Adoption

[josh_manga]

Hi all! This is a prayer request for a positive thing to happen.

My parents are attempting with all their might, and some might on loan from God, to adopt a young girl from Ethiopia. Money is a problem, and they often feel overwhelmed by that, and the crushing time frame in which we have to get all the money, and paperwork, and home study, and background checks, and shots and immunizations, and... you get the idea. Our church is backing us and the other couples in the church who are attempting to adopt, I don't think a sunday has gone by that i haven't heard our pastor urging people to give. We have also planned several fund raisers, but not all of them get a big turnout, or a lot of donations, so my parents are getting pretty discouraged pretty fast.

God was gracious today though, we went in for our background checks, and the lady who was supposed to notarize them wasn't supposed to be there that day, but she was anyway. Thank God for His wonderful timing!

Time is a big issue, because if we don't get the money and stuff over with soon, another family might snatch up the girl we are trying for. If we can just get to the point that we can contract for her through the agency, i think there will be several long breaths and sighs of relief. Some of our money issues will be dealt with once we are contracted, because this particular girl has a 5,000 dollar grant (or something like that) attached to her case, to go to anyone who is contracted for her.

Please pray for:
My parent's endurance,
God's continuing grace and fullfillment of this burden that He has laid on my parent's heart,
The unification of our community behind us and the other couples adopting,
The unification of our own family, as some of them seem hesitant to help
The hearts of the people in our local area to be softened and receptive, as there is some apparent notions of xenophobia and hatred toward blacks in the area,
The safety of Sami, the girl we are trying to adopt, while she is still in Ethiopia,
And for her soul, because we don't know what religious background she is coming from, Christian, Muslim, non-religious... Who knows...

My dad has a site up, detailing the adoption for anyone interested, i'll try to get the link to it posted sometime.

Thanks, God bless,
josh.

[K. Ayato]

Sure thing, bro. I admire the compassion your family has for this little girl who needs a home. I'll be praying the process continues smoothly and in a timely manner.

[Sheenar]

That's amazing. There are no orphans with God. He is the perfect Father and He is going to use your parents to make a world of difference in the life of this child!

I pray everything goes well and falls into place for the adoption!

[chelle0227]

Awwww...Thats so sweet.
Praying everything goes as planned, and your family gets the girl.

[Danderson]

Will be prayin....

Ther's also a couple at my church who've adopted a baby from another country...It's hard to imagine a day going by without seeing her with them...There's no doubt about it: Little children, whether they're adopted or not, are truly a blessing from God (no matter how much they fuss and cry)

[Blitzkrieg1701]

I'll be praying too

[josh_manga]

Well, time has passed, seasons have changed, as have some of our perceptions and dreams.

The girl we thought of adopting has already been spoken for by another family who were faster than us. While dealing with the separation depression to someone who we have not even met or spoken with has been hard, harder for me than my parents it seems (odd) we are still in the adoption process, raising money, getting shots, working through Home Studies, case workers, government profiling and so on.

More recently, we have only a few thousand dollars left to raise, a great improvement over the previous 20,000 we were gawking at.

Also, I had a dream a few nights ago wherein I saw the face of my future sister, and got to hold her. An amazing experience, and so vivid. The features of her face were so distinctly unique, and distinctly Ethiopian at the same time, I can't help but wonder if this is what she will really look like.

If not, I believe God has used the dream to at least help me let go of the other one, so I can move on and open my heart to whoever we adopt.

I drew a picture from my dream, but each drawing kept looking like she was in her teens or early 20s, not 5 or 6 years old like in my dream. I may post the drawing sometime.

[Mithrandir]

Wow. Keep us posted! I know a little something about the Adoption process, but from the other end. You're in our prayers!

[LadyRushia]

Cool; hopefully everything goes well. Praying. . .

[josh_manga]

Hey all, just posting another long overdue update. We got our girl from Ethiopia in 2008, that summer in fact, a few months before i got married and moved away. Fortunately we live only 2 hours away so we get to see each other in town sometimes.

It's been difficult for her living out in the country, because she is a very social girl, but he is also very opinionated and self sure, so she tends to rub people the wrong way, and doesn't get along with other girls who are like her in that regards. This has been especially tough since several girls from that same orphanage were adopted into our area and they don't tend to get along here in the states like they did back in Ethiopia.

Things are going great with my new sister. She's turning 12 this year and my parents are throwing a treasure themed party, and will be emphasizing her virginity as a treasure (though in private i think). So i'm excited and priming my baseball bat for those teen boys.

Last year my sis kept wanting them to adopt another kid from Ethiopia, a younger sister or something. So my parents when back for their physical checkups and stuff and found out my dad had cancer in his lymph gland and one tonsil (the other tonsil had already been taken out when he was a boy). He has already undergone treatment, the cancer appears to be gone, and he is getting his strength back. My mom now has some stomach pains, an ulcer she thinks, and my dad has a mole on his chest that has grown and become spongy, so they both have their worries. My parents will not be going through with a second adoption at this time, i think, because my dad works for the state and in a year or so they will be giving their surplus employees an ultimatum: transfer to a different district or be fired. So, big changes ahead for them.

I have my own daughter now! Shes 19 months old today, and a copper top like my mom! I would love prayers for our wisdom as we raise her to be a Christian that loves the Lord, not just a legalistic follower of "what's right" or someone who sees our faults and rebels.

[K. Ayato]

Wow! Congrats on the adoption process, your marriage, and your little girl!

Praying everything goes well.

[ABlipinTime]

glad to hear the good news.

will be praying for ya

[Atria35]

Congrats on the great news! Hoping everything goes well for you all.

[fermy6]

Thats wonderful.....God Bless and may he guide all of you