karis, she smoothly replied, "I want to plant the flowers! Another time, she confidently stated that she knew what I do for work: "You go to the Frothy Monkey, work on your computer, drink coffee, and text people." Nice.

Today, though, she, Shelley, and I were discussing why I have to work and get money. We gave reasons like, "So we can buy food, clothes, pay for our house, have electricity, have water," etc. She seemed to get it, but she added, "And so you could get ME!"

Hmmmm. Yes, but ...

We told her, "Karis, we couldn't buy you. First of all, you weren't for sale. You are way more valuable that all the money in the world." We told her that the money we had to spend to adopt her and Ansley was for airplanes, and paperwork, and lawyers, and for the Transition Home they were in to take care of them while they waited on us to come get them.

I think she got it. But I pray that she really understands and takes to heart that she WAS NOT and IS NOT a commodity to be sold, but a treasure to be held, both in our arms and in the arms of Christ.

But it also made me think ...

First of all, if I am honest with myself, there is an uncomfortably fine line between the redemptive process of adoption and the evil practice of child trafficking. It is PARAMOUNT that agencies and adoptive parents keep this line in clear view at all times because, when you are wrapped up in the emotion of adopting, you become singly-focused on getting your child home, and it would be SO EASY to cross that line. I cannot imagine having to either lie or explain to my daughter that she had been bought. What devastating consequences that would have on a child's identity and self-worth!

But it also made me consider the true cost of adoption. The true cost of adoption has nothing to do with a dollar figure at all. The true cost of adoption is the sacrifice that has to take place, not just for the adoptive family as they completely reorder and restructure their lives, but in many cases for biological parents who have to make the excruciatingly difficult decision to choose adoption for the well-being of their child. (For the story of our girls' biological father who chose adoption for them while staring down a terminal illness, please read this post.)

And then, as if by divine providence -- like God was really trying to make this point clear to me -- the following conversation took place after I posted a video on Facebook about the theological foundations for adoption. (If we are Facebook friends, you can view it here.)

Kristina:
This video is very powerful and it is expressing a great idea on adoption ....I really love this video ......On a personal level because, I let my family and my boyfriends' family adopt our two babies back in 2007 since we had hit some hard times ....and I didn't want my children lost in the system....Thank goodness for adoption, now my babies are blessed and I know I did the right thing for both of them ....More people need to adopt....a lot of children need a place to call home....thanks for the video....Take care my friend and may your family be blessed ....

Jason Egly: Wow, Kristina. What a courageous thing you did! It is amazing that you were able to put the interests of your children above your own. What a difficult thing that must have been for you. I pray that God will honor your sacrifice and bless your children, while at the same time healing your broken heart and giving you the confidence that you did the right thing. :) Thanks for sharing that.

Kristina: Thank, You so very much....Take care of your self and I'll keep you and your family in my prayers....Good luck with your church project....wish you the best, also may you also be blessed...take care my friend....

THAT, friends, is the cost of adoption. Sacrifice. Just like the sending of Christ, Sacrifice is the language of Redemption.

Larry, Bob, Mallory, Ansley, and Karis

2010-08-27T10:27:00.006-05:00

Watch this Steven Curtis Chapman video and see if you recognize anyone :)

(Look closely around the 2:10 mark ...)

We are so proud to be a Show Hope family!!!

(Kudos to David Watson at Fourth Watch Productions for the great work! Follow the Watson's adoption journey at http://ethiopiascalling.blogspot.com/)

Hey Gabriel, Watch This ...

2010-08-11T11:00:00.003-05:00

Every now and then, you just need a boost to your confidence. An affirmation that you are actually doing the right thing, that God has not forgotten you, and is fighting for you.

This is especially true for adoptive families. Because adoption is freakin' hard. The spiritual warfare surrounding the process of redeeming lives is breathtaking. And it doesn't get any easier when you get them home, like I used to think that it would. In fact, it gets harder in many ways. A different kind of hard, but harder, nonetheless.

It's in these low times, that we have found God most likely to show up and blow our mind in such a way that gives us the encouragement we need to "Keep pressing on."

Yesterday was such a day.

Except yesterday, He decided to give us a triple shot of encouragement.

Story 1:
We have become friends with the Watson family over the past year or so. The Watsons are in the process of adopting a sibling set from Ethiopia. As of yesterday morning, they were lacking only their last $3500 needed to travel to bring their kids home. We had shared with them about a fundraiser that had worked well for us last year when we were in the same boat, and they decided to give it a shot yesterday. What happened was nothing short of miraculous and a testament to God working through His people to provide for His children. What an encouragement that God will meet every need! Read their recap of yesterday's events HERE.

Story 2:
Many of you saw and have been praying about what I mentioned in our previous post. Thank you so much! Yesterday, my friend Travis returned home from Ethiopia and emailed me saying that he HAD BEEN ABLE to find and connect with our girls' biological father, and his clinic was able to evaluate him and provide some care! He said they were going to try and get him into the program! In addition, he attached 4 photos (sorry, those are private) and I cannot tell you what the emotions were in being able to see him at the clinic! I wish I could tell you all of the details, but I cannot, due to security reasons. Just know that what happened is AMAZING!

Story 3:
As I like to call it, "Icing on the Cake."

First, a little backstory ...
Several years ago, when we lived in Knoxville, there was a couple about our parents' age who became good friends and supporters of our ministry there. They had a daughter (our age) whom we found out worked for our agency as in-country staff in Ethiopia. As it turns out, she was very close to Ansley and Karis while they were in the Transition Home. In fact, according to the girls, she was the one who went and picked them up from the orphanage and brought them to the TH. That right there was cool enough. But wait. It gets WAY better.

This friend and her husband (not using names, for the sake of privacy) ultimately returned home to the Nashville area and has since gone back to adopt another little girl that they had fallen in love with. This little girl is a little younger than Ansley and they know each other from the TH.

Fast forward to the present.

We have recently moved to Nashville as our family is a part of a team planting a new church in West End. Moving, of course, meant changing the girls' schools and making new friends. It has been somewhat stressful. Understatement of the year. We have obsessed over choosing the right school for the girls, who to send where, and in what grade. We also wanted a place that would reflect the new diversity of our family. We ultimately decided to send Mallory and Ansley to the school we are zoned for and to allow Ansley to repeat Kindergarten, since last year was such a difficult year for her. We have gone back and forth with this decision, but finally made up our mind that this was best.

Last night, we went to the school to see what teacher and class the girls had been assigned to. As we were looking at Ansley's class, there was the name of our friend's little girl. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? At first we couldn't believe it. But surely there could not possibly be another kid in Nashville with that Ethiopian first name and that last name, right?

We rushed home and emailed our friend and it was FOR REAL!! Not only will there be another Ethiopian child in Ansley's kindergarten class, but it will be one she KNOWS from Ethiopia, who also happens to be the DAUGHTER of the person who took care of her and Karis when they first became orphans!

Surely God had to be laughing His head off at us last night. I can almost see Him leaning over to one of the angels and saying, "Hey. You're going to want to watch this. This is going to be good. Ha ha ha ha."

As it turns out, yesterday is an overwhelming message to my family from the Creator that He is in control. Yes, it may be hard. Yes, we may want to give up, at times. But we can't and we won't, because God is orchestrating every bit of this and is still fighting for us, and for all the orphans of this world.

We will keep pressing on.

The God of Long Shots -- a prayer request

2010-07-30T01:22:00.000-05:00

I'm needing to write a short update/prayer request, but I have been putting it off because I'm not sure how to write it. So I apologize in advance for any vagueness.

The day that we got Ansley and Karis in Ethiopia, we were able to meet their biological father, Teshome. You can read the entry we wrote about this while we were in country here. It was a day that brought such a wide range of emotions. Obviously the joy of physically having the girls in our family forever, but also the pain of seeing a father let go of his children because he knew he could not take care of them due to his illness. The image of him walking away from the Transition Home that day crying, knowing he was likely to never see them again, is so vivid in our minds. Our hearts have been heavy with that vivid imagery ever since. In a just world, no father would ever have to do that. And we felt helpless to help him.

In addition, we know so little about our girls early history, other than their extreme poverty and the circumstances which led to them being taken to Kids Care Orphanage. As we have dealt over the past year with difficult issues regarding their attachment, we have often wished that we had more information. In the past month or so, I have mentioned to Shelley that I would greatly desire to go back to Addis Ababa by myself and try to find out more info. Of course the cost and logistics of such a journey make that next to impossible. But I have been praying that God would allow some way for us to connect with the girls past and some way help Teshome.

Two weeks ago, I got a facebook message from an old college friend who is currently on staff with Vanderbilt Medical School. In that message he asked, "Your girls were from Addis Ababa, right?" Of course I responded yes and instantly was intrigued as to why he would be asking.

Turns out he is traveling with a group of doctors and medical professionals to do work with a Christian clinic that provides year-round free care for the poor in Addis Ababa. They only serve a limited number of individuals, but they serve them for life, making home visits, building relationships, and also addressing their spiritual need. One of the purposes of the particular clinic that my friend is working is to identify new patients to be in the program. I instantly emailed a friend that works with our adoption agency in Addis and asked if there would be any way she could connect with Teshome. She replied immediately (from Ethiopia! Total God thing!) and said she knew how to contact him because he came by sporadically asking to see pictures we had sent with our post-placement updates! She said that she would be more than happy to try and find him and take him to the clinic!

That is where we are now. I write all of this to ask you to pray. My friend's team left earlier today (7/29). We sent with him some recent pictures of the girls, a letter to Teshome from Shelley and me, and some pictures that the girls have drawn. We don't know what to expect. We know this whole thing is a long shot, but our God is the God of long shots. If this works, we would have the opportunity to tell our girls that not only are we taking care of them as their forever family, we are also taking care of Teshome, because he is our forever family, too.

BTW, the girls do not know about any of this. We don't want to get their hopes up for something that may not materialize. So please, if you see them, don't mention this. Just pray that God would give us this opportunity to possibly help meet his physical and spiritual needs, and maybe even help us learn more about our girls' earliest years.

Thanks, friends.

The Necessity of Risk

2010-07-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

I wrote this post for my church planting blog this afternoon, but thought it would fit well on this one as well.
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The past few nights, we have started reading through the Gospel of Mark with our girls right before bed. Mark is one of my favorites. I love how he gets right to the point and moves quickly from story to story about Jesus. It's an action-packed Gospel, or as I like to refer to it, the ADD Gospel. In other words, it's perfect for me and my family. :)

The other night we were reading the story where Jesus calls out the first four disciples:

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" And they left their nets at once and followed Him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed Him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

(Mar 1:16-20 NLT)

The coolest thing in the world is to watch our girls' expression as they hear these stories for the first time.

Karis instantly had that look of contemplation/confusion upon her face. "You mean they just left their nets? And their dad?"

"Yep."

"That's crazy!" she exclaimed, in all sincerity.

And she is right. It is incredibly crazy. But of course, my familiarity with this story completely strips away its craziness for me. Over the past couple of days I have been thinking about how insanely crazy that story actually is.

Simon and Andrew left their nets. Just left them. Didn't pack them up or put them away to come back for them. Left them. For fishermen, nets = livelihood. No nets = no fish = no money. And even so, they left their nets "at once" after hearing what, quite honestly, was an odd request. Fish for men? Hmmm, that doesn't sound very profitable. Or secure.

In addition, leaving the Sea of Galilee is symbolic of leaving behind comfort, beauty, and luxury. Get a load of this, from Barnes' Commentary on this passage:

"There is no part of Palestine, it is said, which can be compared in beauty with the environs of this lake. Many populous cities once stood on its shores, such as Tiberias, Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Hippo, etc. The shores are described by Josephus as a perfect paradise, producing every luxury under heaven at all seasons of the year, and its remarkable beauty is still noticed by the traveler ... The waters of the lake are sweet and pleasant to the taste, and clear. The lake still abounds with fish, and gives employment, as it did in the time of our Saviour, to those who live on its shores."

The life of an Ancient Near Eastern fisherman was by no means a glamorous vocation, but the security and resources this lake had to offer must have made it a difficult place to walk away from. Yet walk away, they did.

Looking at this story through the eyes of our two youngest daughters -- former orphans -- the idea of James and John leaving their father takes on a completely more intense meaning. While Ansley and Karis had a great relationship with their biological father (read this post for more about their story), the tragic circumstances of their poverty and his health made it necessary for them to have to leave him. What a sad day that was for them. But it had to happen. So to leave their father by choice, the way James and John did? Only to follow a man of questionable reputation calling to them from the shore? That is indeed insane and hardly even fathomable for little Karis.

Yet this is continually the kind of risk I see Jesus calling for from those who would follow Him. Leave father and mother. Sell everything you own. Give your last coins. Take up your cross. In the Gospel stories, the result of such a risk was an opportunity to walk with the Savior. To sit at His feet. To hear the beating of His heart. And yes, to suffer with him.

The calling for those who would follow Him today is no less demanding. Why would it be? And, likewise, the results today are no different.

On more occasions than I can count, I find myself sitting across from an individual telling me that they have hit a spiritual brick wall. They just can't seem to hear the voice of the Lord. They don't feel the closeness that they did "way back when" they were younger in their faith. And if I'm honest, I'm often frustrated with my own inability, at times, to hear the voice of the Lord and feel His presence.

Yet the times I have most clearly heard the voice of the Lord are the times where I was risking the most to follow Him. If I get anything at all out of the above passage and my own experience, what I am learning to do is ask this question (of those I counsel, and of myself): What are you currently risking in your relationship with God?

Am I having trouble hearing God? Then what nets am I dropping?

Am I feeling far from the Lord? Then what securities, comforts, or luxuries am I walking away from? What relationships am I leaving behind?

Am I struggling with having faith? Then is my lifestyle arranged in such a way that requires faith, or am I dependent solely on my own resources?

I am convinced that the Church in America is struggling in our ability to hear God and is becoming stagnant in faith and deed because we are not risking anything to follow Him. We like our nets. We are in love with our stability. We are content in our comfort. We are addicted to our luxuries. We are dependent only on ourselves.

As a result we are losing our influence, both individually and corporately, because we cannot hear His voice. We cannot follow His heart, because we are too far away from it to hear the rhythm of its beats. His feet have walked the road to sacrifice and we are afraid that to sit beside them would mean they would eventually lead us down the same path.

To sacrifice is crazy. To choose suffering is crazier. To risk security is flat out insane. But in order to hear His voice again -- to sit at His feet, to hear the beating of His heart once more, to follow Him -- risk is absolutely necessary.

What are you currently risking in your relationship with God?

One Small Voice

2010-06-01T20:46:00.003-05:00

Here's a video of the girls singing together -- one of their favorite things. Sorry for the poor quality.

For those of you who have been following us for a while, I want to say thanks for praying for us. For Ansley, specifically. It seems that the Holy Spirit is really working in her heart and helping her to heal from all the hurt. You can see it on her face, as you'll see in this video.

Our prayer is that her one small voice singing about what she is overcoming will point the whole world to the One Who Overcomes.

It may make you a little misty-eyed, but have no fear. Karis, as always, comes to the rescue with some comic relief. :)

What's Next for the Egly Family ...

2010-03-24T23:47:00.006-05:00

Well, the rumors are swirling ...

And most of them are true. The main one being that we are officially crazy.

Seven years ago when I was ordained into the ministry, my pastor and mentor, Dana Mathewson, commissioned me with these words: "Jason, unless God is specifically calling you to serve an existing church, go start something new."

I have struggled with those words ever since they were spoken to me. Starting something new is hard. Starting something new is scary. Starting something new is crazy. And haven't we met our crazy quota for this year (lifetime?)? Seriously ...

Four years ago, God enabled my family to have the best of both worlds when we came to First Baptist Hendersonville. Sure, it was an existing church, but I was called specifically to start a new College Ministry. Eventually we expanded that and started a Young Adult ministry. And Shelley and I have loved every minute of it. But ...

The desire to really start something new has continued to grow in us. It is unmistakable. It is undeniable. It is unquenchable.

So, what's next for the Egly family?

As of June 1st, I will leave my position at FBC Hendersonville and will begin a 6-month Church Planting Leadership Residency with Fellowship Bible Church in Franklin, TN, in preparation to plant a new church in the West End/Hillsboro Village area of Nashville in early 2011.

[Aside: For any of you wondering why Nashville needs another church and/or why church planting is so important, please read this classic paper by Tim Keller: http://download.redeemer.com/pdf/learn/resources/Why_Plant_Churches-Keller.pdf

Also, I'd love to sit down with you and share the vision that God has given us.]

I will eventually begin a new blog that will document our progress toward this calling. In the meantime, our girls' response to this change pretty much sums up our experience so far ...

We shared with them (as best we could to a 4, 5, and 6 year old) what we are doing and the changes that it will bring to our family. Obviously Karis and Ansley were struggling to have any concept of what we were talking about.

Karis said, "So you're saying we are going to build a new church?"

"Well ... Kinda," I said.

She looked down and thought for a few seconds and then responded, "Can I plant the FLOWERS?" [Completely confused by the church "planting" terminology, ha ha.]

"Absolutely!" We laughed.

"Tank-you," she said, matter-of-factly, her body language expressing that she was good with this whole "church plant thing" now. (We'll break it to her later that it will possibly be a long time before we need to plant any flowers around a building, ha.)

Then Ansley piped in, "I help bring the chairs in, Dah-dee." And with that, she was on board.

"Awesome," we said.

But then, when we looked at Mallory, she had big huge tears streaming down her face. "But, I am going to MISS my Sunday School teachers and friends!!!" she cried. And we explained that some of our best friends will be going with us (more about that in a later post) and that the coolest thing is that this is going to allow us to meet many more new friends. And besides, God is telling us to do this. Doesn't He always know what is best for us?

She smiled. Because that's a question to which she has learned the answer by experience over the past 2 years. [Side note about adoptions: they teach your whole family what it means to take risks and live by faith; they give your kids the opportunity to see God come through EVERY TIME. So church planting is really not that scary after all. :) ]

Our emotions run parallel with our girls'. We are excited and ready to jump in and get started. But we are also heavy-hearted to leave a place and a people we love. A people who have become family to us and have helped us give these two new little ones their forever family ... Whew.

This is hard.

We covet your prayers. :)

One Year Ago Today ...

2010-03-18T14:40:00.012-05:00

Wow. It has been one heck of a year.

One year ago today, Shelley and I faxed in our official acceptance of our referral ... the referral that came to us with these pictures:

And what a year it has been.

The acceptance of that referral set in motion a multitude of events that would change the face of our family forever.

Our fundraising hit full swing, and God showed His greatness and His provision in miraculous ways. We assumed NOT 1 PENNY OF DEBT in bringing our girls home. (For those of you reading this who are in the adoption process: if He has called you to it, HE WILL DO IT.)

God moved mountains and expedited our girls' case through the Ethiopian Court System. Despite all of the talk/rumors in recent weeks about the corruption involved in Ethiopian adoptions, the judge assigned to our case was meticulous in investigating every last detail regarding our girls' adoption. It took 3 court appearances. At the time, we considered it a hassle and an aggravating delay. Now, in light of all that has happened since, we consider it a blessing, because we know that our girls are justly and legitimately ours. Thanks to that Ethiopian judge, we have the paperwork to prove it.

We safely traveled to and from a land as far away and as different from ours as we could possibly imagine. Yet somehow, though frightfully unfamiliar, it was a land which we feel we have always known and will always be connected to. We entered our girls' world and began the long, arduous journey toward their Redemption. A journey that didn't end in fairy-tale fashion when we brought them into our home, but a journey that continues now and will continue indefinitely until the Lord calls us all Home. A journey of joy and of sorrow. A journey of laughter and of tears. A journey of healing and of pain. A journey of faith and of fear. A journey of successes and of failures. A journey of comfort and of risk. A journey that has both energized and exhausted.

We have all grown. We are all learning.

We are learning English. We are learning Math. We are learning to share. We are learning to forgive. We are learning to trust. We are learning to attach. We are learning what it means to love unconditionally. We are learning new definitions of Family, Race, Wealth, Acceptance, Fairness, Pain, and Justice. We are learning what it means to leave behind shame and guilt and run wholeheartedly into a life of Freedom in Christ. And those are just the things that Shelley and I are learning!!

But also, we are learning that there are no quick fixes. And most profoundly, we are learning that the process of redemption may be just as important as the redemption itself.

