Prayer Request!

THIS WAS SENT FROM OUR CASE MANAGER TODAY. THIS COULD BE A BIG DEAL FOR US:
According to our Country Representative, Ato Zerihun, there is currently a discussion by the court system in Ethiopia whether or not to require adoptive parents to appear in person for the court hearings of their prospective children. This has the potential to make Ethiopia a 2 trip country; 1 trip for court and 1 trip for the Embassy appointment.

This discussion has been precipitated by the alarming number of cases being revoked – 43 thus far. We are attempting to get clarification on the exact nature of revocations, but assume those are dissolutions.

The network of adoption agencies will meet with the president of the First Instance Court to discuss this proposed procedure. We do not have a date for this meeting as yet.

AT THIS TIME, this is only in the discussion stage and no changes have been made to the requirements. We just want to keep you informed as we learn more ourselves. We will keep you apprised of any additional developments as we hear of them. Keep this in prayer.

While we see the obvious benefits of parents meeting their children before court, especially in the case of older children, we also acknowledge the cost involved in traveling twice may be prohibitive for some families.

Divine Appointment

This past weekend I taught at Newsong's college retreat. I shared with the women only, and then with the guys only. In the women's session I taught on Isaiah 40:18-31 and how in order to FLY to the highest heights, we must go through the painful season of waiting. I went more deeply into the part of the passage where Isaiah talks about stumbling and falling...what keeps us from FLYING?
As a portion of teaching from this text, I briefly went into my own season of stumbling and waiting through infertility and adoption. I really didn't want to share much because I was talking to a room full of unmarried, college girls. What could my story of infertility mean to them?

Later that night we had a time of prayer for healing and confession. A beautiful 20 year old woman walked toward me with tears streaming down her face. She thanked me for sharing and asked what my infertility diagnosis was. "PCOS", I told her. Immediately, her streams of tears turned into rivers. This summer, she was diagnosed with the same condition and she was confused and tired and overwhelmed and exceedingly sad. My heart broke with hers and we cried together. As she shared more with me over the next few minutes, I sensed God say, "I brought you to this retreat just for this girl. You never know when your story will meet another's story. Don't be afraid to share it." I was the only person in the room who she could relate to in this deepest place. It was a divine appointment.

In that moment with the worship team singing behind us and me holding this young woman in my arms, I was once again grateful for PCOS. I was grateful that a side comment in my message traveled into the ears of girl who's felt so alone in her pain. I was grateful that God took charge of my words and gave them to her for comfort and connection. I was grateful that my God never wastes our pain or isolates our stories. He's the God of redemption, connection, and healing. Grateful...

Pain-Free Baby Dedications!

As the NxtGn Pastor at Newsong, one of my pastoral responsibilities is quarterly baby dedications. In theory, this should be a great experience for me as I celebrate new and growing families. In reality, the past 4 I've done have all been marked with varying levels of sadness and grief. In fact, after the first dedication I lead I felt pretty sick. It was awful.

This past Sunday was another baby dedication but it was a VICTORY! While there were tears, they were because I had the privilege of being of part of a couple dear friends' baby dedications [yeah Ta's & Roach's!!!!]. It was a pain-free baby dedication. Sigh.

Afterward, I received this from a friend who was leading worship:

Your ability to show strength with tenderness is inspiring. And it's not anything specific that you do, it's just who you are.

Some day soon it will be you up there dedicating your own babies to a life with our loving God. Looking forward to celebrating that day with you.

Wow. Tears. I could read those words and feel nothing but excitement and anticipation for OUR day. Indeed, something good is growing inside of me. More healing. Thanks, Jesus, for an incredible day.