Did you know that the former emperor of Ethiopia may have been a descendant of the line of David? Here’s some other cool facts about Ethiopia.

1. It’s big – about the size of Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma combined.There are 80 different ethnic groups with their own languages and 85 million people in Ethiopia.
2. The oldest hominid fossils were found in Ethiopia. Remember 3.2 million year-old Lucy? Now there is Ardi, discovered in 1994, but just announced this year. Ardi dates back 4.4 million years.
3. The country is getting slowly torn apart by the Rift Valley, where two tectonic plates are separating into a huge valley with mountains, volcanoes, lakes and gorges.
4. Ethiopia has long been a free country. It’s the only country that was not colonized by the European powers. It was only occupied by Italy from 1936-1941, until the Brits helped to kick them out. When other African countries gained independence after WWII, so many copied their flag colors from Ethiopia that they became known as the colors of Africa.
5. Teff is a grain that only grows in Ethiopia, and is a key part of the country’s cuisine. Teff is made into a flat, squishy sourdough bread called injera and served with wat, a kind of stew, on top. Good stuff! Ethiopia was also the original source of the coffee bean.
6. Parents often take a few weeks to name their children. They wait to see what the child will be like. Many don’t celebrate birthdays. The Oromo celebrate a child’s growth every eight years.
7. One-third of the world’s frog species live only in Ethiopia. Two kinds eat snails whole – shells and all.
8. In Lalibela, you can see 800-year-old churches carved from solid rock, with rooms connected by underground tunnels.
9. When you think of Reggae, don’t just think of Jamaica. Think Ethiopia, the spiritual homeland of the Rastafaian religion.
10. And the deal with the emperor (died 1975) is that his dynasty went back to the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon (I Kings 10:1-13). The belief is that Solomon tricked her into sleeping with him, and she carried his child back to Ethiopia, which began the lineage. In fact, Ethiopia is mentioned in the Bible 45 times, first in Genesis 2 and last in Acts 8.

Can’t wait to visit!

Okay, so in October we were #2o and when we received our phone call last week our new # is 10.  Our case manager told us to keep in mind that there are probably a few families ahead of us that are working on their referral process and can’t officially be taken off of the waiting list.  Stay with me.  So, I found out that two days later the family that was at 37 for October moved to 25 for November.  That is 12 spots to our ten.  Now, does that mean we can now assume that those few families are  off of the list and we are at #8?  Are you following any of this?!  I just love playing the numbers game, it makes it so fun to wait.

My point to this post is that I want your best guess.  Your best guess as to when we will get “the call”.  You know I am carrying my cell phone with me at all times and every time it rings I jump.  So, give me your best guess.  Comment hear or on my Facebook page.  If for nothing else, just to humor this “expecting” mom. 

P.S.-I am realistic in my thinking and I know things could slow way down but I am just being optimistic that things will keep on moving.  And, having a little fun.

Thanks for all the encouraging words you send and for the continued prayer.  We are so blessed!

~Kristi

Now that we are getting close to referral time, several people have asked us about names. Have we picked out a name yet? Will she already have a name? Will we keep it?

The first thing we did when we learned we were pregnant with Hannah (our oldest, now is to go to Borders Books and look at baby names. I still remember poring through the baby names books, and even running into another couple who just found out they were expecting, also looking at baby books. We found the perfect name after looking over hundreds of choices. Same with Elliot and Logan. The boys took longer, but we like the names we chose, and the names fit the personalities.

But in this case, we really haven’t discussed names that much.

Maybe because Elliot already chose a name … “Ella is our baby sister from Africa” … before we had even told our kids that we were thinking about adopting. This was one of our signs that adoption was right for us. But we are still keeping our minds open as to whether Ella is really THE name.

Another reason we haven’t spent much time on it is that she will probably already have a name. It may be a beautiful Ethiopian name that will fit her just right. It may be something exotic that we will want to shorten to make it easier for Americans to say. And it may be too far out there to remain as a first name, and instead move into the middle name position.

According to the articles I’ve read, there are a couple of schools of thought on naming an adopted child, particularly one from a different race, culture and language. Both seem a little extreme.

The first side says that birth names should always be kept. We know from lots of research that adopted children will struggle with identity at different times in their life. This theory says that taking away their birth name is like taking away a piece of their identity.

The other side recognizes the need for children to feel like they fit in, both with their adopted family and in their surrounding community. A birth name that is too exotic, they say, will make it even harder for an adopted child to establish a strong sense of belonging in their adopted family and community.

I’m not sure either side wins the argument. We will wait and keep our minds open.

In the end, I think we will know what name is right, just like we did with our other kids. And as she grows up, she will add life and meaning to her name … whatever it may be.

-Jesse

I have no good reason for why we have not posted in so long.  I guess life is going by so quick and I keep telling myself that I’ll post later and later turns into even later and now, well it’s just time to post something.

