Ethiopian T-Shirts

Last year for my birthday my dear adoption momma friend, Erin, got me this t-shirt reminding me that I AM a mom to 2 kids on the other side of the world. Of course, I cried. And I've worn it on days when I've been hopeful, sad, longing, or just missing our kids.

Since then we've bought and given away a number of this style of shirt to friends and family. They have a variety of t-shirt brands, colors, and styles, and in every "family" term you need. I think they make a pretty darn good gift. I don't get any kickback on these shirts, but I wish I did because they are so great.

Today, was my dear friend, Cassidy's birthday. Today we officially invited her to be an "auntie" to our little ones. It's one of the ways we are inviting people into the village to raise our little ones, and also to say "thanks" to the friends who've supported and loved us through this crazy long journey. Happy Birthday, Cassidy!

4 Profound Words

I had dinner a few nights ago with my friend from London, Annie [right], and she so graciously asked me question after question about our adoption. I was catching her up on the past few months of our adoption. While I was more recounting the facts, Annie blew my mind...

Annie is a vicar in the Church of England, starting missional communities all over London. So I shouldn't have been surprised when she started preachin' it!
CHOSEN. With her beautiful British accent, she started talking about the beauty of being chosen into a family. The power of looking at a face and saying, "YES! We choose you! Out of every little one in the world, we choose you to be our son/daughter." I started crying when I thought of the years to come as our little ones grow up and I can say to them over and over again, "Your daddy and I chose you. We wanted you. And we went to the ends of the earth to bring you into our family. We wanted you so bad we would've done anything. We would've paid more money. We would've traveled one more time. We would've waited another year. We chose you!"The amazing thing is that God does that with us, too. He chose us and has gone to the ends of the earth to bring us into his family.
DEPOSIT. I also shared about the pros and cons of making 2 trip to Ethiopia. Mainly the "Big 3 Cons" of traveling twice: time, money, bonding then leaving. Then Annie said, "But it's like you go and make a deposit in your kids. You get to go, bond, see their personalities, kiss their cheeks, hold them close, give them tokens of their new home and THEN say to them: 'This is a deposit of my love for you. And I AM COMING BACK!' Just as Jesus came to assure us of his love for us and left us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, so you can do for your Ethiopian babies!" When we go on this first trip, we get to make a deposit with our kids and promise them that we will come back from them. How many correlations can there be between adoption and God's heart for his kids?!?!? Unreal!
STAY. STRETCHED. I also pretty honestly shared with her that for the past few months I haven't felt like there's any more I can stretch. I've felt like a rubber band that's lost my ability to stretch any further and has lost some elasticity while waiting. Annie held her hands as if she was stretching a rubber band mid-air and said, "Sometimes I think God stretches us to the point where we can stretch any longer. But when we must continue waiting, he gently just says to us: 'Stay. I'm not asking you to stretch any more. I know you're about to break, but I'm asking you to stay right here. Stay in this position. Stay in this posture. I know you can't handle anything more. But rest in me right here and stay.'" Tears again. That's totally what God's been saying to me, but I didn't get it until Annie eloquently preached it.

CHOSEN. DEPOSIT. STAY. STRETCHED. Profound verbs from a profound woman to increase a profound journey.

Blog to Book

I've been meaning to write this for a long time, but keep forgetting (do you know me? hahaha). Many of you have been so great about commenting on my posts - so appreciated! Mostly, though, people comment on my Facebook posts about the blog or email me responses back. And I haven't saved most of those comments.

SPECIAL REQUEST: A while ago I decided that I wanted to capture for our little ones the journey their parents were on to bring them home. Thus the blog. But beyond that, I want to re-purpose the blog into a book just for them to read someday. I want them to know how thought of, prayed for, longed for, hoped for, and dreamed of they were. I want them to see the thousands of people who helped bring them home via donations, prayers, blog hits, etc.

So, from now on would you post comments on my blog? I want for them to see your names, comments, prayers, and dreams for them, as well as what their momma wrote about them.

African villages get it right:
it takes a village to raise a child.
And we want them to know how big and loving their village really is!