He's coming home!

Exactly two weeks after our file was sent to USCIS Nairobi for further review we have been cleared to bring Tariku home!  There are no words to describe the joy in our hearts.

udpate x2 and fundraiser

It's been so long since I've written anything, I don't even know how to start...  O and K are back in Latvia.  The rest of our visit (after the first week) was ok.  We had some really good, fun times, but we also had a lot of frustration and heart ache.  We were genuinely sad to see them go. All of us cried at the airport (even Katja who was quite excited to be going back to her friends).  I have no idea, absolutely no idea, what the future holds for us and them.  The people who have any influence in the situation know that we want to adopt Oleysia.  If that ever gets set into motion I'll let you know.  For now, we just go on with life and keep contact with her through facebook and email.

We were finally submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia on December 27.   After stringing us along for way too long we received an email yesterday that they forwarded our case to the USCIS office in Nairobi, Kenya for further review.

Yesterday was a hard day.  I cried many tears, vented a lot of frustration about the embassy to anyone who would listen, took a lot of ibuprofen to stop my raging headache, cried more tears, prayed, read the Word, and cried some more. 

I've been reading this scripture from The Message over and over and over again.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."

Today I woke up in much better frame of mind. No middle of the night email checks, no early morning anger and frustration., no more headache.  Now that we are in Nairobi I know our case will move forward.  Tariku WILL COME HOME, not as soon as we had hoped, but he is our son and all this waiting will eventually come to an end.

And now on to the fundraiser--

From now to Februray 12 I am having an online Silpada Jewelry party.  I will receive 30% of the total sales of the party AND my Silpada representative (who also happens to be my mother :D ) will match the proceeds-- so really 60% will be donated towards the cost of our airfare to bring Tariku home.  If you purchase a $19 pair of earrings, $11.40 will be given to us towards our airfare.  Some of the jewelry can be expensive, but it is very good quality, has a life time guarantee (if it breaks they will fix or replace it for free) AND it's for a great cause! 

To shop go HERE.  Just make sure to click my name as the hostess when you check out.

one week down...

one very hard, very emotional week down...

We have two girls here.  One, while sweet and pleasant, very much wants to be back in Latvia.  She likes her life there; misses her friends and boyfriend.  The other has a good wall in place, but we know that deep down, this is where she wants to be.  These girls are sisters so their different desires obviously present a problem.

I have no idea what our future holds as far as they go.  I do know that once the girls go back to Latvia our hosting days are over for awhile.  Tariku will be home soon and his attachment is our first priority.  We can't have him wondering if one of his siblings is going to be leaving or worse yet, wondering if we're going to put him on a plane back to Ethiopia.  I also know that God placed these girls in our life and they will always, always be in our hearts.  All the statistics take on a whole new meaning when you have two of them sitting in your living room.

One hard week down.  Three heartbreaking weeks to go.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

Day 4 here.

The first day that I would describe as a good day.

Our biggest lesson thus far has been let go of any and all expectations.  Just because we had a great summer doesn't mean we will have a great winter.  But our winter might be great...  It definitely will be different.  We said good-bye to Ruby-O.  We said hello to Olesja.

This is work.  Are we ready for it?  I like to say it's not about me.  Do I mean it?  I pray that I do.  I find myself saying "I don't have the emotional energy for this." I'm a wee bit emotionally fragile as I said good-bye to my son over 6 weeks ago and still have not been submitted to embassy yet.   And I may not have the energy, but I have JESUS and He sustains me.

I read a quote by Thomas Edison a few weeks ago.  "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Tom and I keep reminding each other of that.  Because someone just showed up in overalls.

She's baaaaaack...

and this time her older sister is here with her too.

Oleysia and Katja with our whole crew.

They were completely wiped out after over 24 hours of travel.  As soon as we arrived home they crashed into bed.  I can't wait until tomorrow when we can reacquaint ourselves with Oleysia and begin to get to know Katja.  The girls will be staying with us for four weeks.  Pray that we can be a blessing to them while they are here and truly show them how much they are loved by Jesus!

*one*

Despite my pleas for him to stop growing, Tobias was bound and determined to turn one.  Has it really been a whole year since this beautiful boy joined our family?  We are blessed beyond measure by this sweet baby.  The meaning of his name is oh so fitting-- "God is good."

We love you so much, Tobias!!!

meeting Mr. T...

