Do you know what laminin is? I had never heard the word until this morning. We found out last night that our police clearance paper for our dossier had an expired notary. No one caught it until last night, just when it was ready to make a trip to D.C. I went to the police station first thing this morning to get a new one. Apparently the chief of police is no longer there and the interim would be in "meetings" all day! Bummer.

My mom called as I was driving home, and told me that I had to watch this video. It reduced me to serious tears.

Oh Lord, forgive me for questioning for one moment who is in control. Please watch this video, you will be blessed. I am humbled and so thankful that the God of the Universe holds all things together in His hand- even police clearance letters!




P.S- A little while after my pity party and then getting a proper perspective, I got a call that our new police clearance was ready to pick up. I LOVE living in a small town (surrounded by a big city)!! I sent it off. :)

Two of my blog buddies didn't make it through court, AGAIN.

Stop by to tell them you will pray their court dates are successful on Friday.  Two very precious boys are waiting in Ethiopia for their mommy and daddy to come get them!

Eric and Tara, and Steve and Pam, we are praying for you!

Woohoo!! I just heard from my social worker and the home study is complete, finished, D.O.N.E!! I am either driving to pick it up tonight or first thing in the morning. I am super excited and ready for it to be out of my hands.

One more step closer to getting my babies.

Have a great weekend! :)

"Rest in the stillness of my Presence while I prepare for you this day.......Be still and know that I am God......I am always with you, so you have no reason to be afraid.....your fear often manifests itself in excessive planning" These are all words that greeted me this a.m in JC. I am honestly having a hard time being patient today.

ALL of our papers have been redone and have been sitting on my counter, ready to be overnighted back to the agency since Tuesday morning, but we don't have our updated home study.....so we wait!!! I'm getting impatient with all the waiting. I love our sw, I just am ready for all of our dossier to be back in Ethiopia so we can get in line for a court date.

Daily He is giving me opportunities to trust Him for all things. Today is no different.

Just because I like Seal and he is singing about waiting!! :)

Did you know historians believe that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee? The word coffee is derived from Kaffa, Ethiopia where the first coffee trees originated. According to Ethiopian legend, a goat herder noticed that his herd were frisky after consuming the beans. He tried them and liked them and noticed that they helped him stay alert while tending his goats. Word traveled among spice traders and soon coffee became popular in the Middle East and Europe. It isn't known for sure who first tried the beans as a drink, but many believe it to have been an Ethiopian.

By the 6th century Ethiopians were growing coffee. It soon became Ethiopia's most important crop and still is today.

Do you love a good cup of coffee? Are you like me and your day hasn't officially started until you get some joe flowing through your veins? If so, try the coffee from Gobena. The couple that started Gobena adopted a beautiful baby girl from Ethiopia and 100% of the profits benefit orphans through various charity programs.

Click here find out more and purchase some for yourself. You will not be disappointed, it is good stuff!!! :)

"And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Gather of it, each of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you have in your tent.' " And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little, had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any over till morning." But they did not listen to Moses. Some left parts of it till morning, and it bred worms and stank. Moses grew angry with them. Morning by morning, they gathered as much as they could eat."  Exodus 16:14-21Trusting in Him for the details, for the care of my kids and for the exact date that we will finally be a family of 8!

Avery and Silas Bottomly. This is the day she committed to praying for a baby!!

First day of school.

Avery with her Charlie. :)

Avery and Abbi- best friends since birth

On the softball field


Tomorrow is Avery's 9th birthday!! Where does the time go? She is a delight, and a joy to parent. She has such a precious spirit and love for life. I'm just so thankful the Lord called me to be her mom! She is working on her culinary skills and we all benefit from her various creations. She can't wait to have the baby brother that she literally prayed for, here in her arms!! She wants us to get a monitor with two listening ends so that she can have one in her room!! Love her. :)

I promise that I will stop posting about American Idol after this, but I want to share this last thought.

Last year we sat as a family and watched Idol Gives Back.  We didn't know what to expect, but the Lord ended up using this show to further convince our hearts that we had two children in Africa that were ours.  Moody and I cried a big ugly cry through most of the show! We were really thankful that the folks at Fox and many other companies decided to do something so positive!

My friend Keva was gracious enough to give me this "You make my day" award! She has been such a great encouragement to me throughout this whole process.  Keva and her husband have adopted one precious boy from Russia, and they recently returned from Ethiopia with another beautiful boy.  They are in full-time ministry, have an authentic walk with Jesus and have blessed others by their faith in Christ!  Thank you.

Kids and Moms (and Dads)
I have been thinking a lot about kids lately... kids who don't have moms (and dads)... kids waiting for moms, and what life is like for kids who do not have parents. I have been thinking about the transformation that occurs when a child realizes he has a mom, a dad, a family...security, love and somewhere to belong.

With some of our kids, that "realization" that they have a Mom and a family, that they have someone to belong to, someone to watch over them, someone to care for them and someone to love them, has been gradual. With some of our kids, there has been this "a ha!" moment, where you could just see that they "got it".

