The name of this blog is also the name of an Avalon song. We had this song sang at our wedding as our bridesmaids walked down the aisle in all the colors of the rainbow. I really adore the message of this song. I pray that with my whole life I can testify to the love that God has given me. I've thought in the past at Christian events where someone has an amazing testimony that I don't really have one. My parents raised me in the church, even though I can be very analytical I decided at a young age that I wanted to be one of God's children. I was baptized at 11 and though I am by no means perfect I never rebelled against my faith or my family. I have always tried to live a life worthy of being called a Christian. I know that my life has been super-blessed and I want to share that blessing with others. I am going to annotate in italics the lyrics of this song and what it means to me, to my life, to my relationship with God, and to my adoption process.
Testify To Love
All the colors of the rainbow (Everything on this Earth)
All of voices of the wind (Every sound)
Every dream that reaches out (My dream of a family)
That reaches out to find where love begins (God is love and finding, sharing, spreading love is what we are all called to do... I feel like I am personally called to share this love by adopting from Ethiopia but you may be called to find love by packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, by serving in the local homeless shelter, by writing words that speak to others, by serving in the mission field, by leading our youth, or by any of the zillions of other ways God calls us to show his love.... we need to reach for God's love and that means reaching out)
Every word of every story (How many times has God used "secular" stories or even commentaries on the Bible, and every word of His Word to speak to you?)
Every star in every sky (How do people see the wonders of this world and not know that there is a loving God who creates beauty just for them?)
Every corner of creation lives to testify (Yep, God leaves all this evidence for us to lead us back to Him)
For as long as I shall live (This is something I don't get to decide and nor do you but I know I'm going to use my minutes for His glory)
I will testify to love (I have to testify to the love God has shown me, I have to obey His call to my life)
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough (I think this is how I feel about adoption... I cannot explain how I know this is the right path for us or how I know that God will connect us to the right children but I know)
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above (Thank you Lord for my parents, for my brothers and sisters, for their wives and husbands, for Josh, for children everywhere)
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
From the mountains to the valleys (We will go to the mountains when we travel to meet and pick up our children)
From the rivers to the sea
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches out to offer peace (Peace won't be something my children have experienced a lot in their short lives but hopefully I can help them to know God's peace)
Every simple act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the Hope in every heart will,speak what love has done (Right now I have hope for my future, hope for my children and hope for a better job)
O-Oh Ohhh
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
Colors of the rainbow
Voices of the wind
Heaven reaches out where love begins (Everytime we act in love we are being more like our Lord and Saviour Jesus)
Word of every story
Star in every sky
All creation testify
Mountains to the valleys
Rivers to the sea
Heaven reaches out to offer peace
Simple act of mercy
Kingdom come
Every heart will speak what love has done (This blog is speaking what love has done in my life. Love has made me who I am. Love is giving me the courage to hope for a different tomorrow. And love will go with me each step of the way)
Colors of the rainbow
Voices of the wind
Heaven reaches out where love begins
Word of every story
Star in every sky
All creation testify
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will test------------------ify
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love!
I hope that even though this is a long blog post that it made sense and somehow blessed you. I feel so blessed. 1 John 4:14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Why Ethiopia?
I feel the need to address the question of why Ethiopia, why not the US or some other country? There are many reasons. When we started looking into adoption one option was adopting from foster care. This was not an option that I felt was good for me. I've heard too many horror stories about parents coming back after years and putting families through litigation and that is not something I feel I am strong enough to handle. I wouldn't want my child to ever have to go through that either. I would also worry about how much abuse the children have seen and how that has affected them. I know there are plenty of parents out their that God has blessed with the resiliance to adopt from foster but I am not one of them so US is off our list.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to work for 3 years with a family with 3 boys from Guatemala so Guatemala was first on my list. Those boys are beautiful, I know more about the culture and have even traveled very near Guatemala in the past. Unfortunately Guatemala is currently closed to international adoption so another country is crossed off the list. Like I said, I know much more about South America than Africa or Asia so we checked into other South American countries and they seemed to have crazy requirements. Spending half a year in another country or waiting 5 years (17 months is way more than long enough!) wasn't really part of our plan so a whole continent checked off the list.