We have changed. We do not look at things the same anymore. We don't see our lives as something to be managed to the ends of our comfort and control, but as something to be risked and sacrificed for a greater purpose. We don't see our resources as something to be spent for our own advantage or pleasure, but as a responsibility to be poured out on those who are hurting. We don't see the Church primarily as a place to gather and congregate, but first and foremost as a place from which we train to send and be sent, scattered and dispersed so that the Name of Christ would be magnified. And we don't see our relationship with Christ or our standing as children adopted into His Kingdom as something to sit on and to savor, but as something to share and to spread.

There is nothing about this year that has been easy. But we would never ever EVER go back to the place we were One Year Ago Today.

Thank you Lord, for using our girls to redeem us.

Then ...

And now ...

Questions About Ethiopian Adoptions

2010-02-17T19:43:00.002-06:00

Recently, CBS News ran a story that called into question the ethics of Ethiopian adoptions. A lot of people have been asking me about what I thought about the story. I have been thinking about how to respond and planning on writing a nice, long, articulate post.

And then I read this and realized I didn't need to reinvent the wheel. :)

This is a blog post from a family with our agency currently working on their second adoption. Very seldom do I read a blog post and say, "I agree with everything here." But ... I agree with everything here:

http://impresseduponourhearts.blogspot.com/2010/02/adoption-ethics.html

WOO HOO!!

2010-02-15T16:57:00.005-06:00

Almost as exciting as bringing home our own kids is watching some of our best friends begin a journey to bring home theirs!! We are so excited for Josh and Elizabeth! Check out their story athttp://nunnallyadoptionstory.blogspot.com/ and while you're there, buy some of the fair-trade coffee they are selling to help get them started with their fundraising!

GO NUNNALLYS!!!!

What Can I do to Help Haitian Orphans?

2010-02-04T10:05:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone --

With all the headlines over the past week concerning inappropriate methods of helping relieve the orphan crisis mounting in Haiti, I was pleased to receive this email that outlines a legitimate and well-organized plan to help.

I have had the privilege of attending several meetings of the Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance, as a representative of my church, and have been made aware of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) Haitian Orphan Response Team (HORT.)

Please read the following email from Jen Gash (President and Founder of Sweet Sleep) and pray for this initiative and how God might be leading you and/or your church to be involved.

... Several CAFO partners and multiple US disaster relief experts have come together to create an initiative called HORT, Haiti Orphan Relief Team. The 15-member team deploys for Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 14, 2010 to implement a short and long-term strategy for displaced and orphaned children in the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake.

HORT is comprised of disaster response specialists as well as leaders from non-profit organizations that are members of the CAFO. I have agreed to serve as the deputy logistics director.

The team will create a communications infrastructure with a radio command system which is used by FEMA. Team members will train Haitian church leaders and orphanage directors to use the system to communicate their needs and to provide updates on their situations. Additionally, our team will be using a GIS mapping system to chart the coordinates of each orphanage and Christian church we can learn of. This infrastructure will become the basis of a permanent network that will provide immediate and long-term assistance where and when it’s needed most.

The specific mission is to support the churches of Haiti to care for orphaned children. This will be accomplished by pairing U.S. churches with Haitian churches, to provide ongoing resources and support. HORT will collaborate with and train Haitian partners to sustain this effort beyond the deployment period. The mission goes far beyond today’s immediate needs of Haiti’s orphans as HORT establishes a network of support for these children for years to come. The Haitian churches which link with orphanages will later be linked to churches in the United States who will walk alongside them in rebuilding a sustainable Haiti and strong children.

HORT partners are: CAFO, World Orphans, UNC School of Public Health, Together for Adoption, Sweet Sleep, and Orphan Lifeline. Information on HORT can be found at www.haitiorphanrelief.org.

There are probably lots of questions people will have about the long-term. I would suggest they go to www.haitiorphanrelief.org for answers to these questions. I would also encourage people to make donations at this site which will go toward the initiative outlined above. In the future, Haitian churches will be matched with US churches who are interested in long-term ministry opportunities to walk alongside their brothers and sisters and children in Haiti. People can also keep up with the happenings in Haiti on our website www.sweetsleep.org and go to our blog or the link on the home page in the next few days and beyond.

I would greatly love to have everyone’s prayers for this work---for the details, planning, fundraising, travel, health, safety and execution of everything involved. I’ll keep you posted over the next 11 days…oh, my.

Appreciate you!!

Jen

Jennifer Gash, President and Founder, Sweet Sleep

Note: Sweet Sleep’s relief work for Haiti has provided orphaned children with 6,034 pieces of bedding; 2,111 Bibles; more than 5,400 lbs of food; 5,574 articles of children’s clothing and shoes; over 7,400 medical items; 12,236 baby wipes and 16,268 diapers. Thank you for helping Sweet Sleep bring hope and love to these little ones! For more information on how we are caring for Haiti’s children, and to find out how you can be a part, go to www.sweetsleep.org

Follow Jen on Twitter as she serves in Haiti: http://www.twitter.com/jengash

2010-01-30T21:10:00.029-06:00

We are going all the way back to August for this post. I don't think we have too many followers left, but just in case- I have wanted to post so many pictures of the girls' "firsts" with our family but just haven't stopped to do it. Well, tonight is the night to catch up! Enjoy!

(btw, the pictures loaded backwards- so it goes from january 2010 back to august 2009)

Our first snow of 2010!

They are all bundled up and ready to do some sledding.

Cuddled up in their new hand-made blankets from Aunt Beckey.

So many presents to open and they stopped here to check out the I Spy books for a long time.

First peek before they see the presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

Halloween: We are all about Disney Princesses in our house.

Karis is cracking us up all of the time. When I got these pics developed I couldn't stop laughing at her pose.

Carving our pumpkin, pulling out the guts- yuck!

A beautiful October wedding for one amazing couple. The girls were all flower girls in this wedding.

The beautiful couple.

We took A and K for their first hair cut and stylin' 8-)

The day we dedicated the girls at church. They are wearing their Ethiopian dresses.

A little after school fun.

Karis' "Shape Bakery" at preschool.

A and M's school has this great bulletin board featuring pictures of all the students from different countries. Ansley thought it was pretty special to have her pic up there.

Mal's first day of 1st grade!

Karis' first day of preschool.

Ansley's first day of Kindergarten.

We Have Room at FBCH this Sunday

2010-01-22T11:08:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone --

I am really excited that the Weimer Family (aka @kirkweimer, @heidiweimer, "Kirk and Heidi plus 9," etc.) will be sharing the story of their adoptions as a part of our Sanctity of Human Life Celebration this Sunday in the Living Room at First Baptist Hendersonville, where I am currently leading worship.

The Weimers were your regular middle-class family with three beautiful children, until they decided to adopt 3 older children from Ethiopia. And then they adopted three more! Their blog was one of the first that we saw after we had decided to adopt. At the time, we were seeking to adopt an infant girl. After seeing their blog and watching the homecoming of their first 3, we realized that we had room ... so we adopted two older children. And the rest is history.

Check out We Have Room, their ministry's Facebook page, here. And then watch this video for a taste of what you can look forward to on Sunday morning.

Here are the details. The Living Room is the modern worship service at First Baptist Church Hendersonville. (Directions here.) It meets in the Wilson Fellowship Hall (near the Family Ministries Center) at 9:15 AM. Heidi and Kirk will be sharing their story toward the end of the service. They will also be participating in a more informal Q/A time immediately following the service. If you live in or around the Nashville area, I hope you'll come out and be inspired by the Weimers!

A Little Mini-Fundraiser for Haiti -- Hope Rising

2010-01-21T14:52:00.006-06:00

I am pretty certain that the disaster taking place in Haiti has affected me in ways that I will never be able to fully describe. The pictures of the hurting people and the lack of resources and medical attention is horrifying. The faces of the children are unforgettable.

We have some friends, Brandon and Nikki James, who are currently serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic with an agency called New Missions. You can check out Brandon and Nikki's blog at www.unclinchedfists.com. Theirs is a powerful story. Although the Jameses are several hundred miles away from Port au Prince, New Missions has been faithfully serving the poorest of the poor in Haiti for over 27 years. Their work is phenomenal.

New Missions is currently accepting donations for their relief programs in Haiti -- a reconstruction fund to rebuild their schools and mission buildings; a rice fund to provide food for those who have none; and a medical fund to help with those needing medical treatment after the earthquake.

If you feel so led to help, visit their site and make a donation. As an added incentive, if you will message me, or comment on this post, letting me know you made a donation (honor system, people!), at 8 AM CST Friday morning (1/21) I will randomly draw a name and send that person a new copy of my favorite recent worship CD, "Hope Rising" by Fee. I think it is appropriately titled for this project!

Thanks!!!

Jason

MLK and Promises Kept

2010-01-18T22:42:00.003-06:00

It has been a while since we updated. Sorry for that, to the few followers whom we may have left ... We plan to post some pictures soon and do a "real" update.

In the meantime, things are going pretty well. The girls are making great strides in their adjustment, Ansley in particular. She is finally relaxing into our family and, after 7 months, we are finally beginning to learn about who she really is -- she has masked her personality for so long. We are so thankful for her progress. Karis continues to amaze everyone from her doctors to her teachers, showing the social and cognitive skills that would be considered "advanced" for children who have lived here their entire lives. Mallory is like having a third parent in the house. Sometimes that is a great thing and sometimes, well ... not so much :) She is really doing awesome, though, and has led the way in teaching us all about forgiveness and love. What an incredible kid!

Today we were all home for the MLK holiday. We told the girls his story and read them part of his speech before bedtime. It is funny how deeply personal it becomes when you read "I have a dream that one day ... little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," and then you realize that dream is literally being realized right in your very own living room! I had to explain to Ansley and Karis why Mommy and Daddy were crying.

It reminded me of the post I wrote about Martin Luther King back in April of 2008, more than a full year before we brought the girls home. God specifically told me these words, which I wrote in the blog that day: "This IS his plan for our family. The attacks of the enemy WILL NOT prosper. Every obstacle standing in His (and our) way WILL BE REMOVED. God WILL be glorified. And EVERYONE will see it together." And then to see that promise fulfilled in the eyes of two little girls who have their forever family.

Do me a favor. Go back and read that post. (At the time we thought we would be getting a girl and a boy):

http://abeautifultapestry.blogspot.com/2008/04/glory-revealed.html

It is a fantastic way to honor the legacy of a great man who helped make it a possibility to do what our family and so many others have done. But it is also a reminder that God keeps His promises.

Every time.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T20:48:00.003-06:00

What an amazing year this has been! Last year at this time we were hoping that the coming year would bring our children home from Ethiopia. We didn't even know who they were, but we wanted them here before 2010 came! Well, they are here and we are grateful!

This year has taught us so much. We have learned to trust God more through our adoption journey than during any other season of our lives. We have been blessed by so many of you who have carried us through the waiting times, the delivery of our girls and then "held up our arms" as we have struggled through some very rough months.

We want you to know that the last month has been one of the best times for us as a family of five! God has heard your prayers and answered them in a big way!

We have shared that Ansley has had the most difficult time transitioning from Ethiopia to our home. In the last three and a half weeks though, we have seen a different child- a more content, joyful, and peaceful child. What a praise that is! What a miracle!

We wanted to tell you all Happy New Year and thank you for the way you have supported and loved our family through this entire journey. You have blown us away with the ways you continue to reach out to us and we are so grateful! Much love to you!!!

(btw- more posts to come from the holidays we promise-really 8-))

He Has Been Good ...

2009-11-20T12:09:00.008-06:00

Each year at Thanksgiving, our church does a special worship service called "He Has Been Good." We come together to show our thankfulness to God for the things he has done for us this year. During the service, in addition to a toy drive for underprivileged families, different church members are highlighted to share the story of how God has been good to them this year.

Here is the video that was shown this past Sunday night of our family's adoption journey. Props to our church media staff, especially Chad Conger and Keith Holloway, for their fantastic work.

Enjoy .... and feel free to share with others!

Egly Adoption Video from Jason Egly on Vimeo.

Meet the Grinch, get a haircut, and help us pay for our re-adoption expenses!

2009-11-10T22:25:00.003-06:00

Great Clips at Glenbrook in Hendersonville has graciously chosen to donate a portion of their proceeds from every haircut this Saturday (November 14th) to our post-adoption expenses!

(What are post-adoption expenses, you ask? Well, although the Ethiopian courts granted us custody of Ansley and Karis, they are here in the U.S. on a Green Card, as permanent residents. But they are not U.S. Citizens. And while the US government recognizes our official custody of them, we have to "re-adopt" them through a US court. This is just a formality, but it is what gives them the ability to apply for a Social Security Card and obtain American birth certificates, etc. The court costs and attorney fees are around $1000.)

Come by, get your haircut -- there will be appearances by the Grinch and Suds (the mascot shaped like a shampoo bottle), from 9-3.

ALL CHILDREN 10 AND UNDER WILL RECEIVE A TREAT BAG WITH SPECIALLY PRICED $8.99 HAIRCUT!!!!

Thanks to Megan at Great Clips for setting this up for us!

The Glenbrook Shopping Center is off of Exit 6 (New Shackle Island Rd) on Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Blvd in Hendersonville. The Great Clips is across the parking lot from Target, next to Wolf Camera.

The Green, Green Grass of Home

2009-10-15T14:49:00.006-05:00

From the very beginning of our adoption journey, we have been covered in prayer. Our church family and friends have prayed us through the application process, prayed us through the fundraising adventures, and prayed us safely home from Ethiopia with Ansley and Karis.

Since then, life has taken over. Our blog posts got fewer and further between. The adoption was complete. Right? From the activity on our blog, most would answer, "Right. The Eglys are home now. Everything is just perfect. Sweet little fairy-tale ending. Two orphans united with their forever family. Check."

A friend of mine (Tim Goonan) said it best this morning. He said so much focus goes on the front end of adoption, but that's only a matter of months. Once the adoption is complete you wake up one morning and realize that the second phase of adoption lasts FOREVER. Like when you've rented an apartment your entire life and then you buy a home. You're excited to get a riding lawn mower and cut the grass, until you realize you gotta cut it every week for the rest of your life!

It's overwhelming. Thinking about his words, I want to carry the analogy further ... I thought, the first time you mow your new yard, you realize it's full of ruts and rocks and roots. It's bumpy. How did I not see that when I looked at the grass the first time? It looked so smooth and lush! Now I'm thinking about bringing in a bobcat and completely uprooting the whole lawn! The realization that there are going to be hours and hours of digging up rocks, smoothing out the rough places, raking, aerating, finding more rocks, busting them up, and hauling them off. It's overwhelming. It's exhausting.

We were fooled those first three months by how well our girls were adjusting. The grass looked green. We are not going to have all those issues that other adoptive families have. God has spared us. This is going to be easier than we expected.

Then ... BAM!! My mower just hit a boulder. It broke my blade. It bent my housing. It cracked my frame. And upon closer inspection, THE WHOLE YARD IS A ROCK PIT!!

Our girls are hurting. We knew they would be. But we had no idea how badly. The pain runs deep. It affects EVERYTHING they do. Especially Ansley. Everyone she has ever trusted in her 5 1/2 years on this planet has hurt her. Why would we be any different? Why should she attach to us? It's almost as if her life's ambition is to keep people at an arm's length ... or further. It's self-preservation. It's all she knows. And it's NOT HER FAULT.

As Shelley wrote in the previous post, we have experienced a darkness these past few days like none other. Things were so bad we were on the verge of feeling completely hopeless. For the first time in my life I more clearly felt the presence of the Enemy in my home than I did the presence of the Lord. I felt within myself the capacity to do things and say things that I am ashamed to admit and that I never thought I could be capable of. It scared the Hell out of me. Literally. (Sorry if that offends you. There's no other way to say it.)

And that's when Shelley called upon you to pray. And pray you did.

Almost overnight we felt the confidence of Hope and the presence of the Lord. Ansley's demeanor has taken a significant turn for the better. There is still a long way to go, but considering where we were, this is nothing short of miraculous.

This is a spiritual battle. Duh! Of course it is! Adoption is the analogy Scripture uses for our salvation more than any other and it is the picture of God's grace here on this earth. The enemy does not want adoptions to be successful.

And just like how a person coming to know Christ is saved but not instantly sanctified, so is an adopted orphan rescued but not instantly healed of all the hurt and pain. Sanctification takes a lifetime of walking with the Lord and learning to listen to Him. Healing our hurting children is likewise going to take a lifetime of love and acceptance and having people like you personally carry them to the Throne of God in prayer.

Our family is also benefiting greatly by counseling from The Babb Center -- an awesome Christian counseling center here in Hendersonville. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Please keep praying. It's working. But we have a long way to go. And one day, we'll invite you over to walk through our lush, green lawn that your prayers are currently smoothing, sewing, cultivating, aerating, and fertilizing. Heck ... we might even let you mow if you want.

Calling on you for prayer

2009-10-13T17:32:00.003-05:00

I have wanted to write something for a couple of weeks now. I have wanted it to be something positive and inspiring.

I want to be honest though, and positive and inspiring is just not where I am right now.

If you have been around us for a few minutes lately you know that our family is really struggling.

We need your prayers.

We feel that Satan has a great presence in our home and it is downright scary. He has brought us to an all time low point. Ansley is not attaching well and helping her feels impossible. Karis and Mallory have been sick. The medical/dental bills are really piling up, along with the re-adoption costs. We are feeling very overwhelmed with the needs of our three girls.

Please pray for the darkness to lift from our home. Please pray that Jesus' life, light, peace and spirit will fill the walls and rooms of our home and our bodies. Please pray for Ansley's heart to heal- for us to know how to help her even when we are exhausted from helping her. Please pray for our weary souls, hearts and minds. Please pray for me and Jason to find time every day to let God speak to us through his Word. Please pray for our girls to enjoy being with each other and for the offenses to be forgiven. Please pray that our marriage would remain solid and that we would take time to minister to each other. Please pray for God to continue to meet our financial needs as He has done so many times before.

We are very grateful for your prayers. We will try and do better with our updates. If you can, please leave a comment-it will really encourage us to know who is praying. Thank you community for your love and patience-

Short update

2009-09-07T21:34:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone! Life is getting more and more crazy. Why did we think it would be crazier at the beginning and gradually get easier? It is the just the opposite. Life was less crazy right after we got home than it is now. The going from one child to three is sinking in now- three times the mess, three times the laundry, and three times the discipline makes us really really tired. But three times the laughter, three times the "thank you for family", three times the giggles, and three times the smiles is totally worth it! We know that God has called us to this and we will persevere and get to a new sense of "normal" if there is such a thing in our family. God is very much at work in our girls' hearts and we are very grateful for His quiet reminders that He is here amongst the chaos singing over us daily, quieting us with His love.

Please continue to pray for our girls as they take in so many new things, meet new challenges and learn how to trust us. Love to you all!

Mission Montana

2009-08-06T02:18:00.005-05:00

Please pray for us this week. We are leading a mission team of 22 college students and 20Somethings in Missoula, Montana. We are having an awesome time and great things are being accomplished for the Kingdom.

If you are interested in following our adventures in Montana this week, I am blogging every night of the trip at http://globalimpactmissions.blogspot.com/.

Tomorrow, we will be serving at a children's shelter in Missoula. We are looking forward to loving on these kids in crisis.

Thanks for praying! Here are a couple of pics of Mallory and me hiking to the top of Mt. Sentinel, overlooking Missoula. She did such a fantastic job!

Jason

An Orphan's Ticket Home

2009-07-31T10:45:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. I want to make you aware of an upcoming event that is well worth your time and possibly even may be life-changing for you.

Saturday, August 8th, at the Gaylord Springs Golf Club in Nashville, Tom Davis (author of Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless) will be speaking about the worldwide orphan crisis. Singer/songwriter Britt Nicole (Set the World on Fire) will be leading worship. It is truly going to be an awesome event.

It's a little personal for us, as well. The proceeds for the night's event go to support the Transition Home where Ansley and Karis lived before we came to get them. This Transition Home was such a Godsend and, in light of some recent things A & K have told us in the past few days, most likely saved their lives. The America World Transitional Home in Addis Ababa truly is one of the few bright lights in a very, very dark place.

Please click on the picture and visit the website below for more information about this awesome event, or let me know if you have any questions.

