I am often asked if there is anything new with the adoption process.  We always appreciate people's interest!  No news for us, and it's hard to know how long until we might be matched with our children.  But our agency has some new orphanages they are working with so there has been a lot a matches made for other families who are waiting.  In January there were 23 referrals (last year there were a total of about 70...10 in December).  In December, families were waiting 14 months to receive an infant match and some people were matched in January only waited 9 months.  Yesterday there were at least 5 new matched families!  We rejoice with them all!!

As some of you may know there is an "unofficial" waiting list that I keep an eye on on Bethany's forum.  There were 7 families who all had our paperwork sent on July 1, 2009 (along with ours).  There were 4 of us open to siblings (or only wanting sibs).  Well, there are now only 2 families left of our original 7....all the others have been matched (no sib groups though)!!  Some just got matched yesterday, some have court dates, others have passed court and are waiting for an invitation to travel.  So we know that if we were open to a single child we would have been matched already:)  It would be hard, but I feel so strongly about getting a sibling group that the idea of only one child makes me sad...so it's been easy to celebrate with others and not be jealous!  It's not that the wait is easy, it's just that I have a lot of peace about it.  It's been less than 8 months, and we were told the wait would likely be about 12-15 months...so that helps in being patient!  I'm definitley trying to take this time to read and prepare.  I've been reading a couple of books and feel like I'm learning so much about parenting...especially understanding the complexity of international adoption and the effects on kids.  Again I celebrate the new level of service that our agency provides with a video life book for the kids.  To have that connection to their birth country, culture, community and any living family will be priceless!!

We look forward to hopefully have amazing news to share in the next 6 months or so, but in the mean time we are enjoying the precious children we already have been blessed with!

It’s official.  We’re committed to running the 5/3 Riverbank 25k on May 8^th.  So let the training begin (OK, continue…we’ve been training for 2 weeks now).  The ultimate goal here is to see if I will be able to run the Chicago Marathon in October.  For those of you who know me well, you remember that I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2001….nine years ago….and it about ruined my body…but I got to know Chad so it was all worth itJ 

So, you might be asking, “What are you thinking?”  That is a great question.  The answer is that I feel God calling me to train.  We want to join Team World Vision and raise money for children in Africa who are dying because of a lack of clean water, food and medicine.  I don’t know if he will grant me the physical ability to complete the training, but I’m confident that I’m supposed to start training and see what doors are opened and which are closed.  I’ll also be smarter this time…I will do 2 of the 6 days of running per week as a cross-training activity…I’ll do some workouts in the water and some elliptical training.  Also, if my hip hurts, I’ll walk instead of limp-running (not recommended).  I know better what kind of pain to run through and what to walk out. 

So we are hoping to get a team together.  Anyone feel God might want you to join our team?  

So while we wait for our adoption to happen we can focus our efforts and passion for caring for orphans on running ....and running some more!

26.2 for Africa on 10-10-10 (or 13.1 at Chicago’s Half Marathon Sept 12^th).  I care. So I run.

Honestly, since September when there were 9 referrals in a week...it has been slow watching the forum for referrals...it seemed like 1-3/month.  People had been waiting 14-15 months for their referrals and it just made our wait seem to be very long.  BUT the past two days have been SO EXCITING.  There have been at least 15 referrals!  So many people on the forum have been blown away because they have only waited 9 months or less.  Yesterday someone with an Aug 2009 DTE (Dossier To Ethiopia) received a referral!  That's only 5 months!!   As some of you know, there were 6 people on the boards with the same DTE as ours (July 1, 2009)...and 4 or us wanting sibs 1-5 years old.  Well, today one of those reported getting a referral...they were open to a single child or sibs and they got a referral for a little 3.5 year old child.  So if we had requested a single child up to 4, that could have been us! 

When ever people ask, I've been saying... "We've waited 6 months and expect it to be at least 6 more"....but now...it could be sooner!  The reason for all this movement is our agency has just partnered with a new orphanage which seems to be large with many different locations.  One wonderful thing is that our agency is very dedicated in making sure the child comes first..."they are finding families for children, not children for families"....which is an important difference!