There was baby Maggie... almost four months old... laying on the bed in our hotel in Vietnam on our first full day together (I had been visiting her for days at the hospital before this point). Before her hospitalization she had lived in a government orphanage where the babies had their names written on their legs in black magic marker so they could be told apart, and got very very little personal attention. She didn't cry when she was hungry or when she wanted something. She was quiet and tiny, but I could tell she loved being held and loved the attention I was giving her.

I walked away from the bed where she was laying to get a bottle for her, and she made this teeny tiny pitiful (feeble attempt at a) cry, and I rushed over and picked her up and offered her the bottle. She got this look of amazement on her face with a little smile that seemed to say, "Holy cow! You mean that crying thing WORKS with you??" and after that she did not want anyone but me and always wanted me close. She got it. I was there for her. I was her mom.

With Mercy, she was nine years old. She had had a mom before, who did not value or respect her role as a mom. Mercy knew neglect and abuse and loss. Despite that, she came to us with an open heart and a surprising amount of trust. At one point during our first week, Des needed her hair washed (and Mercy had been the one to care for Des up until that point, even though she was only three years older). Mercy told Des to go into the bathroom so she could wash her hair, and I gently told Mercy that I could wash Des's hair, and reminded her that that was the kind of thing a Mom should do. The social worker had warned us that "letting go" of being the caregiver of Des might be hard for Mercy and we might have some power struggles over it... but Mercy looked at me and looked at Des and looked back at me and said, "You wash all the other little kids... You would wash Des's hair too?" and I said, "Yes". And she said, "And then what would I do?" and I said, "Well, you could go play." And she looked at Des again and then back at me, and then she got this huge smile on her face, and you could almost SEE her letting go of the responsibility of caring for her little sister. She ran over and gave me a hug, and then took off to play. She got it. I was there for her and for her sister. I was their mom.

With Solomon, that moment came when we left AHOPE for the second time together. We had spent two days together, and then we had gone back to AHOPE to visit. As we walked through the gate and the kids called out his name and came running to say hi to him, he sat in my arms with huge, silent tears running down his cheeks. He would not make eye contact with anyone (including me, the kids and the nannies) and just stared ahead with this heartbreaking acceptance of the fact that he thought he was being left. Again. It hurt me so much that he had come to accept this from life... that nice people came and went, but he did not truly belong to any of them. I couldn't imagine how his little heart felt and how he had endured all that he had already. I comforted him and held him close and told him over and over again in his ear that I would never, never, never leave him.

He started to relax a little the longer we were there and I stayed with him, but he was not his usual self. And then it happened. I put him in the sling, we waved good-bye, went back out through the gate and headed back up the road towards the hotel for some lunch. He got this HUGE grin on his face, and was bouncing up and down in the sling laughing, and then grabbing my face and kissing it over and over as we walked. He was so happy and joyful. He got it. He was not going to be left again. I was HIS. He was mine. I was his Mom.

Since then I have watched him blossom with love. I have watched him learn how to expect and look forward to being held often, comforted when he cries, rocked to sleep, having his needs met, getting individual attention and being smothered in hugs and kisses often. As I crawled into bed last night, a few hours after I had put him down to sleep, his little body turned towards me, and without waking up, he put his arm on me, snuggled in close and let out a content sigh.

All kids deserve that knowledge, that peace and that comfort. All kids deserve to know that they are loved and that they belong to someone.

I believe with all my heart that our Heavenly Father did not send us down here to go at life alone, to worry about ourselves and to focus our lives on material and trivial things. I believe with all my heart that we are meant to live in families... mothers, fathers and children together, focusing our lives on loving, enjoying and serving each other.

We have several reasons to believe that Solomon most likely spent very little (if any) time with his first mother. And yet even after multiple changes in caregivers and "homes", multiple losses and lots of suffering without a mom to comfort him, he KNEW what a Mom was for from our very first days together. His heart and soul reached out to mine and grabbed on firmly. He knew that he wanted a mom. He knew that hugs, kisses and rock-a-byes were something he wanted, deserved and needed. The other kids we met in Ethiopia knew it too. They knew that they belonged with parents. They knew that something big was missing from their lives.

My heart rejoices for my kids and others that have had their lives changed so drastically...who were once alone, and now live with love, security and family. Watching Solomon over the past few weeks has reminded me of what an incredible miracle adoption is.

And at the same time, my heart aches for the so very many kids who are living life alone right now. . Even the very best orphanage is no comparison to a home and family. It is wrong that these kids must wait and yearn for a family. They deserve, as all children do, the peace and security that comes with the knowledge of knowing that they belong to someone, that they are being cared for and that they are loved.

This is why I support adoption...because I have seen the sadness in the eyes of the children who wait for moms, I have seen the amazing transformation in children once they have been "claimed" and loved, and because I believe, with all my heart, that that love and belonging is what our lives on this Earth are supposed to be about.