Friday, October 17

To all of you on pins and needles...

This has not been an easy couple of weeks. Life has been busy so that I'm not just sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring, but at the same time, the constant thoughts of, "Today could be the day! Duni could be calling us at any moment!" start to run you down after awhile. So, today I got some answers that take the edge off. They bring up a wide range of emotions--what's new with adoption?--and I wanted to share them with all of you.

First of all, as I suspected, we're no longer number one in line. This, of course, is because of the loss of Forrest's precious baby girl that died from pneumonia. The World Health Organization states that pneumonia is the single biggest killer of children under the age of five worldwide. And a research study from 2004 states that undernutrition is an underlying cause of childhood deaths associated with illnesses such as pneumonia, malaria, and others. As I talked about after Joner's little Julia died, even though it is painful, I am so thankful to be a part of something that allows me to not be numbed by the statistics of "millions dying in Africa." These precious little girls represent so many others, and yet are deeply personal and individual. Two families (and more!) are grieving intensely for them. We are so sad for Hillary and Jacob and Jessica and Jason, but we are happy as well--that the Joners are now waiting to pick up their two little ones, the Forrests will be at that place very soon, and the rest of us realize that there are more to statistics then numbers .

We also found out from our monthly conference call with America World that there will be a lull with referrals over the next few weeks. The transitional home is at capacity and until families pick up their kiddos, there is no room to bring new little (or big!) ones in. This, of course, means that we will most definitely have to pay the $4000 or so in extra fees. We're planning on this, anyway (although we really don't know how to plan!) People can still give to our Lifesong for Orphans account and we're going to do one last push with our t-shirts and we'll just tackle the rest little by little. I know the Lord will provide in His way! This lull means that we shouldn't expect to hear anything the rest of this month. This is disappointing (obviously!) but it also helps me to know where we're at and not get my hopes up unneccesarily.

And that leads me to the last piece of information. Apparently, having said what I said about nothing happening the rest of the month, here are the notes Karen took from the conference call yesterday regarding two baby girls in the transitional home:

One child was extremely malnourished and she was not able to be referred yet. Another one doesn’t have paperwork ready; we have to assure she’s adoptable (a true orphan).

Do you see why this news makes yesterday an emotional roller coaster? If these children make it through...one of them will be part of our forever family! Of course, there are so many ifs, but it sure gives us reasons to pray fervently and hope. Kole and I had a discussion, specifically, about the malnourished little girl in the orphanage right now. I was telling him about what this could mean--that this little baby could be his little sister--and even if it wasn't, here was a precious baby girl that needs our prayers...and Kole, my precious, sensitive Kole, started getting emotional. We prayed right then and there for this little one that could be ours, but, no matter what, is a child of God and needs people fighting for her. I don't think I will ever forget this moment as I held Kole in my arms and we prayed for a little child around the world.

So, that's a lot to process, isn't it? Thanks for your continued prayers. This weekend is going to be full and wonderful--the boys camping with Grandma and Grandad, Karl and his brother up in Michigan helping his mom move, and me running my first 5K, having dinner and watching a musical with my best friend, dancing and participating in the Feast of Tabernacles celebration at her church...whew! I get excited just thinking about it. And here's something else that got me excited during yesterday's emotional day--look what came in the mail (don't the girl colors look AMAZING?!?):




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh! I love those pics!! So sweet!
Thanks for watching our stinkin' LONG video!!!!! LOLOL It's really for me so I guess it doesn't matter, huh?! Oh I can't wait to squeeze my boy!!! Especially when I see him in that pink polka dot outfit!! LOL
Perhaps if you haven't gotten your referral by the time we leave I can be a good little spy girl (pick me with eyebrows going up and down! :D)
Love to you!
Amy

Kristine said...

I can't believe you have something in a baby size that's PINK!!! I can't wait to get the call from you. I'll be praying that things go quickly. I doubt if we will be able to go to Tabernacles. The kids seem to have come down with a mild case of chicken pox. Hopefully they will be crusted over by Sunday but we'll see. OK the word crusted is really disgusting now that I see it.:) I can't wait to see you. We need to schedule a night to go out with the prayer girls again.
Love,
Kristine

Andrea and Peter Kidd said...

Hi there! I am emotional reading your beautifullly written post. These precious babies. I remember Kari and I going through this scenario; except we were waiting to find out if the babies were HIV+. One was and one was not---very heart wrenching and real what goes on for these babies in Ethiopia. Do they get to live and have a family? Be healthy enough to have a family......heavy stuff indeed. We are praying for you FERVENTLY through this time. I am so glad the pumping is going well.....GOOD JOB! Gigi is still getting mama's milk and it makes me and her feel oh so good. It was worth every minute and you will be so happy you did it, especially in light of what you just wrote. These angels deserve the best and it is never too late for liquid GOLD!

Can't wait to hear your news soon!
-Andrea

Britney said...

I love Kole's sensitivity. I have a question about the two sick babies. How old are they? Do you know how old your daughter will be when you get to bring her home?

Anonymous said...

Ok, first off, when I saw your pics of the cloth diapers, I had to put in my 2 cents. I have been using cloth for over a year now and hands down, bumgenius one size are by far my favorites, followed closely by fuzzi bunz :-) Thinking of you as the next few weeks will be a tough waiting period!!!

Jessica

Jen said...

O Schman, so much to be excited about and so much to cry over. I know all about this. My heart is with you now my sweet friend. To prep for our upcoming move, I just went through all of Emma's clothes and organized them into vaccum-sealed bags by size. We find out in 2 weeks what we're having. If, by chance, pink will not be in our future, I have MANY pink things that I would be thrilled to see get used again! They're yours for the asking!

Britney said...

I just wanted to let you know that Arin H. and I were talking about you in the nursery at St. Mark today. We are both so excited for you and can't wait until you have that little girl in your arms. Until then we are both praying for you.

beBOLDjen said...

Hi there. Sorry it's taken me a while to get back with you since you last comment. Been a little busy :)

1) How to post for the RLC adoption journal: go to http://www.redletterscampaign.com/connect/blog-badges/ and copy the badge paste it to your post in the HTML tab and make sure you label your RLC adoption journal post at the bottom like this extacly or it won't work: Red Letters campaign- Adoption Journal

2) We haven't heard anything about court today so we assume we still haven't passed. Out TTD is Nov 29 but we are leaving early on the
23rd. We suspect our CD is next week sometime.

3) Praying for you during this long wait for your referral. It's so hard but hang in there. Your time is coming!!!!