Ethiopia Update

Greetings!

Two and a half years ago, Stephanie and I felt called to begin our little family through adoption.  God called us to an agency (AGCI) and a country (Ethiopia) that we've grown to love.  We anticipated a two to two and a half year wait before seeing our child's face for the first time, but due to changes in requirements and practices in Ethiopia, this timeline has been significantly extended.  We remain fully committed to growing our family through adoption. 

As a result of the new timeline, Stephanie and I decided to instead begin our family with a biological child.  This, too, turned out to be quite a journey, but we are now so blessed that Stephanie is pregnant with our baby boy (due in May).  As we prepare the house for little hands and little feet, we are facing a very difficult decision related to the adoption, and we need your prayers.

Recently, our adoption agency shared some discouraging news related to the outlook of adoption in Ethiopia.  It has been since June 2014 since a child from Ethiopia meeting our parameters was referred to AGCI.  We've been told that it may be a question of if, not when, we are referred a child.  This is heartbreaking considering the need in Ethiopia remains great, but the requirements and corrupt practices are preventing orphans from joining their forever families.

Our agency has presented us with a small handful of options to continue our adoption journey.  While it seems impossible to choose an option, we know God remains with us as we continue to seek his will.  We ask that you pray that we may have wisdom as we make this decision by the end of January. 

Thank you for your love and support!

Happy Fall!

We can’t believe another school year is starting!  Steph had a very busy summer as she wrapped up graduate classes and earned her Master’s Degree.  For the first time since we met, she doesn’t have any extra curricular fall activities (coaching or classes) so we’re looking forward to enjoying campfires, Michigan football, and October baseball (we hope)!

As we’ve run into many of you the past several months, we’ve noticed a recurring theme.  We’re learning that our family and friends are hesitant to ask about the adoption.  We understand this hesitance comes from an empathetic heart as you don’t want to open a wound, but please know that we’re happy to talk about the adoption!  While the process isn’t moving as quickly as we had hoped, we’re patiently waiting on God’s timing, trusting that we will soon hold our miracle(s) from Ethiopia!

There is still a great need to connect children with forever families in Ethiopia.  Our adoption agency has reiterated time and time again that the reasons for delays in the process are due to increased Ethiopian government requirements, not a lack of children who need a home.

This brings us to a request.  We believe in the power of prayer, so we ask that you say a prayer for the children in Ethiopia who are waiting to be joined with their forever families.  We ask that you pray that these children will feel God’s love, that they’ll find peace and comfort in His arms.  Please pray for the biological mothers and fathers who made the painful decision to give their children up for adoption, that they’ll feel this same peace and comfort.  Finally, please pray that God will remove the barriers that keep these children from going home.  Pray now, and pray often!  Thank you!

An Amazing Prayer

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul discusses weakness in an uncommon way:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Keeping this in mind, check out the song Give Me Faith by Elevation Worship.  It's a great way to humble yourself before our all powerful God.  Give it a listen on YouTube!

I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
To see that You’re shaping my life

All I am, I surrender

Give me faith to trust what you say
That you’re good and your love is great
I’m broken inside, I give you my life

I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you pierce through the dark
And cleanse every part of me

I may be weak
But your Spirit’s strong in me
My flesh may fail
My God you never will

Enjoy your day!

Remember Who You Are

“Remember who you are.”

Our pastor at Ada Bible weaves these words into his sermons about once a month.  The application can be used in a variety of circumstances.  Take, for example, the context of our current series, being satisfied and content in a material world.  If we remember who we are as God’s chosen people, adopted, purchased by His blood, and sealed with the Holy Spirit, how can we be unsatisfied?  We find joy and wholeness and identity in who we belong to, not in a new house, expensive car, or the clothes we wear.  Material purchases result in short-lived satisfaction; no material possession can fill a void that God desires to fill in our lives.

