Waiting

Well we are officially in the waiting stage. I dont like it! haha We found out after speaking with the agency last night that the Ethiopian Courts are backed up. They said we should not expect to travel for 4-5 months, so looks like Feb Mar April timeframe. Like I said, I dont like it. We are keeping busy painting Joy's bedroom and getting it decorated etc. It looks great so far. Will try to post pics once we have it done. Did I mention we are waiting...

Overjoyed about Joy

I have at times found it difficult to sleep when experiencing difficulty or sadness. Recently, with the loss of my Father there have been times, especially those first few days and weeks, that I would wake and immediately begin to think about my Dad. Several times I ended up just getting up for a while, sometimes returning to bed sometimes not. Last Friday, after the anonymous donor gave us the $4000 and we had all we needed, basically, for the adoption including travel, I experienced something new. I woke up Saturday morning around 5am and was simply overjoyed. I was so thrilled and in awe of God and what he had taken us through, I simply could not sleep. I got up and studied some, checked ESPN for scores etc. The very same thing happened Sunday morning as well, only this time it was 330am. Words can not adequately express the thankful hearts that we have for all of you that prayed, helped and gave. And of course most importantly we are in awe and overwhelmed that God moved so amazingly and so quickly to help us. We are simply OVERJOYED ABOUT JOY!

God is faithful

I stumbled by an old email a friend of mine sent me on March 26, 2008 when we were just beginning our adoption journey when we were faced with raising $20,000 we did not have. Its words were prophetic. Listen to what she said, and try to trust God for whatever your going through yourself. God is faithful!

"It's going to be awesome to watch how God works to raise those few measly thousand dollars. That is NOTHING to Him...but I guarantee it is going to be awesome to watch. I know I'M looking forward to it!! God knows your hearts, and I truly believe he is going to RICHLY reward you for your faithfulness! The neat thing about having to raise that much money is going to be all the people it is going to involve in one way or another. If you just had the money sitting around, or if someone donated all of it, you wouldn't get to see God at work. I know I've given you this analogy before, but I still think back to Gideon. God purposely dwindled his army down to nothing so they would KNOW it was God winning the battle. In addition, God is going to touch hundreds of lives through you along the way...just like the teller at the bank...and countless others who are watching you will never know about!! While the endgame is going to be beautiful, the journey along the way is going to be incredible!!!! Enjoy watching the scenery on the way!!!"

Its a miracle

Wow I have so much to tell everyone I cant believe it. For now Im going to just post a quick note as we have been so hectic with activity and my head is still spinning. We raised $3014 at our fundraiser dinner on Thursday night. This was enough along with the match to pay our final program fee to the agency. All that was left was the travel expenses. To make a long but beautiful story short, I went to the the bank Friday to make a deposit in our adoption account and someone had made a $4000 deposit that very day! You should have seen the joy all over me right there in the bank. The teller was laughing the other tellers were all looking. It was one of the most special moments of my life honestly. God showed up and showed off again. To God be all the glory. God is not broke, he owns everything and he loves so much that he even payed the way for a young orphan girl thousands of miles away to come home to her mommy and daddy and brothers and sisters. I just cant wait to see my wife holding her and kissing her. I cant wait to see my kids playing with her. God moved and many of you listened, words will never be able to express the joy and love we feel. Thank you all for every prayer offered, every donation made, every encouraging word along the way. God is so good!!

Recent $ activity

The last few days things have been going well with all sorts of activity. We had the food for the dinner completely payed for by an unknown donor. We received today a check in the mail for $250. We sold a donated sink base for $50 1 hour ago. A coworker had a friend who said they could not attend the dinner but they wanted to donate $15. A friend donated his handyman services and he gave us $20 plus he made another $25 that we are to receive at the end of the week. We sold a donated pool cleaner for $20. A lady at church gave us $40 on Sunday. Saturday we received a new item that we will auction at the dinner. It has a $200 value and is new in the box. Another friend at church donated an Omar Vizquel signed baseball we will auction at the dinner. Another friend gave us $17. My son Josh is as I type this mowing a lawn for someone to earn some money. We had another dining room table donated for us to sell last evening. Just all sorts of activity. God is moving. I remember wanting a year and a half ago to find a donor who would just pay the whole fee so we could just not have to worry and work so hard but I love how God is so much wiser. He is using so many people in so many ways it is so neat. God knows what he is doing!

The Surbarnanite article

Here is the link to the online version-

http://www.thesuburbanite.com/news/x576536165/A-bundle-of-Joy

Akron Childrens Hospital

I spoke today with Dr. Ellen Kempf who is a doctor that specializes in international kids. Our pediatrician contacted her when he reviewed Joy's information that was sent to us by Holt. It just happens to turn out that she is leaving for Ethiopia with Holt this Monday and will be in country for 12 days. She said she actually may be able to see Joy while she is there. She is traveling with the CEO of Holt on this trip along with her husband who is also a doctor and a few other people. She was really a neat lady, I could hear her passion for kids in her voice. She shared how she had traveled to many other countries before on similar trips. She is going to give our contact information to a family in Hartville near us that has adopted a daughter and son from Ethiopia already and are in the process of adopting twins as well. It will be neat to make new friends who will be able to answer many of our questions. God is really putting together all the pieces of the puzzle for us. This is exciting.