Blessings,
Jason

Adoption Adventures #2: Not Taking Clean Water for Granted

2009-07-28T02:03:00.006-05:00

Our girls love water. Whether its playing in it in the plastic backyard pool, washing in it in the bathtub, or drinking it from their sippy cup, they love it. You can tell this from the video below, but we didn't realize how much they appreciate clean water until two nights ago.

As our girls are learning more and more English, they are beginning to tell us lots of stories. This is awesome because, for the first time, we are beginning to learn about their lives, who they are, and where they came from.

I was laying on our bed tickling Ansley and Karis (a pretty common occurrence) and Karis asked me if we were going to go swimming the next day. I told her I didn't think so and then I saw her get "that look" where I know she's trying to think of words to tell me something important. Here's what she said (I can't do it justice without the body language that went along with it ...)

"Daddy, in Africa [pronounced uhFREEkuh] ... no water."

I was stunned. I asked, "What do you mean, Karis?"

She went on, "Ansley. Karis. No play water. Karis [makes splashing movements with her arms onto her face] ... Nanny say, 'NO NO NO, Befe!!!' [shows me that the nanny spanked her on the arm.] 'NO play water!! NO NO Befe!!' "

Ansley was nodding her head up and down in as if to validate what Karis was saying, saying "Yes, yes, Daddy! No play water!!"

Karis went on: "No play water. No drink. No bath in uhFREEkuh." She was really getting animated at this point.

Wanting to get more out of her, I said, "Why, Karis? Why no water?" Her answer crushed me.

"Water dirty, Daddy. YUCKY! No drink. No play. Water shinty [that's the word for urine], caca [that's poop]. YUCKY, Daddy. YUCKY."

I flashed back to the images and stench burned into my mind forever of Addis Ababa, with the urine and feces all on the sidewalk and streets, and I remembered seeing lots of people in the water of a river that flows through the city and thinking how filthy it looked. And then I imagined my girls playing in and drinking from that same water. I wanted to vomit.

And then what she said next made me realize that she knows how blessed they are now.

"In America, Daddy ... YAYY!! Water drink, water bath, water [she pretended like she was swimming and splashing.] No dirty, Daddy. No yucky."

Wow.

As I reflect on how blessed we are and how thankful I am that my family has clean water, I can't help but think of the millions who do not. Only 22% of the people in Ethiopia have access to safe water. I think of the 6000 children who die every day from water-borne disease. And it is totally preventable. We have the technology and the resources available to provide every person on earth access to clean water. Something we take SO for granted. We just have no idea.

I want to do something.

I got online and found Lifewater International, a Christian organization that seeks to empower communities in developing countries to gain safe water, adequate sanitation, effective hygiene, and the knowledge of Jesus’ love -- the Living Water. Check them out at http://www.lifewater.org/ . They have an informative fact sheet on their programs in Ethiopia -- here. If you feel so led, you can donate to their cause online -- here.

If this post has stirred your heart, I encourage you to make a donation in honor of Ansley and Karis. There is a place on the form for comments where you can do that. I want them to know that their story helped other people in their home country get clean water. In fact, if you will let me know that you did that, we will send you one of our adoption shirts for free.

Or, if you want to know how you can help provide an orphan child clean water for life by giving them a forever family, visit the Orphan's Ticket Home website, and consider attending their Nashville Gala to be held at Gaylord Springs on August 8th.

In the meantime, watch this video of our girls enjoying the blessing of clean water, taking a bath for the first time in America, and playing in the kiddy pool for the first time. Give thanks to God for His provision, and for Jesus -- the Living Water.

Adoption Adventures #1: Catching Lightning Bugs

2009-07-21T01:56:00.006-05:00

Now that we are home with Ansley and Karis, the adventures are over and the blogging will end, right?

Hardly.

We are quickly learning that our adventures are just beginning and we would love for you to continue following our journey as we share those adventures here on this blog. (Hopefully a little more often, now that we are getting into some routines.)

There is so much that goes on around our house now on a given day or week that it will be impossible for us to document everything chronologically. Instead, we just want to give you random snapshots into our family's life with each new post. Our hope is that our story would inspire you or someone else to take the giant leap of faith of opening up your home and your heart to a child (or children) who needs a forever family, so please share with your friends and family.

Adventure #1 is from a few weeks ago when our girls discovered that incredible creation of God known as the Lightning Bug. Oh boy. This is one of my favorites. Get ready to laugh for the entire 6 minutes. And sorry ... to say that no lightning bugs were harmed in the filming of this video would be a big fat lie.

A few pictures

2009-07-07T15:01:00.003-05:00

So Jason is the writer and I am the photographer. Since it has been so long since we posted I thought I could at least post some pics. Stay tuned for Jason's post. He has been making a list of the funny goings-on around our house. 8-)

We are doing great! The girls have been in our care for almost 1 month! That is crazy! We are so grateful for all of the help, prayers and support. We couldn't have done this without our awesome community!

I'll leave you with a little taste of their personalities:
Mallory has been so nurturing, patient and kind. She has as much teacher in her as Jason and I do ourselves. She has been going through puzzles and cards with the girls teaching them new words. One night last week Ansley Berhane had out a coloring book. She pointed to a page and said to Mallory, "What is?" I helped Mallory understand that she was asking her what was in the picture. Mallory answered Ansley that it was a dog. Ansley Berhane then said, "GO behz!" which means "good job" in amharic. She was copying what Mallory does with her- Mallory is the best big sister for these girls!

Ansley Berhane loves to help. This girl wants to do everything. As soon as she gets out of bed she starts making her bed and Karis Befe's. She is an observer too. She has poured over our albums and practically memorized everyone in the pictures. When Jason's parents came over for the first time she ran to get an album that had their pictures inside. Then she pointed to them in the pictures and in person.

Karis Befe (btw we are still not sure how to spell the her name. we have seen it at least four different ways. Befe is what is on her birth certificate. so for now that is what we are going with.) Anyway, she is our resident comedian. The girl has the greatest little laugh and giggle I have ever heard and it is contagious! She is silly and sweet and loves to be tickled. She keeps us laughing!

Much love!

A little wet fun outside

Posing with silly faces

After catching at least 30 lightning bugs. Poor bugs 8-)

Sister love

Happy Father's Day Jason!

Meeting Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee

2009-06-24T02:05:00.004-05:00

I finally got our videos to work. This one speaks for itself. Enjoy!

(Thanks to the Sweeneys for getting this on tape!)

I Need to Write a Blog Update ...

2009-06-22T14:56:00.015-05:00

But ... our life ...

...is CRAZY!!!!

And that's crazy in the greatest possible sense of the word. Shelley and I joke that our house should be renamed the Ewok Village (from Star Wars) because of its cute little people running around jabbering in different languages, eating constantly.These girls are so loving and have the greatest little personalities. We are SO blessed!

That's not to say that this is easy, though. This is by far the HARDEST thing we have ever done. Both girls still have a lot of sadness and grief in their hearts, and it pops up every now and then. Since their English is limited, at best, it is almost impossible for them to communicate to us what they are feeling and why. We just hold them and kiss them. That seems to work, for now. :)

I have a thousand things I want to blog about, but I am not going to be able to do that now. Too tired. So this post will mainly just be pictures. Oh, and did I mention I have to go back to work tomorrow? I love my job and my ministry, but I don't want to miss anything!! Not cool. :(

Here are some more pics. I'll try my best to get some of the video up soon ...

These three are from Mallory's baptism -- without a doubt THE highlight of my ministry so far. We are so thankful that she loves Jesus so much and understands already what surrender and sacrifice is all about! (I am laughing in the second one because right before I baptized her, she said "Don't dunk me too hard, Dad." Priceless.)

Here are each of the three girls playing on the swingset ...

The girls with Grandmother and Granddaddy and Cori and Justin

And my favorite yet, getting ready to go to Michael and Amy's Wedding!

We still have a ton of t-shirts left to sell ... we'll apply the proceeds to our re-adoption expenses that will be coming up in the next month.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers! We need them and so do all three girls as they are adjusting to their new life together!

Blessings,

Jason

We are Home ...

2009-06-14T22:56:00.015-05:00

We're home and things are, well, different. But a good different. A breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-because-you-know-all-your-family-is-finally-in-the-same-hemispshere different.

Oh, the stories Shelley and I could tell about this past week. I'll try to post a few in the coming days, but in the meantime, I really know that all you want to see is pictures, so here you go. I gladly cave in to the pressure because my girls are stinkin' cute. All 4 of them! :)

Here are some of my faves from the first few days ...

Just a few minutes before we met our girls for the first time ...

The wait is over ... here they come!!

They were wearing the sunglasses and the dresses we had sent them, just for us!

These pics speak for themselves ...

This still seems so surreal ...

Getting to know our new family members ...

Daddy and his girls (that's a self-placed sticker on Bifee's head)

We are so thankful for the loving staff at the Transition Home. Our girls LOVED Ms. Fortuna and their nannies. We owe them dearly ...

Leaving the Transition Home was not easy for our girls (refer to update #2)

In case you thnk adoption is just a cool way to expand your family, think again. These children are real people who have experienced real pain and show real grief. This is not going to be easy ...

Ansley Berhane ... "My Light." This girl has a heart of pure gold!

Karis Bifee ... never a dull moment and always a smile.

Mallory ... a constant encourager and an AWESOME big sister!

Sporting the UT gear ...

When the power is out in the Guest House, what do you do? Play with the flashlight in the closet, of course!

Our girls getting their beloved backpacks and all the treasures inside ...

Our first bedtime story as a family ... Mrs. Spider's ABC's

I'll post a few more soon ... right now, sleep!!!

FLIGHT DELAYED!!!

2009-06-13T14:04:00.002-05:00

Hey, guys! Shelley just texted me to let me know that their flight was delayed in Detroit, and, as a result, their flight will be arriving a little later than expected....they're thinking around 5:00pm today. For those of you planning to meet us at the airport, you can just plan on meeting at the Northwest security gate around 4:30pm!

Hope to see you all there!
Cori

UPDATE # 3!!!

2009-06-11T16:26:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. This update is to share some very good news. Thanks to your prayers, we had an excellent day. And, oh, did we need them.

First of all, Karis Bifee has had a MUCH better day. And as a result, so has everyone else. I think the new saying in our home is about to be "If Bifee ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." :) Right now, all three girls are outside playing soccer together. I think Karis Bifee may be the next Mia Hamm.

On another note, we breezed through our embassy appointment. The officer looked over our paperwork, smiled, and said, "Congratulations. You'll have your visas tomorrow morning."

Today was not without some serious drama, however. We and several families went out for a walk while we were waiting for our embassy appointment. Let me first say that driving in Ethiopia is kind of like Bristol Motor Speedway. It is CRAZY. Well, as we and several other families were walking on the sidewalk with all 8 of our children (3 of them being Eglys) to a small market, Something (GOD) prompted me to tell Mallory to walk on my left side to be safe. Not 30 seconds later, there was a small fender-beder right beside us. The driver of the car that was hit, however, turned his wheel right toward us and for some reason gunned the accelerator. In THE SCARIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE, he missed us on the right by about 6 inches, ran over the sidewalk and crashed hard into the storefront. He ran over two people in the process, but miraculously, none of our bunch were hit.

I am convinced the enemy was driving that car. He does not want this adoption to be complete. I am equally convinced that your intercession for our safety and the sovereign power of our Lord spared us from great harm. Please continue praying for us until we get home! The kids were all terrified and the parents were all stunned with how quickly everything almost changed. Thank you Lord. Whew.

Tomorrow, we have a full day to relax and get the girls' visas before heading to the airport around 6PM Ethiopian time. Our flight leaves a little after noon Nashville Time. We will arrive home with our girls Saturday at 4:15 PM on a Northwest flight coming in from Detroit. You are welcome to meet us at the airport. We hope to see you there! Cori Johnston will post on the blog if there are any delays and cancellations.

Blessings from the Egly Five!!!!

UPDATE #2!!!

2009-06-10T17:36:00.003-05:00

I don’t even know how to begin typing this update. The last two days have seen such a wide range of emotions, that they seem surreal. I personally have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows … sometimes, simultaneously. I guess I’ll just start from the beginning. Be forewarned, this might be long.

In my previous post, I shared with you the overwhelming joy that we experienced on Monday, as we met Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee for the first time. (By the way, we are using Berhane and Bifee more than Ansley and Karis right now. It’s just working better. Pronunciation Guide:
burr-HAH-nee and BOO-fee. Yes, I said BOO-fee. Go figure.)

Yesterday started by our entire group going shopping. Again, we were overwhelmed by the great suffering of the Ethiopian people. Hundreds of children begging on the streets, selling anything they can sell and doing anything they can do just to get food. Honestly, I just get angry when I see it, because it should NOT be this way. No child should ever have to live in these conditions. We have so much … I’ll stop there. My blood pressure is rising to dangerous levels.

After eating some lunch, we anxiously arrived at the Transition Home. As soon as we stepped out of the van, Shelley, Mallory and I were immediately ushered into an office to where Berhane and Bifee’s father stood at the back of the room, weeping. Words simply cannot describe this meeting. I looked in his eyes and instantly saw a man who was making the greatest possible sacrifice in order to save the lives of his daughters. We were all overcome with emotion. His name is Teshome.

I spoke first and all I could utter was a completely insufficient "Thank you." I think the Transition Home director who was translating for us (Fortuna) helped me out a little bit on that one, pointing to her heart as if to say "from the bottom of our hearts." Teshome, speaking through tears, told us that he wanted to make sure we knew and the girls knew that he did not abandon them and that he loves them very, very much. He said that he knew that he would never be able to offer them the quality of life that they deserved and that this was their only chance of growing up healthy and happy. He said that he had been praying that God would send a family that would love them and provide form them, and when he saw our pictures he just knew that we were the ones and thanked God for us. He traveled by foot all the way from his home (we think 2-3 hours away) in order to give us his blessing and communicate to his girls through us how much he loved them. Wow. How can you respond to that?

God for some reason brought to my mind something that Betsy Ingle told me a few months back – so I told him that he was a hero, and we would always tell Berhane and Bifee that and how much he loved them. In addition, I shared with him how his act of unselfishness was an example to us of the love of God, who also gave up his child so there could be life to the full. The rest of the time was spent crying and hugging and taking pictures to give the girls later in life, and then we prayed together as a family, and yes, Teshome is now a part of our family. He walked away quickly, weeping. I was overcome with emotion. I could not imagine doing what he had just done. And then to have to walk home alone with all that grief.

We thought the hardest part was over, but really it was just beginning. When we went in, the other families had already been with their new children for over 20 minutes. They tried to explain to Berhane and Bifee that we would be right in, but they could not be consoled. When we found them their faces were streaked with dirt and tears. They ran to us and we just continued the cry-fest. Through a translator we told them that we were here now, and they could be with us as part of our forever family. Not sure Bifee understood, but Berhane clearly smiled at me as she was crying. We just held them for a long time.

They were so excited to show us their beds and introduce us to their nannies and teachers and all their friends. They went around to each one and gave a goodbye hug and it was clear that they have been so well loved. Each nanny cried and cried as we were leaving. Their friends were crying, especially one older girl in particular, who had befriended Berhane.

They were so excited to get on the bus. We got in the back seat so we could wave as we pulled away. Then it hit Berhane like a ton of bricks that she would probably never see thiese people again. She cried and cried. Then Bifee cried because her sister was crying. Then Mallory, who clearly understood everything, also began crying. Shelley and I had never stopped to begin with, so we were a total mess. I admit I was completely unprepared for all of this. I knew it would be emotional, but this was just too much. I thought the sadness would be overtaken by happiness, but the grief was real and it was deep. We have not recovered. We will.

We got back to the Guest Home, played with the girls and gave them baths (that’s another blog entry in itself for the future.) Their personalities continue to shine through – Ansley Behane, the orderly, compliant, sweet, loving caretaker. Karis Bifee, highly affectionate, funny, sassy, center of attention. They have surprised us with how many English words they already knew and have been picking it up like sponges!

We gave them new backpacks with matching dresses, flip-flops, coloring books, crayons, etc. it is heartbreaking to see how much they have clung to these backpacks. We have since realized they are their most prized possessions, because the contents of the backpacks are all that they own in this world. We went to bed and the girls all surprisingly slept like logs.

Today has been especially difficult. Our girls are clearly grieving. Karis Bifee has cried pretty much all day long. She has acted out in some pretty severe tantrums, and several times has been completely inconsolable. This has upset Ansley Berhane, because she still feels the responsibility to take care of her younger sister. But remember, she is grieving just as much in her own right. Mallory has cried several times because it is just so stressful when Karis is crying. But she has befriended Ansley who is in awe of how Mallory can read and write! They are going to be best of friends, we can already tell. What a blessing!

Tonight brought with it a sliver of hope. We had a great supper here at the Guest House. We all went back upstairs and I began to upload the pictures from my camera onto my laptop. Ansley and Karis came over and were glued to the pictures of their faces and us. We must have looked at them a hundred times. Karis smiled and laughed and played for the first time all day long. It was a sweet moment.

Oh, and our US Embassy appointment got delayed until tomorrow. Please pray that they can process the girls’ visas so we can actually leave on Friday like we have planned. We really feel like the quicker we can get the girls home, the better.

I hope to be able to update tomorrow with much progress having been made because of your prayers!
Jason

UPDATE FROM ETHIOPIA!!!

2009-06-08T18:11:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone ... the internet is up right now, but who knows for how long...

We are here. We are safe. We are healthy. And today was one of thegreatest days of our lives. We travelled to the Transition Home to meetour girls around 330 PM local time. We could see them peeking out of the windows looking for us when we drove up. When it was our turn, they came RUNNING out of the door. Ansley Berhane jumped into Shelley's arms and Karis Bifee ran and jumped into mine. We have it all on video. It wasamazing. They were wearing the outfits and sunglasses we had sent them andwere so incredibly loving. It could not ave gone any better if we had planned it. I have never had so many hugs from a person I hardly evenknow.

Mallory has been AMAZING. She played with Berhane mainly for a long time. They played soccer and Mallory taught her some dance moves. She has been completely selfless this entire trip and has been such an encouragement to everyone who has met her.

Berhane is very loving, not nearly as quiet as we thought she would be. She has clung to Shelley more than anyone else. She is every bit thecaretaker. I am looking forward to her getting to be a little girl and not have to be responsible for her little sister. Bifee is quite the littletrip. I'm talking some major sass going on. She is hilarious. She iseverybody's friend. She has never met a stranger. Did I mention she wasfunny? Oh my goodness. Just you wait.

Both girls are speaking a little English. They already call us Daddy andMommy. They can say Mallory, but their word for her was"ehet", which means sister.

Tomorrow, we need some serious prayers. Aside from going back to get our kids (forever!!), the girls' father has driven up to meet us. This is optional on our part, but we have chosen to meet with him around lunchtime at the Transition Home, apart from the girls. They tell us he has been SO supportive and is so happy that his precious little girls have a family that can provide for them forever. He already has driven up after our court date in order to tell the girls goodbye. We want to encourage him and give him every possible assurance that he has done the right thing, so that he can live the rest of his few days on earth with peace. Pray for us that we will have just the right words to bless him with and that he would see God's hand in his decision and this adoption.

The internet is so slow here, that I am having lots of trouble getting any pictures to upload. I'll keep trying. The ones from today are priceless.

On another note, the level of human suffering here is unimaginable. This city of 6 million people is one of the most hopeless places I have ever seen. Children, women with infants, in inhumane conditions, begging on the streets at every turn. Entire "cities" of tin and cardboard "homes." It is almost too much. We are having a hard time. Our only consolation is that two fewer children will be in that condition as of tomorrow. Please pass the word to everyone that we are ok and that all is goingwell, but to keep praying!!

Love you all!!
Jason

Travel Itenerary and Prayer Requests

2009-06-04T00:38:00.006-05:00

As I type this post, it is after midnight on Thursday which means we are 1 day away from travelling to meet and get our girls!!! We are in the process of packing (if that's what you want to call it. See the pic of our living room ... we gave up trying to finish tonight and are going to bed!)

This may be the last post from us for a little while. I am not sure how much we will be able to post from Ethiopia ... I know the Internet connection will be limited, at best. Hopefully I can update you all at least once or twice.