Steph and I have recently discussed this idea of wholeness in a different context.  While we anxiously await the arrival of our child(ren), we must be whole today.  If we’re not whole today and we feel as though we’re missing something, we’re placing the source of our joy and wholeness in a child who will be born over 2,000 years after the birth of the child who is actually the source of joy and wholeness.  This doesn’t mean we can’t be excited about our future child(ren), but if we aren’t content now, surely we won’t be content as our family grows.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

                                                                                     ---  Philippians 4:12

 

We highly recommend listening to the current series at Ada Bible.  Jeff Manion eloquently explains the historical context of what it meant to be adopted, redeemed, and sealed in Ephesus at the time Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians.  Check it out here à  Ada Bible Satisfied Series

If you’d rather read Jeff Manion’s book, Satisfied: Discovering Contentment in a World of Consumption, let us know!  We’ll grab one for you!

Dear Sweet Child of Ours.... 1 Year.

October 2, 2013

Dear Sweet Child of Ours,

You are worth every second of this wait.  We’ve have been on the wait-list with All God’s Children International for officially 1 year today.  The time has flown by and yet slithered by so slowly.  

When we entered this process on Mother’s Day in 2012, we knew the wait would be long.  We knew the journey would be wonderful and yet difficult, but we had no idea how difficult this wait would be.   There is not a day that we don’t think about you and your birth mom.  We pray for health for your birth mom as she prepares to carry you.  We pray for health for you and your mom throughout the pregnancy, birth, and infancy.  

We think about you so much.  We wonder what you will look like.  Will you be a boy or a girl or even siblings?  We wonder what your personality will be like and what your interests will be.  We can’t wait to love you for exactly who God is making you to be.

There are so many people here that are anxiously awaiting your arrival.  You have two wonderful sets of grandparents that love you so much already.  Your cousins can’t wait to play with you!  You have 3 cousins right now: Kayla, Zach, and Jayden.  Your aunts and uncles can’t wait to hold you and spend time with you.  There are so many friends that ask about you often.  They wonder when we can expect your arrival.  Our answer is usually the same: we have no idea, but we can’t wait to meet you!  There are also two little puppies, Sophie and Lola, that will love to meet you and give you kisses.  They are such gentle and loving pups.  You will grow to love them, I’m sure.

Whether this is our last full year of waiting, or if we have to wait one, two or three more, we want you to know that we have prayed for you since before we were married, we have prayed for you since the day we started our journey will All God’s Children International, and we will continue to pray for you until you are in our arms, as well as when we enter the journey of parenthood.  You are a blessing.  You are worth every second of this wait. 

We love you.  

Until we meet,

Mommy and Daddy

Email Updates!

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There is a time for everything...

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

The time to update this blog was several months ago!  We apologize for the delay since our last post. Since so much time has passed, we have a few things we need to talk about!

First and foremost, we don’t want our lack of communication to create any doubt that we’re still adopting.  We want to be very clear; we have not wavered in our desire to follow God’s plan and adopt our child(ren) from Ethiopia!  I suppose our lack of communication can be attributed to a selfish desire to not obsess over the adoption.  We knew the process would be a long journey, and there’s not a day that goes by that we both don’t think about our little Ethiopian child(ren).  The struggle we face is that we understand we likely have the majority of the journey ahead of us.  We apologize for the delay, and we promise it won’t happen again!

There have been a handful of changes to the Ethiopian adoption process through All God’s Children, most of which are non-substantive.  The most notable change you’ll experience with us is the fact that we are no longer receiving wait list numbers.  Instead, we’re provided monthly updates of all referrals and corresponding dates that the adoptive families completed their adoption paperwork.  The most recent update indicated paperwork completion dates of December 2010 and October 2011.  We completed our paperwork in October 2012. 

What does this mean?  In short, nothing; however, with no numbers to cling to, the ambiguity surrounding our place in the process multiplies, and we won’t be able to share our progress, however small it may be, with you in an easy-to-understand way each month.

