In the Interim

Jason and I are home and in full swing!  Leaving our three in Ethiopia proved to be as difficult as we had thought, but we were so comforted by the sweet nannies that are caring for the three of them.  They love the children, and the children love them!  Honestly, our hearts are divided between our four at home and the three in Ethiopia.  We long to have them all together!  Our friend, Lori Burdette, created a collage of our family "together" from two different continents!  :)

As we reflect on our time in Ethiopia, we are still processing.  
We're amazed with how perfectly God has knit our family together!  
We're in awe of what we've learned about God's grace and mercy in our own lives!  
We're beyond words at the outpour of love and prayer from family, friends and even strangers!  
Jason and I can't wait to share the messages and love from so many with Samuel Yohannis, Sophie Serkalem, and Titus Fiekre!  To hear how so many love them without meeting them fills our hearts!  Thank you for your notes, comments on the blog, and messages from FB.  

So...what do we do in the interim?  LOTS!  We have to prepare their rooms which includes changing beds around, finding a few beds, adding dressers, and carving out some space for each of them!  We finally know their sizes, so we'll need to find some clothes and shoes for the these little feet.  We're fresh out of toddler toys, so we're starting to wrap our minds around that, too!  We're seriously nesting around here!

How long will we wait?  At this point in the process, everything is in the hands of the US Embassy.  The Embassy must clear all three for visas so that we can bring them home.  We understand that this might be a 6-8 week process...or longer.  We're waiting patiently, but praying that the process will move quickly and smoothly.  When we receive news from the Embassy, our return trip to Ethiopia should be quick.  It's been two years since we started the adoption process. We are certain that these final weeks to wait to bring them home will feel like it is moving at a snail's pace.  However, we are confident that these three will be worth the wait!

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

And There Were Seven...

It's so hard to describe in words just how thankful we are to our Lord for the work that has been done in knitting our hearts with our children and making them officially ours today!  

Our morning devotional began with these words:

I, the Creator of the Universe, am with you and for you.  What more could you need?

It ended with this:

Stop all your striving, and watch to see what I will do.  I am the Lord!

For those that have children born of their hearts, you will get this, and for those that haven't, I pray you will.  When God writes the story of adoption, these kids are yours.  Your heart aches, I mean really aches, to hold them.  You find your thoughts wandering to them.  You wonder about what they are doing and who is caring for them.  You wonder if their is someone to love them until you see them.  You worry about them.  You hurt when you hear their story.  You dream for them.  They are yours!   So, when we saw their faces and touched them, every fiber of our being was connected to these sweet faces from another country.  To say that we were nervous about today (or maybe mom) is an understatement.  We knew that we would see the children this morning, but mom's stomach was in knots.  When we sat beside each other and opened our devotional, God had spoke specifically through his Word, and we were so calmed:

What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:31-32

It was settled in our hearts that today would end as we hoped!  

The process was unbelievably smooth!  I mean unbelievably smooth!  We were there for less than 1 hour, and the preceding took less than 10 minutes.  When we finished, there were FIVE children that were no longer orphaned!  Two other families from our agency had court appearances with us!  Jason and I looked at each other and were washed with complete peace...then a few tears!

Thank you for your prayers!  We thought there was no better way to share than through pictures of our time with the children this week!  We love you all!

First Family Photo

This picture was taken minutes after we met our children.  Our meeting was priceless!

Let us introduce you to Samuel Yohannis, Sophie Serkalem, and Titus Fiekre :)

They LOVE looking at photos and naming their brothers and sister!

Samuel Yohannis is absolute sweetness!  

Sophie Serkalem is full of spunk!  Check out her curls!

Seriously!  Do they get much cuter?  Titus Fiekre took a while to warm up, but today, his afternoon consisted of peek-a-boo and open mouth kisses!

Yohannis LOVES to take random pictures.  

He and I decided to make a crazy face!

And guess who couldn't resist the urge to join us!

He's constantly hugging us and saying, "Daddy! Daddy" and "Mommy! Mommy!"

Eat. Her. Up!

We can't believe the personality in this one!

Thank you for sharing in our joy, and praise God for HIS wonderful gifts!

The Three We See

For the past few days, we have spent a total of 4 hours each day getting to know our children.  Before we traveled, we only knew them through pictures and developed personalities for each of them.  We smile as we see things in them that are similar and different from what we thought.

Our oldest has a sweet and tender heart.  He has a blend of characteristics that we see in all three of his other brothers.  He smiles a lot, loves big, and is such a nurturer to any children that are around.  It is obvious that he has cared for his younger siblings, and he always seeks to be the peacemaker.  We're amazed with how smart he is, and he loves puzzles and games.  He has some incredible manners and has won the hearts of many at the care home.  He has monster soccer skills, some unique dance moves, and eyes that are certain to melt this mama's heart...a lot!

Our sweet girl is much like her sister, Sara Kate.  She is a girly girl that can take care of herself!  She loves to be hugged and will often walk up to either of us to lean her head in for a kiss.  She has a smile that will light up a room and stretches so wide that even her molars can be seen!  She looks up to her older brother, and she adores her baby brother.  She's learned how to "work" her older brother, and he often gives in to her pouty eyes.  She enjoys coloring, playing with playdough, and sharing lotion with her mama.  Her hair is soft curls, she has long fingers, and tiny, tiny feet!  She's a little thing with a lot of punch!