I'm not sure how I slept at all that night.  I was giddy with excitement about finally meeting this little boy I had known only in pictures for the past 5 months.  Every time I would think about "the moment" where he would finally be in my arms, my eyes would well up with tears.

Tariku was in the YWAM Widows and Orphans Home in Adama, about 2 hours away from Addis Ababa where we were staying.  Although we were a bundle of nerves, the drive was made bearable by meeting even more new YWAM friends.

We made a little pit stop for some buna (coffee) at a lovely little cafe.  You like the view from our table!?

And another stop a little farther down the road for fresh watermelon...

When we got to the Widow and Orphans Home everyone else went in while Tom and I were trying to get Tobias on his back in the ergo.  So we were the last people to make it in the door.  Right as we were walking in the door, a little boy was being led out and someone was saying "Whose?" 

A million thoughts raced through my head in the span of about 10 seconds... "I recognize that face." "But he's so little!"  "Is that him?" "Oh my gosh, that's my son!"

I didn't really know what to do.  I walked up to him and said something, but I can't even remember what it was.  Then I knelt down and held out my arms and asked if I could have a hug.  I could tell Tariku was a little dazed, looking around at all these strange faces, but he immediately gave me a big hug.  It was surreal.  I was actually holding this little boy that I had been praying for, dreaming of, growing to love.  I cried many tears of joy during those first moments.

brothers, meeting for the first time

 my boy!

We just plopped down right there in the entry way of the building and spent the next several hours getting to know our son.  We had been warned by several different people that Tariku was very high energy, or "fast".  I went in prepared with bubbles, balls, etc., ready to spend some time running around and playing. 

But he never showed us that side of him!  He was LOVING having our attention focused solely on him.  If one of us would stand up, he would pat the ground as if to tell us "sit back down with me!"  He loved the little book we had made him with pictures of the family and things like our van, table, his bed.  His favorite page was the one with a picture of Abby holding our cat, Silas.  That's funny to me, because I hate our cat!

I had brought puffs for Tobias to eat on the trip. Had I known how popular they would be among the kids I would have brought a whole case.  I think I will take a case when we go back to get Tariku.  Thankfully, Tobias didn't mind sharing, because Tobias' puffs quickly became Tariku's puffs.  And thankfully, Tariku didn't mind sharing because his little friends kept coming up for handfuls at a time.  

We ate lunch at the Widow and Orphans Home.

It was getting close to our time to leave and Tariku began to sense that something was going on.  He only wanted Tom or I to hold him in our arms.  If we put him down and tried to walk while holding his hand, he would immediately reach his hands up to be held again.

So we carried the heavy little boy while we were given a tour of the home.  We got to see his bed with our family picture hanging above it. 

Now it was time to prepare to leave.  It was SO hard. I had to go to the bathroom and as I shut the door I heard Tariku crying and Tom and one of the nannies telling him "Mommy will be right back."  My heart was just breaking... 

I held him until the last possible second.  But the moment came when we really, truly had to leave.  As I put him down and through tears told him that I loved him he began to cry and reach out for me.  The nannies were trying to hold him back and he fell on the floor crying and reaching for me.  As I walked through the door I choked out through my tears, "I love you.  I'll be back soon!"  It was heart wrenching then and it's just as heart wrenching recounting it now...  It is so counter to a mother's instincts to walk away from her crying child.

  Now this part is for you, Chris--

The ride home was quite eventful.  We ended up stuck in the worst traffic jam that I have ever experienced (and I have sat in quite a bit of DC traffic!)  What normally was a two lane road turned into about six lanes with cars pointed every different direction, including cars in the grass and in the dirt off of the road.  We would move a few inches and then just sit for a long period of time.  There were quite a few horns honking, but we all commented on the fact that no one was really angry.  Everyone was content to inch along, even having an occasional car-to-car conversation.  The exhaust fumes were overwhelming.  Trying to open the windows for fresh air only let in more fumes.  Claustrophobia was beginning to set in...  It was bad! We never did see what caused it, but our driver was eventually able to get us out of there.  Though, by the time we got back to our hotel our clothes wreaked of car exhaust.  Even Tobias' hair smelled like it!

We ended the day with another lovely evening spent in the hotel lobby visiting with our dear friends.  We were able to commiserate with each other about the difficulty of leaving our little ones behind.  We encouraged each other in our willingness (and need) to trust God and His timing in bringing our children home.  Now is the time when our faith is tested, and we will not claim to have faith yet live like those who do not-- right, Jen!