The verses shared at the start of this post, taken from the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3, have adorned our living room wall since the week following our garage sale fundraiser last summer.  I’ve spent several nights meditating on these words over the past year.  While the thoughts on my mind and the triumphs and troubles of each day have changed each time I’ve read this passage, I always find myself in awe of the vast amount of choices and decisions we make each day.  How do we know which behavior is appropriate given our circumstances?  How should we handle fear, uncertainty, disappointment, loss, excitement, anticipation, and ambiguity?  In those quiet moments, I simply ask God!

Today is a gift.  Enjoy it!

DOUBLE DIGITS!

I told you... When there is big news, I will shout it from the roof tops! Our March numbers are in, and we have hit double digits! Every little bit of movement is a reason to celebrate, but for some reason this feels like a huge milestone! Here are our March numbers:

Girls: 120
Boys: 98 (woot woot!)
Siblings: 50

You may be thinking, that's still not a huge jump... And you are right, it's not huge. But, it's a milestone, and we can feel God at work each month through each little bit of movement!

Happy Easter! He is Risen! I've played this song over and over the past couple days, reflecting on what Christ selflessly did for us. All out of his LOvE for us.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=sv55FMjeMV0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dsv55FMjeMV0

Numbers Update

We are quickly approaching spring! Where has time gone? These past couple months have been pretty busy for Curt and I, so I'm sure that's why it seems as though winter has flown by. I'm amazed that I'm already starting to think about "end of the school year" things. Less than 2 weeks until Spring Break and then it's a quick sprint to summer.

We apologize for out delinquency on the blog. I hope that we have some big exciting updates coming up. The past two months have been slow moving, but Curt and I have felt great peace that God's got this. :). We have been praying that God would continue to move mountains on behalf of the children in Ethiopia, and He has heard our prayers. Here are a couple updates on answers to prayers:
1. Our agency, All God's Children, had their license renewed in Ethiopia (up for renewal every 3 years). We appreciate how our agency works fervently and ethically on behalf of the children.
2. A region of Ethiopia, Tigray, temporarily closed down adoptions in their area, and it is now re-opened. Hoping and praying the children that have been waiting will be united with their forever families soon.
3. There have been a small flow of referrals this month (more so than January or February) so we have been hoping that the next couple of months will show great movement! :)

So numbers... Here is a belated update.
Our January numbers were...
Girls- #124
Boys- #101
Siblings- # 53


Here are our February numbers...

Blessings!

Since Curt and I began this journey of adoption, we have been blessed by so many people in so many ways.  Some of these people are our closest family and friends, some are people we haven’t seen or talked to in quite some time, and some are people that we don’t even know.  

Christmas time this year was fun!  Our child is already so loved by our family and friends!  Our child already received some fun Christmas gifts.  Here are a few pictures of the cool things our child received.  

 One of my good friends moms bought us this cute blanket at a craft show.  Curt and I talked about buying one gift for baby B from now until we receive our referral.  We could very slowly fill up the nursery!  Kim gave us this blanket as our "November gift" for baby.  Thanks for being so thoughtful, Kim!

 This elephant is from Uncle Nick, Auntie April, and cousins Kayla and Zack.  They also got our sweet babe a fun play house tube to crawl through. That's staying in its packaging for the time being :)

 This poem is so special.  This is from Uncle Dan and Auntie Meghan and cousin Jayden.  Auntie Meghan was also adopted, and this is a poem near and dear to her heart.  Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Meghan!

Whoever You Are was given to us by some good friends, Jon and Ashley, when we decided to adopt.  Welcome Home Little Baby was given to us by Dan, Meghan, and Jayden as well.  As a teacher, I LOVE LOVE LOVE books.  This nursery of ours will be filled with great books for our children.  Thanks so much for getting our library started with some great multi-cultural books.

This necklace is an Ethiopian cross.  Curt received this from his Grandma.  What a great keepsake.  It was actually made in Ethiopia and purchased right here in Holland.  Thanks, Grandma!

This gift isn't for baby, but for me... and I love it.  So much!  My mother in law and father in law had this necklace made for me.  I love wearing it as we prayerfully wait on God's timing!

---------------------------

We have received many emails and notes from people that we haven’t met, but they have shared parts of their adoption journey, and others have shared that they are praying us through our journey.  