We have friends who have a beautiful daughter from China so we checked into that. The wait is once again tremendously long and there are no sibling groups which is what we are wanting so no China. Russian's children seem to experience problems a lot more frequently and the cost is more than we can afford, no Russia.
We don't really know anything about Africa. I'm not sure how many countries I could list if you asked me and I am sure I couldn't have picked Ethiopia out on the map before doing my research. We met the requirements for adopting from Ethiopia and this made me start researching it. I read There is No Me Without You by Melissa Faye Greene which is about the problems facing Ethiopia's children, it deals in a lot of facts as well as what one woman is doing to change the course of some children's lives. I also read From Ashes to Africa by Josh and Amy Bottomly. This book is about what leads this couple to adopt and the process they went through to get their son. If you are interested in adoption or the problems facing orphans in Ethiopia I highly recommend both books. If you want to read From Ashes... ask me to borrow it, I'm good at sharing.
SAD FACTS
Nearly half of the population of Ethiopia is under the age of 14, and less than 3% are over the age of 65. This means that the life expectancy is abyssmal. 94% of births do not have a skilled attendant present; 4% of women will die in childbirth. Although the infant mortality rate has improved over the past five years, it is still nearly 7%. Of the children who survive birth, another 4% will die before their 5th birthday (how terribly terribly sad is that thought).The overall mortality rate birth- 5 years old is 11%. Over 60% of the population do not have access to safe drinking water and 90% do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. 2% of the population is infected with HIV. The doctor/population ratio is 1:42,000. 40% of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight, and 50% are moderately to severely stunted. Only 45% of children attend primary school, and nearly 60% of the population is illiterate. The primary reason children do not attend school in rural areas is the children are needed for farmwork (48% boys, 16% girls) and housework (53% girls, 16% boys). Children 0- 3 are four times more likely to die within a year (before/after) of their mother’s death.
These statistics are horrifying. Ethiopians need help. These children need us to step out of our comfort zones, to think thoughts we've never thought before, and to accept them into our families. I have been touched by the need and also by the beautiful faces of children in Ethiopia. I know that God has led us to this country to connect us with the children He has already chosen. God is so good. He knows what is best for us and although we might not see His plans in the beginning if we seek His will He will reward us. Thank You God for your blessings and Your guidance.
Psalm 87:4 I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me—also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!
We are all God's children.
PS I stole all of my statistics from http://djgfamily.blogspot.com/2010/07/ethiopia-statistics-and-international.html another family waiting for a blessing from Ethiopia.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to work for 3 years with a family with 3 boys from Guatemala so Guatemala was first on my list. Those boys are beautiful, I know more about the culture and have even traveled very near Guatemala in the past. Unfortunately Guatemala is currently closed to international adoption so another country is crossed off the list. Like I said, I know much more about South America than Africa or Asia so we checked into other South American countries and they seemed to have crazy requirements. Spending half a year in another country or waiting 5 years (17 months is way more than long enough!) wasn't really part of our plan so a whole continent checked off the list.
We have friends who have a beautiful daughter from China so we checked into that. The wait is once again tremendously long and there are no sibling groups which is what we are wanting so no China. Russian's children seem to experience problems a lot more frequently and the cost is more than we can afford, no Russia.
We don't really know anything about Africa. I'm not sure how many countries I could list if you asked me and I am sure I couldn't have picked Ethiopia out on the map before doing my research. We met the requirements for adopting from Ethiopia and this made me start researching it. I read There is No Me Without You by Melissa Faye Greene which is about the problems facing Ethiopia's children, it deals in a lot of facts as well as what one woman is doing to change the course of some children's lives. I also read From Ashes to Africa by Josh and Amy Bottomly. This book is about what leads this couple to adopt and the process they went through to get their son. If you are interested in adoption or the problems facing orphans in Ethiopia I highly recommend both books. If you want to read From Ashes... ask me to borrow it, I'm good at sharing.
