5 weeks

AT this very moment all five kids are outside and I am having a moment of silence and I am choosing to listen to some new Benjah as loud as I can.

This morning Jake and I had some sweet prayer time. Right now we are struggling through our calling as a family. We are meditating on what it means to not be conformed to this world and what it truly means to renew our minds. Every day we feel the pull to live comfortably and to be safe. We go back and forth every day wanting to be logical and then wanting to be radical. We are trusting that God is going to answer our prayer for clarity.

This is a short update. The kids continue to learn more English. They use the word mom all day because that is one word they know very well. This morning when I was running (yes Jake let me go for a run) I was praying and feeling overwhelmed as I often do. I felt the Lord saying use this time to draw from my strength, to learn true joy and to walk humbly. As I was finishing my run I could hear the laughter of five children and I could see them playing outside. When they saw me they all ran to me and tackled me and gave me many kisses, LOVED IT!!!!!!

Adanech and Abreham continue to pout a lot when they do not get their way. It gets very annoying but I believe there will be a day that they love their new limits. If I take Adanech to any store like Walmart she goes crazy asking for everything she sees and I have to tell her no over and over again and then the pouting and fake crying starts. IT is very overwhelming for her, sometimes I laugh at the craziness and other times it takes every bit of self-control to not scream.

There are new joys and struggles each day. I have my doctorate in cleaning up vomit this last month. I am a pro. Addie and Abreham vomit from their asthma a lot and then we had the stomach bug come through the house and having all those sick kids sure makes me reconsider more kids!!

The kids really bonded with Amanda this last week and it is good to see that. They have been asking for her all day. The first day she was with us the noise overwhelmed her and she slowly got used to it.

Well my quiet time is ending as I hear some fighting outside.

love love

Jen

One Month

As I write one month I sit and take a deep breath and think, wow God you are great!! Adanech stands by me learning to floss her teeth and her sweet voice keeps saying mom as she wants me to watch her. There has been so much change in this family in the last month. All of us and it has been hard but so good as we cling to Christ and see the beauty of the cross more clearly. I watch the children struggle through their identities. I don't want them to find their identity in birth order, language, culture, people or a place but in Christ. That is what I am learning daily for myself also. We are daily discussing how can we teach our children to live a radical, sacrificial life for Christ. How can we teach them to love the needy, to love the things Christ loves and to turn from this world. I find myself daily longing for a home and thinking that it will bring so much peace to my soul and then I hear God's quiet gentle voice, My daughter it will not bring you satisfaction. There is more to this life I have for you and it does not include comfort. Jake and I know that we cannot teach our children these things by just talking about them we have to live them out before them. May Jake and I have the courage to obey the word of God and the humility to submit to His will.

My parents guest home that we are staying in has been a blessing. We are all on top of each other all day but it has caused us to bond very quickly as a family. Addie and Abreham do not like it if any of us are not together it is very cute. The children continue to change daily and to smile more.

ADDIE-Her crying times have gotten better and a lot less. She has had days just filled with laughter and smiles. It is hard for her to not be able to communicate but she is a trooper and is trying more then ever to speak English. She wants to watch the Jesus film every day and when Christ is crucified she weeps and weeps and gets on her knees in front of the TV. We had Anthony talk to her on the phone about it so we made sure she understood why Jesus had to die and about the resurrection. She went to the dentist yesterday and she will be having a dental surgery to take out some rotting teeth and hopefully help her mouth feel better. today I am taking her to get her ears pierced and to get her hair braided, she is very excited. I often feel like a little girl as I try to parent a 7 year old, it is all new to me. I love her so much.

MARYA-is still a great sister to all and loves living by Grandma and Grandpa. She is very motherly and sometime too motherly if you know what I mean. Addie and Marya just play great together and they include their brothers most of the time. Marya will say at night, God answered our prayers, they are here. She prays daily for God to help her obey her parents and for HIm to change her heart. I will never get tired of hearing that prayer. She is a wild little girl and I have no idea where she got that, right?????

ABREHAM-This little guy smiles more each day. It has been days since a big fit and he is a great brother. HE loves cars and we got him his own bike and he is very excited, but thinking about the other children. HE wondered if they could get new bikes the next day. He went to the dentist also and has the worst teeth of them all. He also will have to have a dental surgery to take out rotting teeth. HE probably has the most pain. I look forward to the day that he can eat without holding his mouth in pain. I tell Aberham, I love you son and then he says back to me, I love you son. I try to explain to him what I mean by son and he just smiles. When we put them to bed he loves to sing and give big hugs and kisses and say I love you very much. Last night I held him as Jake played the guitar and we were singing and he sang right in my ear with his sweet little voice, my heart was overflowing.

EZRA-He is growing and changing just like any three year old little boy. Every morning when Petros gets up EZra runs to him and they give hugs and kisses. Abreham and Ezra are very cute on their bikes. We are trying to toughen this little boy up as he can cry at drop of a hat. HE still gets lost in the craziness. HE is usually the most quiet and content and sadly will get the least attention. Jake and I will remind each other to make special time for our big blue eyed boy.

PETROS-He continues to get stronger, and to run faster. He continues to gain weight and to look healthier. HE has changed the most physically in this month. I am exctied for Anthony and Hannah to see him get around as they saw how weak he was when we first got him. HE still makes us all laugh and always has a kiss and hug. He is getting used to our large dog. HE calls for him and then screams when the dog comes. He also went to the dentist and his teeth are in great condition. He was in the orphanage basically since his teeth came in and they brush their teeth there. I told him yesterday, one day you will make a great husband and make your wife laugh. His facial expressions are GREAT!!

Jake is working away from the house this week adn I think he is loving working without five kids begging for his attention, good thing I never do that to him when he is working at home. The kids ask for him all day and tackle him when he gets home. My cousin Amanda is with us this week. The kids love her and she is a huge help to me. I got to work out and shower on Monday. She also has given me two facials and the gift of some awesome facial care supplies. We are so happy to have her here and we may take her captive so she can never leave us.

We continue to pray and wait to see what the Lord is going to do in our lives. These last years have been us learning to wait. We are still very tired. Last night I was thinking I guess I want to be very tired every night as I go to bed. His mercies are new every morning. I often go to bed discouraged and in the morning when I look out the window and see a hint of sun, I feel His mercies and His strength as I face another day.

Jake is getting ready to leave and all the children are crying so I better go. I need to get them excited to spend the day with mommy. Aunt Liz and Joseph are planning a lunch party for Joseph's new cousins.

love love

J

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