Water and Coal for Christmas

Water For Christmas well in Gbeivonwea, Liberia. from charity: water (special donors) on Vimeo.

I love Jody. We met a couple years ago at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit. Her heart and vision inspire me. Her efforts to fight poverty issues and to fight for justice are a great reminder that if we worked together and each gave as we were able to, we could take on some of the major issues challenging our world today and impact many lives.

If you are not sure what to give for Christmas this year, consider water or coal.

(picture from The Adventure Project)

Brothers

These two love each other so much. They also love to annoy each other. Typical brothers.

Its been a while since I have posted, but I hope to do some catch-up posts soon.

In the mean time, we had some family photos taken this week by Micah Bell. He offered a special package for adoptive families during the month of November, which is National Adoption Month. We are grateful for his thoughfulness and desire to do something special for adoptive families.

Geremu and Belachew together again- 2010

The weekend following the boys' birthday celebration, some friends invited us to use their lakehouse in Michigan. We were excited for the opportunity to get away as a family. We asked Geremu's family to join us. The took the ferry from Wisconsin across Lake Michigan and joined us for a couple days.

The lakehouse was wonderful and the weather was perfect. It was Hudson's first beach experience and although he was a bit unsure at first, he quickly began to enjoy playing in the sand and water.

Belachew and Geremu were very close friends in Ethiopia. They are from the same part of the country and lived together in the care center for several months. They have a special bond and it is so great to see them together. The boys had a blast together and it is always sad to say good-bye. We look forward to many more opportunities to get these boys together over the years.








(I stole these pictures from Ann Marie, I'll try to post some more later)

More birthday pics

Belachew, my animal loving boy, wanted to have a lion, tiger, cheetah party. Hudson likes animals too, so we went with the theme. Both sets of grandparents were able to join us to celebrate birthdays. We had a party for family and friends. Belachew also had a party at the spray park with some friends. We had some special time as a family and the boys got to blow out candles on their own birthday.

Lion, Tiger, #5, and #2 cupcakes

Hudson blowing out his candle

Belachew at the spray park with friends

Belachew blowing out the candles

August birthday boys

We had two birthdays to celebrate this past week.

Hudson turned 2

and Belachew turned 5

(wearing his Superwhy mask and cape, one of his favorite gifts)

More birthday celebration photos to come...

First day of school

Belachew started pre-kindergarten today. We are thankful to have found an amazing Christ-centered school with a focus on racial and economic reconciliation. Belachew was excited and a little anxious, but he did great his first day! We are so proud of him.

My little football fan

We had some friends come to visit this week, who are big Colts fans and wanted to go to their training camp. We took the boys and they had a blast, throwing the football, eating snowcones, and watching the players. I think Belachew may now be a Colts fan for life.

Home from Kenya

In Kenya...

More pictures and stories to come

2 years

June 6 was our two year anniversary of being home with Belachew. We celebrated by going to an Ethiopian restaurant and letting Belachew chose a special friend to join us. Afterwards, we came home and watched the video of the first time we met Belachew. He loved watching it and the next day asked to watch it again.

Belachew is such an amazing boy. He makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes. He has a great energy about him and people are drawn to him. He is a great gift to us from God. We are grateful for the ones that gave him life, and for the ones who made the difficult decision to bring him to an orphanage.

Arriving home

June 6, 2008

With friends at the Ethiopian restaurant

Giveaways, for a good cause

Check out this blog for some great necklaces that support a family's adoption from Ethiopia.



Tracy at JunkePosse is having a giveaway for Artists for Hope bracelets made in Haiti.

Summer is here!

Haiti

The media coverage of Haiti has slowed down, but children and families there are still greatly in need:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wirestory?id=10600403&page=1

Please, let us not forget the people of Haiti and let us show our care through prayers and action.

Because Every Mother Matters

As we celebrate Mother's Day this weekend, I've been reflecting on how thankful I am to be a mother. Being a mother is probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is also one of the most rewarding. I am so thankful for the two little boys in my life who call me "mama."

I've also been thinking about Belachew and Hudson's birthmothers. The women who carried them in their womb and gave them life. I am forever thankful for these women. In honor of them this Mother's Day, we have made a donation to Because Every Mother Matters.

Because Every Mother Matters is working to build a maternity clinic in Ethiopia. In East Africa, 1 in 11 women die to childbirth related causes. Women dying in childbirth means more orphans. I think a big part of being involved in orphan care is helping figure out how to prevent orphans in the first place and keep families together. As Steffany, the founder of Because Every Mother Matters said "Every mother matters....because every child deserves a mother. "

You can make a donation to Because Every Mother Matters here.

World AIDS Orphans Day

Today, May 7, is World AIDS Orphans Day. More than 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, and less than 10% of the children receive any external support.








If you are looking for a way to make a difference in the life of a child affected by AIDS, AHOPE is an amazing organization caring for AIDS orphans in Ethiopia. You can find out more about AHOPE and ways to support their mission here.

