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!

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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!