SAD FACTS
Nearly half of the population of Ethiopia is under the age of 14, and less than 3% are over the age of 65. This means that the life expectancy is abyssmal. 94% of births do not have a skilled attendant present; 4% of women will die in childbirth. Although the infant mortality rate has improved over the past five years, it is still nearly 7%. Of the children who survive birth, another 4% will die before their 5th birthday (how terribly terribly sad is that thought).The overall mortality rate birth- 5 years old is 11%. Over 60% of the population do not have access to safe drinking water and 90% do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. 2% of the population is infected with HIV. The doctor/population ratio is 1:42,000. 40% of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight, and 50% are moderately to severely stunted. Only 45% of children attend primary school, and nearly 60% of the population is illiterate. The primary reason children do not attend school in rural areas is the children are needed for farmwork (48% boys, 16% girls) and housework (53% girls, 16% boys). Children 0- 3 are four times more likely to die within a year (before/after) of their mother’s death.
These statistics are horrifying. Ethiopians need help. These children need us to step out of our comfort zones, to think thoughts we've never thought before, and to accept them into our families. I have been touched by the need and also by the beautiful faces of children in Ethiopia. I know that God has led us to this country to connect us with the children He has already chosen. God is so good. He knows what is best for us and although we might not see His plans in the beginning if we seek His will He will reward us. Thank You God for your blessings and Your guidance.
Psalm 87:4 I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me—also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!
We are all God's children.
PS I stole all of my statistics from http://djgfamily.blogspot.com/2010/07/ethiopia-statistics-and-international.html another family waiting for a blessing from Ethiopia.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Snow Day
Work this week has been more than a little stressful, so when the weather reports were predicting a lot of snow last night I prayed we would have a snow day. God answered my prayers and this morning I got to sleep in and then see Josh for a bit (he works second so all time together is cherished). I have just been relaxing today catching up on some reading and just enjoying being lazy. My phone rang with a number that I didn't know. Josh always harasses me for not answering my phone if I don't know the number but I think hey if it's something important then they will leave a message. I almost didn't answer but then thought, it could be St. Louis, so I answered it. It was Children's Hope International! I accidently immediately hung up on them (whoops! but it happens way too frequently with my Droid although I love everything else about it). When she called me back she had a few questions about our application, a few thoughts for us to continue to consider, and then she told me we had been accepted! We are officially in the system and waiting until God connects us to our miracles. Woohoo!
Isaiah 55:10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.They cause the grain to grow,producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry."
God sure has provided for me today with this snow!
Isaiah 55:10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.They cause the grain to grow,producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry."
God sure has provided for me today with this snow!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Genesis
So this is the first post. I'm writing this blog to have a record of the process of our adoption. Yep, that's right, Josh and I are adopting. Monday we mailed our application to Children's Hope International out of St. Louis to begin the process of adopting 2 siblings from Ethiopia.
I think I've always been fascinated by adoption. I've seen many great examples in my life. My heart feels for those children who don't have a family because I know I was so blessed with the one God gave me. God has laid upon our hearts at this time to start the process and to keep a sibling group together. We didn't know in the beginning that Ethiopia was where we would be going but after doing our research it is the best fit for our life although I am more than a little worried about the 2 trip requirement that was just added this year. How do you go and see your babies and then leave them there? I know God will help me through it though.
I know this journey will have many ups and downs but I am so excited and at the end we will have our hands very full.
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord;they are a reward from him.
I think I've always been fascinated by adoption. I've seen many great examples in my life. My heart feels for those children who don't have a family because I know I was so blessed with the one God gave me. God has laid upon our hearts at this time to start the process and to keep a sibling group together. We didn't know in the beginning that Ethiopia was where we would be going but after doing our research it is the best fit for our life although I am more than a little worried about the 2 trip requirement that was just added this year. How do you go and see your babies and then leave them there? I know God will help me through it though.
I know this journey will have many ups and downs but I am so excited and at the end we will have our hands very full.
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord;they are a reward from him.
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