As we get ready to leave, I thought I would give you a brief summary of what we'll be doing each day and how you can pray for us. We really appreciate your prayers. (Special thanks to Jordan, who will be STAYING AT OUR HOUSE every day and night that we are gone):

Friday, June 5th -- We leave Nashville for Washington, DC. We'll be spending the night in DC so that we won't have to rush so much on Saturday. We also wanted to have some fun with Mallory by herself before the craziness begins. Pray that we will have a restful, enjoyable last night as a family of 3. :)

Saturday, June 6th -- We will spend most of the day in the indoor pool, lol. Our flight departs from Washington-Dulles at 8:30 PM (EST). (It's Flight 501 on Ethiopian Airlines, if you want to check our status.) Pray that we have a smooth check-in process and safe, restful travel.

Sunday, June 7th -- Most of this day will be spent in the air, over the Atlantic. We fly about 10 hours into Rome before refueling and flying another 5 hours into Ethiopia. We arrive in Addis Ababa at 7PM local time, 11:00 AM Nashville Time (they are 8 hours ahead of us). We will be picked up at the airport by our agency and taken to our Guest Home. Pray for continued safe travel, and especially for little Mallory as she adjusts to a long flight and completely new surroundings.

Monday, June 8th -- We have an orientation/paperwork meeting in the morning and then we will travel to the Transition Home to meet our girls for the first time!!!! This is what we affectionately will refer to as "Metcha Day." We will spend the rest of the day with our girls, but will not take them with us at that point. Pray that all the paperwork is in order and that our first meeting with our girls goes very well. Pray that God would form an instant bond between all of our family.

Tuesday, June 9th -- The morning will be spent shopping, then we will go pick up our girls after lunch. From this point forward they will be ours!!! This is the day we will refer to as "Gotcha Day." We'll have dinner on our own and will spend our first night together as a family of 5! Pray for Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee and all the emotions that will be flooding them on this day. This day begins their grieving process as they will be leaving the home they have lived in and the nannies who have taken such good care of them since Christmas.

Wednesday, June 10th -- This day will be spent at the US Embassy applying for our girls' visas. This could be a long, drawn-out process. Pray that there are no hang-ups and that all of our documents are in order. Continue praying for our health and energy level.

Thursday, June 11th -- If all is going well, we will have the option of visiting two orphanages and seeing a little bit more of the city. Pray for us all as we adjust to one another and as we try and process the extreme poverty and suffering we will encounter.

Friday, June 12th --Most of this day will be spent packing up and preparing to leave. Our flight departs Addis at 10:15 PM (2:15 PM Nashville time, Ethiopian Air flight 500.) Pray that the girls' visas come through in time to make our flight and that we are healthy and have safe travel.

Saturday, June 13th --After another stop in Rome, we arrive back in DC at 7:55 AM EST. This flight, we are told, almost always runs late. We will have to get the girls and all our bags through customs and be ready to catch our flight which leaves IAD at 12:30. We arrive at 4:15 PM CST on Northwest flight 1759 coming in out of Detroit. We'd love for you to meet us there! Pray that our flight is on time, that there are no problems with customs, and that we are safely boarded on a plane back to Nashville. Pray that the girls adjust quickly to us and are not too overwhelmed when they return!

In addition, please be praying for the other families travelling with us to pick up their children. Some of them also have blogs that you can follow:

The Cole Family, adopting Alexander Mason –http://www.colefamilyadventure.blogspot.com/
The Foote Family, adopting Aria Lu http://www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com/
The Jaegar Family, adopting Anna Mihiret http://www.jaeger-family.blogspot.com/
The Sweeney Family, adopting Gavin Dawit http://gavinquest.blogspot.com/
The Nicholson Family, adopting a 4 year old girl
The Hanson Family, adopting a 4 year old boy
The Byrom Family, adopting a sibling group, ages 6, 4, and 2

Thanks so much, dear friends! This journey would not be possible without your prayer and support. We hope you realize what an important part you have played (and will continue to play) in the life of our family. We love you all!

(PS -- We still have lots of T-Shirts available. You can order yours on the sidebar to the left!)

VIDEO OF OUR GIRLS!!!!

2009-05-31T16:21:00.004-05:00

Wow. This just keeps getting better and better.

Last week, Jason and Heidi Garner travelled to Ethiopia to get their little girl, Hope. You can follow their journey at http://waiting4hope.blogspot.com/.

They were kind enough to include us in their journey by taking a care package from us to Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee. The picture in the post (2 posts ago) is one of the pictures they took for us. Today, they sent us the rest of the pictures they took, but the real prize-winner was this video. That's Jason Garner in the video loving on our sweet girls. Thanks, guys for giving this to us!!

Can't believe that this time next week, we will be getting ready to meet them in person!!! 5 days til travel time ...

Enjoy.

Adopted For Life

2009-05-30T23:03:00.003-05:00

Dr. Russ Moore was one of my favorite professors in seminary. He was different than the rest. Firm in his convictions, yet abounding in grace -- a combination all too rare among established churches and seminaries today.

Dr. Moore and his family recently added to their family by adopting from Russia. He has become one of the leading voices for adoption advocacy within the church. I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his new book, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. I ordered it this week and it should arrive in time for me to read on the plane to Ethiopia! (Five days, if you're counting ... I am!)

Is anyone out there currently reading this this? If not, pick up a copy, read it over the next couple of weeks, and share your thoughts with me. In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoyed this review of the book from the Between the Times blog. I've copied it for you here:

"A Dangerous Book"
by Bruce Ashford

Some books are dangerous, and Russ Moore’s Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches is a dangerous book. It is dangerous in the way Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship or Life Together is dangerous, because if you take the book seriously it may alter your life significantly and, to be honest, perhaps in ways not entirely welcome.

Adopted for Life is in many ways exactly what you would expect from Russ Moore, who is a friend. The book is erudite, insightful, well-written, clever, and full of wisdom. That’s what we all expect from Russ. But there is more. This is a personal book, recounting the journey of Russ and his wife through the adoption process, and he writes with moving eloquence about their experience. It is also a book about the gospel. Russ has done a masterful job of showing the implications of the gospel for the church with respect to adoption.

Let me mention two of my favorite parts of the book. The first has to do with rude questions people ask about adoption. Nothing along these lines surprised me, but what Russ recounts is just so typical for anyone who has spent time around the church, which is so often the landing place for rude and obnoxious folk. I guess I enjoyed this because it made me laugh at something that is so irritating.

Second, I am very grateful for the manner in which Russ treated the question of transracial adoption. I have another friend who runs an adoption agency and we have talked on more than one occasion about this question. To me, this is a matter of grave importance for Christians, social workers, and agencies to sort out. Nothing helps to clarify this issue like the gospel, and I am very grateful for the manner in which Adopted for Life frames the issue.

I wonder what would occur if a number of our churches took this book seriously. What would occur if our families reordered priorities in accord with the gospel and considered how their home might become a home for the homeless orphan? I wonder what would occur if those who have received the Spirit of adoption would consider the implications of the gospel in the way Russ Moore suggests? Dangerous thoughts, indeed.

I heartily recommend this book. It is a good example of how we should help Christians to consider how the gospel matters for all of life. I pray we will see many more books like this, on a variety of subjects. So, read the book, and encourage your friends to do so. Encourage your church to do so. But I warn you - this is a dangerous book.

You are not going to believe this story

2009-05-29T11:27:00.003-05:00

From the beginning, it has been clear that our adoption of Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee is not about us at all. Several things have happened to affirm this to us. Here is the latest one.

File this one in the "You couldn't make this up if you tried" category.

A couple of weeks ago, Amanda from our adoption agency asked me to contact a family from Oregon who is also adopting from Ethiopia (they already have one child home from Ethiopia.) This family is moving to Hendersonville because the husband’s job has transferred him to Nashville. Her biggest worry about moving was finding a good church that was supportive of trans-racial adoption. I gave her a call and talked to her for a very long time. I explained that our church, FBC Hendersonville, was a big church – but a great church. They were kind of concerned about the whole mega-church thing. In addition, they were really close to their pastor in Oregon and they were concerned when I told them we were in an interim period. And our church is just now beginning in many ways to realize the importance of adoption and orphan awareness. We are getting there, but it's a slow process. I was able to tell her, however, how supportive our church family has been of our adoption. She said they would definitely visit here when they come, but I didn’t really think she would.

A couple days ago, however, I got an email that told me I HAD to read the story she just posted on her blog. It seems her son whom she just brought home from Ethiopia was wearing one of his favorite t-shirts that he had been given at the orphanage. Apparently this shirt was sent to Ethiopia from someone sending clothes and other relief items. Out of 4 million orphans in Ethiopia, her son ended up with this one particular shirt and brought it home. She had never noticed what it said before two days ago.

Check out what the shirt says by following this link to her blog. You will never believe it unless you see it for yourself.

http://bjgamble.blogspot.com/

These are the kinds of stories that remind me that God is a sovereign God and we have nothing to fear, because He is in control. That's a good lesson for me, considering WE LEAVE IN 7 DAYS!!! :)

Big smiles! 8-)

2009-05-27T08:25:00.006-05:00

Look at what we got today! You gotta love waking up to this in your inbox!

(Thank you Teresa and Kim for the cutie pie sunglasses!)

Our heads are spinning ...

2009-05-26T15:14:00.006-05:00

Wow. Can this really be happening? We just bumped our travel up a day so we won't be so rushed flying into D.C. That means we travel in less than 10 days to meet our girls and bring them home!!!!! We will be leaving Nashville on June 5th, flying into Washington, DC, and then on to Addis Ababa with a stopover in Rome.

We will return home with Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee on June 13th at 4:15 PM. We are looking forward to as many of you joining us as possible! If you want to come be a part of the homecoming at the airport, let me know and I will give you more specific flight details. [As an aside, in case anyone is reading this with impure motives, we will have someone staying at our house every day that we are gone. And we have nothing that you'd want to steal, anyway. We sold it all to finance this adoption. Ha.]

There is so much to do to get ready for them. We don't even know where to begin. How do we pack? What do we take for them? How will we keep all three of our girls occupied on a 15 hour flight?! We have now officially entered the freak-out zone!!!!!

But instead of freaking out in a blog post, I am just going to tell you two really cool stories.

First, our friends the Garners are in Ethiopia as we speak getting their little girl, Hope. You can check out their blog at http://waiting4hope.blogspot.com/. We were supposed to be traveling with them, but our court delays pushed us back to the next travel group. Being the kind family that they are, they agreed to take our girls another care package from us. This time, we picked them out a couple of cute dresses from Target, a pair of sunglasses, and Mallory picked them out each a yo-yo. We have been wondering what our girls' reactions would be and we got this email from a friend who works for our agency today:

This is the Garners, and we are in Ethiopia having the most amazing journey!!! Email has been tricky, but we just got a connection ... Would you please let Egly's [and another family] know we have seen their kids and they are awesome ... The Egly girls are adorable. They clearly LOVE each other, were very eager to see their package and were engaging. They immediately went and changed into their new dresses and sunglasses and then ran up to us saying "photo, photo!" We were loving them!

Ah ... it is this type of thing that sustains us through the wait.

Second ... (sit down, because this is a big one). GOD GAVE US A MINI VAN. I can't say who or how ... I am only allowed to say this: The Holy Spirit led a very kind family in our church to give us a van for our girls. The family wants no credit for this, they just want God to get all the glory. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???!!! Awesome. We are stunned and humbled all at the same time.

After this happened on Saturday, I called a friend. I confessed to him that I felt so humbled and unworthy of such a gift. This act of generosity reminded me of how un-generous I am sometimes and how I do not deserve anything God gives me. My friend reminded me of the verse that says, "It's Your kindness, Lord, that leads us to repentance." That is so true.

I went to cut my grass (sometimes it's where I do my best thinking) and put my iPod on shuffle. Wanna know what the first song was? Yep. Chris Tomlin's "It's your kindness Lord, that leads us to repentance." Wanna know what the next song was? Watermark's "Holy Roar." The first line in the second verse of that song says (yep, you guessed it), "It's your kindness Lord that leads us to repentance."

I get it, Lord. You are so good to us. Unbelievably kind. And we are so unworthy. Forgive us for that. Help us to live and show the kind of kindness, love, and generosity that You and Your people have shown to us and our girls this week.

Here's a pic of Shelley in our new (to us) Chevy Uplander!

WHAT WE"VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

2009-05-21T10:27:00.003-05:00

WE GOT OUR OFFICIAL APPROVAL FROM COURT!!!!!! More details later ... for now, just watch this video!!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Also, remember our T-Shirts! You can order them on the sidebar to your left!

Thank you LORD!! And thanks to our community of faith for your fervent prayers!!!

WOO HOO!!!

You must be this tall to ride ...

2009-05-20T23:56:00.006-05:00

This adoption is a roller coaster. Ups, downs. Twists, turns. Speedy takeoffs. Sudden stops. Anxiety. Elation. Nausea. Excitement.

Not too long ago, it felt like our adoption was in the "waiting in an endless line on a scorching hot August day" phase. Then we got a referral and court date, and almost got whiplash because things started moving so quickly. We passed court this past Monday, but right now, it feels like we are stuck at the top of a hill, waiting for someone to come get things moving again. I used to HATE that as a kid.

Apparently, when we passed court, there were some power outages that prevented the judge from completing our paperwork. Now that the power is back on, our judge has taken some "time away." Not sure if that means she is sick or on vacation or what, but we can't move forward until she does something that apparently is just a formality and will complete this process and enable us to travel.

Not a big fan of roller coasters in real life. Honestly, they scare me. Yet, I always ride them, for some strange reason, compelled by the challenge they present and determined to be brave. Afterward, I'm always glad to have ridden, but also glad to be off.

We are on this roller coaster and WE ARE NOT GETTING OUT UNTIL THE RIDE IS FINISHED AND HAS COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. It is scary. It is frustrating. Yet for some strange reason (= called by GOD), we are compelled by the challenge and determined to be brave. We will one day be thankful for the ride, but we are looking forward to being off and on safe ground with our girls.

Please pray for us. This is nothing less than spiritual warfare. Spiritual battles are won by prayer. Thankfully, our God has never had a power outage, has never been sick or taken a vacation. Please pray for this paperwork to be completed so we can confirm our flights (our reservations will expire on Friday) and travel June 6th-13th.

We are in for the ride. There is no turning back. WE WILL BRING THEM HOME. But you can't make us keep our hands and feet inside the car at all times. :)

T-Shirts!

2009-05-18T23:26:00.014-05:00

OK ... we have this way cool video to post on here, showing pics of our girls. But we can't post it yet. Patience, people. Patience. :) I promise I'll put it up as soon as I possibly can.

In the meantime, I CAN post a picture of our amazingly awesome T-Shirts that you most definitely should purchase (see sidebar or click here, loyal facebook readers.) This project (as is the case with our entire adoption) is the result of a community effort: The design comes courtesy of the great David Hobbs, FBC's very own communications guru. The printing is the handiwork of Bobby Head at Southern Promotions in Hendersonville. He is SO deserving of your business! And the product photos come via the amazingly gifted Daniel Walley, the next Ansel Adams, I am convinced. (http://www.danielwalley.com/)

We currently have dark tan and light tan, in most sizes. When all of these sell, we'll order some more in some different colors!

All the proceeds will help us cover our travel expenses (tentatively June 6th-13th!) Anything that we raise beyond what we need will be given to the Transitional Home where our girls are currently living, funded by the Orphan's Ticket Home campaign.

Hope you like the shirts! (Click them to see a larger image ...)

WE PASSED!!!!

2009-05-18T10:15:00.003-05:00

PRAISE GOD!!!! WE PASSED!!!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

We will post a video as soon as we get the ok from our agency. They are still waiting on some documentation and then we can post their sweet pictures!!!!

Thank you for your prayers!!! We love you!!!

The waiting is the hardest part ...

2009-05-15T11:41:00.006-05:00

We just received an update from our agency concerning the court hearing that took place today (last night) in Ethiopia. Apparently, there were power outages in Addis Ababa that caused the court to get behind. The judge flipped through our newly submitted paperwork and decided to put it off until Monday. ARGH!!!!

So ... we continue to wait. Our agency thinks they have everything that the judge has requested and that all should go well. But she could also ask for something else. It's totally up to her and her mood on that particular day. Please continue to be praying.

On another note, Shelley, Mallory and I got all of our necessary immunizations for travel. Mallory got hers at the Vanderbilt Travel Clinic just to be extra sure all was well for her to travel. Since she started Kindergarten this year, hers were up-to-date, with the exception of Hep-A and Typhoid. Here's a picture of her being brave.

Shelley and I, however, were not nearly as brave. Of course, we also were not nearly as up-to-date on our immunizations. She and I both needed 5 shots: Hep-A, Typhoid, Tetanus, Menangitis, and Polio. Fun. It freakin' HURT!

But as I sat there and watched the lady getting ready to put the third needle into my right shoulder, I thought to myself, "You know what? If this means getting us one step closer to adopting our girls, she can poke me with that needle about 25 more times. Bring it on."

Not to get overly spiritual on you or anything, but right then and there I had another one of those God moments. You know, the kind where He speaks to you so clearly it's like He's in the room? And He said, "Yes. That is what I did for YOUR adoption. Except on a much grander scale. And I would do it a thousand more times, if it were necessary."

And then the verse hit me ... "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5 NIV)

Man.

Best shots I ever had. For several reasons.

But my arm still hurts. :)

If at first you don't suceed ...

2009-05-12T10:34:00.002-05:00

Well, we just got a call from our agency updating us on the court hearing. Not the news we wanted, but also not anywhere near the end of the road. Essentially, the judge is being very meticulous. He is asking for more information about the childrens' birth mother. On some level, I appreciate that.

Our agency is working to get the requested information and hopefully get us back into court within the next few days.

So, prayer warriors ... keep praying. We WILL be successful in this ... God told us so. We trust His perfect timing.

More updates when we get them ... stay tuned.

Jason

Court Hearing is Happening Now ...

2009-05-12T00:43:00.002-05:00

It's 12:44 AM CST ... and I can't sleep. Why? Because I know that halfway around the world in Addid Ababa, Ethiopia, our court hearing is taking place. (I also can't sleep because I drank a Starbucks vanilla latte at 9:30, but that is beside the point.)

If you are up, and read this post, please pray that our court date would go according to God's timing. That's all. No more, no less. Not my will, but His.

We hope to hear something by at least lunchtime tomorrow (Tuesday, 5/12). Check here for updates. You'll know when we know. :)

Blessings to you tonight!
Jason

Tonight is the night ...

2009-05-11T00:31:00.002-05:00

Ok, prayer warriors. Tonight is the night. When the clock strikes 12 AM Central Time Tuesday morning, it will be 8 AM in Addis Ababa. Sometime in the next 8 hours after that, our case will be heard. If all goes well, Ansley and Karis will be EGLYS!!!

So ... get your prayer groove on. Pray that none of the weapons that the enemy would form against this adoption would prosper. Pray for the judge(s) to look upon our girls and our family favorably. Pray for God's will to be done. Pray for the girls' biological father that may (or may not) be present. Pray that God would bless him for the heroic sacrifice he is making.

As soon as we know something, we will update you here. Stay tuned. And thanks for praying!

One Week ...

2009-05-05T23:05:00.003-05:00

Hey Friends --

Just a quick reminder to be praying for our quickly-approaching court date. Sometime after you go to sleep on May 11th, a judge in Ethiopia will review our case and potentially grant us custody of Ansley and Karis. Please pray for all to go well and for the Lord to allow us and our girls to find favor with the person(s) presiding over our case.

This is a really big deal. Pray that the enemy would not have any foothold in this process, that God's will would prevail and our girls would be granted their family.

We may not know the outcome for a day or so after the court proceeding. As soon as we know and have our positive outcome, I'll finally post some pictures!

If you feel led to join us in praying and fasting over the next 6+ days, let us know ... it is extremely encouraging to us and we want to be praying for you specifically, by name, as well.

Anxiously awaiting May 12th,
Jason

"When is our family coming?"

2009-05-01T17:23:00.003-05:00

Today has been an exciting day. We recieved our monthly update on Ansley and Karis this afternoon. We hope this is the only monthly update we receive; this time next month we hope it is US UPDATING OUR AGENCY on how our kids are doing!!