There has been a lot of movement on the list.  Like insane movement.  If the “unofficial” list on our yahoo group is right then we have gone from 20 to 11 in less than a month.  You can imagine that has us scrambling a bit, in a good way.  Things to think about include travel immunizations, health insurance coverage, arrangements for our kids while we travel,  and so many more.  I just can’t wait to talk to our case manager next week to hear about our official movement.

In the meantime, I continue to pray for the AGCI families and their court dates.  For the staff and kids at HH.  For the staff at AGCI.  We have been so blessed by their continued caring and willingness to answer any questions. 

As I write this I am distracted by my coughing children as we have been bit by the H1N1 bug here.  I am praying that my own family can kick this and get well again.

So much going on but so thankful to see God’s hand working in all of it.

~Kristi

We’re a little slow on updating our blog because … well … there’s not much happening. Here are a few other friends and remote acquaintances who have adoption blogs related to Ethiopia.

We will try to keep this updated, and please let us know if you hear of others. While not all adoptive parents blog, we have met (or heard about) lots of people in Grand Rapids adopting from Ethiopia. We’re creating quite the future community here!

http://scottsadoptionjourney.blogspot.com

http://beldgrowinghome.blogspot.com

http://heartofadoption.blogspot.com

http://terhaarfamily.blogspot.com

http://www.dykstramedia.com/adoption.php

http://thelawsonadoptionjourney.blogspot.com

Jesse

Passing along to my fellow fans of Ethiopa. Kristi and I are going to try to attend.

 

Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Tamrat Layne Wednesday

September 30 7:30 pm

Calvin College – Gezon Auditorium

Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Tamrat Layne, will speak at Calvin on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. on Transformation in Jesus. The event will take place on the Calvin College campus in the Gezon Auditorium.

Layne was one of the founding members of the former Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Movement (EPDM) [now the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM)]. As a leader in the organization, he was an active participant in the seventeen years of rebellion prior to their overthrow of the socialist military dictatorship in Ethiopia, when he became deputy prime minister. But in 1996, he was arrested, charged, and convicted of corruption and abuse of power.

Layne served twelve years in prison in Ethiopia, and was recently released six years before completing his 18 year sentence. While incarcerated, Tamrat Layne became deeply religious, converting to Christianity in 2001. In an interview with Addis Fortune after his release on December 19, 2008, he said, “I am a man of God. I’ve no desire to engage in personal or party politics. I would like to preach faith, peace and love.”

The lecture is free and open to the public.For more information, please contact Todd Cioffi, 616-526-7797.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Henry Institute, the Calvin College President’s Office, the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity, and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

We’re down to 27 now. Not light years, but it makes a big difference in our minds.

We could be as little as six months away from getting a referral and making travel plans to pick up our daughter. That’s not long.

Our baby has probably been conceived. Maybe she is even born by now. That’s amazing to think about. But it still seems a little far away. Abstract.

Someone else is taking care of her. That someone may not want her. Or she may not have the means to take care of her. That someone may be sick and not have the energy. Or not have a doctor.

That someone may have AIDS and is praying it won’t get passed along to her daughter, our daughter. Her family may be shunning her for getting pregnant. Her husband, or boyfriend, may abuse her. She may be sad and lonely.

She may be dreaming about the future of her daughter. She may not even know whether it is a son or daughter yet. She may be wondering if it would be best to give up her child and let someone else raise it. She may think of America. Maybe.

I know we think about her a lot, both mother and daughter. We read all the adoption articles and books about Ethiopia by Ethiopian writers. We collect clothes and baby supplies. We finish our paperwork and update our passports. We blog.

It’s not too hard waiting, because we are pregnant with hope. And being pregnant can be pleasant too (so I hear).

While we wait, we pray for mother and daughter. And for the strength we will need.

And we count down. Tick. Tock.

It’s worth telling the story of how we chose our adoption agency.

Living in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our city is home to a couple of the biggest international adoption agencies in the world, as well as a handful of smaller ones.

From what I’ve heard, most people call up an agency they have heard of or stumbled across, and jump right into their process. Sometimes they back out or switch to another agency if they don’t get a good vibe from the first one. Some do a little comparison based on cost or country expertise.

But I’ve yet to find someone who put in the hours of research we did. Better Business Bureau, Google searches, government websites, agency website, numerous conversations with couples who have adopted or are in the process … we shopped around.

Yet somehow we never ended up using one of the local agencies. Part of it did have to do with the vibe thing. You are investing a lot of time, money and a lot of yourself into the process. If you don’t have a good sense that an agency or its representative is responsive or knowledgeable or has your best interests in mind, then you are tainted. Kristi got that vibe on a couple of phone calls.

Another one of the agencies was being affected by the difficult fundraising environment that followed the economic downturn in the US. So they were passing costs onto the adoptive parents – sometimes with little notice – and seemed a little strained overall. Not a good confidence builder for such a long-term relationship.