Last weekend, Curt and I encountered a very cool experience.  We LOVE our new adoption t-shirts, and we envision a day where there will be an airport filled with many people wearing these t-shirts and welcoming our child to their forever home. 

We decided to wear these t-shirts on Saturday as we ran some errands and watched some club volleyball.  We stopped at Costco to pick up a couple things for dinner, and one of the workers approached us and said, “Tell me about your shirts.  What’s the story?  Are you moving there? Adopting?”  We shared a little portion of how God lead us to adopt.   

With tears in her eyes, she shared the adoption journeys that her and her husband have been through in adopting two precious girls, one from Ethiopia and one from Ghana.  She showed pictures, and shared bits and pieces of their girls’ story, and the ways that God has worked in their lives in the past couple of years.  She then asked how she could get a shirt.  We told her that we could send her one.  She then ran off and came back with a check for us.  She said she really didn’t need a t-shirt.  She said she loves hearing about God moving in the hearts of others to adopt.  She didn’t know us, didn’t know much about our journey, but was passionate about adoption and bringing children home to their forever families.  She is working with her church to start a means of support for adoptive families.  

While we may never have the opportunity to reciprocate the blessings we’ve been showered with, we’ve certainly been touched and humbled by these experiences.  We look forward to sharing our journey with other families looking into adoption.  We look forward to blessing others who have answered to call to take a leap of faith and adopt a child into their family.  And most of all, we look forward to sharing with our child someday how much they were loved by SO many people (friends, family, and strangers alike) before they were even born!  

T-shirt Preview!

Here is a preview of our awesome T-shirts   We are selling these shirts for $15, and we have adult sizes Small to 2XL.  We also can place orders for children's T-shirts if you are interested in a child's size.  I will post real pictures of of the shirts on a later date!  In the meantime, if you are interested in a shirt, please email curt.bolhuis@gmail.com, and Curt and I will get you one.  We are happy to ship them, too.  We will get more information on the blog soon!

Adoption is...

Curt and I have officially been on the waitlist for about 3 months now.  At this point in time, we feel like we are sort of in a “land between.”  Our pastor wrote a book called The Land Between, Finding God in Difficult Transitions (check out the book here, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0310318661).  He also preached a sermon series on this book back when we began attending Ada Bible, and it was a very memorable sermon series.  One that Curt and I both really connected to.  But little did we know what that sermon series was preparing our hearts for.  

When thinking about family planning back when Curt and I were engaged and newly married, we knew that adoption was possibly one way in which we would grow our family, but we had our lives put in a neat little box.  Married at this age, first child by this age, family complete by this age.  It’s normal, right?  Well... God clearly told us that we are foolish for trying to take control of these plans.   Ultimately, He is in control, and all we can do seek His will and follow His plan for our lives.

But why is waiting so hard?  We are on this list, and now we dream of our child, and we are so longing for that day when we receive a call that the child God has chosen for us is ready to be taken home to his or her forever family.  But the reality is: we most likely have a long wait in front of us.  We are in a difficult transition where we feel like we are expecting a child and are preparing for parenthood, but there is no definite timeline.  There is not 9 months to plan, knowing full well that at the end of 9 months or so a child will be in our arms.  So here we sit, in a land between, staying positive and focusing on all the ways that God has moved in our hearts so far.  We are so BLESSED to be the parents of a sweet child or children in Ethiopia.  We are so BLESSED to be able to call him/her our SON or DAUGHTER.  They will fully and completely rely on us for their daily needs, which God willing, we will be able to provide.  God chose us to do this, and what a humbling job it will be.

So this leads me to thinking about adoption in general.  Here is how I would currently describe it.  Adoption is...

1.  Beautiful --  While adoption carries with it many emotions, it is such a beautiful gift from God.  It is heartbreaking for the birth family.  Absolutely heartbreaking.  We know that our child will be LOVED dearly by his or her birth family.  The birth family will have to make the most difficult decision of their life to choose adoption, but selflessly they will so that their child can get what he or she needs.  It’s beautiful.  Devastatingly beautiful.  

