Being Transformed

We have had our new son for 3 months. As you can see we have come a long way! In Ethiopia Drew did not want to play-- he cried for his care takers at the children home. He did not want us to hug him or cuddle him-- he wanted to be at home in the care center. He did not want to sleep he wanted to be at home in the care center. This little boy was so happy with his care takers, so happy with several other children, and very familiar with communicating with care givers and friends in the care center. Daniel and I seriously prayed about leaving this boy in Ethiopia. We thought about "returning" him to his care center where everything is familiar. Instead of playing ball with us outside he would kick the ball by some park cars and cry for his care givers by name. He was so happy and playful at the care center and so sad and depressed-- almost grieving-- because we took him away from his care center.
As each day brings us together closer as a family I am not only learning new things about my family and myself I am learning new things about God and his family.
Drew was so content in Ethiopia-- he had wonderful caregivers, a bunkbed he shared with four other children, three meals a day, and smaller children he helped care for. Ethiopia is a wonderful country with awesom weather, great scenery, and wonderful people.
Drew was adopted by us-- not by his choice-- (somedays we wished we did not make this choice) Drew was forced to leave his care givers, familiar bed, his friends, and customs to come to America to live a family that says, "NO", strangers that do not speak his language, and eat strange foods. Drew had to be completly transformed "over night" to adapt to our family and ways in America.
Drew has taught me so much about God's love it is hard to put in words (in a blog-- let alone speak about it).
We all heard God adopted us- God paid a randsom for us- be transformed so your life is a thank you gift to the Lord (heard these things since we could remember)
Wow- Drew you really made these principles come to life!
Many of us were content in our old ways-- I know the language of these worldly habits, I know the rules and I know how to get around these rules. Sometimes these habits and "traditions are hard to break" Drew has really taught us what it means to be transformed in the renewing of the mind-- (Romans 12:1-3).
We made sacrifices to bring Drew to America- he should appreciate us-- he owes us something-- at least five hours of peace and quiet a day---for all the sacrifices we made for you-- what does he give us-- not much. Yet, we still love him and even like him.
I think about the sacrifices God paid for us and how unappreciated we are of his sacrifices. I think about the life God wants us to experience but we hold on to traditions (wanting to do our own thing) How many times are we like Drew, I do not want to leave my comfort zone I want to stay in the care center, I don't care what will happen when I turn 14 and I'm old enough to live on the streets. Maybe we are like Drew somedays and say God, I wish you were not part of my life, I wish you did not adopt me into your family, I was so comfortable in my old ways, and yet God looks down and says, you have no idea what I have in store for you.
We have had Drew home for only a few short time and I say to myself will you please show some appreciation-- when will you pick up on our family rules-- and yet I think how God may look at me and say you have known me for how long-- will you please show some appreciation--when will you follow my family rules-- and be fully transformed.

-Kellie

Lessons from an airplane

Okay, do not let the title of post fool you. I will not spend time talking about the airplane. I will not write of how you are putting faith in a giant piece of metal flying through the sky at 30,000 feet and how if one wire is not properly connected life as you know it could take a drastic change. Wow, now I do not want to fly anymore. I will not talk about all the people it takes to make a successful flight from the pilot, flight attendant, mechanics, air traffic controllers, ramp crew, fuel crew, wing walker, and on and on. I think there is a great lesson there for the church about how each person has a different function but a common goal of helping people reach their destinations safely. I will not discuss those things. Wait, I already have.

I want to share about an experience I had on our way to Ethiopia to meet our son. Our itinerary was to fly from Memphis to Chicago; Chicago to Washington Dulles; switch airline in Washington and fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was a smooth flight all the way. When we were flying from Chicago to Washington, Kellie and I were not able to sit together. I thought I would take advantage of the situation by catching up on some reading. I grabbed Blue Like Jazz and opened the book. However, before I was able to read a single word the man sitting next to me began to ask me questions. He sat down and said hello. I said hello in return and then once again opened my book. He proceeded to ask how my day had been so far. I told him it was fine and I stared back into my book. Feeling guilty, I asked him how his day had been. He responded that it was good but that he had a long flight ahead of him. I said "Well, I wish you the best" and began to once again look at my book (I had read about five words so far and I thought I should have been finished with a few pages by now). He did not seem to care that I wanted to read. He told me he was travelling to Liberia to visit his family. I decided to put my book back into my bag and have a conversation with the man.

We talked about Africa and how to communicate cross culturally. We discussed stereotypes Americans have about Africa and Africans have about America. It was a good discussion.

He asked me what I do. I find that question funny because I have no idea what I do. I minister to people whenever I can. I teach classes at church. I do leadership development. I am a student, but not this semester. I do not get paid to work for the church. I decided to tell him that I was a minister. He got so excited. He began to talk about ministry, about how we are all ministers, about how Jesus changes lives. He talked about the need for Christianity in Africa where his family is and in Chicago where he had lived for the last 17 years.

I learned a lot from this man. I was glad to be sitting next to him. He began to tell me what he did for a living. He has a business in Chicago that cleans church buildings. He then began to teach me about discipleship. He talked about how being a janitor doesn't seem like an ideal occupation, but how he would not change his career. He said Jesus washed the disciples feet because there was a need and everyone thought they were above that job. Jesus served his disciples. He said people come to a church building and sing songs and hear good sermons and attend good events; but they often think they are above cleaning the toilet. He said if Jesus were here today, he would clean the toilet, he would mop up the vomit from the three year old classroom, he would serve because someone needed to serve. He was not above service. In fact his own words were that he came not to be served, but to serve.