Then, we found few large agencies that were experienced in Ethiopia. It’s still a relatively new program and not under the Hague Convention for adoptive countries. After hearing stories from people who have tried to adopt from a small agency, or a lawyer, or going it alone, we didn’t dare take the risk of being devestated by fraud or failure in the adoption process. We wanted an organization with strong on-the-ground experience.

So we stumbled across All God’s Children International (AGCI), based out of Oregon, and we found that they had a representative based in the Grand Rapids area because so many people in Michigan were adopting through their programs.

If you remember our earlier post, there seemed to be all these signs that were telling us we were on the right track. Well, first we found that AGCI had a transition home  in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Here they cared for the children as soon as they came into the program. Nobody else seemed to have that level of control and quality.

Then we found out the name of the orphanages (there is another AGCI one on the ground in Guatemala). It’s named Hannah’s Hope, after the daughter of the founder of AGCI. Most of you know that Hannah is our daughter’s name too – our firstborn.

The founder of AGCI wrote a book about their adoption story and how they created All God’s Children. It’s pretty dramatic, and talks about a lot of moments where they felt led by God and saw little miracles along the way to assure them that they were on the right track. It’s quite a beautiful story actually, especially how some of their setbacks and fustrations become victories in the end.

So after all the research, and the qualifications, and the back story, we finally settled on All God’s Children. And we got a great vibe right away … which is maybe all we should’ve been looking for in the first place!

Jesse

I know it’s not good to make assumptions but it’s all I have right now.  Last week we got the email to give us an official number in line.  On July 15, we officially entered the line at 37.  Last  week we had moved to 34.  Every month our case worker will give us an official update as to the change in status but while we wait for that we can try to  track our progress via the bi-weekly newsletter.  Anyway, as soon as Jesse came home Friday I could not wait to check our email.  There it was, the newsletter.  I quickly looked to the referrals…3 infant girls!  So, I am assuming that puts us at 31!  I really hope that I’m right.  Six places in one month gives me hope and something to look back on if the referrals start to slow.

 

To some of you this might sound silly, watching a list of numbers.  To me, while we wait for our daughter, it’s something tangible to hold on to.  So, at 31, she’s just that much closer to coming home.

 

~Kristi

Not much to report, but it also feels bad going a long time without a post, so let me stitch together a couple of random stories.

Two nights ago, I had a dream about adopting. That’s more of a Kristi thing. She had dreams about us getting married … before we were married. She had dreams about kids … before we had kids. But my dreams are usually just crazy, random and psychedelic.

I dreamed I arrived at the orphanage after a long taxi ride where I had to yell at the driver to get going because my child was waiting for me. (the taxi part might’ve happened later in the dream, but chronologically it happens first) I was with a group of a half dozen others, and they were all given their babies. I was the last, and they handed me a rather large baby swaddled up in a blanket. Very cute but something not right. It felt nice to hold a baby again, as I haven’t in a long time and the nurturing, parenting emotions kicked in a bit.

Now I’m not a baby person like Kristi is. I see a baby and think, oh that’s nice. Yes it’s cute. They all are. But so high maintenance and so much a part of someone else. It’s totally different with my own kids. I finally got the baby thing when we had Hannah, and I held her myself and just spent time together. And that feeling kicked in a bit in the dream.

But as I said, something was not quite right. I didn’t catch the baby’s name when the caregiver handed it to me. It was a male caregiver and he came back up to me, still holding another, slightly older child, upright on his side. He asked how things were going and I asked my baby’s name again. He told me and although it sounded foreign (as it should be in Ethiopia),  it also sounded masculine to me.

I asked the caregiver if my baby was a boy. He said yes. I told him that I came here for a girl, not a boy. It dawned on him that he gave me the wrong baby, and that this girl he was holding must be mine. We awkwardly traded babies and I looked at her with her bushy hair, wide eyes  and ears that stuck out like Elliot’s do – in an endearing way. I knew she was mine.

After that was the taxi thing and something about houses and architecture and back to the typical nonsensical psychedelic dreams. But somehow I held onto this fragment and was able to tell it to Kristi in the morning.

The other thing I have to put on the record is about Elliot’s prayers. Each of our kids prays differently. Logan prays the most, usually at dinner (an important time for him) and with his eyes open. He says the same basic thing and sometimes forgets the words. Hannah still likes to recite the “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer, but then adds on some thank yous and some requests at the end.

Elliot says his dinner prayers silently and you can’t always make out his evening prayers. But they are not typically requests, they are more focused on others.

We’ve sponsored two children through Compassion International for the past year or two. “Diana” is connected to Hannah, and was selected on her 6th birthday. ”Bryam” is connected to Elliot, and was selected on his 5th birthday. Diana and Bryam always end up in Elliot’s prayers, even though we don’t talk about them very much.

Elliot started praying for “our little sister” early on when we first started talking about adoption and getting excited with the kids. Once we got our paperwork accepted, we discussed being “in the process” and on the waiting list. Now, one of Elliot’s prayers is to “help our little sister and thank you for letting us be in the process for adoption.”

Pretty awesome, huh?