In addition to 5 completely adorable pictures of the two of them that I cannot show you, we received some information on our girls' personalities and interests (as well as clothes and shoe sizes!!) Here are some of the highlights:

Ansley:

3ft 6in tall, 39.5 lbs

Clothing size: 4T , Shoe 10 ½

She eats pasta, macaroni, enjera, rice and bread

She can trace letters and numbers. She is learning how to write and read.

She runs, climbs, jumps.

She is playful and smiley. She is very obedient. [I love her already!]

She likes making her own bed. [Good thing. Hers may be the only one made when she gets here!! ha.]

Favorite color: yellow

Karis:

3ft 0in tall, 32 ilbs

Clothing size 3T, shoe 7 ½

She eats rice, pasta, macaroni, enjera and bread.

She just had chicken pox. It’s cleared up and she is fine now. [this was very evident from the pictures]

She can memorize alphabets. Her teacher said she easily catches on to things that she is taught.

She is very playful and happy.

Sometimes she doesn’t talk if she doesn’t feel like it. [ha, ha. Shelley and I laughed out loud at this one. Looks like ANOTHER strong-willed child. But then again, sometimes I don't talk if I don't feel like it, too. lol]

Favorite color: yellow [they said she told them this in English :)]

Both girls enjoy playing -jumping rope and playing on the merry go round..

"They are fine and adjusted with their new way of life. "

We had asked them how are they feeling about being adopted into an American family. Here is the exact response:

"They are so excited. They keep asking when their family is coming."

Soon, sweet girls. SOON. WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU SOON!!!

Keep praying:

May 12th -- Court Date

May 21-30 -- Tentative travel dates

approx. $4000 left to raise

Garage Sale Fundraiser SATURDAY, MAY 2, 8AM-??

1023 Gannett Rd., Hendersonville (Creekside Subdivision, off of Long Hollow Pike, close to Long Hollow Nursery)

PRAY FOR A BREAK IN THE RAIN!!!!

:) :) :) :) :)

Our. Kids. Are. Awesome.

2009-04-28T17:41:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update ...

We just received pictures from the Van Druff family. They sent us four pictures of Ansley and Karis holding the stuff we sent them. They are so SWEET! I cannot begin to describe to you the smiles on their little faces. This made our day. No, week. No, year. THEY. ARE. AWESOME.

They are wearing the bracelets that Mallory sent them and holding their little stuffed lambs so tightly, hugging each other and smiling from ear to ear.

In about 14 days, we'll show you these pictures, WHEN we pass court. Be praying.

In the meantime, please keep following and praying for the Van Druff family who is currently in Ethiopia. http://vanclanfive.blogspot.com/

:) :) :) :) :)

(that's one smiley for each member of our family.)

In a few hours ...

2009-04-26T22:04:00.004-05:00

It's 10:18 PM Central time as I write this. That means it's just a little after 6 AM tomorrow in Ethiopia.

In just a few hours, the Van Druff family (who have become friends of ours, though we have never met) will be meeting their children for the first time in the same Transitional Home where our girls are living. Please follow their blog here: http://vanclanfive.blogspot.com/, as they are giving daily updates.

They will also be meeting our girls and hand-delivering the care package we sent to them. This package has a picture album of our family. That will be the first time Ansley and Karis will see what we look like. There are also two stuffed animals, bracelets for both of them (that match one that Mallory has), some sweet pictures that Mallory drew for them, and a letter from us to them. The Van Druffs will be taking pictures (and maybe video) of our girls as they get their packages. They'll also get to tell us a lot about them (including their clothes and shoe sizes, finally!)

Please be praying for our girls as this might be an overwhelming experience for them. They are so little. It's a lot to process. We'll update you when we hear something!

Also, sometime in the next few days, our agency will be sending us our monthly updates about our girls. They will answer some of the questions we sent them and send us new pictures and any additional information they have gathered about them in the past month.

If all goes well and we pass court on May 12th (11th, to us), we will be IN ETHIOPIA MEETING THEM OURSELVES IN LESS THAN A MONTH!!! Please keep praying that all will go smoothly and that our travel arrangements can be solidified soon!

Blessings,

Jason

More Loaves and Fish...

2009-04-20T14:39:00.008-05:00

Here's another cool God story for you. Remember a week or so ago when I blogged about a very generous individual who offered us her Sky Miles for our travel? Well, after some technical difficulties with Northwest's website, we actually got it worked out and transferred today. But here is the cool part.

She told me that she had built up these miles as a result of several mission trips and was planning on using them for future mission projects. But after happening upon our blogsite as a result of our "Twitter-thon," she felt like God was telling her to give them to us. "They're not mine," she said. So we completed the transfer of 53,000 sky miles into our accounts (for a small fee to the airline, of course.) But here is the COOLER part ...

For the month of April, Delta/ Northwest just happens to be running a promotion. For every mile that you transfer to a friend's account, the airline will DOUBLE IT. Yes, I said DOUBLE IT. So, God just took one person's generosity of 53,000 Sky Miles and multiplied it into 106,000!!! Only God could orchestrate the timing of all this. Only God could take 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and feed as many as 15,000 people. Only God could take a few Sky Miles and bring home two Ethiopian orphan girls ... our girls. Man, are we going to have some stories to tell Ansley and Karis one day ...

(Thanks, T.K., for your generosity.)

Order Our Incredibly Awesome Adoption T-Shirts (in Advance)!

2009-04-20T00:54:00.009-05:00

We have incredibly awesome T-Shirts to sell as a fund-raiser, thanks to the creative genius of our good friend David Hobbs and to the awesome screen printing of Bobby Head at Southern Promotions in Hendersonville. (HIGHLY recommended.)

I can't show you the shirts yet, because they contain the likeness (though very subtle) of our girls. Per Ethiopia's adoption guidelines, we can't distribute any pictures (or likenesses) until we have passed court on May 12th. I can, however, tell you that this is DEFINITELY a t-shirt you will want to wear LONG after our adoption is complete; it raises awareness about the world orphan crisis (currently at 147 million), not just our adoption. In addition, we want everyone who meets us at the airport when we return home (hopefully on May 30th) to be wearing one.

If you trust me when I tell you that you are going to want one of these shirts, you can help us by purchasing them in advance by using the button in the left sidebar (here's the link, for our loyal facebook readers, who happen to outnumber our loyal blog readers.) If you prefer not to pay online, feel free to email or message us with your orders. As soon as we pass court and we receive your payment, you can pick them up from us or we will mail them to you if you live out of town. I'll post a picture of the shirts on here when I can.

Please be praying for us this week. I am hoping to finalize our travel and we hope to get all of our immunizations taken care of. We still need to raise at least $4000 more. And we are getting our house ready for the addition of two more little girls. Heaven help us. :)

Thanks for your support! We are almost 1 month away!!!!!! What a glorious homecoming this is going to be!!!!!

Things to Pray For ...

2009-04-13T00:31:00.009-05:00

Many of you have let us know that you would be joining us by praying for our adoption on Mondays. (You can also pray for us anytime Tuesday-Sunday, if you like.) Shelley and I thought it would be a good idea to give you a few specific ways you can pray. I'll keep it brief so you can get started praying faster :)

1. Our court date is May 12th. Actually, since Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us, it's sometime in between May 11th and 12th for us. How about we just cover BOTH days in prayer? This court date is when an Ethiopian judge will review our paperwork and decide whether or not to grant custody to us through our power of attorney. Pray that God would cause this person (or persons) to look favorably upon our family. Pray that any of our girls' biological family that might be requested to be there would be able to attend and do whatever might be required of them in order to complete the process.

2. Pray for our travel plans. Right now we have tentative travel dates of May 23-30, assuming a positive outcome in court. We have been unable to contact the person who coordinates travel for our agency for over a week due to her sickness and the Easter holiday. We have to get moving on this very quickly if we are to travel at these times.

3. Pray for our immunizations. This is kind of stressful. There is some uncertainty as to exactly what vaccinations we have to have (and what we NEED to have) and we need to get these quickly so they will have their full effect. We are also worried because this will be very stressful for little Mallory :(

4. Pray that God would continue to provide the funds for our expenses as he has so faithfully been doing. We are having a yard sale on May 2nd and we hope to have our really cool adoption T-Shirts available by May 12th (assuming we pass court.) Maybe these two things will put us over the top.

5. Pray that we would be ready. We are a little less than 6 weeks away from this very hypothetical adoption becoming a very tangible reality. We are working on the girls' rooms and we are working on our own hearts. Pray that we will be able to stand against the inevitable spiritual attacks that the enemy is already attempting to use to derail us.

6. Pray for Mallory. There are some very big adjustments coming her way. Pray that God would guard her heart and continue to nurture her sweet, compassionate, loving spirit.

7. Pray for Ansley and Karis. They have no idea how their world is about to change in almost every possible way. Pray that God would be protecting them during this wait time and beginning the healing process for their lives that have already experienced a lifetime worth of hurt.

8. Pray that God would use this whole experience to encourage and mobilize the community of faith to live missional lives, showing love for the least of these and giving the glory to God.

(9. Also, please pray for our friends Katie and Larkin Woodard. They just moved their family of 5 two thousand miles away from home to Missoula, Montana, to help a new church get started there. They have been gone for 6 days. Their youngest daughter (age 2) is sick with an ear infection and Larkin's grandfather passed away suddenly this morning.)

Thanks, friends. Please comment below to let us know you are praying or if there is anything we can pray for YOU about!!

Here we go ...

2009-04-05T23:01:00.010-05:00

Alright folks ... this is getting a little scary now. Shelley and I joke that we alternate emotions everyday. We run the gamut from being ecstatically excited, to scared out of our minds, to wondering if we have officially lost our minds, back around to ecstatically excited again. But honestly the last few days we have mainly been scared out of our minds. Let me help you understand a few of our fears:

Our house is too small. Seriously, where are we going to put 5 people and all of our stuff? We can barely turn around without bumping into each other as it is now ... and we are not very big people. Lol.
What about delays? What if we don't pass court on May 12th? I am preaching 3 weddings this June and July. Lord spare me from the wrath of a bride whose plans have to change ... :)
How are we going to make ends meet? God has blessed us incredibly so far, but what about after we get them home? Our budget already has no wiggle room for three people. And this economy? Oh boy ...
What if they don't like us? I mean, can you imagine being 3 or 4 and having your parents terminate their rights to you in a police station, send you to a strange orphanage with people you don't know, then be picked up by a strange pale-skinned family (and I mean VERY pale, lol) and taken halfway around the world to a strange country with people who don't speak your language? My stomach is knotting up right now ...
What if their emotional pain and grief is more than we can bear? How do we help them when we can't even speak their language? What if they resist attaching to us or don't want us to hold them or ... ?
What about travelling to get them? Am I seriously taking my whole family to a developing country where the CDC just issued health warnings for travelers? We can't even keep Mallory well for longer than 3 weeks at a time here in the States. (She has missed over 20 days of school THIS YEAR due to sickness!!!) And the thought of those vaccinations ...
What are we going to drive? Both of our vehicles are paid for, praise the Lord. But both only accommodate 4 people at a time. We don't want or need to buy a car right now!
Is Shelley going to go stir crazy having to be the one that is home the majority of the time with three kids under 7? Did I mention we have a small house? And that they don't speak English? Am I really going to be able to take that much time off work to help her? What if it's not enough?
What about Mallory? Are we going to be able to give her the attention she needs? Is she going to feel like we have neglected her because these new children, her sisters, will demand so much time and energy? What if she grows up resenting that?
Did I mention the fact that we worry about the whole not speaking their language thing? Oh yeah ... three times already. How do you effectively discipline a child that can't understand what you are saying? AHHHHHH .......

Breathe, Jason. Breathe. In and out. In and out.

OK. There. Now you have a GLIMPSE of the things that are keeping us up at night. Let's counter that with the events of the past week that are serving as reminders that God is the One in control here. (Thankfully, because we are a mess ..)

I have an incredible Godly wife that has seen fit to do life with me for the past 10 years and gives all indication that she wants to continue for at least another 10 more. Ha ha. :)
We have a beautiful daughter who just turned 6 this week and is so excited about her sisters that she voluntarily chose to have an Ethiopian-themed party and is voluntarily using her gift cards to buy them presents. Insane.
We have a court date May 12th ... MUCH more quickly than expected.
We have tentative travel dates May 23rd - May 30th ... MUCH more quickly than expected.
We have an awesome, I say AWESOME, community of family and friends that are praying for us and supporting and encouraging us each step of the way.
We have an AWESOME church that is doing everything it can to help us.
The guys I report to -- Mark, Richard, and Bob -- are three of the best people in the world and could not be more supportive of our adoption journey.
God is moving in our church and people are responding by doing CRAZY things for the Kingdom ... like our friends Katie and Larkin Woodard who are moving their family of five to Missoula, Montana to help start a church! (Oh yeah, and God is going to provide them with every penny they need, too!)
We raised over $7000 in one week from a crazy fundraiser idea through Twitter and Facebook. Still stunned by that one.
We have an AWESOME T-Shirt design that we can't wait to show you (after we pass court on May 12th.) It is so awesome, I think we can sell a thousand of them. Not kidding.
These kids' smiles are absolutely heart-melting. I can't wait to show you (after we pass court.)
We have been in contact with a family who was recently in Ethiopia that may have met our children as they were being brought into the Transitional Home a few months ago. More details later ...
God is faithful. Seriously. FAITHFUL. And good. Really. GOOD.

SO ... These verses sustain us:

Listen! It's the voice of someone shouting, "Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!"
(Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT)

For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."
(Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)

Sing praises to God and to His name! Sing loud praises to Him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD--rejoice in His presence! Father to the fatherless, defender of widows--this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But He makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
(Psalms 68:4-6 NLT)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
(2 Timothy 1:7 NLT)

This is My command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
(Joshua 1:9 NLT)

Please keep praying for us. God is doing this ... and He is the LORD of all!!

Wrapping up the Tweeter-Thon

2009-04-02T17:05:00.004-05:00

Hey Everyone --

Just a quick update since lots of you are asking. As of this morning, we had raised right at $5000 as a direct result of the Twitter/Facebook fundraising venture! In addtion, we have the offer of about $2000 worth of Sky Miles that we are trying to see if we will be able to use! We had contributions from all over the United States and even one from Amsterdam. Crazy! Shelley and I want to thank all of you who participated in this by generously donating to our adoption fund or reTweeting our message and Facebook status.

It now appears that, as long as we pass court on May 12th, we will be traveling MUCH faster than expected. Let's just say if everything goes as planned, we will BE HOME WITH ANSLEY AND KARIS BY THE END OF MAY!!!! Of course, there are many potential delays. Please pray for these to be minimal!

We still have several thousand more dollars to raise. We have some ideas ... A garage sale on May 2nd. We also have an AWESOME t-shirt design that we will begin taking orders on very soon! (Thanks to David Hobbs for the design!) And as always, you can still refer friends and family to our blog where they can donate securely online.

Thank you SO MUCH for helping us! More updates when we get them ...

Jason

Ansley and Karis ... What's in a Name?

2009-04-01T01:45:00.004-05:00

If you are visiting this blog for the first time today, it is probably because you clicked on the link from someone's Twitter feed or Facebook status. (If you are reading this as a Facebook note, please visit our blog directly.) Regardless, thank you for joining us on this incredible journey as my wife Shelley, my daughter Mallory (age 6), and I work to bring home two little girls, ages 3 1/2 and 4 1/2, from Ethiopia. I encourage you to read our previous posts explaining how God has led us to this point.

We had originally thought that we would bring our girls home this Fall or Winter, but we were informed of an early court date for our kids on May 12th! Things are progressing much more quickly than we anticipated (a good thing), but that requires that we come up with more money more quickly (a scary thing!) We are currently in the middle of a fun and creative way of raising the remaining $10,000+ necessary to complete our adoption -- using Twitter and Facebook to encourage people to donate to our cause. So far so good ...

In yesterday's last post, I wrote about an anonymous individual who rudely and thoughtlessly criticized the names we have chosen for our new children. Little did that person know that these names, Ansley and Karis, come as the result of much prayer and carry great significance to us. In contemplating this for a day now, I feel led to share this with you.

Our children have given Ethiopian names that we are not yet allowed to share publicly . We are allowing them to keep these names as their middle names in hopes that they never forget the land of their birth. But we are giving them new first names -- Ansley and Karis. We feel that this is important and biblical (though not required.) Over and over in Scripture, when God gave an individual a new life, he also gave them a new name that would remind them of their new identity as His child. For example, Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul. Our kids are also being given a new start. They are being given a forever family. It will be a mark of their new identity as our children. Kind of like what Christ says will happen to us when we are finally fully redeemed as His children in heaven: "To everyone who is victorious ... I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it." (Revelation 2:17, NLT).

Ansley -- This is a Scottish name that means "my own meadow." Seeing that orphans are truly among "the least of these," with no real possessions, giving Ansley her own meadow is very significant and metaphorical in our minds of her gaining her very own family. But even more significant is the fact that we chose Ansley as the namesake of her two Aunts, Rebecca Ann and Lindsey Leigh. Beckey and Lindsey were the first two people to embrace the idea of our trans-racial adoption at the very beginning -- even when others were against it. We hope that Ansley's name will always bring to mind her aunts and will serve as a reminder to her that she is loved, even when some others may unfairly judge or reject her.

Karis -- This is one of my favorite Greek words. It is the word that is often translated as "grace." Grace is the idea of gaining something that under normal circumstances you would not be getting -- a "gift" (another translation of the word.) Grace cannot be earned, it is completely dependant upon the will of the one who is giving it. There are 147 million orphans in the world today. All of them deserve a family, but the sad reality is that most of them under normal circumstances will not be getting one. Karis is an exception. God has shown her "favor" (yet another translation of the word.) We hope that her name will always remind her that she is loved by us, and most importantly by God, who has gifted (or graced) her with a place in our family and HIS.

There is another Name that I feel compelled to mention as I write this. It is a name of God that has permeated my very soul over these past three days: Yahweh Yireh -- "the LORD provides." As of Monday morning we needed at least $10,000 to complete this adoption. As of this morning (Wednesday), as a result of my friend Chad Conger following a crazy prompting from the Lord, many faithful friends and family agreeing to post a link to this blog on their Twitter feeds, Facebook statuses, and blogs, and people from all over this country being generous to us in spite of a shaky economy, we have raised $3578.53 in addition to about $2000 worth of Sky Miles (pray that we will be able to use them.) That is CRAZY! But He is the Lord. And the LORD provides. He IS Yahweh Yireh.

If you feel so led, you may join our journey by clicking the donation button on the left. You can join us by praying for our family, including Ansley and Karis. You can also join us by posting this statement as your Twitter or Facebook status: "Help give two Ethiopian orphans a new name and a forever family. Visit http://tinyurl.com/d97ghx."

Thank you so much and may God richly bless you as He leads you into your own meadow of grace through His Son, Jesus Christ.

:)
Jason

PS -- please check back here for updates on our progress!

The Goodness of God, the Generosity of His People, and the Coolness of Twitter and Facebook

2009-03-30T22:34:00.011-05:00

Just a quick update for you ...

Today has been an amazing day. What started out as a crazy idea has turned into a ridiculously amazing blessing for our family.

Props to my friend and co-worker Chad Conger for helping me get this idea off the ground. All day today, we tweeted and facebooked and asked all our "friends" and "followers" to do the same. It was

amazing to watch so many of you place our "tweet" in your

facebook status and drive people to our blog. Just to know you

were thinking of our sweet Ansley and Karis as you typed their names gave me cold chills. In a very real way, you were "Seeking justice. Helping the oppressed. Defending the cause of orphans" (Isaiah 1:27, NLT).

God promises to honor our efforts to look out for the least of these. Here is what He did today:

1. He prompted over 50 of you, representing at least 5 different states, to contribute to our fund.

2. He led you to donate over $1200 to bring our kids home. All of this was received in less than a 12 hour span of time. And donations continue to come in.

3. He led a group of students, as a result of this effort today, to contribute another $680, bringing our one-day total to over $1900!!!!

