I Used To Celebrate DTE Anniversaries....now, not so much.

I remember getting our dossier to Ethiopia (DTE) was such a happy day....January 7th! We were beyond thrilled because it meant we could begin the countdown to the approximate number of months it would take before we were matched with our daughter.  Like many waiting families, we would do something special on the 7th of each month to celebrate our DTE Anniversary.  First, we started off trying something healthy to eat but then my Paula Deen lovin' country self got bored with that and decided to serve someone in the community instead on these months.  It was fun...it was lively....it was fantastic counting down those months UNTIL we found out through our agency that the wait to be matched with our daughter would now be longer than the original 9 months or so. The wait grew to 12-18 months and at this point, I'm thinking perhaps even longer.  I know there are some good reasons for the extensions and our agency is working their tooshies off to make sure things are done ethically which I soooooo appreciate.

Although I've been busy with nesting and I am truly loving it, the truth about today is that for some reason it's hard.  Yep, it's one of those days for me.  I know all the pick-me up points and encouragements like "In God's timing" and "He's working it out behind the scenes".  Those are the same words I use to encourage other moms who are on this side of the coin.  I know that I have to be patient but in the meantime, what do I do with this aching mommy heart that longs for the face of a little person who I can only dream about right now.  It stinking hurts.  Yet, I know no matter how much this hurts today, right now....I have to take my heart, even while it's hung low to my Father.  It's only Him that can get me through this valley.

Perhaps I'll be ready to celebrate DTE anniversaries again but right now approaching our nine month mark in a couple of weeks doesn't exactly have me doing cartwheels......and that's real talk.

I almost didn't hit publish on this post but from the very beginning I promised to be honest about my journey....so here goes...............

COMPLETELY Funded & 7 Months DTE!!!

I am so thrilled to announce that our daughter's adoption is COMPLETELY FUNDED! Yep....every single penny! Unbelievable to me.....believable that God is faithful....unbelievable that we got to be a part of such a grand miracle.  The fact that we are funded before we're even close to seeing her face blows my mind!!!

But get this....I know from my life and scriptures that God is able to do EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY BEYOND what we can ever ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)  Yet, I was still so shocked when once we hit our goal, families and individuals continued to give because they wanted to start now on donations for us to take to Ethiopia for humanitarian aid! WOW.  What is so special about it all is that not only will their donations benefit our daughter Selah directly but now their donations will impact many more children in various parts of Ethiopia.  Thank you God!

When we first started this journey, I knew we could afford to take care of our daughter once she was home but taking care of the large expenses associated with the process of adoption....now that's another animal altogether.  The decision to save our money AND fundraise was a hard one because it was going to make me MAJORLY uncomfortable.  But I got over it and really moved into it when I realized it was not about me.  Christ paying the price/ransom for my life was downright uncomfortable, possibly even humiliating but He was obedient to what His Father asked Him to do.  He knew it was never about Him.  It was about 'them'...me...you.  To have such a perfect example in Him really helped me to move beyond my hangups and ultimately blessed SO MANY people who have now become so emotionally invested in our adoption and aware of the need of orphans.  In fact, yesterday, a friend at church, Gwen, talked about how Selah, our daughter, has really now become daughter to so many of them.  That just melts this mama's heart.  This video by Eric Ludy time and time again confirmed that we had made the right choice for our family to do whatever necessary to rescue and fight for our daughter. 


We couldn't afford to drag our feet. Like Ludy shares in the video, I was personally challenged to call up every one of my family and friends to get to my daughter (well....close to every one of them...I talked to many, even the ones that I terrified to call because I didn't know what they'd say). Some said no and it was heart-wrenching but for every no...it got me closer to the ones who would say yes they'd support our adoption in some capacity.  As we saved our share, we've had donors who have given 75 cents and we've had a couple of donors who gave $5,000.  EVERY SINGLE donation was instrumental and made a major impact.

To top all of this off, we suspected we were fully funded on the date of our 7 month DTE anniversary! We were still in the process of doing some counting with Lifesong for Orphans and incoming donations but I didn't want to publicly call it too early until we were sure.  Just to document it, I sent my cousin, Shelly this Facebook message late that night:

Thanks to so many of you for being on this journey with us.  It's been an amazing ride and there's still more to come as we figure out ways to best impact Ethiopia. Stay tuned!!!

Love y'all!

Six Months DTE!!!

Yes sir! Today marks 6 months of us waiting to be matched with our daughter.  It's so funny that we are here in THIS seat because I remember when we were still waiting to get our paperwork, I was in such AWE at those who were at this milestone.  So....we wait!

Each month, we try to celebrate by serving others.  I don't have any specific pictures of what I've been doing to serve someone specific.  One really cool thing since our church's 'God is for the Poor' series is that I've been working with a homeless gentleman to prayerfully get him on his feet.  I learn a lot from him but it is his faith in God that always humbles me.  My kids know him by name and if they see him while we're out, they'll say, 'Hey there's Mr. Such and Such'.  They see me talking to him in the parking lot, giving him money, groceries, or whatever.  I just pray that they'll do the same and so much more in learning to serve others.

So family............here's to 6 Months!  We're getting closer!