Here is a great post written by an adoptive mother and advocate of adopting HIV+ children.

Baptism

Hudson and Belachew were baptized this weekend. We were told that Belachew was baptized as an infant in Ethiopia, according to the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (male infants are baptized at 40 days, females at 80 days). So for Belachew, our church recognized his baptism and we took vows, as parents and as a congregation. Hudson was baptized with water and the same vows were taken by us as his parents and by our congregation.

Paul was able to perform the baptism and it was full of emotion. We were reminded of the great responsibility and privilege we have of raising these boys. As Paul shared about the boys' names and their meanings, we were reminded of the birthfamilies who gave our boys life. We are so thankful for the great gift of these boys, but also know that this behind this gift there is loss and sadness. We were also reminded of our great love for our boys and the joys and struggles of their journey to become a part of our family, and that God's love for them is even greater and He has gone even farther to bring them into His eternal family.

We were blessed to have family come in from out of town to share this special day with us.

210 million reasons to adopt

Another good article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/april/13.55.html

Kay Warren on caring for orphans

Here is a great article, sharing some from Kay Warren on our responsibility to care for orphans.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100424/kay-warren-questions-christianity-of-persons-who-neglect-orphans/index.

 

From the article:

There is a theological reason all Christians are to do something to help vulnerable children.

Warren highlighted: "What our Heavenly Father does for us spiritually, He expects us to do physically."

What God did was not only save sinners but also bring them into His family.

"You and I were all spiritual orphans," she said. "We're not just cleared of the guilt of our sin. We belong in God's family. He has taken us and made us part of Himself.

"Now He shares with me everything that He has. Everything that belonged to Jesus belongs to us."

The orphan advocate clarified that the Bible isn't necessarily calling every person to adopt a child. She and her husband, renowned pastor Rick Warren, have not adopted, she noted.

But, she added, the Bible does say Christians have a personal responsibility to do something, whether it's contributing to the fund of a family trying to adopt, providing house cleaning for a family that adopted, or getting involved with church sponsorship of children.

More from Easter

On Saturday, we had some of our neighbors over to decorate eggs and we had dinner together. One of our neighbors brought over a pinata for the kids. I'm not sure how that fits with the Easter story, but the kids had a lot of fun!

On Sunday, after naps, the neighbors returned for an egg hunt.

Happy Easter!

Or Happy Easter Egg Day, as Belachew announced to people at church today.

Brotherly love

Belachew got a haircut too

When asked what he thought about his haircut, he replied "I feel like a new man!"

Somebody got a haircut...

And he is still as cute as ever!

Good news from Congress

Whether or not you are happy with the Health Care Reform Bill, it included some great news for adoptive families (and potential adoptive families). The Adoption Tax Credit, which had been scheduled to end this year, has now been extended and even increased.

Here is a summary:

-The current adoption tax credit has been extended until the end of 2011
-The value of the adoption tax credit has been increased by $1,000 from $12,170 to $13,170.
-The increase is "retroactive," meaning that any adoption occurring after January 1, 2010 is eligible for this higher credit.
-The credit is now refundable. This means that even families that owe zero taxes can receive the full tax credit in the form of a tax refund to help with their adoption-related expenses in the first year.

For more information, check out the Christian Alliance For Orphans blog

If you have ever considered adoption but thought you could not afford it, you might be wrong! This is truly amazing, incredible news for adoptive families and I pray that this opens the door for more families to adopt and more orphans to be welcomed into loving families.

Spring is here!

Unshaken-World Water Day

Today is World Water Day

Unshaken - charity: water's campaign for Haiti from charity: water on Vimeo.

From Charity:water's website:
Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school. Additionally, collecting water puts them at greater risk of sexual harassment and assault. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

We had a great time last weekend with the Makukus! We love their family and always enjoy time together. We had a busy weekend, with meetings and events at our church, but it is always an encouragement to hear what God is doing through them in Kibera.

You can read more about their ministry in Kibera here.

One year ago

On March 13, 2009, we received our referral for Hudson and saw this sweet face for the first time:


Our adoption process was hard and challenging at times (due to many circumstances that were out of our agency's control). To be honest, I really wrestled with God during this time, questioning His faithfulness and His plan. While we were waiting to adopt Hudson Musse, he was hospitalized a few times and and there were times when we were not sure if he was going to make it. We also faced some paperwork obstacles, which raised the question if we would ever be able to adopt him. But thankfully, God's plan for Hudson Musse included us. On November 23, when I walked into his orphanage, lifted him out of his crib, and held him in my arms for the first time, my heart was full. Our adoption process was not smooth and easy, but it was worth it.

Hudson Musse is a sweet, happy, cuddly boy. He is determined and he is growing up so quickly! He has the greatest smile and laugh. He has made so much progress in his development these past few months. Hudson Musse, we love you and are so thankful that God brought you into our family, in His time.