4. He renewed our faith. Honestly, I woke up this morning in the midst of a major spiritual battle. I know that the enemy does not want us to give these children a family. In fact he will do everything in his power to stop it. I really felt that this morning and was scared and discouraged. Determined to press on, I went ahead with the plan to carry out the "Twitter-thon." Let me tell you ... two of the first responses we received were not encouraging. One went so far as to tell us that the names we had picked out for our kids were stupid and, essentially, so were we. Can you believe someone would actually say that? I almost pulled the plug on the whole thing right then and there. But then I just took some time to pray and spend some time with God. He reminded me through His Word that our battle is not against flesh and blood. That the battle is the LORD's. All that is required of me is faith in Him. Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world! So, despite my fears, I kept the tweets coming. And look what the Lord has done through you.

Thank you for your time. Thank you for your patience, putting up with the endless stream of tweets today. Thank you for prayers. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for defending the cause of the orphan. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for loving Ansley and Karis when you haven't even met them. What a homecoming party we are going to have! I can't wait to tell them this story ...

Keep Pressing On,

Jason

***UPDATE 3/31 11:49 AM***

OK ... this keeps getting better. First of all, check out comment number 2 below ... THAT is what this is all about. It's more than just us bringing these two little girls home. It's about God showing us all how TRULY GOOD he is.

As of this morning we are up to $2400. In addition, someone has offered us their sky miles, which from our estimations, has a value of about $2000. We're still trying to see if we can work that out.

You can still donate and still link people to this site indefinitely. Thanks to everyone who has gotten on board with this. YOU ROCK!!!!

Help Bring Ansley and Karis Home ... for $10

2009-03-30T00:39:00.016-05:00

Last week, one of my co-workers made a bee-line for me right after our weekly staff meeting. "I know how you're going to raise the rest of the money you need for your adoption," he said.

He had me at hello ...

"Oh yeah? How's that?" I asked, trying to temper my excitement. "Twitter," he replied. Hmmm ...... I knew that social networking must be good for something. So here goes nothing ...

If you are visiting this blog for the first time today, it is probably because you clicked on the link from someone's Twitter feed or Facebook status. Welcome. (If you are reading this as a Facebook note, please visit our blog directly.)

Here's the scoop:

My wife, Shelley, and I are in the process of adopting 2 beautiful girls from Ethiopia. Ansley and Karis (we cannot disclose their given names at this time) are 4 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old, respectively. They are two children in great need of a forever family. We are that family. We are progressing quickly and hope to travel to get them and bring them home by the end of this Spring. Please feel free to read the rest of our blog to hear more of the amazing story about how God is leading us on and through this journey.

In order to bring them home, we need about $10,000. That's a lot of money in this economy ... until you do the math: If 1000 people from Twitter and/or Facebook donate $10 to our cause, we will be ready to travel as soon as we pass court on May 12th. We are bold enough to believe that God can do this for us TODAY through the means of Twitter and Facebook, if He so chooses.

Here's how you can help:
1. Pray for us. We honestly believe prayer is more valuable than money. Seriously.
2. Consider donating $10 or more to our adoption fund by clicking on the secure PayPal link in the column to the left.
3. If you are on Twitter, "retweet" the tweet that led you to our site. If you are on Facebook, copy this message and make it your status today: " Help give two orphan girls in Ethiopia a forever family! Visit http://tinyurl.com/d97ghx and copy this into your Facebook status." This will help us spread the word exponentially.
4. Leave us a comment below and let us know who you are. We would love to pray for you and your family as well.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Feel free to check back on this page during the day for updates on our first-ever "Twitter-thon." :)

Blessings,
Jason

***UPDATE #1*** 3/30 9:00 AM
OK, this is cool. Lots of people retweeting and/or copying our message into their Facebook status. We've had 6 donors in the first hour for a toal of $75 so far ... Awesome! Keep the tweets coming!!

***UPDATE #2*** 3/30 10:00 AM
Picking up momentum. We're over the $200 mark! Thanks to everyone who is participating!

***UPDATE #3*** 3/30 11:15 AM
Wow. We have received 17 donations from people in at least 3 states. We just went over the $600 mark! Awesome. Please be praying, because when God is moving, we have to be aware of spiritual attacks. Of course, we know who wins in the end ...

***Update #4*** 3/30 1:10 PM
The blogosphere continues to amaze me. We have received 23 gifts for a current total of $725.53. $10,000 may have been a little ambitious, but $1000 definitely seems to be in reach! Keep the tweets coming!!

***Update #5*** 3/30 4:15 PM
We are now over the $800 mark! How cool is that! Thanks to everyone who has been helping to get the word out. We are going to keep this going through the night tonight. For those of you who Twitter, here is a direct link to retweet the message: Retweet this message Thanks for that, David R!!

***FINAL UPDATE*** 3/31 12:40 AM

Wow. Check out what God did through YOU!!! Our latest blog sums it all up. Thank you!!!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!

2009-03-23T17:03:00.004-05:00

We cannot believe how fast this is happening! I am quite certain this is related to all the prayers that have been going up on our children's behalf.

Today Mallory stayed home from school with me on my day off since I was in Montana the past week. We seriously needed some Daddy-Daughter time. We spent most of the day at the park. I packed Mallory a lunch, but nothing for me (remember, Monday is the day I have set aside to fast during lunch until our kids come home.) Mallory was quite concerned that I was not eating anything. She offered me several of her chips. This time, I resisted (unlike the way I caved into the doughnut temptation last time.)

I explained to her I was fasting. She looked at me with one of those confused faces she has those rare times when she doesn't know what you're talking about. I told her that fasting meant giving up food for a period of time so you can pray and focus on God. I told her that I wanted to pray hard for her little sisters and for her. She thought that was way cool as she took a bite of her peanut butter sandwich. She decided she wanted to pray with me, so we prayed right then and there. Her prayer was that God would keep them safe and bring them home to us soon.

When we got home, Shelley checked her email and saw a message from our adoption agency with one of those cool little red explanation points that screams "URGENT!" We opened it up and could not believe it! Here is some of what it said:

"Dear Egly Family,

I am writing you today to inform you of your upcoming court date ... Your family’s court date is May 12, 2009. Once your family has successfully passed court, you can expect to travel to Ethiopia roughly 2.5 to 4 weeks later."

What?! We were not expecting to even have a court date scheduled for 3-4 more weeks! Essentially, what this means is that the Ethiopian courts will look over our paperwork and the kids' profiles on May 12th. If everything is up to his liking, he will grant custody to us through our power of attorney who will be present. If all goes well, we will get to go get them as soon as the end of May!!

There was more to the letter, and I want you to read it so you will know specifically how to pray for us:

"Roughly 30% of families do not pass court on their first issued court date. If a family does not pass court initially, a new court date is usually issued approximately 1-1.5 months after the original court date. Please remember that a very real part of international adoption is unexpected delays. Successful completion of court and paperwork for travel is heavily dependent on the Ethiopian government. Ethiopia’s infrastructure is not the same as the US and it is not uncommon for the internet, phones, or electricity to not be working or to be turned off at times. These types of challenges and many others can delay steps of the adoption process by small or large amounts of time. We know you long to be united with your child and we share this desire with you. We will be working hard on your adoption but due to the number of uncontrollable factors in working with Ethiopia I would encourage you to prepare yourself for potential delays.

Please know that we continue to work on behalf of your family and your future child to ensure that the remainder of your adoption process goes as smoothly as possible. We continue to keep you in our prayers as we know this is an anxious time for your family."

An anxious time for our family? Now there's the understatement of the year!! In the few minutes after reading this, our minds began to race with all the things we need to do to get ready for our kids: remodeling our garage to add an extra bedroom and a playroom (YIKES!!), finding some alternative to our current vehicles which presently can only accommodate 2 children (we will have THREE!!!), and last but not least, oh yeah, we need about $10-12,000. Can you say COLD SWEAT?

But then we remember, God has called us to this task. He has provided every step of the way, much more quickly than we could have ever asked. We rest in the fact that He will do it again.

Please join us in praying for all three of our girls -- the two that we will bring home from Ethiopia and the one who is eagerly awaiting their arrival. Lift up May 12th. May God anoint that day as a special day in which he brings a family together from the ends of the earth.

"For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

God is so good!

2009-03-19T20:16:00.006-05:00

Wow! This has been one amazing day! If you have been reading along with us we faxed in the official acceptance letter for our new children yesterday. That was a great feeling! Also, we have been very open about the fact that we needed quite a bit of money at the beginning of the week to officially make the referral payment today.

I just have to share with you the details of how that money came to us because this afternoon I sent in a check for the entire amount- $8,435! God is so faithful!

Two months ago two big hearted college students presented us with $501.
We have received a $3,000 grant.
Two weeks ago an incredible family made a huge sacrifice and gave $1,100 to us.
Then a remarkable couple took a leap of faith and gave us $836.
Then another generous friend donated $105 online.

We have been trying to build our emergency fund and our mini-van fund. We had $1,000 in both accounts. It has been such a blessing to be able to save money and I have been very proud of us for doing so. However, this week I knew God was telling me to apply that $2,000 to this payment. To be honest, I wrestled a little bit with God on this one, giving Him all of the "ifs" that I was worried about. "What if our car dies next week? What if Mallory gets really sick? What if something even more terrible happens? What would we do then? We really need to be diligent and save for a mini van or bedroom furniture or whatever." He gently told me that if I would use the $2,000 He would provide the remaining amount (around $890) to make the full payment. We had to obey- we wanted to obey- and we watched as God took care of the rest.

So then begins the countdown to the last $890.

Last night I was talking to a dear friend and told her we were in still in need of $800. We both were confident that the money would come. After that conversation, I put my cell phone on silent and went to bed. I woke up today at 4:20 a.m. and was wide-awake. I have been soooo tired this week and not sleeping well at all so I should not have been wide-awake that early in the morning. 8-) I knew God was calling me to pray. So I did. I got down on my knees in the dark and prayed hard for our girls, for Mallory, for all of the things I am anxious about, and about the money we still needed. When I was getting back into bed I noticed my answering machine light was blinking that I had a message. I thought I might have missed a call on my cell too so I went to check it. When I opened the phone I had a text from my dear friend saying that $800 would be wired to my account today! Oh my goodness! I just laid in my bed amazed at what had just happened!

So that friend is probably going to yell at me for this, but I estimated when I said we still needed $800. It was really more like $890. But I thought, "We can scrape together another $90. We will find it somewhere before the end of the day." Well, while I was at work today another very generous friend hands me $60 and says, "I know you are raising money for your kids. This isn't much but I want to help." Oh my goodness again! Then, as if I wasn't already on a super high from so much support and love, I go to check my email at work and there has been another $100 donation online!!!!!!

So we needed $8,435 and we have $8,502! (That gives us $67 to apply to our travel fees already.)

God is faithful! He has got this! And we have wonderful, generous, and obedient friends! We feel so loved by you and by the Father who has orchestrated this entire journey! Thank you all! -shelley

We accept!!

2009-03-18T16:10:00.002-05:00

We officially accepted our referral today! We are so excited and thankful for this great time! Now they will begin making plans for our court date in Ethiopia. We should hear in the next 2-4 weeks what our date is and then after that passes we will be able to travel!

We have known for about a week that we wanted to accept this referral, but wanted to spend a few more days praying and letting it sink in too. Before Jason left for his mission trip we signed the paperwork so that I could send it in this week. 8-) Mallory is so very happy and ready to play with our two newest additions!

We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family to share in our excitement and planning! Thank for your support!

FYI-God has provided in a big way for us over the last two weeks through generous friends and family members! Still, we are about $800 away from having the $8,435 that we need to send to our agency in the next two days. You can pray that this is provided soon. We are confident it will come.

In the meantime, please keep all 5 of us in your prayers. We love you and are thankful for each of you!

WE HAVE A REFERRAL!!!!!!

2009-03-13T23:07:00.003-05:00

OK, for those of you whom we have been holding is suspense, the worst-kept secret in America is finally out. We officially received a referral yesterday of our children from Ethiopia!!!! They are beautiful and we are very excited.

We cannot post details here until all the documents are signed, sealed, and delivered. But as soon as we can, we will.

Here is a story concerning this referral that I have to tell. It's not to draw attention to some supposed "super spirituality" -- believe me, we are no different than you. It is a testament of God's grace and love and goodness. It is a statement affirming how much He pursues us.
For the last several months, I have felt somewhat distant from God. Just one of those seasons where you don't sense the presence of God as much as normal. A "dry spell" of sorts. It was a Monday, and it was my day off. I got up that morning having decided to spend some time with God. I was reading in Genesis about the incredible faith of Abraham, leaving everything he knew in his own country to follow a God he didn't even know very well.

For some reason, I distinctly felt like God was telling me I needed to fast. That is strange because I never fast. I'm not good at it and I like food. But this was so clear, I knew I had to. I decided that I would fast during breakfast and lunch and pray for our kids (Mallory included) every Monday until our kids come home. So I skipped out on lunch and prayed. No biggie ... so I thought. In fact, Mallory came home that afternoon with a dozen doughnuts and I instantly ate 2 of them before I even remembered I was fasting. See, I told you I wasn't very good at this.

The next day, I really had forgotten all about the whole fasting thing, but at 4:57 PM, I got a call on my cell phone from our Family Coordinator asking us some "suspicious questions" concerning ages of kids and whatnot. We were really confused that night, but the next day Shelley and I decided to pray about it separately. During this time, I felt God saying over and over to me "Isaiah 40, Isaiah 40." The first two verses of Isaiah 40, say " 'Comfort, comfort My people,' says your God. 'Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned.' " I could not get past those verses.

"Tell her that her sad days are gone." I know this is out of context here, but I felt like God was saying, "You have an orphaned daughter in Ethiopia. You need to tell her that her sad days are gone." At that point I knew these kids were ours. (By the way, the rest of that chapter just so happens to be the verses that God used to get our attention early on in this process and inspired this previous blog post. Way cool!)

Shelley, also praying and reading, separately came to the same conclusions. THAT is REALLY awesome. The next day, we received the pictures of our beautiful children. It was over. It was love at first sight. We instantly knew. We showed them to Mallory the next day. We got her response on video and it is priceless. Maybe I can figure out how to get that video on here soon.

While it has been a long time since we first applied to adopt our children back in January of 2008, this referral caught us by complete surprise. Just last month we had been told that, due to the nature of our request, we might have to wait an additional 9-12 months for a referral. We didn't see this one coming.

We are overwhelmed and excited and scared all at the same time right now. But we are also very thankful and more eager than ever to bring the rest of our family home.

So many of you are asking, "What happens next?" Well, here is what we know:

Right now, our kids are in a Transitional Home that is owned and operated by our adoption agency. They are in a safe place. Probably the best place they could be, given their circumstances.
When we accept our referral, our agency will begin trying to set up our court date in Ethiopia. This court proceeding will approve us to come get our kids. We have a Power of Attorney in Ethiopia who will represent us to gain custody of our kids according to Ethiopian laws. This could take 8-12 weeks. Right now only 50% of our agency's families are passing court on the first try. If we don't pass, we will fix whatever is wrong, set up another court date and try again. Repeat as often as necessary. :)
After a successful court date, we will be free to book our travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This could take 4-6 weeks.
We will spend 7-10 days in Ethiopia getting our children.
We will bring them home, "re-adopt" them in the United States and they will immediately become official US citizens.
Then the real fun begins :)

On a very practical note, the unexpected timing of this referral means that we owe a lot of money a LOT sooner than we were expected. Just speaking honestly, when we send in our acceptance of the referral, we also have to send in $8435. Because of generous gifts from friends and an awesome grant from Shaohannah's Hope, we have $5436 ready right now. That means we are exactly $2999 short for this phase of the payment schedule. (Of course, when we travel to get our kids we will have another huge final payment due, but we will worry about that then ... :) )

God has provided every penny we have needed at exactly the right time so far in this journey, so we do not expect anything less from Him this time. In the meantime, we are trying to think of every possible thing we have that we can sell to make up the difference. Some dear friends of ours are planning a yard sale for us, and we are in the process of having some T-shirts designed to sell as a fundraiser.

Here are three things that you can do to help us during this time:

1. Fast and pray. This whole experience has taught me that this is THE most important thing. Please pray for us and pray for our kids (including Mallory.) If you feel led to fast with us during lunchtime on Mondays, please do. We will be eternally grateful.

2. If you have items to donate to sell in our friends' upcoming yard sale, let us know. It won't be until the first weekend in May, so you've got some time to round up a few things.

3. If you feel led to help us with our expenses, we would also be eternally grateful. There is a link to the left of this blog that allows you to donate securely online (there is also a slight usage fee.) Of course, we always accept gifts given directly to us. :) We are working on setting up a fund with our agency that would allow you to donate a tax deductible gift directly to them in our name to go toward our expenses. Hopefully this will happen soon.

We appreciate you all SO much. We will keep you posted on our progress. Thank you so much for your love and support!

Soon ...

2009-03-07T22:42:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone --

Thanks for all the prayers over the past few days. God is really moving. We hope to have some good news to report to you very soon ... maybe middle of next week?

In the meantime, don't stop praying. We can definitely see and feel the results of your intercession for our family.

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

Hebrews 11:1, NLT

Please Pray!

2009-03-04T13:20:00.002-06:00

Hi Friends--

Shelley and I are facing some major decisions concerning our adoption and are asking for your prayers. I can't go into specifics at this time, but please pray for our wisdom and guidance in this decision.

Thanks so much!

Isaiah 40

A good old fashioned update

2009-02-20T21:05:00.007-06:00

Hey friends! It has been awhile since we had an update on our progress. As you can see from our cute time line above, it has been over a year since we applied to our agency. Thank you to all of you for continuing to ask us about how things are going! We always appreciate an opportunity to talk about our kids!

At this point our agency is telling us that there is about a 9-11 month wait for one child. Since we are adopting two children they tell us to add a few months to that wait. We could begin counting down those months after our Dossier went to Ethiopia which was November 7, 2008. So we are approaching month number 5. We are hoping that maybe 2009 could be the year, but then again we may have a longer wait than that- it is just so hard to tell.

Some of you have asked, "What are you waiting for now in the process?" We are waiting for our referral- pictures of our children and their information. Once we accept their referral we will wait for our court date in Ethiopia. Hopefully it will pass on the first try and then we will get to travel to Ethiopia to bring home our children!

In the meantime, we are praying, planning, working, saving, and praying some more 8-). No day goes by that we don't long for our kids to be in our home, eating meals with us, playing games with Mallory, and getting tucked in their warm and cozy beds with kisses and hugs. We want them home, but we also know that God's timing is perfect! Some days that is harder to believe than others, but ALL of the time we are seeing Him be faithful to us and that encourages us to keep going.

Most of you know that adoption is an expensive endeavor. We are looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $35,000 when this is all over. The money issue is huge. It is tough. It is overwhelming. The cost of adopting scared and worried me very early in the process. But God plainly spoke to me and told me not to let this be my worry. He told me He would take care of us, of "the money." He promised me there would be enough. Let me tell you of His work so far and of how He has kept that promise to us:

-$3,355 from selling some of our own possessions and also those so generously donated to us
-$5,500 from generous friends and families
-$3,000 from a grant we received over the weekend! woohoo!
-$3,500 from our two garage sales

That is amazing! That totals over $15,000 already! Thank you Lord! And thank you, friends for praying for us and helping us with the cost!

A few weeks ago I was talking on the phone to Jason. We were talking about some friends who are also adopting from Ethiopia. The cost of adopting has already dramatically discouraged their family. We were anxious for them and praying for God to help them like he has helped us. Then we began to talk about how much money we still have left to raise ($15,000-$20,000). The stress comes on fast when you think about having to find that much money in less than a year! While this conversation was taking place, sweet Mallory was working on a take-home sheet from Sunday School and singing a song. When I started to listen to what she was singing I had to laugh. As she worked, she was singing the words on the paper. It went something like this: "Who knows what you need?........ God does! Who gives you what you need? ........ God does!" Enough said. I am thankful for God's continual reminding that He's got it. He will take care of our friend's needs, your needs and ours. Perfectly.

We love you all! -S

The Sanctity of Life

2009-01-21T19:24:00.002-06:00

During this adoption process, God has changed us in many ways. I listed a few of those ways in a previous blog.

I have come to realize over the past few weeks that God has also used this process to change my view of the Sanctity of Life. Here's how: Up until recently, when someone has used the phrase "sanctity of life," I would think "pro-life" or "anti-abortion." To me, the Sanctity of Life was an issue that had somehow mysteriously jumped from the religious into the political sphere. It had become the litmus test by which my fellow believers judged an individual's morality or a candidate's worth for office. It was more about what we were against, rather than what we were for, and therefore I shied away from the topic altogether.