So on the boards (which only represents 40-50% of those in the program) there is only one sib group in front of our group and 3 in our group.  I'm hoping with this new relationship with a new orphanage, more sib groups will become available!  So we continue to trust in God's perfect timing...but we are more optimistic that it could be 1-2 months before we get the referral (pics & info) instead of 6-8 months.  Please pray for our patience in this exciting time!

Dear Heavenly Father,

               We praise your name because you alone are Holy.  You alone are worthy.  You are the Alpha and Omega.  You are the Father of the heavenly lights….all good things are from you. 

               We confess, Lord, that we often fall short of the calling that we have received.  We are sinful people and we ask that you would forgive us.  Help us to be more like you.  Fill us with you love, you joy, your peace.  May we be a light to those around us.

               Thank you, God, for this special day.  Each day is a gift from you.  We are grateful to have this Thanksgiving Day to spend with family.  Our hearts are full when we think of all the good things you’ve blessed us with.  We thank you for the sunny and warm weather we’ve enjoyed this November.  We thank you for the freedoms that we enjoy in our country.  We thank you for all the men and women who have sacrificed so much for those freedoms.  Thank you, Father, for your creation, for your Son and the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made on the cross to save us from our sin. 

               Thank you for the adoption journey you have called us to.  Thank you for all the other families who are also in the process of adopting.  We thank you for those we have been able to start connecting with on the adoption forum.  Thank you for the encouragement and prayers that we can support each other with.   We pray for all those who are waiting for court dates, and travel dates…to be so close to having their precious children home.  We pray especially for those who have paperwork that needs to be corrected in a timely fashion for them to be able to travel.  We pray for all of those who are waiting for a referral.  Lord, it can be so hard to wait.  Help us to make the most of our time.  Help us to learn how to be better parents.  Help us to serve you in our waiting time. 

               Lord, we know that you have a heart for orphans.   Thank you for giving us a tender heart for children…especially orphans.  We thank you for all those who care for these children.  We thank you for those who are involved in foster care and adoption through the foster care system.  We thank you for all those you are involved in orphan care.  We thank you for all those who sponsor children.  We thank you for all those who have dedicated their lives to serve the fatherless.

               We pray for all those in the world affected by AIDS and HIV.  We thank you for modern medicine.  We thank you for medicine that can make living with HIV possible.  We specifically pray for all the children who have lost one or both parents due to AIDS.  We pray that you would comfort them and provide for all their needs.

               Lord, we love you and we want to serve you better.  Thank you for your love!  We pray all of this in your Holy Name, Amen!!

I’ve been telling Lora she needs to update the blog, and figured that I may as well do it myself.  I’m a big boy, after all. 

Well, it’s been a full year since we began our adoption journey.  And what a year it has been!  With the whirlwind of paperwork and hoops to jump through largely behind us, we can now sit and wait patiently - or sometimes impatiently – for the process to continue!

As we wait, Lora has been connecting with other adoptive moms on the Bethany forums and reading as much as she can about adoption and caring for adopted children.  Me…not so much!  We are taking in some required training from Bethany whenever possible and attending other adoption-related events.  We’re also dreaming of ways we as a local church can work to help orphans both here in Michigan and around the world.  For those at East Saugatuck, stay tuned for more information on that!

As one way of starting to bring a global picture into our household, we’re getting a world map and hanging it on the wall in the house.  We’ll have push-pins for our little location in Michigan, Ethiopia, the locations of our four sponsored World Vision/Compassion children, and also the locations of our friends who are currently on or are entering the mission field.  We’re hopeful this is a great way to make a very big world very personal to our children.

With November being National Adoption Month, it really brings adoption to the forefront of with lots of media time for both TV and radio.  It’s interesting to hear all the press coverage and think about how much it was poking and prodding us in the right direction just one year ago!  We’re praying that this coverage raises awareness and will touch others to do their part to help the cause of the 143+ million orphans in the world today.

For those who haven’t already seen it or heard about it, Lora and I were on Fox17 news last week at a Bethany-sponsored event/concert.   Here’s the linkage:

http://www.fox17online.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=cae6f8a3-925f-4162-8bf9-1b0d35e9bac8&src=front

To leave you, I’d like to share a video that tries to show the magnitude of the number 143 million.  What can you do to help one orphan today?