OH THE JOY...

Sit down, get comfortable, grab something fabulous to drink, and join me. This will not be short. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. Smile.

It has been 7 years since our dear Bryant began his quiet legacy of starting our adoption journey. Most of you know that the road has been quite curvy. There have been unexpected roadblocks, blind spots, and two cherished biological children along the way.

But today, we stand in amazement at how this road has led us, albeit circuitously, to two beautiful children in Ethiopia. At this moment, I feel like I felt when doctors told me Brooklyn and Brock were indeed healthy babies developing in my tummy – the journey wasn’t over by a long shot, but hope was birthed and dread melted in to wild anticipation. The long road has been nearly forgotten today, and we find ourselves decidedly jubilant. I have cried more today than I have in a long time.

I was at the gym recently, listening to my iPod, and stumbled upon this song by Steven Curtis Chapman. I begin our story with his lyrics, which had me choking back sobs… I beg you to take a minute and let the words wash over you.

“I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in”

Okay, just reading those lyrics makes me cry again. But as I was saying, 2 weeks ago, we were presented with 2 siblings who’ve lived in an orphanage since last March in Awassa, Ethiopia. We received limited information about them, but proceeded to have their referral documents reviewed by pediatricians and adoption specialists. All initial reports were favorable. However, we felt the need to ask further questions about their interactions with other children, their ability to bond with others, and their relationship (if any) with their biological parents, who are alive but unable to care for them. We waited nearly 2 weeks for this information to arrive, and none came.

This leads to the events of the past 48 hours. I attend Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), but have missed the past 3 meetings due to sick children and vacation. They called this week to inactivate me, and I was terribly sad about it. I have gained so much from my study of God’s Word there, and God has used it to dramatically shape my life.

But then, last night, I got 2 phone calls from 2 different BSF people saying that the teaching leader had seen my name on the list of inactive members, and asked that I be put back on the active list. Believe me, God knew I needed to be there today, and used this dear woman to put His plan in to place.

You may be wondering how all of this is related. Well, last night, Brant and I sat in bed and made the decision to adopt these precious children REGARDLESS of whether or not we got any more information about them. We believed He was asking us to trust Him. It was determined that I would call our adoption case manager after attending BSF this morning and tell her our intentions of adopting these siblings.

This morning, however, I woke up with a gnawing in my heart – a hesitancy I couldn’t quite shake. Fear can be so subtle, and can rob us of so much, can’t it? At BSF, the teaching leader asked the group the following… “What is it that God is asking you to believe and trust Him for that you CAN’T SEE?” She said that several times, urgency in her voice. With tears in my eyes, and my heart stabbed with the truth, I silently surrendered my fears. If God chooses us to parent these kids, we are so ridiculously blessed. I knew we needed to move forward.

Relieved and finally peaceful, I walked to my van with Brock. As soon as I shut the car door, an e-mail came from our case manager saying that she had JUST gotten a response from Awassa regarding the answers to our questions –our initial request was over 2 weeks ago! Not only was the information from the orphanage positive, but the reports on the kids went above and beyond what we were expecting. Even the very language this woman utilized in her descriptions resonated with us. Brant and I are just in awe of God’s timing. He was waiting for my heart’s surrender, I’m convinced, and granted us the “bonus” of knowing more information than we could’ve possibly hoped for…

Who are they, you ask?

Bella Adanech Burka Schelhaas and Bode Samuel Burka Schelhaas.

Bella is somewhere between the ages of 4 and 5, and is a bright-eyed, social little girl. Bode is 2 1/2 or 2 3/4 and the delight of those who know him. The funny thing is that we told God we’d love twins. He answered that prayer, but in a way that only He can. Brock and Bode are nearly, if not exactly, the same age. Birthdays aren’t important nor are they recorded in Ethiopia, so we won’t know their exact ages until they’ve been assessed in the US, and perhaps we’ll never know. Surprisingly, we are really okay with that.

There is a road ahead that is uncertain, and we are familiar with uncertainty when it comes to our children. Adoption of any foreign-born child is not final until they step on to US soil. Our next step is to receive 2nd medical evaluations. Once we approve those test results, the children’s paperwork will be sent to an Ethiopian court with our intention to adopt them. A judge will hopefully grant us parental rights of the children. There is always a chance that a family member could show up and retrieve the children, but it is unlikely. We are intentional about adopting them, but we do know that their placement is ultimately out of our hands. If God grants us the privilege of calling them our own, we will humbly seek to parent and love them like nobody’s business. But we realize nothing is final until they are home with us.

If the court gives us rights, we will be given an US Embassy date for which we must be present in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. If everything goes “as planned”, we could be in Ethiopia any time between mid-April to mid-May. But again, we hold these dates loosely.

We ask for your prayers for the process, and for the eventual attachment between these children and our family. Ask God to protect their tender hearts, won’t you? They have so much transition in front of them, and they have walked a road unfamiliar (and heartbreaking) to us. We do not expect a smooth or easy path, but do trust that God will equip us for whatever is ahead. We have a strange, permeating peace way down deep in our bones. Oh, how we want these children – the love affair has begun. Our Booker and Brooklyn are SO excited. As for Brock, it’s a party no matter what.

Lots of love… and I’m still crying. Smile. Pictures will be sent next… hold your breath.

Karen… for all of us