Three Little Bugs Snug In a Rug

It was quite eventful making it to Addis...38 hours of delayed flights, re-routes, and security checks where we thought Jason might be arrested for carrying Playdoh in Germany. Really scary!  It sounds like we're complaining, but it ended with a sweet deal of a free upgrade to business class where our seats reclined into beds!  We all three snoozed like nobody's business!  We even slept through portions of the meal!

We're staying at a new guest house, and the view is amazing and beautiful!  What a thrill to have our children looking down over their city and countryside.  It was dark when we arrived, so they haven't seen just how beautiful it is.  We can't wait to see their reaction in the morning!  We'll post some pictures later!

The older two little guys were glad to see us and came down the stairs of their home with huge smiles.  Little Fiekre took a while to warm up, but quickly cuddled with each of us.  The ladies' of the transition home hosted us to a coffee ceremony with a special cake.  After a quick check-up, a doctor's visit, and some hugs, we were on our way.  We're so glad Sonia was with us, because Yohannis was car sick, Fiekre was hungry and crying, and Serkalem wanted to eat every snack we had.  It was still wonderful being headed out together instead of leaving them behind, and we made it back to our guest house and had a yummy meal.  After a short time of play, we headed up to our room for showers.  It's obvious that we have gotten accustomed to 4 children that bathe, dress, and brush their teeth on their own! :)  It was a three on three event, but we all survived! :)  Thankfully, they all loved their showers and baths.  I opened new Batman underwear for Samuel Yohannis, and he kissed my cheek and hugged my neck.  This Mama's heart was full!  Sophie Serkalem has a beautiful head full of curls, and I think I managed to comb and condition it pretty well for my first time!  Bedtime books, hugs, and kisses and we tucked them into their beds.  I wish we could share their smiles with you...I'll never forget Samuel Yohannis' face.  Sophie Serkalem was full of giggles and took a little time to "settle in,", but here is a picture of the precious gifts we have lying in their beds tonight where we will be just across the room:

Blessed beyond measure and so thankful for your prayers!
Love,
Jason & Michelle

Face to Face

DON'T FORGET THAT TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER T-SHIRTS!

Thanks to your wonderful donations, we were able to send a check to cover the fees associated with our children's care in the transition home since November!

It was an expense that we had overlooked, so we are so grateful that God has provided this through each of you!

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 2:19

One of the great blessings of working with our agency is that we receive weekly emails with news about their health and pictures!  We've been able to watch our children grow and change since November!  While these have been wonderful, we are thrilled that our next update will be face to face!

Here's to the last update!

From Here to There

We are beyond thrilled to know that we will be leaving Sunday, July 21, to begin the final leg of bringing our family together!  In one moment, we could shout it from the mountain tops.  In another moment, we begin to shake and tremble as think about what is to come.  So many uncertainties and new territory for us all, but we keep being drawn back to the the realization that God knew all of the moments that are to come before we took our first breath.  We know He is not surprised by anything, and in these last few days of planning our travel and booking flights, He has shown us that He is there with us through each step of the way!

Remember my belly aching from Friday...well, that delay resulted in our losing a hold on our tickets.  I was wringing my fists as we searched for new flights.  I really wanted to fly out of our home town so we didn't have to drive two hours home with 3 new little guys in car seats for the first time.  Another hold canceled, and I feared the flights would be so high that even out of Charlotte or Atlanta, the fares would be too high for us to continue with our plans to travel next week.  Turns out that our agent actually found flights out of our home airport $50 cheaper than the larger airports!  Yippee!  God is good all the time!

So, the countdown is on!  We're shaking and grooving and trying to scramble around here to get ready for some more Wiley chaos!  Pray with us as we finalize our accommodations in Ethiopia and finish our t-shirt fundraiser.  The outpour of support has BLESSED OUR SOCKS OFF (or flip flops...it's too hot for socks)!  We can't sing His praises enough for the generous donations and gifts from you all!

Thank you for your prayers and support!  If you or anyone you know wants to order a shirt, please just tell them to go to our blog and click on the picture of the t-shirts for directions!

Pre-recorded Moments

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

Psalm 139:16

God is not surprised by the events of the last couple of days.  I am!

God is not surprised that we don't have an appointment with US Embassy.  I am!

God is not surprised that we don't have flights for ourselves or our three children.  I am!