Sometimes I hear people talk about how it’s sad when people are led to the decision to adopt after months and years of infertility.  I’d respond by saying it’s sad for the birth family and the loss that the child will experience, but it’s beautiful.  It’s just how God wanted that child’s story to be.  

2.  Uncertain -- There are so many unknowns in adoption.  Each month we pray that our numbers take a big dip!  We would love to know that in exactly 2 years, we will have a referral and travel dates, but there are so many unknowns.  There is so much work that has to take place behind the scenes before a child can be adopted.  We trust that God will comfort us in the unknowns.  We know that God called us to this journey, and we will not turn from His plan.  

3.  A LOVE story -- Our child’s story is being written as we speak.  And all around, his or her story is nothing short of a LOVE story.  Parents that LOVE that baby so much and want health and a home for that child.  A God who LOVES that child so much and has a perfect plan for his or her life.  Curt and I LOVE this child that we don’t even know yet more than we can even explain.  We already feel like parents, and we will do anything to protect this child of ours while we wait.  This child is OURS and no different from any biological child that we may ever have.  God chose us to be parents to this child, and we can’t wait for this love story to play out!

NOW FOR NUMBERS!  I apologize for late posting as we will be getting new numbers again soon.  It’s really hard to plan creative ways for displaying, but I’m going to keep trying!  These are our last numbers of 2012, and as we look ahead to 2013, we pray that God will continue to lead us down the FAST LANE of this highway!!  May He move mountains in Ethiopia on behalf of the precious children!  

 For Girls, we are number....

For boys, we are number...

For siblings, we are number...

Thanks for continuing to pray us through this journey!
Be on the lookout for a post about our ADOPTION tshirts!  They are in, and they turned out great!  You won't want to miss out :)

November Numbers

The end of the month means updated numbers.  We are thrilled to share that there has been some movement on all 3 lists!  We are praying that God will continue to move mountains on behalf of the precious children in Ethiopia in need of a home.  We are praying for the families in Ethiopia faced with the difficult, heart-wrenching decision to part with their child because of various situations.  And we are continuing to pray that God will calm our hearts throughout this process as we wait on His perfect timing.  We haven't been on the wait list long, and we know that there is a long wait ahead.  While we were and are prepared for this wait, we've already realized how difficult it is going to be.  Our hearts yearn for this child/children.  We feel as if we are "expecting" without a certain timeline.

This month, we decided to make ornaments that display our numbers leading up to Christmas.  We hope that next Christmas we will be able to make ornaments with much smaller numbers!

Here are our November numbers:

Baby Boy:

Baby Girl:

 Siblings:

New Numbers!

Is it really November already?  It seems as though the garage sale fundraiser wrapped up last week; it’s difficult to imagine three and a half months have passed!

 

Although the garage sale is a not so distant memory, much has happened since then.  Steph has started and finished a very successful volleyball season.  Her team was very fun to watch this year, and they certainly grew as individuals and teammates throughout the season.  Steph is also several months into the school year.  As always, she has a great class of fantastic kids who love their teacher!

 

I’ve not only changed jobs, but careers, moving from the Business Intelligence team at GFS to the Supply Chain Planning Team at Amway.  I’m very excited about this opportunity!

 

On the adoption front, our puzzle fundraiser is officially complete.  To everyone who helped us complete this fundraiser so quickly, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  I know we’ve said this before, but we can’t say it enough – we are extremely humbled by all of the support, which has come in many forms, from our family and friends.

 

Onto updated numbers!

Baby Boy- #111

Baby Girl- #134

Siblings- #58

(we WILL get more creative as the months go on... stay tuned)

 

You’ll notice that we moved one spot up on the boys and girls lists in the past month, and we actually moved backwards three spots on the siblings list.  This occurs when people already on the boy and/or girl lists expand their parameters to included siblings. 

