Week 2 - National Adoption Month

So here is my second article for our church scroll that printed on Sunday and this was about our Mo.

In December of 2008 we submitted our pre-application to a wonderful agency called All God’s Children International to yet again begin the process of adopting, but this time from Ethiopia. This actually was not a quick and easy decision. You see when we decided it was time to start the adoption process again we thought we would go the domestic route and had all the paperwork and everything complete in order to do that, but God had a different plan. He began impressing Ethiopia on my heart and when I brought it up to K he wasn’t so sure and so he began to pray about it. God spoke to him as well and so we began the process to bring another child home.

The paperwork process was long and consuming as it was with EJ’s adoption, but more had been added since then even. Every adoption is different, but we were determined and we flew through this stage as quickly as possible.

By April of 2009 we had completed the paperwork and everything in between and we were officially on the waiting list with our agency in late April. We were #5 on the boy list and #26 on the girls list. Let me tell you how amazing these numbers are folks. Last I had heard was if we were to get on the lists now we are looking at the upper 90’s for the girls list and upper 60 or 70’s for the boys. Our Journey was a miracle from beginning to end as is every adoption journey.

In June of 2009 we received 2 different referrals that were not to be and they broke us. We couldn’t understand what God was doing, but the great thing about God’s plans is that he knows what we cannot see and we are to rest in that. Long story short we received the call about our son Mo on July 2, 2009.

God was moving big mountains friends. We had major timing issues that we could not believe were being moved. Typically Ethiopia closes in the month of August for the rain season and we feared having to wait that much longer to bring our little man home. Miraculously the courts stayed open longer that year, and we received a court date in August, passed court in August, and on September 4th, 2009 this Ma Ma was on a plane to pick up our 8lb 4 month old son in Africa!

Our process for Mo lasted only 9 months; this is so unbelievably short of a time in international adoption. We know that God wanted this little one home with us and he is so perfectly fit for our family too.

Please continue with us as I share more about adoptions next week.

Another verse to focus on:

Deuteronomy 10:18
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.”

PICTURES

Also, I didn't get a chance to do it with my first article, but here are the first pictures we saw of EJ and Moses when we were called about them. Hard to believe they were once so tiny now!

EJ at around 2 weeks old



Moses at around 2 months old