I think that is an awesome picture of Jesus. Jesus serving. Jesus wrapping the towel around his waist and washing the disciples' feet. Jesus grabbing the mop and cleaning up after we get sick. Jesus grabbing a toilet brush and doing the job no one else wants to do. Jesus serving. Jesus loving. Jesus taking a cross and carrying it up the hill to be crucified because of our impurities.

I am thankful for this man. I am glad I had the opportunity to sit next to him. I enjoyed the book once I was finally able to read it. But I am so glad this man interrupted my selfish desire in order to teach me about discipleship. Am I willing to serve? Do I seek only the glory positions? Sure, I love to preach and teach and be out in front - but am I willing to scrub a toilet in the name of Jesus and consider my role just as important as the teacher, preacher, and missionary? Thank you for the lesson, Lord. Teach me how to apply it.

When Love Takes You In

This holiday season brings on new meaning for us. Our adoption of Leulseged reminds us how blessed we are to be adopted by God.

Music Video:WHEN LOVE TAKES YOU IN (by Steven Curtis Chapman)

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All I Really Want for Christmas

Music Video:ALL I REALLY WANT (by Steven Curtis Chapman)

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Timothy & Leulseged Learning to Play Together

The boys are learning how to get along. This is one of the first times they played together.

Our trip to Ethiopia

Wow! What an adventure. This journey called adoption is a wonderful time of learning. Although it is not always a wonderful experience, the rewards and the lessons learned make it wonderful. It was a hectic time because we left for Ethiopia the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had so much to do and so little time. We spent time with family in Hot Springs, AR before we left. It was a great time, but it really made it much more challenging to get done what we needed to accomplish. We flew out on United from Memphis to Chicago to Wahsington Dulles, we transferred to Ethiopian Airlines for our flight to Addis Ababa. It was a great flight. We were able to catch some Z's and eat a lot of good food.

After going through customs in Addis we met Dagne, Job (pronounced Yob), and Kasshion (sp?). They were very friendly and loving toward us. They drove us to the SIM guest house where we stayed during our time in Addis. It was a great place to stay. We met people from all over the globe there.

We went to the care center on Monday to meet Leulseged for the first time. It was an indescribable moment. We have been waiting so long and have known about him for so long that it almost didn 't seem real. He was no longer a picture on a computer, he was actually sitting in our lap giving us a hug.

The children were beautiful and the staff is very loving and they all have a great heart for the children. We loved meeting Leulseged for the first time.

Leul is a wonderful child. He is truly a gift from God. We are blessed to have him in our life. The bonding was difficult the first couple of days and I know we will still have times of trials, but we are family. We actually left the country early to return home because it was such a difficult adjustment for our little guy. On our return trip, he was really good. We flew from Addis back to Washington with no probelems. From Washington to Chicago we had no trouble. He slept the entire way. By the time we were in Chicago for our final flight home, Leulseged had enough flying. We ended up renting a car and driving ten hours, but it was great. When it was just the three of us Leulseged took off his jacket for the very first time. That was a huge step because he was so attached to that jacket and any time we tried to take it off to change him, he would throw a fit. But when it was just the three of us, he voluntarily took it off.

We have enjoyed our time together so far. We have many adjustments to make as a family and our biological son is having a hard time sharing his mommy and daddy, but it is a beautiful picture when they are enjoying each others company. How can you not smile at moments like this?

Embassy

Well, things are coming along fast. We had our court date on November 6 and we got a call yesterday telling us that we have an Embassy date of November 28. We must be in Addis Ababa no later than November 27. Time to start packing and buying tickets and finding a place to stay. This is so exciting. We had been praying to have our boy home before Christmas, now we will see him before the end of this month! God answers prayers.

Court date a success!

We received news today that our court hearing was successful. We are the parents of Leuleseged! Praise God. He has been our source of strength during this journey of adoption. There have been many bumps and detours along the way, but through His strength we are one step closer to bringing our boy home. The first question people will ask is "when will you travel?" We do not know. We hope it will be before Christmas - what a great gift that would be. We want to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. You have helped us through the dark times when it was hard to stay on course. You have pointed us to the light and we are truly thankful. It feels good to officially say that Leuleseged is our son.

Court Date!!!!!

Things are coming together for the adoption. We got a court date!!! November 6! Please pray for this court date to be successful. It won't be long until it is time to go get our little boy. Thank you, God!!

Good News!!!

During the week I spent in Oklahoma, I did not have Internet access. Kellie called and told me that we received news about our adoption. We received some new pictures. After we have a successful court date, I will be more than happy to post them. We also were notified that he has been transferred to Addis. This is excellent news. It means that our paperwork is being processed and we should have our court date within two weeks. We are one step closer. After the court date, we will be given an embassy appointment to pick up our son and bring him home. It has been so long. We started this back in October 2005. We are now getting closer.
One more note of exciting news. We received a grant from Steven Curtis Cahapman's organtization Shaonnah's Hope. We are so excited! We know God is behind this adoption. We have had many bumps along the road, many detours, many road blocks, but just when it seemed easier to give up something miraculous would happen: the paperwork would come through, we would receive a check, a grant for $4,600, a block party that provided money, a grant for $2,000. God is good!! There is no way humanly possible we could pay for this adoption. We exhausted our resources. We emptied our bank account. We spent money we did not have, and through it all - God provided!! He gets the honor. He gets the credit. He is God! Amen!!

Ethiopia Famine Video

This is a video about Ethiopia and the famine. It will touch you. This is not for the faint of heart. You will be moved to tears. I wish we could adopt all the children, but that is not possible. I know more can be done to help people in need.