Memories and Miracles

Today marks one year that our kids have enjoyed an orphanage-free existence.  We can honestly say that every single day since December 9, 2011 we have woken up in sheer awe that these little ones are physically in our lives.  Remembering the past year that Hosanna and Asher have been in our family has caused us to reflect on God's faithfulness to sustain them and us as He was joining us together as a family. 

We received Hosanna "Meskerem's" referral on September 26, 2010 when she was just 6 days old.  We received Asher "Tariku's" referral on February 28, 2011 when he was just 7 days old.

These pictures came in of the kids in March of 2011.  Hosanna was 6.5 months old here and Asher 1.5 months old.  Shortly after these pictures were taken we were told that the Ethiopian government was going to cut adoptions by 90% and that we should anticipate very long delays in our adoption process.  Surprisingly, in April we received a court date in May but it was cancelled about two weeks before we were to fly to Addis.

                                  

By a miracle of God we received a court date on August 4, 2011 just one day shy of the courts closing for the rainy season.  Receiving a court date was truly miraculous because the orphanage that our children were residing in was shut down by the Ethiopian Government the month before.  There was no reason that the judge should have seen our children's cases in light of these orphanage closures and pending investigations but God made a way for us.

By yet again another miracle, on August 9, 2011 we were able to go into the UNICEF funded orphanage that our children were residing in for a short 2-hour visit.  It was one of the happiest days of our lives to finally meet our children face-to-face.  It was also one of the most difficult days of our lives to see the conditions they were living in and to know that we had to leave them there for an indefinite amount of time.

                                

Three months passed after passing court and our children were still in UNICEF custody.  Month after month we were told by our adoption agency to just be patient and "wait".  After much prayer and searching the Scriptures, we felt convinced that we could no longer just patiently "wait" but that we needed to move forward with action to defend the rights of our kids. By another miracle, (do you see a theme here?!) we were connected with a private investigator and lawyer through the consulting firm "Ethiostork" who was able to secure the release of our children in November of 2011.  The fact that our children survived those months in UNICEF custody in the midst of a measles and malaria outbreak where many children living alongside them died was nothing short of miraculous.  When our adoption agency refused to defend the rights of our children, God provided Ethiostork to work alongside us to execute justice for them.  Our God is so faithful.

                                       

While Ethiostork was conducting background checks on our children, they uncovered a number of inacurrate and inconsistent facts related to our cases that we knew we needed to bring to the light.  Knowing that we wanted to complete our adoptions in an ethical manner and with integrity, we decided to finish our adoption process independent of our adoption agency and work soley with Ethiostork.  Bonnie flew out to Ethiopia in early December to begin the appeal process on our children's cases and to go through the proper legal channels to amend their files.

On December 9, 2011 Asher and Hosanna were released from their orphanage into our care and by the grace of God they never had to return!  On December 24, 2011 Justin arrived in Addis late that evening and we spent our first Christmas together with the kiddos.  We'll never forget eating Thai food with friends that evening in Addis and being so grateful that even though there were legal battles ahead of us, at least our kids were finally in our arms.  We enjoyed two sweet weeks together as a family of four, and then Justin had to return back to the States.

God provided "family" for us during those 10 weeks in Ethiopia and we lacked for nothing.  He provided a comfortable guest house for us for 6 weeks, then a missionary home where we lived for a month.   During that time we were so affirmed that integrity is worth fighting for at all costs and that indeed God hears the cry of the fatherless (Psalm 10:14).  After jumping through many legal hoops, our children's cases finally cleared the embassy on February 10, 2012.

On February 14, 2012 Asher turned a year old.  That same night we boarded a plane to come back to America as a family of four.  We landed on February 15, 2012 to shouts of joy from our church family who had labored in prayer with us for years for this day.  It was such a joyous time.

                           

Within months of being home the children began to truly blossom.  It is hard to believe that Hosanna was once the girl who "cries all the time and is very scared".  Today she is such a little bundle of cheerful joy.  Asher, who spent the first few months with us extremely unhappy and uncomfortable, began to thrive once we brought him home.  A good routine, proper medical care, therapies, and a loving and safe environment provided the stability that his little life needed. It is amazing how far these kids have grown and developed in the past year.

Psalm 68:6 a says "God sets the lonely in families".  He has indeed done this for Hosanna and Asher.  Our extended families have embraced them and showered love on them in infinite ways. 

God has also gone above and beyond what we could ask or imagine by giving us such a tight-knit "adoption" family.  These friends have loved our kids as if they were their actual aunties and uncles and we have loved their kids as if they were our children's cousins.  These are special bonds we never would have had had we not walked through the trenches of adoption drama together.  This is one of the sweetest pieces of "plunder" from our adoption trials.  Forever friendships.

Today we celebrate His goodness to us.  Today we celebrate His faithfulness.  The Lord brought us through seemingly insurmountable trials within our adoption process to bring Himself glory, and indeed He has done that through Hosanna and Asher's lives. He has also brought about a greater hope within us and an absolute assurance that indeed He is constantly working all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom 5: 3-5; Rom 8:28).

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."  Psalm 126:3