::..:: gathering my way ::..::

ok it looks more and more like we are getting three. got emails and phone calls today and are trying to make sense of everything. need to buy two bunk beds now and start adjusting the current setup to make room, our house is not very big three bedrooms and 1-1/2 baths with all the kids, and believe me the boys are the worst about time in the bathroom. anyway it is looking like a definite july arrival which will be so cool. we still need to learn a little of two language the sisters speak. they both speak a different langauge they have been apart for a while. one thing that is clear is that even with all the strife in ethiopia children are seen as a precious resource and are loved and well treated even in the orphanges. anyway we need to figure out how to ask the 8 yr old and her 6 yr old sister if they want to keep their names or change. guess we better get learning those langauges, tigriean and ahmaric i think, not sure yet but still a lot to do and wow 11 kids all here it will be chaos, like it isnt already. meet a women today who grew up one of twelve and said it was a blessing. i hope/pray my kids will see it that way later in life. all for now ttfn

posted by John @ 9:32 PM

today my oldest, 17 started his first real job, construction, he wants to see what its like. one of my clients gave him a job for the summer. it reminded me of my first job nad how nervous i was, hee seemed rather calm about it all, just another day in the life. i think for sydney it was a hard thing, you see we home school and jacob has been at home since fourth grade and although he does have a very active life he still is home alot. i guess this a good transition to him being gone full time which will be happening very soon. it has been so cool to watch him grow into a confident young guy, i remember what i was like at 17 always in an latered state of conscienseness. he has it together depsite his parents. anyway it is a very interesting world we live in we are changing daipers as one goes off to conquer the world, i love this life God has laid before me and thank him constantly for it.

posted by John @ 8:16 AM

tonight at church we had a service for baby dedications and baptisms. our church has grown to over 1800 members so we finally had to have a special service for the events tonight. during the service one of the families dedicating a baby were friends of ours who have adopted a little girl from russia. the mother of the family got to give a short talk about their journey. she gave a powerful picture of why other families should be adopting kids. God doesn’t care where they come from he just wants them to be loved were her words. one of the cool things was this couple has told us that one of the reasons they adopted was because of our family. and then to top it off sydney had a man come up to her and ask if we needed any more money to help with adoption expenses. he told us he will pay for the airfare for our girls from ethiopia to the us. once again we have been encouraged by people we know and those we dont that we are on the path we should be. it is amazing to know that because we have decided to make the choices we have that other people are watching, known and unknown to us. God ask us each one who chooses to follow him to do something that causes sacrifice and pain at times, for us it has been adoption, it doesn’t matter what it is but find it and do it no matte the costs and you will be amazed to see how things happen. i dont mean to say that it will be easy, this road of adoption we are on has been hard and at times painful, very painful, we have been criticized by many but i know when i look into the eyes of all my children and see God that we are doing the right thing, the only thing we could do. find what God has ask of you and follow it with passion and tenacity and then be awed by the power of our God.

posted by John @ 10:37 PM

well last week we got a little surprise. a friend whose brother in law runs the student ministry at our church attends a local university. she got together with several other students and ask them if they would help out with our adoption. the university, miami u in oxford ohio matched the money they raised and we got $1000 form them all. so now the estate of ohio and miami university are helping to fund our latest adventure in adoption. when the four women were here a women who is the grandmother of some neighborhood kids my sons hang with bought a toy for the younger kids. it is amazing the way people are just helping totally out of the blue. our bank, the church friends, the university group all of it has made us so aware of God. we have now collected about $9k which will cover all the adoption expenses. we still have the home study and various travel to pay for.

as far as the adoption goes the agency in ethiopia is about to regain their license so it looks like we will be bringing the girls home in july. and it might be three after all. the 8 year old girl has sister that may be coming with her. she was placed with another family but they may allow us to take her and keep the sisters together. that would be cool and that would make 11 kids altogether. we will be needing a bigger house our little 3 bedroom one is getting very crowded and our neighborhood is not the most open racially. so i think we will be moving if we can get a loan our credit is shot after 4 years of seminary and 4 adoptions financed on credit. anyway we are excited that it looks like the girls will be here soon.

posted by John @ 2:14 PM