Now, please don't get me wrong. I am staunchly pro-life. I believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is contrary to the heart of God. However, I also believe in the sanctity of the life of the mother who has had an abortion and the doctors who performed it. Sometimes we forget that.

This adoption has opened up my eyes to see a much larger truth ... I believe that the Sanctity of Human Life applies to WAY more than just the issue of abortion. It applies to how I treat the guy who cuts me off on the interstate. It applies to how I treat members of my family who might rub me wrong way. It applies to how I treat people who disagree with me (even when I KNOW I am right, ha ha.) It applies to my response to the 143 million orphans in the world. It applies to what I choose to do about the elderly who have been abandoned in nursing homes. It applies to whether or not I help a single mom trying to keep her head above water. It applies to how I treat people. Everywhere. All colors. Both sexes. All religions (or lack thereof). Every socioeconomic status. All education levels. All political parties. Every sexual orientation. Everybody. Everyone.

I am saddened by the fact that Sanctity of Life has become such a divisive issue because the Enemy has sabotaged its meaning as we have allowed it to become exclusively synonymous with only a facet of its intended purpose. That purpose is rooted and grounded in the Love of God.

This past Sunday in The Living Room at First Baptist Hendersonville, Aarron Schwartz and Lewis Lea put together one of the most moving worship services I have ever been a part of. Aarron talked about the Biblical meaning of the Sanctity of Life for a few minutes and then interviewed three women who are living out the Sanctity of Life every day: Dr. Stephanie Eidson with the Crisis Pregnancy Center, Katie Davis of Amazima Ministries, and Cindy Landham who began a nursing home ministry here at FBCH.

I highly encourage you to listen to this message. You can listen to it or download it here, or find the Living Room Podcast on iTunes.

Keep Pressing On

2009-01-14T10:53:00.006-06:00

dis·cour·age·ment, n. from the v.t. discourage.

1. To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits; to deject; to deprive of confidence.

This is much harder than I thought it would be. When Shelley and I made the decision to adopt 11 months, 3 weeks, and one day ago (not that I'm keeping track or anything), we knew that it was not going to be easy. But I guess just seeing the statistics of 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia, the dire need that these children have for a forever family, and my family's willingness to BE that forever family, would mean that God would honor our request more quickly.

Instead, we are caught somewhere in adoption limbo. Since we are adopting siblings, our agency is unable to even give us an estimated waiting time. However, it is ironic that the payment deadlines are rock solid -- no need for estimation there. We sent in the first installment of our International Adoption Fee yesterday. We praise God that almost every penny had been provided in the form of gifts from our friends, family, and church community. Amazing.

Of course, we still have a long way to go, money wise. But given God's faithfulness in the past, we have no reason to doubt His provision for the future. The real issue for us is trusting God to do this ... to actually bring these kids home.

Since we have been talking about this for so long, and we have never actually seen the faces of our kids, it is really easy for us to make this adoption theoretical, or hypothetical. And in so doing, it is easy to believe that it is never really going to happen. Some very close friends of ours experienced a failed international adoption several years ago and there is always this sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs that the same thing is going to happen to us.

Every day I read headlines about the turmoil in the Somali region of Ethiopia and wonder if the country's fragile government can even stay in tact long enough for us to go get our kids. Mallory continues to grow bigger and older and I just wonder if she wonders if or when God will bring her baby brother and baby sister home. All the while, we are constantly preoccupied with the images of beautiful brown faces and big, dark eyes of Ethiopian orphans.

I know families who have waited longer than us. I know families whose adoptions failed. I know families who want to adopt but cannot afford it. My heart goes out to them. But still, I wonder, why is this so hard? Like our friend Crystal Schwartz said in a recent blog, I think the better question is, What is God trying to teach us?

A few Scriptures have been helpful to us as we wait:

"So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." (Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT)

" ... the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." (Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)

"I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT)

One of my new friends and mentors, Johnny Pons, frequently quotes this verse as an encouragement to me in almost every email, phone call, or conversation that I have with him. He simply says, "Keep pressing on, my friend." And that's what we do. That's all we can do.

If you find yourself in a time of waiting, I offer you the same sound advice: Keep pressing on, my friend. God is a promise-keeping God and, as hard as it is to fathom, He takes great delight in you. Our confidence is found in Him alone.

Toms in Ethiopia

2008-12-11T10:10:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know me already know that I am a big fan of Toms Shoes. Ever since they were created they have given away a pair of shoes to a person in need for every pair they have sold.

But now, I love them even more. This holiday season, they are giving those shoes to Ethiopia! How cool would it be if, when we go to get our kids in Ethiopia, they were wearing a pair of Toms! Check out this video.

If the video doesn't show for you who are reading this on Facebook, click here.

We Need Africa

2008-12-07T23:09:00.007-06:00

We don't even have our Ethiopian kids home yet and they have already changed our lives forever.

They have taught us:

1. How dependent upon "stuff" we have become

2. That God never intended for us to be comfortable

3. That Jesus truly is with "the least of these"

4. That the church is not a building

5. That family sometimes has nothing to do with blood

6. That our risk-taking is perceived as a threat to those who prefer safety and control

7. That we ourselves have all too often preferred safety and control

8. That God's love knows no borders

9. That the Gospel is color blind

10. That we can live on MUCH less than we think we can

11. That living more simply is actually more fun

12. That God answers bold prayers

13. That we don't pray boldly enough

14. That God is moving RIGHT NOW in some CRAZY ways

15. That we would rather be in God's will in the middle of a furious storm at sea than to be apart from Him in peaceful waters on our own

We need Africa more than Africa needs us. Please watch this video.

Making Progress ...

2008-11-25T17:20:00.006-06:00

Wow. This has been a pretty crazy week. We are really ready for the Thanksgiving break. I am looking forward to it especially, because we have a lot to be thankful for. It was Thanksgiving Day last year that we made the decision to adopt. And although we thought (maybe somewhat naively) that we would have our kids by this Thanksgiving, we have grown so much this year as God has done and continues to do miraculous things in our hearts, with our family and friends, and in our church because of our adoption.

To update you from our previous post, we were considering some changes with our adoption. We have, in the past week, made some decisions that we are really excited about. First of all, we have chosen to continue the adoption through our current agency. We still feel like they provide the route to our children that has the least obstacles. Second, we have decided to change our child request. As of yesterday, we are now officially requesting two siblings ages 5 or younger. Most likely, this will mean we will receive a girl age 3-5 and her younger brother age 0-3! Twins are still a possibility (though less likely) if they become available through the orphanages with which our agency works.

We really feel like this is what God is calling us to do. Things are beginning to make a little more sense now, especially in regard to why we have had to wait until Mallory is almost 6 to add to our family. It looks like now she will be getting a little sister who is only a couple of years younger than her ... and a little brother, too!

Our social worker is working over the holiday to update our home study and then we will send our age change request to USCIS. Our agency does not have to wait to begin processing this change. From the best we can figure, we should be the about the third family in line for this type of request!

God always seems to encourage us just exactly when we need it. On the very day that we were beginning to get frustrated about not knowing what we needed to do, a sweet couple from our church (who will remain anonymous) sent us the most encouraging card. In addition to the exact words that we needed to hear at that time, they included a check of a VERY generous amount to go toward our adoption expenses! Words are not enough to thank them ... there is no way that they could know how encouraging and uplifting (and timely!) their gift was. We thank God for putting our family on their hearts and we thank them for listening to His voice!

Please pray that this awesome progress will continue and that we will receive a referral sooner rather than later. We are praying that each of you will have a safe and restful Thanksgiving, too!

Big Decisions ...

2008-11-17T13:38:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone. Thought I'd give you a quick update on the adoption. There is some good news and some not-so-good news.

Good news first ... Our dossier is officially in Ethiopia. Our DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) date was 11/7/08. Now we wait to be matched to our children.

Not-so-good news ... We were informed that our request for two children under 24 months is what our agency considers to be an "unlikely referral." They estimated our wait time to be 7-9 months (or longer) until we receive a referral. This is VERY disappointing to us on several levels, which I will not go into here.

We have several options: 1) request only 1 child ... this option is not on the table for us at this point. We feel called to adopt two; 2) request an older child (5 or older) with a younger sibling ... we are praying about this currently. This would seem right, but we really want be careful since Mallory is also 5. We want to make sure we do not act unwisely in regard to her; 3) request unrelated children under 3 ... this seems to be the most obvious choice -- they will be "siblings" when we bring them home anyway -- but our agency does not allow the adoption of unrelated children. So, to make this decision would mean changing to an agency that allows this. We already have a home study and and USCIS approval, so we wouldn't lose much time. In fact, we might move more quickly -- depending on the nature of our request.

We are not sure. You can probably tell which way we are leaning. Please pray for us to make the right decision. We just want to bring our kids home ASAP.

On another note, there have been several people recently who say that we have inspired them to consider adopting ... This is so encouraging, given our current holding pattern. We have always said that this adoption is way bigger than us. God is letting us see a little of that right now. He is really up to something here! I'll give more details as soon as it is OK to do so ... but not before :)

Thanks for continuing to pray for us! In the meantime, we claim the promise of John 14:18. (Look it up!)

THIS is what laying down your life for the Gospel looks like ...

2008-10-31T10:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, folks. A friend of ours just blogged about a college-age girl from Brentwood who is doing the most amazing (crazy) thing. This girl, Katie, is 19. She left the luxury of her suburban life to move to Uganda and be mom ("Auntie Katie") to 10 orphans who live with her. She also teaches 150 school children in a school/orphanage there, from what I understand.

I challenge you to read this girl's blog from beginning to end ... if you are brave enough. She is an example of radically following Christ. It will inspire you. Here is the link

Also, thanks to those of you who are prayer warriors for us on our amazing (crazy) journey! We have felt your prayers this week and have been encouraged by you.

Spiritual Battles

2008-10-29T23:54:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone ... short post tonight. And no disturbing pictures. (You can thank me later. Lol)

I just want to ask you to pray for our family. This week has been especially hard. I'm not the kind of guy that sees a demon behind every bush, but I just have an unexplainable sense that the spiritual warfare on our family has been cranked up a notch. I can't really explain in detail here, but hope that you will trust our discernment and pray for us nonetheless. For you true prayer warriors that want to pray more specifically, please email us (or message us, if you get this via facebook) and we will be happy to give you some specifics.

Maybe it's because we just sent our dossier and have somehow crossed some proverbial line, or maybe it's something else. I've always believed that one of the ways you know you are doing the right thing is if you feel an extra measure of spiritual attack. I know that the enemy does not want us to adopt and redeem these children. I know that he does not want Mallory to witness the miracle of adoption and grow up with two real, living, breathing, lifelong illustrations of how the Father has adopted us into His family and intensely loves everyone, regardless of their race or socio-economic status. But I also know that the heart of God is always with the orphan, the widow, the poor, and the oppressed ... and that's where we want to be -- close to His heart.

God has reminded me of this verse even now as I write:

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
(Eph 6:10-18, NLT)

Thanks, friends. You mean more to us than you know.

Waiting Impatiently

2008-10-20T23:39:00.003-05:00

Last night, Shelley and I put the finishing touches on our dossier. It seems like this process is taking forever, but we are finally ready to certify it and send it off to Ethioipia. We just want our kids to come home soon. Mallory continues to pray for her baby brother and sister every night.

I was listening to my iPod and reading some news articles online when I came across an article about Britain possibly cutting off its aid to Ethiopia. The content of the article did not bother me as much as this picture associated with it. It shook me to the core.

It's a picture of a 5 year old, severely malnourished little Ethiopian girl. The caption reads, "Okule Buli helps her five-year-old daughter Jamila sit up in her bed in the Intensive Care Unit of a medical center run by Medicins Sans Frontiers in Kuyera, Ethiopia." As I looked at the picture, I realized that Jamila is the same age as Mallory. Her mom would love to take her to piano lessons, dance class, and visit the pumpkin patch like we will do with Mallory just this week. Instead, she will experience a hell on earth that none of us can even imagine as she struggles to find food so her 5 year old can simply live to see the next day. At which point the hell starts all over again as a result of Ethiopia's "green famine."

Please join me in lifting up little Jamila and her mom to Jesus.

Somewhere in Ethiopia, our two little ones are waiting on us. They don't know we are coming yet, but we are also praying for them and waiting impatiently to welcome them into our family.

By the way, the song playing on my iPod as I first viewed that picture was "You're Not Alone," by Meredith Andrews. Listen to it here. It became my prayer for little Jamila.

The full article can be found here.

GOT IT!!!!

2008-09-24T21:09:00.005-05:00

Wednesdays are crazy days. Especially for ministers. At FBC, we have an 8 AM staff meeting every Wednesday (go figure), which also happens to be the day that we are all at church until 9 or 10 PM, because of student ministry programming. In fact, I am writing this post in the confines of my messy office now, at 9:15 PM. Why, you might ask?

BECAUSE OUR I-171H CAME TODAY!!!!

For those of you who are not intimately acquainted with international adoption jargon or do not work for Immigration, the I-171H is the official form issued by the Department of Homeland Security that gives us the clearance to adopt international orphans and bring them home as US citizens. We have been waiting on this document for A LONG TIME and now can proceed with sending our dossier (all our official paperwork) to Ethiopia so they can find and refer our children to us!

For the past couple months, we have been checking our mailbox every day and growing more and more impatient. Today was no different. I picked Mallory up from school so Shelley could go to the grocery store. When we got home, I went to the mailbox, hopeful as always. And ... no I-171H. Only our newest Netfilx rental and a junk fake newspaper. Mallory and I walked to the house and I was saying not-so-nice words about government beaurocracy under my breath.

When I laid the mail down on the dining room table, lo and behold, a letter I had not seen slid out from inside the junk newspaper. (Glad I didn't just chunk the whole thing in the trash!) When I saw "Department of Homeland Security" on the envelope, my heart skipped about 4 beats. I knew I needed to wait on Shelley to open it, but there was no stopping me. And, I thought, its probably just another letter requesting more information about my mysterious minister's salary. I was wrong. IT HAD ARRIVED.

Mallory was so excited. She was jumping up and down. (She has been specifically praying for God to send us our I-171H every night!) I let her use my phone to call Shelley on her cell at the grocery store. It was so awesome! I love watching God answer Mallory's prayers and seeing her learn that she can trust Him, because He is a good God who keeps His promises.

Shelley raced home and we decided we had to go celebrate, even if it meant we might be a little late for church. (College ministers are always late, right?) We went to Chef's Market (HIGHLY recommended if you are in the Goodlettsville area) and ate and thanked God for our I-171H and also for Mallory's being chosen as the Student of the Month for Kindergarten at her school.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying. We ask that you would continue to pray. We look forward to watching as God is faithful in answering YOUR prayers. HE WILL DO THIS. And you will have had a part. Here's a picture from my camera phone of us at Chef's Market tonight ...

Still Waiting ... Still Praying

2008-09-19T16:32:00.006-05:00

As of this afternoon, we still do not have our I-171H back from Immigration. ARGH! We are trying not to get impatient. This is the form that gives us official clearance from the US government to adopt orphans from Ethiopia. I emailed the Memphis regional office on Tuesday night to check on the status. A very simple reply came Wednesday morning stating that under their current workload, they hope to have our case completed by October 1. ARGH again!

Please pray that we would receive it at least by then, but hopefully sooner! We are growing weary of waiting. It seems like it is taking forever. In the meantime, we are just trusting that God is orchestrating this entire process (including the delays) to connect us with the children He picked out for us from the beginning of time.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Trying to Do Better With the Blog ...

2008-09-08T22:52:00.007-05:00

Yes, I realize that this is unacceptable. It takes all of 5 minutes to update a blog, yet I hardly do it.You should NEVER have to ask me, "So when are you going to update your blog?" Sorry.

Anyway, here is the latest ... We are still waiting. We are waiting to get our I-171H back from US Citizenship and Immigration. This form will officially approve us to adopt orphans from Ethiopia ... as if we need the US government's approval -- a MUCH higher Authority has already given us approval. LOL.

When we get this form, we can officially send it with our dossier (read: LOTS of paperwork) to the Ethiopian Department of Women's and Children's affairs. That's when the search begins!!! So ... faithful friends and family. We need you to pray. Pray that USCIS will send us that form! Pray that we will be able to send off our dossier in a timely fashion. Pray that God will continue to provide the funds for this crazy adventure he has called us to!

Every night, Mallory (without being asked) prays for "her baby brother and sister in Ethiopia," that God would keep them healthy and bring them home soon, and that our "friends and family would be OK with our baby brother and baby sister." Her faith inspires us every night.

We had the privilege of attending an Ethiopian Adoption Fellowship group the other night at the home of the Krehbiels. They are an amazing family in the process of adopting 4 siblings from Ethiopia. You really must read their story and be inspired. There are so many incredible families that are adopting from Ethiopia. It really is amazing to witness God moving in the lives of so many families. There seems to be a groundswell of Believers who are rising to the challenge of bringing hope to Africa.

Speaking of groundswell, I really have to tell you about an awesome thing that a few of my college students are doing called the FEED Movement. FEED is a group of five students leading a movement to spread awareness about global poverty and ignite action against world hunger. They are trying to raise $50,000 for World Vision, Inc., who are working to save and empower people in the drought and famine-ridden countries of Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Here's the REALLY cool thing ... they have secured matching funds grants that with multiply whatever they raise 5 TIMES!!! If ... no, WHEN ... they reach their goal, that will mean A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS to feed hungry people in Africa!! Please check out their blog, too.

Ok ... it's really late, and my Cafe Mocha from Starbucks is finally wearing off! More updates in a few days ... I promise!

One of the Reasons Why We are Adopting from Ethiopia

2008-08-18T18:06:00.002-05:00

Many people have asked us why we are adopting from Ethiopia. Wouldn't it be easier just to adopt "an American kid"? Well, we are not quite certain that it would be easier, with all the government red tape, for starters. But even if it were, how many of you who know us think that we would take the easiest route anyway? We are taking the route God has called us to take.

When we first met with an adoption official, we had already decided to adopt from where the greatest need was. When we asked her where that place was, she responded instantly ... Ethiopia. Please read this article that appeared in yesterday's USA Today to find out why Ethiopia has the greatest need. There is a video attached to the article as well.

It is hard for us to understand how people can stand idly by and not do something about this raging humanitarian crisis. More poignantly, how can the American Church stand by and not respond? Well, as for me and my family, we are not standing idly by. Please pray that God would allow our paperwork to be expedited and the money to be available so we can quickly bring our children home. For those of you who have already been praying and/or have contributed to our cause ... THANK YOU also for not standing idly by.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-08-17-ethiopia_N.htm

I have copied the article below, in case it expires soon.