 

Some of you may be asking, “You only moved up one spot?  Are you kidding?”  Stephanie and I knew before we started this process that it would be long and often times discouraging if we allowed it to be.  In the months and years ahead, we have choices in how we respond to updates, news, hurdles, and setbacks.  We can either choose complaint, discouragement, and despair, or we can choose to seek God, to trust his timing, and to grow in Christ while we wait.  It’s very early, and the choice is simple!

We have NUMBERS!

Oh, happy day!   All of our paperwork is DONE, our homestudy is revised and complete, and we have officially reached the waiting list!  A week ago, we overnighted our notarized homestudy and our dossier off to our agency, anxiously awaiting great news that no revisions had to be made and we were officially on the wait list.  While all of our paperwork looked great, we have one tiny revision to make and resend.  We overnighted that the next business day, and received the call on Tuesday, October 2 that we are officially a waiting family! 

So, now you are probably wondering what our waiting list numbers are.... 

The reason it took a few days to get it posted is that we wanted to have a creative way to display our numbers.  The only problem is, there is not a whole lot of time for creativity in our home right now!  Between school, coaching volleyball, Curt's job and transition to a new job, it's been a busy fall.  But, we chipped away each night this past week, and here are our OFFICIAL OCTOBER NUMBERS!!

For a baby girl, we are number....

For a baby boy, we are number....

For a sibling set, we are number....

So what do these numbers mean?

These numbers tell us how many families are waiting for a child.  Some families are on the waiting list for just a girl, some are on the waiting list for just a boy. Many families, like us, are on multiple lists, so when a referral goes out, there is a good chance that your numbers will go down in multiple areas.  Also, each family has their own set of parameters for their age preference of the child.  Some families prefer a toddler or older child, some families have a wide range from infant through child, and some families have parameters for an infant.  All of these variables affect the numbers and timing of referrals.  

What we do know is that God has already chosen a child for us.  The most amazing part is this child is likely not even born yet or even conceived.  But God has him/her/them chosen to be a little Bolhuis.  We find so much comfort in that as we begin this long wait ahead!  

We ask that you continue to pray that we will trust God's timing and provision completely.  Please pray that we will be patient and find joy throughout this next waiting phase of the journey!  

What's next?

It's time to relax for a little bit!  It's been a busy 3-4 months of paperwork, homework, and paper chasing.  We are ready to sit back a little and spend some time learning more about the Ethiopian culture, as well as reading some books about international adoption.  Each month, we will get updated numbers as to where we are on the waiting list.  We plan to share these numbers through the blog each month, so stay tuned!

Thanks for your prayers and support!  

Big Update!

Friends,

We sincerely apologize for our lack of posts over the past several weeks. We’ve been busy, and we have many updates!

Garage Sale

Wow! What a success!  Let me begin by thanking everyone who donated items and everyone who volunteered their time during this four-day event.  We simply could not have done this without you. 

So many items were donated that one garage and driveway was not enough!  A special thanks to the VerMeulen family for their graciousness as we took over their garage for a week, too!

The garage sale helped us raise over $3,500!  This amount is far beyond our expectations, and it’s truly a testament to God’s provision.  Thanks again to all of you who were involved in the event and to all of you who prayed for us.  The sale brought us one step closer to bringing our child home!

 

Garage Sale- Day 1

 Garage Sale- Day 2

 Garage Sale- Day 3

 Garage Sale- Day 4

Puzzle Fundraiser

Why don’t we just show you how far the puzzle has come…..
 

Incredibly, 984 pieces have been sponsored, leaving only 16 unsponsored pieces!  To everyone who has helped us come this close to completion: thank you!

If you do the math and total the amount we’ve raised between the garage sale and the puzzle fundraiser, you’ll see that we’ve raised about $8,500.  When I was crunching numbers before this process started and I tried to show God how the adoption wasn’t going to work because we simply could not afford it, he had a plan.  He knew how generous and caring and selfless all of you are.