The baby can only be described as yummy!  He reminds us most of Brendan as a baby.  He has the cutest grin and cheeks that were just made for kissing.  He loves to cuddle, throw a ball, and try to eat the puzzle pieces that his brother and sister are using!  He can walk and escape us before we know it, and he is obviously loved by his nannies.  He has quickly become a daddy's boy, but his mama is a close second.  He's had the hardest time warming up to us but has become more relaxed with each visit.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 28:7

We still have a lot of tears each time we leave, and the nannies are so sweet to reassure the older two that we will be returning.  We'll ask that you please pray with us as the time nears for us to leave for more than just a few hours.  Thankfully, the nannies seem to prepare them as best they can, and they have seen other mommy's and daddy's come back for their children. 

Our court date will be Tuesday, May 21.  We aren't certain of the time, but we will try to post so that you may pray as the Lord leads.  Until then, please pray that everything will be in order and the process will move smoothly.  When we pass, we can finally post pics of these cuties!  

We love you all, and thank you so much for your continued prayer.  We certainly feel them each hour of the day! 

A Change of Plans

A view of Addis Ababa from our room.

We had another wonderful visit this morning!  Little F shared a few smiles and even walked back and forth from Mommy to Daddy.  We even managed to feed him a little bit of his formula.  He is so attached to his nannies.  We're so thankful for the way they have loved him.

Our sweet driver translated as we shared photos with Y and S.  He explained that they have 3 brothers and a sister waiting at home for them.  Giggles filled the room as they flipped through the pages pronouncing their new siblings names.

Man, oh man!  We are amazed with how these 3 have captured our hearts.  When they were born on the other side of the world, we were living our life with no idea of their existence.  When Y, the first born, was born, Jason and I were "done" with our family.  We finally had everyone out of diapers by the time S was born.  When little F was born, everyone could swim and READ by themselves.  We had arrived! :)  Life was comfortable.

Today our devotional from Jesus Calling focused on Proverbs 19:21.

Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

These three were not part of our plan, but we can't even imagine our family without them!  We praise our great God for the way in which only He could author this story!  Praise Him! Praise Him!

Funny....the things we celebrated, no diapers, swimming alone, and reading....well, we're starting all over with all three! :)  Great are the plans of the Lord!

Love to all of you at home, and thank you for the continued prayers!

Common Ground

We arrived safely this morning!  The thought of being in the same country with our children was overwhelming and oh, so good!!!  Thank you for the prayers for safe travel.  We were missing one piece of luggage, but just after filing a missing luggage report, Jason spotted it!  It was mine, so I was slightly relieved for myself and the poor souls that would have to smell me this week!

We drove straight to the guest home and met another couple that is preparing to leave with two children this evening.  They are two children that we had learned about earlier in our process, so it was so good to see them with their forever parents!  God does set the lonely in families...perfectly, I might add!

Our sweet host at the guest house offered us coffee and HOMEMADE doughnuts that rocked!  We hadn't planned to gain weight, but those things were killer...they may leave a lasting impact!  After a quick bite, our driver said it was time to meet our children.  Just like that, we were on our way!

The home were our children have lived since November is a stone's throw away, so we barely had time to think about our nerves before we pulled up to the gate.  As the gate opened, we immediately recognized the familiar backgrounds of all of the updated photos that we received each week.  Little round faces with huge chocolate eyes peeked out from every window.  Apparently, they all knew we were coming because we could hear the children's names being called from every corner of the home.  We barely had or camera ready we we saw two little ones step out from around the front door.  We won't even try to describe the moment, but there was no doubt that the prayers of knitting our hearts with theirs had been answered.  We are overwhelmed with God's goodness in that moment to say the least!

Hugs and kisses with lots of smiles abounded!  Within a few minutes, our littlest one came around the corner on the hip of the young beautiful Ethiopian that has cared for him all these days when we couldn't be here to do so.  He was a little more reserved, but we felt complete on this side of the Atlantic.

There's so much to share, but we are going to catch a few zzzz's before we get to see them again this afternoon!  Pray for each of us as we leave each day.  The older two were quite sad after our first visit.

Love to all and thank you for the continued prayers!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him to be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,  forever and ever.  Amen.                             Ephesians 3:20-21

PS - Grace for any errors...I'm tired and posting in a hurry! :)

Missing Links

When we received news of our May 21 court date, we assembled a chain of prayers for our children.  As the countdown began, our chain drooped in a long swag across our mantle.  Daily prayers and a load of paperwork later, it is finally time to SEE OUR KIDDOS!

While this past week was pretty tough, we feel, really feel, God's strength and peace, and we are certain that His peace comes through the prayers of so many of you! Prayer warriors are crucial, and we are so thankful for each and every one of you praying on behalf of our children and family!

Two years ago on Mother's Day, Jason shared a letter that he had written explaining the process of a tough struggle for him as he realized God was  leading him to surrender to the call of adoption for our family.  Two years later on Mother's Day, we were packing to go see our kids!  (Hmmmm...do I detect a pattern?!?) Anywho, we are amazed with the story that God is writing and beyond thrilled that He is allowing us to join him! 

We are literally on our way to Charlotte to catch a 5:50 AM flight to Washington, DC. From there, we fly straight to ETHIOPIA!!!!  We will be in country beginning Wednesday, May 15. Our court date is scheduled for May 21.  Lord willing, we will have 3 new little Wiley's!

Are we excited??? We are bursting with anticipation!  For each of you that has encouraged us, prayed for us, asked questions, sent texts, and even supported us financially, you have joined this journey and we are thankful for you!

So, here's to a few missing links and a whole lotta joy as we take the next step! Prayers for safe travel, sweet bonding, court processes, and safety of our 4 at home and the brave grandmas and friends caring for them are much appreciated!

We love you! Ethiopia bound!