Absolute Utter Disgust

Please excuse me while I vent my idealistic thoughts....if you find them offensive....GOOD!!

We have friends who are currently in Ethiopia picking-up their daughter -- last night they had to rush her to the hospital because she's having difficulty breathing (pneumonia, possibly). A family from our agency shared with us this morning another tragic story: their friends received a referral in May for a precious little boy from Ethiopia; well, this little boy died yesterday...they never even got to meet him. Several months ago, an AWAA family traveled to Ethiopia to pick-up their child, only to discover their child had a twin...but the twin died before they received their referral.

Are you your brother's keeper????...isn't that the question Cain asked of God, after murdering his brother???

As I sit here in my comfy home, using my Wi-Fi, drinking my expensive coffee - I have a sudden urge to vomit! Our Western apathy is despicable. All over the world, little boys are being ravaged by treatable diseases...little girls are trading sex for food so they can live one more day. And do you know the one thing they all have in common (other than death): it is the hope that someone is coming to help. Really???

I don't want to listen to the excuses about 'why' we can't help them...not from our politicians, nor from our gluttonous society (vomit, again). I have a sneaking suspicion God hasn't any use for our excuses either. As a matter of fact, I'm quite convinced we will face God's reckoning for our indifference. He has blessed us with all the resources necessary to help these children...but instead, we've chosen to bury our "talent", as did the "wicked and slothful servant."

Let me encourage you NOT to believe the lie that is straight from Hell: "If I can't help them all, it's no use to help any."

God has called you to be faithful with what He has given you -- just in case you forgot, everything you think you own actually belongs to God. His intention is not for us to use His blessings to enlarge our kindom, but to enlarge His!

But, even in the midst of my disgust I have hope...hope that God will forgive my apathy, and create within me a genuine concern that leads to action.

And, I have this very hope for you, too.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:22-27

More Forever Families!

The following families will, for the first time, meet their precious children in Ethiopia early next week:

The Gibsons (they live here in Branson)
The Ords
The Raymers

Congrats to each of you!!!!

May we never stop...

...asking, "Why?"...
...of others, and ourselves...

We have been waiting almost one year for our daughter from China, and over four months for our son/daughter from Ethiopia. And as cumbersome as the adoption process is, the one thing Vince & I never become weary of is God reminding us why we are doing this. Here is His most recent gentle reminder:

The following is an excerpt from Melissa Fay Greene's There is No Me Without You, describing her thoughts as she she began to wrap her mind around the orphan crisis in Ethiopia-

"Who was going t0 raise twelve million children? That's what I suddenly wanted to know...Who was teaching twelve million children how to swim? Who was signing twelve million permission slips for school field trips? Who packed twelve million lunches? ...Who will tell twelve million bedtime stories? ...Twelve million birthday parties?
Who will wake in the night to eighteen million nightmares? Who will offer grief counseling to twelve, fifteen, eighteen, thirty-six million children? Who will help them avoid lives of servitude or prostitution? Who will pass on to them the traditions of culture and religion, of history and government, of craft or profession?
Who will help them grow up, choose the right person to marry, find work and learn how to parent their own children? Well, as it turns out, no one. or very few. There aren't enough adults to go around."

Who?????

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Then I said,

“Here am I! Send me.”

Back to Soggy-Springfield

We got to meet the Setliffe's!!! Rachel, Matt and little Ava! They are also adopting from Ethiopia (America World Adoption Assoc), which is how we officially crossed paths.

On Monday afternoon, Vince & I had the opportunity to steal away from our conference for a quick trip to Tampa's Ybor City. We met the Setliffe's at a wonderful Cuban restaurant they recommended, The Columbia. Rachel is a stay-at-home mom and Matt works with Innovative Mission Opportunities, an agency dedicated to the 10/40 Window. They are truly an amazing family, completed devoted to Jesus!

Please pray for this sweet couple...the next couple of weeks will be quite stressful (family illness and Matt's travels).

The Singles Metro Conference we attended was outstanding...we gained a wealth of knowledge, and developed many friendships that I know we'll treasure over the years to come!!

Attention Adoptive Families

For those of you who considering adoption, a friend of ours who works for an adoption agency has a healthy sibling group from Haiti that she is seeking to place with their forever-family. The children are 6 (boy), 4 (boy) and 6 (girl) months. If you'd like more info, you can email me @ alisafmartin@yahoo.com.

What's new with us...

Sorry, I've not been quite as 'bloggy' since I started my new job, but I'll try to catch you up to speed...should take about 45 seconds, since our life is so exciting! ha ha

Our conference call with our agency last week went well. Two new topics of interest are that 1) AWAA has partnered with with an additional orphanage in Ethiopia, 2) and there is potential legislation is Ethiopia that could affect non-prof agencies operating within Ethiopia (ie- orphanages). The legislation would be bitter-sweet. While being pro-child welfare in nature, it would also penalize organizations (ie- orphanages) who receive a bulk of their support from international entities.

Our trip to KC to update our fingerprints was successful...well, I think. We will receive an updated I-171H immigration document as confirmation. I will definitely be on the look-out for this document because I received an email last week from an individual actually in China completing her adoption -- she was delayed returning to the US because she had NOT received her update fingerprint approval...yikes.

And, thanks to the oh-so-unpredictable weather here in the Ozarks, we have to replace the siding on the back of our house....ugh!! Sunday afternoon, a storm blew in - but instead of a gentle rain, the clouds pitched hail through our siding. I must admit, I briefly had an ice-storm flash back...the ground was covered with ice. But it thawed quickly...thank goodness!

Finally, we are looking forward to a trip to Fla -- we'll visit family, and attend a ministry conference. We'll also get meet the Setliff's -- fellow-Ethiopia adopters (you can check out their blog on my list). We're ready for the r&r and the opportunity to connect with/meet some new friends!!

Together, At Last!

The following families are in Ethiopia right now...below you can see and read about their very first moments with their newest family members!!!

The Kidds
The Cordells
The Wests
The Gardners
The Shaetz Family (blog not available)

Tomorrow, our agency is hosting a conference call with the 90+ families who are waiting for referrals (I think we may be in the top 30). They will give us an over-all update for all waiting families, share updates on progress in Ethiopia (orphanages, court proceedings...) and also answer our one-millions questions.

Thursday, we head to Kansas City (again) to update our fingerprints with the USCIS/Dept of Homeland Security (our current prints will expire in July).