I want to take a brief moment to let all of you know what your donations are funding.  It’s well known that adoption is expensive, but if you were like me four months ago, you have no idea why it’s so expensive.  Let me break it down in simplified terms:

About one third of the cost of our adoption will be to pay for two trips to Africa.  Four round trip tickets (and a one way lap seat for our child!), 14 nights of lodging, and food.

One fourth of the cost pays for the wonderful service our agency, All God’s Children International, provides.  So many people at AGCI are involved in our process, and we’re so grateful for their guidance and expertise.  The service they provide is invaluable.

One sixth of the cost is associated with our dossier, or our official paperwork that is sent to the Ethiopian government.  This international fee helps to ensure that the child we are referred is not a victim of child trafficking, among other things.

One eighth of the money pays for childcare once we are referred a child.  There will be a period of time when we will know who our child is, and they will be cared for at a transition home called Hannah’s Hope.  Our child will be fed on demand and cared for by a handful of wonderful people called Special Mothers.

The rest of the money is used for various things: adoption application fee with the U.S. Government, fingerprints, background checks, medical expenses, etc.

Again, we could not pay for all of these services without your help.  Thank you so much!

So, Where Exactly Are You In the Process?

We’re so close to being on the official wait list! Our homestudy is almost complete, then we will send our dossier to AGCI’s headquarters for approval.  Once it's approved, we will be on the official wait list!  We’ll keep you updated as each step unfolds.

What’s Next?

The summer has flown by.  The week after the garage sale, Stephanie and I took a few days off and spent some time in Grand Haven.  We came back just in time for Stephanie to begin volleyball tryouts, and she has been busy with her JV volleyball team ever since.  Stephanie has already gone back to school; her first day with students is next Tuesday!

Since Stephanie will be busy with volleyball and a new school year in the coming months, and since I have many projects to complete around the house that I’ve neglected to do all summer, we’re going to take a step back and focus on these responsibilities.  All of our paperwork is in order, and we’ll be ready to send it off as soon as our homestudy is done, so we will not be holding up the adoption process at all.  Additionally, we’re only able to take time to focus on other responsibilities thanks to your generosity which was outlined above, so thank you.

Garage Sale Fundraiser

We are collecting many treasures for our upcoming garage sale!  Here is what our garage is looking like right now....

As you can see, we are stocking up on items!  We have a little bit of everything, and this doesn't even include most of the furniture that has been donated.  We are looking forward to getting it all organized, priced and ready for the sale NEXT WEEK!  We will be having it in Hudsonville at Curt's parents.  I'll post more information later this week on dates and times, so stay tuned! 

In the mean time, if you have items to donate, we'd love to come pick them up and put them in our sale.  Thanks for your support! 

Social Worker, part 1

Last Monday, July 9, was a very special day for three reasons:

1. Our social worker was coming for our very first visit!  We were filled with excitement and a touch of anxiety at the same time.  We spent HOURS organizing every shelf and every drawer in our house, along with dusting every surface and nook and vacuuming every inch of carpet.  Necessary?  Probably not.  But we didn't know what to expect, and we missed Spring cleaning this year ;)
 
2. It was our second anniversary.  Really, is there a better way to spend/celebrate an anniversary than meet with our social worker and take a giant step closer to our babe?  We decided this will probably be one of our more memorable anniversaries!  On a side note, it was not only our anniversary, but we also learned that it was our social worker's anniversary as well!  She walked in the door and one of the first things she said was "Hey! Happy Anniversary!"  We looked at each other a little stunned, wondering how in the world she knew it was our second anniversary.  She went on to mention that she happened to glance through our personal profile sheets and noticed our anniversary because it was the same as her and her husbands.  Great first conversation starter, and a great way to kick the initial jitters.

3. Curt went and got our mail at lunchtime right before our social worker was due to arrive.  In the mail were two envelopes that looked pretty important, and maybe just maybe what we have been waiting for.  Curt tore him open to find that our FBI background check came back (and of course, we were clear)!!  Now this might now seem very exciting, but we were told that these could take a LONG time.  Months.  We were VERY pleased to have them back in roughly 4 week or less.  This was one step that could have potentially slowed up the process a bit.