In my head, I know that God's timing is perfect, but why another moment?  My mind wrestles and my stomach twists as we agonize over the quick jump in air fares as we wait for our appointment to be confirmed.  I know that God will provide, but I still fret throughout the day because I know that one night of rest can result in rates that double overnight.  He wasn't surprised by those fares!  But, I still ask why.

How can I read Psalm 139:16 and fret?  He knew me, my husband, and our children before we were born.  Every day of our lives were recorded in HIS book.  Every moment was laid out...EVERY moment.  I can't remember most of the moments from today, but my Father knows and cares about every moment. WHOA!

He has a purpose.  Part of the purpose we may not know, and it may never be revealed.  But one purpose has been this:

He has used so many of you to encourage us as the clock ticks, and we know we are getting closer to our children every second of each day.  Overwhelmed and humbled are probably the best words that we use to describe how much your notes and donations have meant to us.  God has rallied troops around us!  Like Aaron and Hur holding Moses' arms during the battle, we feel the prayers that are launching us towards a new beginning.  As crazily frustrating as these few days have been, and as disappointed as we are in not knowing when we will be united with our children, we know that He knows the perfect time and recorded that moment before any of us had a single day pass.

So...until THAT moment, here's a few "pre-recorded" moments to share.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the end-it will not lie.

It seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:3

Want to order a shirt, click this link, SURRENDER SHIRT, and scroll to the bottom to learn how to order your shirt before our deadline, July 19.  

We Cleared!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord!  Call upon His name;

Make known his deeds among the peoples!

1 Chronicles 16:8

We received great news from Embassy!  Our children's case cleared, and Embassy is ready for us to appear for an interview in Ethiopia!

What does that mean?

We're in the process of coordinating with our agency and Embassy so that we can hop on a plane and bring our children home!  We're hoping to have plans finalized within the next day or so, but we've requested an appointment during the week of July 22.

We've had great support with our t-shirt sales.  Please spread the word and share our blog through FB, email, or however you communicate best! :)

We're so thankful for each of you that has taken the time to pray and support our family.  You're a huge part of our children's story and appreciated more than you will ever know! :)

T-Shirt DEADLINE:  July 19

We will be selling a ladies cut soft style tee (heathered orange) and a standard cut soft style tee(heathered gray) until Friday, July 19.  The cost of either style is $20/tee.  For multiple tees, the cost is 2 for $35, 3 for $50, or 4 for $60.  Shipping is included in the cost of the tee.

Sizes:

Adult Small, Medium, Large, and XLarge

Please note that the ladies cut is a smaller cut.  We suggest that you order one size larger.

GOSPEL + SURRENDER = ADOPTION

To ORDER:

1.  Please click the DONATE button under "Help Us Bring Them Home!"  This will take you to PayPal.

2.  After you login, you will see:

Please enter your donation amount.

Purpose	Donation amount	Total
ThreeItWillBe	$	$0.00
Total:		$0.00	USD

Enter the Donation Amount for the # of shirts that you plan to purchase in the box under "Donation Amount".  

Example:  If you want to buy 3 shirts, enter $50 in the box provided.

Login and you will see:

To complete your payment, review the details below and click Donate. Visit Funding Sources to learn more about PayPal policies and your payment source rights and remedies, or to change debit card processing options.

Purpose	Donation amount	Total
ThreeItWillBe	$50.00	$50.00
Add special instructions to recipient
Total:		$50.00	USD

3.  Click on the "Add special instructions to recipient" and please tell us:

*the color and size of the tee you would like to order

*your shipping address (1 per order, please.)

*email address where we can reach you if we have a question

Example: 

                1 Orange - Large,  1 Gray - XLarge,  1 Gray - Medium = 3 Total

                Ima Sample

                123 Green Street

                Anywhere, GA 12345

                adoptionfan@gmail.com

4. Click the Donate button at the bottom of the page.

If you do not have a PayPal account, feel free to click on the Contact Us button, and we will be happy to make arrangements for you to place an order and send us a check.

BIG NEWS...We're on the home stretch!