Ethiopia's new famine: 'A ticking time bomb'
By Rick Hampson, USA TODAY

KONSO, Ethiopia — Once, the farmers walked for hours to bring their sorghum and maize here to market. These days they trod the same paths, parched grass crunching under foot, to carry their starving children to a feeding clinic.
Like crops, the children are weighed (in a nylon harness seat attached to a scale) and measured (with a tape to record arm circumference). The most severely malnourished are kept overnight for up to a month; the rest go home with a week's supply of Plumpy'nut, a nutritional paste.
The clinic, part of a system that didn't exist five years ago, will save almost all the children from starvation. But it can't sate the hunger that has shattered their families' livelihoods — forcing them to sell skeletal cows for a few dollars, to eat this year's food reserve and next year's seed, to keep children out of school, to flee the land itself.
"We give birth to the children," says Urmale Kasaso, whose listless 4-year-old son's cheeks are puffed up like apples from malnutrition, "but we can't grow them."
Ethiopia, perennially one of the world's hungriest nations, now faces what Oxfam, one of dozens of international aid organizations responding to the crisis, calls "a toxic cocktail."
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Its ingredients: drought that in some places killed the entire spring crop; global inflation that has doubled the price of food; armed rebellion in the Somali region that has disrupted food delivery; and assorted plagues, from insects to hailstones.
Unlike 1985, when images of a famine that killed 1 million Ethiopians shocked the West — "We are the world!" pop stars sang at the globally televised Live Aid concert that raised more than $250 million — this year aid workers say there probably will be no mass starvation. An expensive, elaborate social welfare apparatus, erected largely by the world's rich nations to avert another 1985, will not permit it.
Those good intentions, however, have helped produce another problem: A nation that has long seen itself as the most independent in Africa faces an ever-growing dependence on food aid from countries who now must deal with increasing food problems of their own.
At least 14 million Ethiopians — 18% of the nation — need food aid (much of it from the USA) or cash assistance, according to government figures and aid agency estimates.
Since 1985 the population has doubled to almost 80 million, and per-capita farm production has declined. Meanwhile, the global cost of raising and moving food keeps rising.
It all makes Ethiopia's hunger "a ticking time bomb," says Peter Walker, a Tufts University famine specialist.
The problem is personified by Urmale, who like most Ethiopians is known by his first, given name.
With his 4-year-old son Kusse strapped to his back, he walked three hours to the clinic here run by the government and supported by Save the Children USA, the humanitarian aid agency.
The boy had shrunk to 20 pounds after the family's crop failed and market prices outstripped the cash allowance his family gets from a government anti-famine program. Now he's gaining almost a pound a day.
But Urmale, 30, says the boy's three older siblings have a question for which he has no answer: Why did you bring us into the world if you can't feed us?
"It is sad, but I try to calm them," he explains.
"I say, 'Let me go and search for some food.' "
'What else can I do?'
The hunger has spread across two-thirds of Ethiopia, from the slums of Addis Ababa to the parched countryside around Konso to the "green hunger" region where the rains came only after the spring growing season.
The nation's emergency grain reserve is tapped out, and last month the emergency food ration was reduced by one-third. The government says 75,000 children are severely malnourished. Some people are eating cactus, roots and other famine foods.
Oxfam America staffer Rob O'Neil, who visited the Somali and Afar regions, reports that in one village people pounded their animals' food pellets into a porridge for their children.
Such coping strategies get people through to the fall harvest, but also deepen their poverty.
Dararo Darimo, a widow who walked for an hour to carry her grandson to the clinic here, knows that selling her cow only put off the day of reckoning.
"What else can I do?" she asks. "I don't want to see my grandchildren die."
Gale Kalalo, a young mother whose breast milk has dried up, says her family has only a few days' food left. After that, they'll sell their three goats, one by one. After that, they'll leave their farm and move to the city.
The hunger will be waiting.
Urban Ethiopians traditionally were untouched by the hunger that droughts brought to the nation's subsistence farmers.
Now all Ethiopians face annual food-price inflation of more than 75%; only Zimbabwe's problem is worse, according to World Bank economist William Wiseman.
Messret Tesfay, 27, lives with her daughter in a slum of Addis Ababa, the nation's capital. Her husband has left her. Her home is a one-room brick mud hut wallpapered with old newspapers. But she's always been able afford to make injera — the spongy flatbread on which (and with which) Ethiopians hand-eat their meals.
Now, however, even this national staple is denied her.
She says the cost of teff, the iron-rich cereal from which injera is made, has doubled in the past year to more than $2 per pound. That's forced her buy small pieces of cheaper, pre-made injera, or to make injera with a substitute, such as sorghum or rice.
For a moment, her stoicism cracks. "Too bitter," she says of the alternatives, making a face. "Too hard."
Even some middle-class residents of Addis Ababa, the capital, are being forced to put off weddings, carry lunches to work and eat two meals daily instead of three.
Bassie Terefe, 28, a program officer at a humanitarian aid agency, doesn't go out to dinner any more with friends. He knows that sooner or later he'd have to pick up the check, and he can't afford to.
Instead, he stays home nights, reading newspapers.
"You isolate yourself," he says. "You feel ashamed."
Hallelujah Lulie, 24, a freelance journalist, says food prices have postponed his plan to leave home and get his own place. At this rate, he says, he'll never become independent, much less get married.
"I need to learn some life skills," he says. "Now I'm dependent on my mom."
Detecting malnutrition
Famine detection, prevention and alleviation have become a major industry here.
The USA alone will give about $460 million this year just in food aid, part of a $1 billion non-military foreign assistance package. (Ethiopia is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Sudan).
With each famine, the industry grows.
In 1985, when scenes of emaciated babies and open graves galvanized world opinion, international groups such as Doctors Without Borders and CARE came to stay.
After the drought of 2003, in which more than 13 million people needed emergency food, the government and foreign donors created a system designed to make famine history.
Its components include the Productive Safety Net, a public works program that gives food or cash to more than 7 million poor Ethiopians; the Famine Early Warning System, which uses local indices — rainfall, household income, the average price of a cow — to alert government and aid agencies; a national network of government health extension workers, with two workers per locality, to detect and treat early signs of malnutrition.
In the 2003 drought, Ayelech Echetu's 18-month-old daughter, Hagira, wasted away. "We didn't understand malnutrition then," she says.
But this spring, when the drought hit, a community volunteer visited her home. She examined Ayelech's 4-year-old son, Mattios, and told her to take him to a government clinic in Tulla.
The boy has gained several pounds on Plumpy'nut, but his mother has no illusions about the future. She has sold the family's only goat. The cow is next. Then, she says, "we pray."
A bottomless dependency
Beneath the system designed to stave off famine, Ethiopian agriculture is weaker than ever.
Per-capita farm production has fallen by more than one-third since the famine of 1984-85, largely because the population has doubled — up to an average of 5.4 children per family — and the average farm plot has gotten smaller and drier.
The "green revolution" that transformed agriculture in Asia and Latin America after World War II largely bypassed Africa.
Most Ethiopians farm as their ancestors did — with oxen, wooden plows and rainfall. Farmers agree the latter has become increasingly unreliable.
"In my grandfather's time there was rain. In my father's time there was rain," says Urmale, the farmer who carried his son to the Konso clinic.
"But now the rain is decreasing and decreasing and decreasing. … So there is nothing to eat," he says.
Walker, the Tufts University famine specialist, says the nation also suffers from a centralized agricultural policy that does not encourage small private enterprise or even allow small farmers to own their land.
He says federal officials "issue well-meaning edicts (such as), 'Increase food production 30% in your district.' " Local officials may report good results, Walker says, but "the reports we get is that production is down."
Sisay Tadesse, a spokesman for the government's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, denies that local officials tell higher-ups only what they want to hear and were slow this year to report the drought's impact: "The situation on the ground is known by everybody. We are working transparently and closely with our partners," foreign governments and aid agencies.
After some hectic scenes at underprovisioned rural feeding centers this spring, "all the stars are aligned now, and the situation is stabilized," says Glenn Anders, head of the U.S. aid mission.
But hunger remains a touchy issue in Ethiopia. The famine of 1973-74 brought down Emperor Haile Selassie, and the one of 1984-85 marked the beginning of the end for the regime that ousted him.
Moreover, the nation's reliance on others for food undercuts its sense of itself as the only African nation not colonized in the 19th century, and the only one to conclusively defeat a European power: the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.
Being synonymous with famine "hurts the image of the country," says Sisay, the government spokesman.
That may explain why Ethiopian leaders sometimes seem to be in denial.
In June, long after drought had created a food crisis, the country's health minister told reporters: "We don't need to beat the drum of hunger for Ethiopia every year."
Ethiopia can ill afford to play down its food needs; other nations' own economic worries have left them less willing or able to feed the likes of Ethiopia.
"We're past the time when food was abundant and cheap to transport," says Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children USA, who points to spring floods in the Midwest and the price of oil as signs that U.S. largesse is finite.
This year there's been "push back" from food donor nations, says Anders, the U.S. aid mission chief: "There's this fatigue: 'Here's Ethiopia again, looking for food again.' "
He says Ethiopia and other African nations need agricultural development: hybrid seeds, irrigation systems, market roads, storage facilities. But foreign aid largely goes to keep people alive, with food or medicine (notably AIDS drugs). Only 0.7% of U.S. aid to Ethiopia goes to improve farm production.
So Ethiopian farmers will continue to wait for the rains — and the hunger.
Although some farmers gather in the fields at night for traditional rain-seeking rituals, Ayelech Echetu is a Christian who does her praying in church. Why, she is asked, did God not send the rains this spring?
She smiles and says what Ethiopians have been saying for a thousand years: "God is very kind. He will give us rain."

Catching up...

2008-06-27T22:49:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! It seems that the weeks keep ticking by and we find ourselves always saying, "We really need to update our blog!" So here goes: In the past month we have made a lot of progress. Our home study was finished and sent off to immigration. We completed our fingerprinting for the FBI. We got our passport applications sent off. We had an enormous garage/yard/sidewalk/driveway sale raising $2,700! As I sit here typing, Jason and his Dad are loading the last things onto a trailer for our second yard sale. This one will be in Lawrenceburg on Saturday, June 28.

We are getting more and more excited and weekends like this one help because we just to get to think about our growing family and focus in on our kiddos. With an adoption there is no cute little "baby bump" to remind us constantly of the life we are adding to our family. Only the mounds of paperwork around our house remind us sometimes that we really are doing this. So tomorrow some sweet friends and family and some strangers will get to hear us go on and on about these precious little ones and it is just fun!

Thank you for checking in on us, asking us how things are going, and praying for us! We feel so blessed by the overwhelming response from so many of you in helping us bring our babies home!!

We Are Thankful ...

2008-05-22T22:10:00.001-05:00

This has been a pretty incredible last few weeks. We have been reminded many times over of God's blessings on our family. Shelley and I want to share a few of these so that you can join us in thanking God for these gifts.

First, there was a graduation. This person has accomplished SO very much in five short years and now has a piece of paper to show for it. No, I am not talking about myself, I am talking about Mallory's graduation from preschool! We cannot believe it, but she is almost a KINDERGARTENER!!! UGH!!!!

Mallory is an incredible gift from God for which we thank God EVERY day. She is going to be an AWESOME big sister and has so many gifts and talents to share with the world and in the Kingdom. We can't wait to see what God has in store for her! We are also incredibly thankful for our church and our preschool ministry. It is without question the best preschool ministry in the world. Mallory has been so loved and knows confidently that Jesus loves her immensely. She has had the gift of incredible teachers who have poured into her life -- especially her Sunday School teachers: Mrs. Veronica Bluett, Mrs. Clata Vaughan, and Mr. Mark and Mrs. Sherry Kolemba.

And then there was the other graduation ... After four long, hard years, much stress, many late nights, and many more weary, red-eyed afternoons, I finally received my M. Div. from Southern Seminary. But the gift was not the diploma that I received that day. The gift was the two precious people God put in my family who were patient with me and encouraging to me during some very stressful, difficult, and dark times. As I walked off the stage after shaking Dr. Mohler's hand (and yes I DID shake his hand .. see picture to the left for proof of me being nice) Mallory left her seat and ran up to give me a hug as I was walking down the aisle! She is so excited to have her Daddy back!!!

And no one has sacrificed more for our family over the last four years than Shelley. She has worked SO hard, doing whatever has been necessary to make it possible for me to finish this degree. SHE is the one who deserves the diploma. Seriously. We are talking Superwoman here. Not kidding at all.

When we got home from Louisville, we were greeted by some of our best friends who threw a party for us. Though they were asked not to bring gifts, many defiantly did anyway. (Really, all I wanted to do was celebrate by playing Rock Band with some friends.) God has enabled us to make some of the best and closest friends of our lives in such a short period of time here in Hendersonville. We are so thankful for them all and love them very much.

And then there have been other gifts. A few days ago, a sweet lady at church who will remain anonymous, walked up to Shelley and handed her a card. It said, "Put this in your 'Bring Our Kids Home from Ethiopia Fund'" and had a generous check inside. Wow.

And THEN, one of the most stunning gifts we have ever received. I was on Facebook one night and one of the Twentysomething guys at our church (also to remain anonymous) IM'd me. He told me that for a long time, he had been praying for God to speak to him and use him for something bigger than himself. He told me that in church that week, God answered. He said he knew it sounded crazy, but God told him to give us his new X Box 360 -- and everything that went with it -- to help bring our kids home. I told him he was indeed crazy, and he said he knew he was ... but he was supposed to do it and wanted to do it.

So I met him at church and when he opened his trunk, I saw his Les Paul guitar in its case. Jokingly, I asked, "So, you gonna give us that too? Ha ha ha." "Ummmm ... yeah. Actually God told me give you that too. Sell it and use it to bring your kids home." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! Look, there are tons of folks in Hendersonville who could write us a check that would cover this entire adoption and they would never even notice the money was gone from their account. But this sacrificial gift is far more meaningful to us than that. And to think that God used our situation to allow someone else to connect with Him in a powerful way is completely humbling. What a gift.

And then there is the garage sale that we are having this Saturday (127 Vintage Circle, Hendersonville -- 5/24/08 -- please come buy, pun intended). People have given things to us by the truckload. And I am talking NICE stuff -- Natuzzi sofas, Playstations, 27 inch TVs, limited edition Armani sculptures. And one of our dearest friends has let us pack her garage (and I mean PACK IT) full of stuff and have the sale at her house. (Strategic location in the heart of Hendersonville.) I even accidentally scratched her car with a table I was putting in her garage, and she didn't even yell at me!! So gracious!

We are so thankful. Very thankful. I am reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 12:48 (MSG): "Great gifts mean great responsibilities." Thank you, God, for being the Giver of good and perfect gifts. May we not take these gifts nor our responsibility lightly.

This is hard to read ... but please read

2008-05-21T01:32:00.003-05:00

THIS is why we are adopting from Ethiopia.

Children starving, again, in Ethiopia
By ANITA POWELL – 11 hours ago

SHANTO, Ethiopia (AP) — This year's poor rains have nearly killed Bizunesh.

The 3-year-old weighs less than 10 pounds. Her long limbs, weak and folded like a praying mantis, cannot carry even her slight weight. She cannot speak. She doesn't want to eat. Health officials say she is permanently stunted.

Bizunesh — whose name, sadly, means "plentiful" — is one of untold numbers of children hit by this year's double blow of a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices that has brought famine, once again, to Ethiopia.

"She should be bigger than this," said her mother Zewdunesh Feltam, rocking the listless child. "Before there was maize, different kinds of food. But now there is nothing ... I beg for milk from my neighbors."

The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday an estimated 126,000 Ethiopian children urgently need food and medical care because of severe malnutrition — and called the current crisis "the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003."

The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains — nearly double the number who needed help last year. An additional 5 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people receive aid each year because they never have enough food, whether harvests are good or not.

In Shanto, a southwestern agricultural area that grows sweet potatoes, recent rains arrived too late to save the harvest.

The crisis here is vivid. A feeding center run by the Irish charity GOAL has admitted 73 starving children in the past month.

Some, like Bizunesh, are frail and skeletal. Others, like 4-year-old Eyob Tadesse, have grossly swollen limbs in a sign of extreme malnutrition.

Eyob, whose mother said he used to be a lively, talkative child, sat in a stupor, unable to speak, not moving even to brush away the flies that swarmed over his face. The sunny room humid with a recent, too late, rain shower was made gloomy by an eerie silence despite being full of sick children. Chronic malnutrition can affect children for life, stunting their growth, brain development and immune systems, which leaves them vulnerable to a host of illnesses.

Many mothers said their families were trying to survive on a gluey, chewy bread made of the root of the "false banana" plant — one of many wild or so-called famine foods that Ethiopians depend on in times of trouble.

It's not known how many children have died or are starving now. Local and international aid and health workers say between 10 and nearly 20 percent of Ethiopia's children are malnourished — 15 percent is considered a critical situation. In 2006, Ethiopia had 13.4 million children under age 5, according to UNICEF.

Samuel Akale, a nutritionist with the government's disaster prevention agency, said the hunger will get worse. "The number of severely malnourished will increase, and then they'll die."

WFP officials say the drought has affected six of Ethiopia's nine regions, stretching from Tigray in the north to the vast and dry Somali region in the south, though not every part of each region is affected.

Spokesman Greg Beals said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is preparing an appeal for additional tens of millions of dollars.

"This is a real crisis that needs to be addressed," he said.

Ethiopia is a country with a history of hunger. It's food problems drew international attention in 1984 when a famine compounded by communist policies killed some 1 million people. Pictures of stick-thin children like Bizunesh were broadcast onto television sets around the world.

This year's crisis is far less severe. But drought and chronic hunger persist in Ethiopia, a Horn of Africa nation known for its coffee, a major export. In 2003, droughts led 13.2 million people to seek emergency food aid. Drought in 2000 left more than 10 million needing emergency food.

Drought is especially disastrous in Ethiopia because more than 80 percent of people live off the land, and agriculture drives the economy, accounting for half of all domestic production and 85 percent of exports. But many also go hungry because of government policies. Ethiopia's government buys all crops from farmers at fixed low prices. And the government owns all the land, so it cannot be used as collateral for loans.

Aid agencies say emergency intervention is not enough and are appealing for more money to support regular feeding programs.

"What we're doing at the moment is waiting until children get severely malnourished, taking them into the feeding program, getting them back to a level of moderate malnutrition and then watching them cycle back," said Hatty Newhouse, a nutrition adviser from GOAL.

There are fears that the next harvest also will fail.

"We are crying with the mothers and the children," said Akale, the nutritionist.

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Please pray with us that God will allow us to bring our children home sooner than we could ever imagine.

Glory Revealed

2008-04-20T00:02:00.017-05:00

What I am about to post is an account one of those "God Things" that can never be accurately described in words. It's one of those rare times when God allows you to so strongly sense His presence that you don't know whether to laugh or to cry, to be excited or afraid.

Several months ago, Shelley and I bought a CD called "Glory Revealed." It is a compilation of new songs by several artists with lyrics taken straight from Scripture. There are several great songs on there, but our favorite from the very beginning has been the title track performed by Candi Pearson-Shelton. The song is taken almost directly from Isaiah 40 which says:

"A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 40:3-5 ESV)

For some reason or another -- we can't really say why -- that song and that Scripture has just given us peace these last several months. Maybe it's because we have so many obstacles that need to be cleared in order for us to bring our other two children home from Ethiopia. Or maybe it is just a desire to see God's glory revealed and all the world recognize it, rather than fight it. Whatever the reason, this song has just been powerful to us.

Anyway, here's the crazy part. It has been a particularly rough week this week. I feel stressed and behind in my schoolwork. We feel behind and anxious about our adoption paperwork. Our family's exhaustion level from 7 road trips in 2 and 1/2 months has us on the breaking point. We want people to be as excited over our adoption as we are, but that's an unfair expectation, probably. Church stuff has been abnormally stressful over the past couple of weeks. In addition, and most disconcerting, I just feel an overwhelming sense of spiritual attack personally on me and on my family and friends and church. The enemy does NOT want us to be successful in this adoption. Or in anything else. We're just tired.

I took the day off Friday because I HAD to get caught up on schoolwork. I took my laptop to Panera, where there's free WiFi, and got busy. NOT my idea of a fun day off. In my delirium, something in the book I was writing a review on got my attention and took my mind on a tangent. (Not hard to do, I am quite certain I have developed a strong case of ADD in my adult years.) The words were "Peace, peace! There is no peace!" I could not for the life of me remember what person in history said that. I Googled it and it led me to Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech, of course. I read in awe of the boldness and conviction of this man. It brought me to tears. But hold on ... I am just getting started.

For some reason (think: HOLY SPIRIT) his boldness and conviction reminded me of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. So I Googled it. (Lots of schoolwork getting done here.) I used to read this speech to my 5th graders in its entirety every year when I was teaching, and it would get me every time. But now it gets me even more, because I know my family may soon feel the effects of racism in in a much more personal way. It will no longer be "them," it will be "us." For the first time, I felt like I was there on the National Mall in 1963, and I could feel the energy of millions of people. In the course of this speech, Dr. King really quotes just one Scripture. Know what it is? Neither did I. But here it is, in context. How DID I miss this?

"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. [think: Mallory and her future sister and brother.]
I have a dream today. "

And here it is. Plain as day. Like I said, you can't make this stuff up ...

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."

I am sure that I looked like a moron, sobbing there at the table in the middle of Panera Bread. But the glory of the Lord was revealed to me. I called Shelley and, through tears, read it to her. We both knew without a doubt that the Holy Spirit was on us. This IS his plan for our family. The attacks of the enemy WILL NOT prosper. Every obstacle standing in His (and our) way WILL BE REMOVED. God WILL be glorified. And EVERYONE will see it together.