Can't wait

Can't wait to see these guys again in a few short days... especially if I can talk them into coming a day earlier.

We're also getting together with a few other adoptive families. I'm totally looking forward to seeing Michelle and Betula who I think I've blogged about (it's an amazing God story). I would love to show you this sweet girl but didn't ask her momma's permission first. I didn't ask Shonda and Travis either but they'll have to get over it :)

Thanks to my sweet hubby for organizing the get together. I wish more families from the midwest could make it. If you wanna stop in and learn about adoption, or visit with those who are experiencing it first hand, come on over!

Items we brought home from Ethiopia

A miniature coffee ceremony set (I’m sure that’s not the official name).
Coffee cups
Coffee pot
Lots of coffee to give away to friends as “thank you’s”
Traditional outfits for now and later
Bracelets to give the kiddos and their friends
Leather injera holder – cause I make so much injera ya know.
Several “Lion of Judah” items since it’s huge in Et and it’s our son’s name.
Ethiopian flag
Judah of course (I know, I know. He’s not an item, but I thought it was cute to say)
The clothes he was wearing on custody day – we traded for a pair of clothes.
Table top mesob
Traditional Ethiopian crosses
Mancala games
A few traditional toys

Photos

I'm slowly adding journal excerpts to my blog. I'm adding them the day they were written. When I have all the journals posted, I will link to them on the side for anyone who wants to read. For now, here's a few pictures from the Ethiopian country side.

[love the differences in soils here]

[steep crop fields]

[the most beautiful rainbow I've ever see]

More Questions

Since I recently posted on questions I’d ask the Holt nannies, it got me thinking about the questions we asked Judah’s birthmom. Having never been through an adoption before, I had no clue what questions to ask or what that might look like. In the months leading up to travel, I started a list of questions that I might ask his birthmom.

Maybe you’re just going through the process of adoption. Maybe you’re considering adoption or maybe you’re just curious what kind of questions get asked. For those who’ve been through the process, please comment with any additional questions I didn’t know/ask. I’ll share the questions I had written down to give you an idea of the questions we put together. If you’re adopting through Holt, they will also give you a list of potential questions to ask. Please know that we didn’t ask all the questions we had written down. In fact, I had to re-create my question list as we drove to Durame because my questions were part of the “packing list” that was left in the states.

Why did you name him Asfaw?
What would you like us to tell him about his brothers?
What would you like us to tell him about his father?
What would you like us to tell him about you?
What skills/special talents does your family have?
Can you tell me about his birth?
Who does he look like?
How did you decide to relinquish him?
Can you tell us about your village?
Can you tell us about his birthmarks/scars?
Write down some family names and history to talk to his mom about
Ask her how you can be praying for her.
Take photo album
Show her pics on the digital camera
What do you want me to tell Asfaw about why he was adopted?
What do you want Asfaw to know about you, his father, his brothers?


We also wanted to bring back something that Judah could see and touch that would relate to his birth mom. I traced her hand with the intent of writing her name or something meaningful inside of it for later on (ie her name or “love” in his original language). I also thought that I could use her traced-hand next to my traced hand with her hand having the wylotinga “love” in it and mine having it in English. As a side note, if you’re going to do this, I would suggest that you show her by example first so she’ll be more likely to hold still. The other thing we did was ask her to dictate a letter to Judah that he can be given later on. This got mixed up in translation a bit so we ended up with a dictated letter to us which is pretty special. She then followed it with a letter to Judah which we don’t have in our hand. It had not been translated and the nurse Tesfaw took it home to translate and bring back the next day. Well the next day his mom was sick and he took her to the hospital so he wasn’t there on our last day to give us the letter back. I do hope that he sends it to Holt in Oregon so they can forward it to us! The last thing we did was take pictures with Judah’s birthmom. Every family did this. After the pictures Ryan turned our camera around and began showing her pictures and video of Judah. Her entire deameanor changed and we asked a friend (thanks Jayme) to take pictures of Judah’s birthmom’s reaction to his pictures and video. Those pictures that Jayme took are pretty special!

Do it Again???

Last night we had company before Ryan was home from work. Since the dinner table is our normal place for conversation, Ryan shared about his day. He’d been on a call and someone (I apologize up front, I don’t remember all the details, just the important ones) asked him if he wanted to adopt a 2 year old. Ryan went on to share that this child is currently staying with an elderly grandparent because the mother apparently tried to sell her child for drug money. How heart wrenching.

Not exactly a topic I want to discuss over supper with Ryan’s folks and his friend. But since caring for children is a soft spot on my heart, I couldn’t let the conversation wait until our guests left.

I asked Ryan if he said yes. He looked at me with surprise and said “do you really want 3 two-year-olds?” Well that’s not ideal, I answered but I certainly don’t want the child being sold for drug money. He thought of our friends who are adopting – maybe they’d be interested in adopting this child. I thought of us, why couldn’t we love this child? Every child needs a loving family. God loved me and sacrificed and was willing to sacrifice for me.

A year ago, I don’t know that I would have entertained the idea of adopting a child in this situation, let alone adopting this child having just returned home from adopting in Ethiopia. Last fall that all changed. A local high school girl found out she was pregnant. Ryan and I discussed if we’d be willing to adopt this unborn child if she approached us about it. God really worked on my heart about how I’d answer that question. I came to believe that I would say yes but that I’d also love to take this young girl in and love on her and teach her to love on her child. How cool would that be? Since then the child has been born and I don’t know the situation but I’m sure the child is loved and care for.

I believe I wrestled with that whole issue, all while pursuing an international adoption, for a reason. Today I can’t stop thinking about what Ryan shared with me last night. Do I ask him to contact the grandparent? Do I wait and see if God is stirring in Ryan’s heart about the same thing? Do I wait and see if the question is posed again?

I’m curious to see what becomes of this ongoing issue about loving children who need loved…

negative thoughts on adoption - not serious

I didn’t know it was possible but I’m finding some negative reasons for adoption:
1. He’s not a baby so he doesn’t sleep/nap lots throughout the day.
2. I’m home on “maternity leave” so I’m eating for two. Problem is that Judah is not a baby and is not breastfeeding so I’m not burning extra calories. Do the math: Extra food + normal calorie burn = weight gain. Yikes. It doesn’t help that I have a back injury and can’t move and burn extra calories.

That’s it. Petty reasons that shouldn’t keep anyone from adopting.

Things I took on the Trip that I loved

1. Wisp toothbrushes – one use brushes that have toothpaste on them already. They weren’t perfect but were better than nothing.


2. Two converter adapters – Ryan could use one to hook his ipod up to the tv and I could use one to dry my hair or charge the computer battery


3. Flashlight thingies since the power was out one night


4. Crystal light single drink packs


5. My nalgene water bottle – it never got confused with anyone’s water bottle from the hotel.


6. Malaria meds cause we had lots of mosquitos in our first hotel room in Durame.


7. A netbook for journaling, it’s way faster than writing, especially when you’re tired.


8. My hubby of course!


9. An extra lightweight blanket that was used for Judah.


10. Curious George - I think a few of us adults played with him more than the kids :)