answering questions

am going to answer some questions I have gotten through the process.

ARE YOU GLAD THAT YOU ADOPTED?

Yes, beyond glad, blessed and so thankful. It started out as something I so badly wanted to do and through the years it became something in my heart that God called us to do.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE HARDEST THING?

The trip to Ethiopia was very hard due to very little sleep. Facing fears!! There are many hard things but any mother understands that. The language barrier has been difficult at times but it causes us to act out our words of love so it is good. Every hardship God has used to grow us to depend on HIm more. so we are thankful for all the hardships that have come with our growing family.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST THING?

The trip to Ethiopia was a time of such dependance on the Lord and that was the best thing, so it was the hardest and the best. I do believe that if you want to experience God you have to go onto the Calvary road. The flesh I live in desires comfort and this world but the Spirit within me desires death to my flesh and to leave this world behind. Of course it has been amazing to just sit back and think about all the Lord has done and to hold the children now and to see how our family is molding together, amazing!! Seeing all five children play together is pure joy to my heart. Adanech and Marya act like they have always been sisters.

ARE YOU GOING TO ADOPT AGAIN?

I hope so!! When we went to the transition home to get our children we also got to meet other children there. A couple of boys that remembered Jake from being there before ran and got the pictures he had drawn them and the paper airplanes and showed him how they had taken care of them. They were in perfect condition. Children would come up to me and ask mommy? Many of the older girls in Adanech's room were sick and looked at me with sad empty eyes. I wanted to hold all of their hands and say I will be your mommy. One particular girl was laying in bed, she looked about 10 years old, her eyes were very very red and she had a fever. I put my hand on her head and she smiled at me and my heart broke for her. Adanech asked if we could adopt all of her friends. Our desire and love for adoption has only grown. Our love for Christ has only grown. I do believe that all through scripture He shows how important adoption is to HIm. With all that said we will see what The Lord has in store for this family.

ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ANY MORE CHILDREN BY BIRTH?

We do not plan to but we are always open to what the Lord has. We try not to plan out our lives.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE?

We have not sold our house in AL yet. We are not sure where the Lord is going to lead us. We are trying to learn contentment and to wait on the Lord for his timing. Pray, pray, pray, wait wait wait, that is what we are doing. We are beyond blessed to be living in my parents guest house right now. Jake and I are wanting to be involved in adoption and orphan care wherever we live.

love love

Jen

updates

So I just put up all the updates from our trip on the blog. They may be a little out of order. I will try to do one at a time from now on. Read if you want.

Three weeks

Tomorrow we will have had our new children for three weeks. My days are filled with hearing more mommys then I know what to do with, many hugs, many kisses, many prayers, many fears, many moments of discipline. I have never been more tired in my life. I find myself counting down the hours to bedtime, and wondering how many years until I will have a moment to myself. Then I also have moments of more joy then I know what to do with, like when I see Addie giving Marya a piggy back ride and they are both laughing or Ezra and Petros giving each other kisses on the cheek and hugs or hearing Abreham tell Jake he loves him just out of the blue. It is a battle each day between my flesh that is so tired and the Spirit that lives within me that is overjoyed to be a mommy of five. I say when you get married you start to see how selfish you are and then when you have a child and then two and then when you jump to five you learn really about sacrifice and love. Jake and I struggling through what to do next. We have not sold our house in Alabama yet so we are still working on that. We are asking God to give us a clear call and that we would be obedient no matter the cost.

Today was our first time to all be at church together. Addie and Abreham were scared but we got through it and Petros gave everyone a kiss that he could. so thankful for the church family here!!!!!

Adanech-she has been rebelling against the English language and then all of a sudden today she was putting words together with a big smile. she is having the hardest time with the transition. Yesterday I was putting lotion on her legs after a bath and I was looking at her and telling her how much I loved her and how brave and strong she is and she just stared at me with big tears in her eyes. She has not let me in completely yet but I am praying for a day where she will trust me. I will continue to pursue her wounded heart and to love her even when she chooses to ignore me.