We spent about two and a half hours with our social worker, and it went very well. She is very easy to talk to, and she is genuinely interested in us and our lives.  We got to talk to her mainly about our relationship with each other, from beginning until now.  We also talked about how God led us to this big decision in our life and how He is continuing to work through us and others to bring our precious child home.

We will meet with our social worker again on Tuesday of this week for individual interviews.  I will spend about an hour with her, and then Curt will spend about an hour with her as well.  We will wrap up our time together on Saturday morning for a couple hours to talk about........

....PARENTING!  Yikes!  Nephews and a niece, babysitting kids, volleyball camps filled with young girls, a class full of energetic first graders..... those seem easy compared to parenting! :)  We are very excited to begin the journey of parenthood when God is ready for us to have this child, but oh how difficult it will be to not get wrapped around that sweet babe's little finger! 

Gojo Ethiopian Cuisine

As a part of our education experience for the adoption process, we were asked to visit a restaurant that serves authentic food from Ethiopia.  We've heard about Gojo from a few different people, and for the most part, heard nothing but great things!  So, last Friday, Curt picked me up after work and we headed to Eastown to a little place called Gojo Ethiopian Cuisine!

First off, this place is so neatly decorated!  (Of course, I forgot my camera, so we had to take a picture with Curt's phone.... therefore, it's quite blurry!  You can get the idea though).

See?  Isn't it cute and welcoming?  I loved the straw huts and the authentic decor throughout.  Not to mention, the owner has precious pictures of many children adopted from Ethiopia that have dined at Gojo!

So we found a seat by the window and enjoyed the yummy smells!  The different spices smelled delicious!  We looked at the menu, and really weren't sure what to order.  The owners name is Sam, and he is originally from Ethiopia.  He suggested we try to lamb sampler platter.  Curt and I weren't so sure... we have never tried lamb, but why not.

In the Ethiopian culture, it is common to share a platter of food community style.  Also, rather than using utensils, you tear pieces of a spongy tortilla shaped bread called injera to scoop up the food to eat.

So our large platter of food came out, and of course I forgot to take a picture, so here is one that I found that looks similar except there was a large portion of lamb on it as well.

 So below all the food is the injerra bread, however, you get extra injerra bread on the side.

So now you're probably wondering... what is it?  Well this is what was on our plate:
Doro Watt- Spiced Chicken
Atkilt Alicia- Mixed Vegetables including cabbage, potatoes, peppers
Misir- Spiced Lentils
Shiro- Spiced Chickpeas (my favorite!)
Ethiopian Salad (not pictured above-- looked more like a salad you might picture in your mind)
Then there was another chicken and the lamb (not sure what they are called exactly).

The first few bites were very tasty (but a little spicy)!  It definitely was a lot of new spices and textures to get used to.  Curt and I enjoyed the experience, and enjoyed the food, but it will take some getting used to.  We are excited to go back again though, and try more!  We do believe that it is important that we bring the Ethiopian culture into our home when we bring our child home.  Their culture is and will forever be a part of them, so we look forward to celebrating their culture and its beauty with them!

Onward!

- 10-12 hours of online trainings.... check!
- 177 pages of With Eyes Wide Open handbook... check!
- 51 page personal profile completed by Curt... check!
- 51 page personal profile completed by Steph... check!
- Doctor's appointments... check!
- Blood tests and TB tests... check!
- Employment letters... check!
- 8 Letters of Reference... check!
- Local, State, and FBI background checks... check! (Well... still waiting for some results)
- Child Abuse checks... check!
- Lots of other random paperwork... check!

WOW!  The past three weeks have been a blur!  But.... bring on the Social Worker!  Our Social Worker will be visiting us Monday!  We will be doing our combined interview, and then we will each meet with her one on one another day.  We are one. step. closer!  From there, we will wait for her to complete our homestudy, then we can compile our Dossier and get that sent off.

Please pray that this process will continue to go smoothly with few bumps in the road. 

Psalm 95:1-7,
"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us should aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care."