He will wipe every tear from their eyes. ~Revelation 2:14

In praying about how to be God's ambassadors for children in the world, my husband and I learned of this acronym from Shaohannah's Hope: P.R.A.Y.

P. Preservation (preservation of the birth family)

R. Reunification (reunite abandoned children with their birth families when safe and possible)

A.   Adoption (for those orphans who can not be reunited)

Y.   Youth support (provide support for orphans who wait or who may never find a (earthly-added by me) family and post-adoption support)

John 14:18  I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.

Friendship

Lost Children: Waiting to be found

These children are in Ethiopia, waiting for their families to find them...Are they waiting for you?

You'll have to read the post about the children and scroll through the "snippets" of photos and read their descriptions. Find them here: http://puttyfamily.blogspot.com/

One Week

We've officially been waiting one week.  One week closer to our children.

Gotta love this...

For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;  I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.  Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I LOVE YOU, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.  Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I WILL BRING YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE EAST AND GATHER YOU FROM THE WEST.  I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'  BRING MY SONS FROM AFAR AND MY DAUGHTERS FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH-everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, who I formed and made.  Isaiah 43:3-7  (Go to your bible, start @ verse 1 and keep reading...it's awesome.)

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 However, it is written:  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him" -but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

Bring them home, Lord.

In case you didn't hear...

Our dossier arrived in Addis Ababa @ 7:40am on June 23.  Yep, that's today.  Actually, according to my computer, it's 7:40am, US time, right now.  We are now OFFICIALLY waiting for the call.  Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Paperwork to Ethiopia..soon...praying

Each step of the adoption process brings about a whole new set of prayers.  It's amazing just when you think you've jumped over another hurdle, there's another just ahead.  So, this week's hurdle, or a more positive phrase, "stepping stone," is to pray for our paperwork to be sent to Ethiopia.  When I spoke with Kari @ Dove on Thursday, she said that our dossier was returned to them from Washington, DC (a good thing) and it should be sent to Ethiopia in the next few days.  So, I'm praying it's this week.  When our dossier reaches Ethiopia, we will be "officially" waiting for the referral of our children.  Can't wait!!!!

Gabriel the doll

Check out Gabriel the doll made with love by Elizabeth Sterling 

http://ohwowchronicles.blogspot.com/

AWESOME

"Until I commit myself there's a hesitancy - a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also and a whole stream of events erupt." --John Maxwell

(found on the blog: http://crafthope.com)

What's Happenin' Here???

On the adoption front: Well, first, we're waiting for our paperwork to make it's way to Washington, DC and reach it's final destination-ETHIOPIA. I've read now several times that once you receive your referral, the hardest part of waiting begins. What?! Because waiting for paperwork has not been easy. BUT, it's worth it, right?.

We're heading to Guatemala in a few weeks to stay at Casa Bernabe for a week. We are quite excited.

We've now heard of two other families in our area who are and who have adopted from Ethiopia, so we're looking forward to meeting them. We're very excited about our children knowing other children from Ethiopia.

Blessings...AJL (soon to be mother of four-YIKES! and a big, huge WOWIE-WOW-WOW-THANK YOU GOD.)