Marya-still is doing wonderful. She picks up more Amharic every day and loves to play with all of them. She learns from Adanech and loves to run and play with Abreham and loves to kiss on Petros and make him laugh. Her and Ezra remain very close. We caught Marya praying on her knees in her room by herself asking God to save her and change her heart and that she wanted HIm to always be with her. She still continues to get the most spanks but I love her passion.

Abreham-he is doing awesome!!!!! He still pouts and throughs fits but he is a different boy. With discipline and love he has come so far. Now we have not arrived but I am so thankful for the progress. His smile sure lights up a room. He could seriously ride a bike all day long. He does great in the cold. He use to be afraid of our dog Kota but he is getting pretty friendly with him. His cough also seems to be improving little by little. Praise the Lord!!

Ezra-my sweet little boy who seems a little lost in all this. He is doing so well with everyone but every once in a while he wants some alone snuggle time with mama and I will take it. He still says, mom, my just love you. Each day the three boys interact more together and laugh and fight just like brothers do, I love it. In fact Ezra had a bloody noise tonight a fat lip and bruised forehead. I nee to be ready to go to the ER at anytime.

Petros-we call him little Bill Cosby, he is too funny. He loves everyone, gives kisses and makes funny faces. He is responding very well to discipline and he gives lots and lots of love. He is growing and getting stronger and can hold the head up better every day. He usually always has a smile on his face and is such a joy. He brings many laughs in the midst of craziness. Sometimes I sit and am so overwhelmed and I want to cry and then here comes little Bill to make me laugh.

Jake and I are very tired, but God is faithful and we will continue this journey one day at a time. Jake is still the best dad ever and the kids adore him. Adanech often wants Jake to hold her like a little girl and it is so sweet. He is amazing. by God's grace we get through each day.

love love

Jen

Abreham

So Abreham has continued with his coughing fits and yesterday Jake took him to the doctor again and got him to cough for them by tickling him and they say he has a severe case of asthma. They also said it is so bad that he could die from it if not treated right. It makes sense to me because there have been times with his coughing that I thought we might loose him it was so bad. so yesterday he started some stuff for it and hopefully he improves in the next 10 days and then we go back to the doctor again. I am so thankful to know what it is.

I am really amazed that these children are still alive. I look forward to the day that Adanech can better speak with us about her life. We have dentist appointments coming up. Adanech and Abreham have horrible rotting teeth that hurt them when they eat. I hope to get that taken care of for them.

Marya is learning some Amharic, it is so cute. Today in the bath Adanech was teaching Marya a song in Amharic. Yesterday I did some school with all of them and Petros laid his head in Ezra's lap the whole time, it was really cute. People warned us about adopting three at once and adopting out of birth order but I am just thrilled at how they are all doing. Yes there are hardships but God is working through all of them.

It is so hard for me to express all the Lord has done in just a short 21/2 weeks.

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

wonderful!!

There is a song, Praise the Name of Jesus that Jake and I have sang to the kids over and over again and especially Abreham during his coughing fits and after his screaming fits or during them. Well last night I was picking up and ABreham came and stood by me and started to sing it with a very sweet smile. He has a very mischievous smile but this was sweet. It was so beautiful!!!! Then last night as we were putting the kids to bed ABreham told us he loved us and so did Adanech and that was the first time for both of them. IT was a very wonderful day yesterday. Thank you for your prayers. Already yesterday I thought what were like before we were 7, it all just feels right.

love

Jen

We made it home

We made it home!!! The trip was just over 30 hours and beyond difficult. The flying was the easy part, it was all the lines we had to stand in for immigration and security which we had to do many times. It was wonderful to be around other adoptive families so we could encourage each other. I really thought about falling on the ground and screaming at one point. Adanech helped so much, carrying stuff and staying right by us. Adanech and Petros traveled so well and the Lord gave us strength to work with Abreham. We are still going on very little sleep. When we got home the kids were out and would not wake up and got up at 2 am ready to go last night. We got them to lay back down . I am hoping that tonight we will get a goods night sleep. Marya has been amazing with the children. She ran to them hugged them. She is always taking Adanech by the hand and showing her things. They took baths together this morning and it was pretty cute. IT is hard for me to fully be here when I am so tired. My body shakes because I am so tired and my emotions are all over the place. IT goes like this, fear, fear, can't do this, yes God called me to this, fear, anxiety, trust, trust, fear, and some more fear. Those are kind of my thoughts. some funny things. Ezra said, that boy has dark hands. We use charades a lot with the new children so Marya has started to use it a lot and it is so funny.

