Family Picture

Here we all are - one big happy commune in Delaware! haha - Roscoe and I are left, then my mother and father, and sister-in-law, nephew, and brother.

Something to think about

Senator Obama says responsibility of being a father doesn't just end at conception...

conception = the process of becoming pregnant involving fertilization or implantation or both (according to Webster)



So Obama, would you say that someone is the father of a fetus? But can that be? Since according to Webster again, a father is "a man who has begotten a child", not a fetus. Hmmmm... It's hard to know what you stand for unless you say what you mean and mean what you say.

Chapman Family

AWA posted this on their blog:

The Chapman family will be making media appearances beginning next week. This will be the first since the tragic loss of Maria on May 21st. Please continue to keep the Chapmans in your prayers, and that through these interviews, God will be glorified and His gospel will be clearly and boldly proclaimed.

August 5th – Good Morning America (ABC) 7:00 – 9:00 AM (All time zones)
August 7th – Larry King LIVE! (CNN) 9:00 PM (Eastern time)
August 13th – People Magazine

Referrals for July

Soo, we are getting closer!! If you check the ticker, we've almost been waiting five months for a referral! The wait for a boy is 5-7 months. (We're looking at closer to seven i think). July had many boy referrals - we are seven boy referrals closer to our son! There were three other referrals - one girl and two older siblings (i think). Anyway, that is 10 referrals for the month of July! Fantastic! At this rate, it will be mid to late October for our referral. But you know as soon as I start to plan, it will change. So I'm not planning for it - no expectations. I will be completely surprised because I am NOT going to think about it (hahahahaha - if you know me, you are laughing right now or saying a sarcastic "whatever Julia - try as hard as you want!")

Come on Micah! We're ready to have you home and make you a Buckeye!!

Power and Power

Hi all,

First thanks to all who prayed for the Gibson's in ET with their road bumps and snags. They are now home and precious Zoie is getting well and eating well. They even got bumped to business class on the way home! Praise the Lord! We are definitely flying United Arab Emirates - my parents also got bumped to business class on the UAB flight home from Africa. (Power of Prayer)

Now on to news about electric power in ET. THis was posted by a friend of mine from our Yahoo chat group for families adopting from ET from our agency (AWA). Thanks Karen!

The article's a bit vague but it sounds like the power rationning in
Addis may be coming to a close!! Yay! *karen

Ethiopia - EEPCo stops power shedding

After three months of darkness the Ethiopian Electric Power
Corporation (EEPCo) is to stop the power shedding program as of
Monday, July 21, 2008.

EEPCo has for the last three months shed power after its dams were
depleted but after adequate rain water flow to the dams in recent
weeks, it is to stop the power shedding that has worsened the
economic condition of the country.

Power interruption in Ethiopia has caused a considerable amount of
damage to the economy that is estimated according to reports at over
a billion birr. The corporation faces a power shortage of over 40% in
the capital city, Addis Ababa. Out of the total 200MW of electric
power needed, the corporation was short 80MW.

The rest of the article here:
http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?
title=ethiopia_eepco_stops_power_shedding&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Prayer Time!

So here's the scoop.

There are currently three families in Ethiopia picking up their children whom they adopted. Two have blogs -Gibsonsand Raymers. Their children are beautiful and both have great blogs to tell the story of their journey. Check out the pictures and videos!

The Gibson's hit snags in their process and have to stay a week or two longer than planned. Please pray that the paperwork can be fixed. There was a misspelling on the adoption decree. Also, their little Zoie Senait is very sick with raspy cough and difficulty breathing. She is in the hospital today and the family is very scared. She is small and undernourished. She needs to be covered in prayer!!

Duni, our adoption coordinator, is flying to Ethiopia TODAY to help out the Gibson's with their paperwork and to help get court dates for families who have referrals. These 8-10 families are hoping to get court dates before closure (Aug 7th) and are hoping the court dates go smoothly the FIRST time. If these families cannot get through court, they will have to wait until October when the courts reopen. Their babies and older children will have ot wait two more months for them. The older children really don't understand why it has to take so long. It is sad for them.

Also, Rachel Ward, who directs the Transition Home where all the babies who are matched with families live, is sick. She needs prayer as well!

So whew!! A lot is happening.

AWA referrals for June

Hello to anyone who reads this :) Not sure who does really but I like blogging for me enough :)

What happened in June you ask? Well, 10 children were referred to 7 families. Wait! That doesn't make sense? Three families were referred a sibiling pair each. So TEN referrals!! That is so great! This was AWA's goal and I honestly had low hopes they would meet it so soon! Go Duni and Terra!

There are between 10 and 15 families waiting for a successful court date now. The courts are soon to close - August 7th. Three families have court dates 7/15. The court date is the day our POA from AWA stands on our behalf before a judge and legally adopts our child(ren). Many times if all the paperwork is not there, the judge does not grant the adoption and families try again. WE need to PRAY that many families waiting for their court date receive one before closure and that it is successful the first time. If not, then the children have to sit in the transition home and wait until the courts reopen in October.

So why do courts close you ask? For no real good reason except that it is their break. It is not rainy season or extremely hot. It is just a nice leisurely 2 month break. The culture is obviously not type A America!

We are expecting a referral in late Oct or Nov. By my calculations of families I know, we are now # 31-ish (give or take a few families - more like give and not take) So if our agency has 10 referrals each month for the next three months, we are first in Oct. I am not expecting 10 referrals each month though - we'll most likely be November. Now if there are 10 referrals in July, August, and September, that means there are 30 families waiting for court PLUS any families who don't make it before court closure. This is about 40 TOTAL families who will need a court date when the courst reopen in October!!! And remember this is just our agency. There are currently about 35 agencies working in Ethiopia - they all will have a backlog of families! WHOA!!! This makes me soo nervous. The way things are going with our agency, we will be backed up for a while waiting for court, unless they can speed up the requests for court dates and paperwork. I am just praying our little Micah will not have to wait too long for us to come pick him up, while we wait for a court date to adopt him!

You know though? I can think of hundreds of scenarios of how it will all work out and it's not going to help one bit. I really just need to wait and let God work it all out. Sounds easy enough right? hmmm Right! I'm glad I work though - it takes my mind off things. If I stayed home now with just my cats I think I'd go crazy with worry!! I know I'd have thousands of scenarios drawn up. And soon, little Izzy (new nephew who will live with us for a while with his Mom and Dad) will take my mind off the wait. Oh Izzy come sooooooon!!! :)

So far no referrals for July. I'll keep you posted, it's only July 6th!