Roller Coaster Ride

Whew, adoption is such a roller coaster ride!! So, we had a fabulous summer as far as movement is concerned and between July and August we moved 25 places! Then rainy season hit...and between September and October we only moved 1 place! Crazy. We are #53 on the list and we continue to wait not having any idea when we will be matched. The unknown is really the hardest part. I have a million questions and think and dream about her constantly! I wonder is she already here? What does she look like? Does she like to cuddle? Is she a good eater/sleeper?  Is there someone who kisses away her tears, holds her close when she is afraid and tucks her in at night? If she's still in her mother's womb I wonder how her mom is feeling? What is her family situation like? And we pray for her precious mom whatever the situation will be.

However, it is so sweet to be able to rest in the One who knows all of the answers! He not only knows but He cares deeply about her. About her mom. About us. "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast the sum of them!" psalm 139:16-17. Thankful for this Truth that gives great hope in a difficult time. 

Praying for an active month!

Movement!

We are thrilled to announce that we moved 9 places last month!! We had started to get really discouraged and honestly start to question if our adoption would ever become a reality. We are now #70 on the list!!! We are so humbled and grateful for the support our friends and family have shown us! Each month so many precious people text me on the first when we find out our new number. It makes us not feel so isolated on this long journey that does feel extremely lonely and overwhelming at times! I cannot wait to share that with our baby girl one day and  let her know how many people prayed for her YEARS before she became a Boddy!

Please continue to pray for movement in Ethiopia and for protection of our baby girl and her birth mom. We are trying our best to trust God's timing and not miss all that He has in store for us during this season of waiting. 

"Beacause of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."  Lamentations 3:22-23

Waiting is hard

We knew that this adoption journey would be hard but I never knew waiting would be this tough. We got our new number on the "wait list" yesterday #81. Sigh. We started out as #93 in January if that tells you how fast we are moving. The first of each month we get our update. We find ourselves eagerly anticipating what our new number will be, begging the Lord for movement, trying our best to remember HE KNOWS and HIS TIMING is PERFECT, yet each month as we check our email 50 times before it finally comes, we are overwhelmed with disappointment.
When we finished the paper chase and officially started waiting, people would ask me how they could be praying. One thing I would tell them is to pray that we would wait well AND with hope. I'm realizing one reason this is so difficult is in our culture we don't wait for anything. Our world is so fast paced and we get annoyed if we have to wait for more than 30 seconds for our computer to turn on. So, having to wait years on a child we already feel so connected to is a bit difficult. Some days the longing I have to meet and hold my baby girl is almost unbearable.  We really don't know much at this point- we don't know how long we will wait, how old she will be or if she is even conceived yet but we do know without a doubt this is exactly what God wants us to do. Please pray we would not lose sight of that and join us in asking God for movement in Ethiopia!

A sweet friend shared this verse with me..."I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope." psalm 130:5

our adoption journey...

we don't really use this blog anymore but thought it would be the best way to share our story! enjoy:)

For those of you who may not know and are interested in our adoption journey, here is a quick summary on how it all began.... 

For as far back as I can remember, I knew that adopting would be part of my story. I have always been fascinated by orphanages and hearing adoption stories.  Chris has always had a heart for adoption because both of his siblings were adopted domestically. 

Our first year of marriage we were able to spend part of our Christmas break at an orphanage in Haiti.  If you have ever been to another country or exposed to children in those environments, you know you come back and are never the same. You can't be. Their dusty little joyful faces and the way they clung to us and reached up to us will forever be etched in our minds and hearts. Needless to say, we fell in love with the people of Haiti and desperately wanted to bring a baby home from there! Unfortunately, because Of our age and how long we have been married, we did not meet the Haitian governments requirements. So, we waited because we were sure this was where the Lord was leading. Insert 2 biological kids, 21 months apart here! After catching our breaths a little we started the process for Haiti. But, after over a year of waiting for them to change their policy we started feeling led to move forward with something. We said we would pray for a month and start researching other countries. It's a pretty overwhelming task because the numbers are astounding. Our eyes fell upon the number 4.6 MILLION ORPHANS in Ethiopia. We knew we could no longer have an empty bed in our home and see that number without moving forward. We started the paper chase in July and are now officially waiting! We will probably be waiting for a year or longer.

We have requested an infant girl (0-2) and we pray every day for "baby sister." please join us in praying for protection for her whether she is in the womb still or already in an orphanage....we are praying for extra arms to hold her close and rock her....for her birth mom to be protected and brave and whatever her story is that she would come to know how loving and gracious our God is! Thank you for caring enough to read this! More to come....

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." psalm 82:3-4