Two posts in two days!

I promised I would post when our dossier was translated and authenticated. Well I just received an email that it is finished, about a month earlier than we expected! Now our official wait begins! Will keep you posted!

Been a while

Well it has been too long since I have written a post.  (The name of our blog does say we have a crazy life, and that has not changed.  In fact now that Benji is coaching Coby's baseball team and helping out with Andrew's t-ball team...well, I think you get the picture!)  Anyways I thought I would give everybody an update.  Our dossier is completed and it is in Ethiopia being translated and authenticated. (Woo Hoo!!)  This generally takes about two months, and ours has been there about a month.  We will receive an update when the translation and authentication are done.  After it is translated, then we wait to be matched with our child. (Woo Hoo again!!)  In case you didn't know, waiting is hard!  I am pretty sure everyone knew this.

Luke has been on my mind a lot lately.  I shared this with my mom, and she said the same was true for her.  He has also been on the kids mind too.  Coby is filling up the crib with things he has made for Luke like a necklace, some pictures, and a pretty cool batman cape he drew.  Such a sweet kid.  Andrew, who loves to tell stories and talk period, loves to talk about Luke and what he will be like and the things they will do together.  He says Luke will have to keep Cooper company while he is at school.  Speaking of Cooper, he is adamant that nobody can sleep in his room except for Luke.  And he will tell anybody who will listen about our baby in Africa.  Just last night he told me Luke doesn't have a momma but that I will be his momma.  Wow, that came from a two and a half year old.  I simply nodded as tears formed in my eyes.

I can feel the love I have for Luke and the constant ache in my heart for him, but I am beginning to realize that my kids have it too.  I knew the loved him, but I guess I just did not realize it affected them, and  maybe some days when they are a little "off" they are simply missing their brother or are worried about him.  What a wonderful and emotional journey we are on.  I am so glad the Lord waits with us!

I will add a new post when we hear that our dossier has been translated.  Your continued prayers are needed, and thank you for waiting with us.

Perfect Timing

Well I am going to try to make Mondays blogging day!  Since we started this blog at what we hope is at least the middle of  our adoption journey some of the posts will be from past experiences and some more in the present like today's post.  These last couple of weeks have been hard on our hearts.  We have an ache in our hearts that I am certain will not be not gone until we have our son home with us.  Thanksgiving and Christmas coming are constant reminders that someone is missing from our family.  Benji's sister gave me some hand me down clothes for Cooper recently and as I was sorting the clothes and looking at the clothes he had outgrown. I began to wander how long would it be until the next time these clothes would be worn.  We can try to calculate when we think he will finally be home with us and worry and fret, but instead we are trusting in God's perfect plan for our family.  We know his timing is perfect! 
And talk about his perfect timing.  God filled our hearts up when we really needed it.  Last weekend we had the awesome privilege of hosting two boys from the Children of the World Choir. Kirby is from the Phillippines, he is11 years old, has a quick wit, and kept us smiling all weekend.  He was already goofing off with Benji before we left the church from picking them up the first night.  Enoch is 10 years old and from Uganda.  He is a little more quiet, but warmed right up to us.  He has the sweetest smile.  He liked to hold my hand and try to get my rings off.  While they were here it was a very busy weekend, because they had rehearsals, we had rehearsals, and we wanted to spend as much time as possible with them.  As we got to know these sweet boys who called us Auntie and Uncle they found a special place in our hearts.  The ache in our hearts for our son did not go away, but it was nice to love on these boys.  And all weekend long our hearts were full.   Although we were sad to see them go and tears filled my eyes many times over the weekend, God spoke into my heart that we are exactly in the position he wants us in and if we continue to obey him that is where we will stay.  Jeremiah 29:11-13 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  Thank you God for your words of encouragement.

Just a side note, If you ever have a chance to see The Children of the World Choir perform don't miss it!!  The smiles on their faces as they sing to the One who has changed their lives is priceless.  You can find out more info about them at www.worldhelp.net

Where we are at

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to adopt and Benji says 'he knew when he married me that we would adopt."  I just wasn't sure when or how it would all come about.  In the summer of 2010, God really laid it on our hearts that we were not doing enough to follow his command to care for the orphans.  We began discussing adoption and felt led to pursue international adoption.  We began looking into adoption agencies and we decided to use Bethany Christian Services.  We attended an informational meeting in October to learn about the process and the different countries and their requirements for adoption.  As we sat in the meeting, everything kept leading us to Ethiopia.  It was already on our list and we felt invested their because our church helped raise money to build wells there to provide clean water.   Then the paper work started informal application, formal application, a home study and interviews, fingerprints, and background checks.  Which kind of brings us up to where we are now.  We have gone to Nashville to have our fingerprints taken at the United State Citizenship and Immigration Services building, and our anxiously waiting to receive a letter back from them.  In the meantime we are working on our Dossier, which is the paperwork that will go to Ethiopia.  Once our Dossier is sent and translated, then the Bethany staff in Ethiopia will match us with our child. This will probably take at least 9 months, but we will see.  This was just a brief over view of the process, and a post to get our blog started.  I can't wait to share more!