One Year ago...

...We fell in love with you, Micah Bedilu, our son. (Of course we loved you even before this, but at 4:30 on December 17th 2008, we saw your face and were overwhelmed with love for you!)




I didn't think it possible to feel an instant connection, really.. I didn't. But we knew. You were ours.

I wrote about you that evening: This is what I said one year ago. How TRUE these words would be!

We received our referral call at 3:11 PM today (12/17/08). He is such a handsome little man! He is so petite and so beautiful! His eyes are so big - he has such a strong determined look on his face as if to say "I have a purpose - I'm a fighter!" Yes you are Micah - you're our little fighter!

I had no idea what was to come, but you proved to fight so hard for life in the months to come! You DO have a purpose Micah. Your name means "Who is like our God!" He was holding you then and is holding you now.

You were truly tiny stated to be 3 months (we think 2 months now) and 7.9 pounds, 20.9 inches. A petite, yet strong little man.

We received more pictures the soon after from traveling families who saw you over Christmas! Thank you Caldwells and Savages!





Tonight as you struggled to enter dreamland, we made a Richardson sandwich in the big bed. Roscoe on one side, me on the other and held both of your hands. WE told you we loved you even one year ago when you were an ocean away! As if you could understand, you smiled real big :)

HAPPY REFERRAL-VERSARY MICAH BEDILU!

Micah's cribmate in his first orphanage near his village also celebrates a referral-versary today. Happy referral-versary Isaac, Ben and Janet Whipple.Isaac, Ben and Janet Whipple We would get to have the pleasure of traveling with this amazing couple in March. We are connected forever! Love you guys!

Prayer for the Reeds

Hi everyone,

An AWAA family who just arrived home from ET with their baby girl are in need of prayer. They are in the hospital with her as she has a possible heart condition. I don't know this family personally - only via an online chat group, but believe me that they have had more than their fair share of bumps in the adoption journey. Our situations are very different but we do know the pain of spending the first week home with your child in the hospital. It is less than ideal. They could use many prayers for their little girl and for them as I know they are getting over jet lag and this week while dealing with all the unknowns. They are also trying to begin bonding with their baby girl amidst the hospital stay. You can follow them at their blog.

Please Pray Tonight!

Our friends, The Shaws, have a court date tonight in Ethiopia! Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead and so the judge will hear their case as we sleep tonight. I cannot tell you how nervous a mommy can be in the days approaching court! Helplessness consumes the wait as our child is over an ocean in someone else's care. As a mom, all we want to do is go there and scoop our kids up in a protective embrace. Please pray for the Shaws and for all the necessary details to fall in place for an Ethiopian court date:

electricity to be working and on
judge to show up
MOWA to get the letter of approval to the courts
all the necessary people to be there who need to speak before the judge
favorable decision by the judge

Check back tomorrow at The Shaw's blog

Random pics of our "Mr Social"

Micah at Wes and Anne's (Roscoe's dad and new step Mom) wedding trying to do the YMCA with everyone!

Hunger - such an abstract thought to us

Face it - we don't know hunger. We use the word flippantly as we Americans only know to use it. But true hunger - the hunger that leads to malnutrition and stunted growth - it's just abstract to us really. We can't understand it..some choose to ignore it for the mere fact that we don't know what to do with information like the info in the article below. In reality, injustice will always persist in this world. I'm a pessimist I know - but really - it's always been so pervasive. So what to do with something that has always been there and will always be to a degree?

The following is taken from an article I found online entitled "UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children":

"It is unrealistic to believe malnutrition can be addressed by any topdown U.N. scheme," said Philip Stevens, of International Policy Network, a London-based think tank. "The progress UNICEF's report points to in improving nutrition is almost certainly a result of economic growth, not U.N. strategies."

The Rome-based FAO announced earlier this year that hunger now affects a record 1.02 billion globally, or one in six people, with the financial meltdown, high food prices, drought and war blamed.

The agency hopes its World Summit on Food Security, with Pope Benedict XVI and some 60 heads of state so far expected to attend, will endorse a new strategy to combat hunger, focusing on increased investment in agricultural development for poor countries.

I like the thoughts in this article though. It has me thinking about the recent boom in Microloans and microfinancing for third world countries. It also has me thinking about our country and where our govt is headed (bigger and more controlling). The article below suggests that no govt or agency can save the little men or minority in need - they must be given the tools to save themselves - personal responsibility - I guess that's why I'm so opposed to big govt and socialized programs. Microloans work! They really do! Perhaps it might help with such a large problem as hunger. "Empowering people to become self-sufficient with dignity" - a qoute from Microloan Foundation. Read this success story.

I know I'm thinking a lot about the children in Africa - the ones who are 6 years old and look as if they are 3. Thinking about all I know about nutrition and how vital nutrients are to growth. Thinking of how quickly Micah caught up with good nutrition here at home. One year ago, this Friday, November 13th, Micah was found. Why was he left to be found? I think a lot about this and his birth family in Africa... about hunger, AIDS, trafficking, the injustices we can so easily ignore in suburbia. Then I think about how small I am in comparison to such a huge problem. But Muhammad Yunusprobably felt the same way.

143,000,000 orphans

YODA!

Micah enjoyed his first Halloween handing out candy. He loves to be social so this event was so exciting for him! I was surprised at how many kids knew who Yoda was! We got a lot of comments of how Micah even walked like Yoda. Way to get into character buddy :)