July 8, 2013:

It has been EXACTLY 2 years and 2 months since Jason gave me a card for Mother's Day.  We had been more divided over an issue than we had ever been before.  For months, he had said, "No." The cost was too high for our family in so many ways.  I first opened the handmade cards that I always cherish from our children, and then he handed me a card that I knew was from him. With children gathered around, I began to read aloud what he had written in the card.  In two paragraphs, he described how God had been causing him to reflect on the cross and the sacrifice made for him, Jason, to be a child of God.   It was a beautiful description, but I couldn't quite figure out where this "pouring out of his heart" was leading.  I continued to read as he listed the "costs" that had consumed his mind in the months that we had considered adoption, the cause of our great divide.  In an instant, I could barely breath and tears flooded my eyes so that I couldn't finish the last few sentences.  Our children began to squeal as they realized where his note was headed, and after clearing my eyes, I finally read his last words,

It's time for us to answer God's call for our family.  It's time for us to enter the journey of adoption.

Just six weeks before, I begged God to change my heart or Jason's as I prayed about this conflict that had led to one of the most difficult times in our marriage.  In the quiet, the word "surrender" was all that I could hear.  That day, I wrote SURRENDER on one page in my journal and nearly shook as the word glared at me from the page.  That morning, I trusted God completely.  I stopped talking and prayed for unity in our marriage.  If you know ANYTHING about me, being quiet about something for which I was so passionate was only possible through God's strength.  I can't tell you how much I struggled.

Three or four weeks later, Jason was restless during the night.  I noticed that he wasn't sleeping well and left our room for quite some time.  When I had asked the next morning if all was ok, he simply explained that he was up and had been praying through some things during the night.  He seemed fine, and I didn't press any further.  I prayed for him without knowing any specifics, and we didn't talk about that night again.

Fast forward to Mother's Day...

After a precious day of worship and time with family, we finally settled in for the evening.  I asked Jason to share when he had reached the turning point and knew that we should walk forward together in adoption.  He explained, "Do you remember the night that I couldn't sleep?  I was wrestling with God, and He drew my heart and attention to the cross.  He kept telling me to, 'Surrender.'"  

The word that had been so difficult for me had also been the word that God used to unite our hearts.  Over and over, "surrender" has been used in various contexts as we have twisted and turned through these last two years.  

So...

after 792 days since we took our first step, and

252 days since we saw their first picture, and

49 days since we they officially became Wileys,

we have received news that we are most likely on the final step before leaving to bring our children home!!!  There is an important interview that will take place Wednesday at 1:00 PM in Ethiopia (7:00 AM local time).  It is likely that we will receive word of our fast approaching travel date following this interview if all goes as planned.  With that said, we will be booking round trip flights for us and ONE WAY tickets for our three little guys very soon.  

Above all, we covet your prayers for our family.  So many have asked how they can help.  A friend, and recent adoptive parent, designed a shirt that has captured our story in three words to help us with our final costs of travel and expenses.  We will be selling a ladies cut soft style tee (heathered orange) and a standard cut soft style tee(heathered gray) until Friday, July 19.  The cost of either style is $20/tee.  For multiple tees, the cost is 2 for $35, 3 for $50, or 4 for $60.  Shipping is included in the cost of the tee.

Sizes:

Adult Small, Medium, Large, and XLarge

Please note that the ladies cut is a smaller cut.  We suggest that you order one size larger.

GOSPEL + SURRENDER = ADOPTION

To ORDER:

1.  Please click the DONATE button under "Help Us Bring Them Home!"  This will take you to PayPal.

2.  After you login, you will see:

Please enter your donation amount.

Purpose	Donation amount	Total
ThreeItWillBe	$	$0.00
Total:		$0.00	USD

Enter the Donation Amount for the # of shirts that you plan to purchase in the box under "Donation Amount".  

Example:  If you want to buy 3 shirts, enter $50 in the box provided.

Login and you will see:

To complete your payment, review the details below and click Donate. Visit Funding Sources to learn more about PayPal policies and your payment source rights and remedies, or to change debit card processing options.

Purpose	Donation amount	Total
ThreeItWillBe	$50.00	$50.00
Add special instructions to recipient
Total:		$50.00	USD

3.  Click on the "Add special instructions to recipient" and please tell us:

*the color and size of the tee you would like to order

*your shipping address (1 per order, please.)

*email address where we can reach you if we have a question

Example: 

                1 Orange - Large,  1 Gray - XLarge,  1 Gray - Medium = 3 Total

                Ima Sample

                123 Green Street

                Anywhere, GA 12345

                adoptionfan@gmail.com

4. Click the Donate button at the bottom of the page.

If you do not have a PayPal account, feel free to click on the Contact Us button, and we will be happy to make arrangements for you to place an order and send us a check.

Love to you all!