Please pray for Adanech. Before we left for the airport she cried so hard it made her vomit. She wanted to see her birth mom. The women at the guest house encouraged Jake and I some more and talked with Adanech. There was not a dry eye around. I have never cried so many tears in my life. Once again Jake just jumped right in and held me and Adanech as we both cried our eyes out. Abreham could not wait to go with us and to fly but he sure does not want the limits we are giving him. Marya was great training for this!! I have said many times that her toddler time was training for something else. Petros is doing great. He of course is like any toddler and needs a lot of help but he is happy and loving all the time. The transition will be easiest on him. I am sooooooo thankful for the prayers. I have never faced something so difficult in my life emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally. It has been the biggest battle of my life and it is just getting started. I just have to say again how wonderful Marya has been. she is giving them everything she has and tells them how much she loves them all the time. In the night when Adanech was up she asked for Marya, it was really sweet. I think I will try to let them sleep together tonight.

Please pray for peace. Right now it is like having three strangers in your house that do not trust you or respect your limits. Pray for an attachment to come fast for all of us. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. The task ahead of us is very overwhelming. We have to constantly remind ourselves and each other that we were called to do this.

love

Jen

One week home

So one week ago today we were preparing for our 30 some hour flight. The Lord really carried us through that one. We all seem to be getting better rest. Everyone is sleeping great!!!

Adanech-is being strong. Every day she has her cry time and ignores us but she lets us hold her and rock her until she can smile again. It is hard for her to let us take care of her brothers. She loves to learn. I wish you could of seen her face the first time she rode a bike, jumped on the tramp, sat on a swing and went down a slide. I have never seen someone squeal in such delight. She is not all that crazy about the food here yet but she is trying it all. She loves spagehetti!! It is hard for her not to be able to communicate with us better. She was very verbal in Ethiopia so I am excited for to get to talk more in the futures.

Abreham-is still very loving and very disobedient. Each day he seems to get more comfortable with the limits and love them. He loves puzzles and does the same one over and over again. He wants to ride the trike outside all day and has the best time giving the other children rides on it but if you ask him to share it turns into a huge fit.. He loves to eat anything we put in front of him. He always thinks he needs more food and is very happy when his plate is full. His coughing is improving daily. Clean water and clean air does wonders for them.

Petros-is the funniest little guy, he has us laughing all the time. He loves everyone in the house and seems to really be attaching to Jake and I. He grows in strength each day. He was very weak when we first got him but he is getting around better all the time. He also eats anything we put in front of him. When we tell him that we love him he says it back and wants to give many kisses.

Marya-is doing so great with the transition. When Adanech cries she wants to hug her. She does a great job communicating with them and doing charades. YEsterday I had to take ADanech to the doctor and Marya wanted to come along. When they were in the car they had their arms around each other. Marya is very adaptable and is just doing great!!! She also interacts with ABreham and Petros a lot.

Ezra-he is doing great. Each day he interacts with the boys more. Adanech also likes to take care of him. Ezra often just follows ABreham around and they are pretty cute. Last night Petros and EZra were wrestling around on the bed together. I love Ezra's spirit, he is just such a joy to have around.

Jake-is amazing!!!!!!! His unconditional love is awesome and the kids can see it. I love love to watch it. He is right in it all, hands on. He is loving having five children!!

EAch day gets better for me. I remember the call more and more clearly. Each day I take it less personally when the kids through fits, or ignore us. I learn to love through it. To pursue them as Christ pursues us. Each day we feel more like a family. There is still a lot of fear but God is so faithful to show me my sin and to bring repentance. There have been moments and hours when I have though what are doing, what have we done, I cannot do this, this is just too hard. When I go to the scripture and see the truth all the fears go away, the excitement to follow Jesus no matter the cost returns. This life of complete dependance on God is just where He wants us. I have never seen the gospel more clearly then I do right now. I have never seen the beauty of the cross as I do right now. To see Christ in a greater light is the greatest gift ever!!!

love

Jen