I am going to be completely honest.

Sometimes I look at my 6 children and I think, “What am I doing?”

I mean, there is no doubt that my life was easier before. I used to take my two children and drop them off at a private school. I would go to the gym to a job I loved. I would go to Costco and WinCo and doctor’s appointments by myself. Sometimes I would meet my friends for lunch. I would go to coffee. I had a (fairly) clean house. My children were (fairly) well-behaved.

And now?

I will be homeschooling all 6 of my children. Enough said.

There goes all my “alone” time. There goes my sanity.

Sometimes, especially at the end of the day when I am trying to get all 6 children showered and brushed and tucked into bed, I lose my patience. I feel like snapping. And I wonder, why did God give this job to someone like me? We’ve all seen that mom who is calm, cool and collected. She doesn’t raise her voice. She doesn’t get impatient. She seems to know exactly how to discipline in every situation.

I am not that mom! Maybe God should have chosen her instead of me.

But I know that He didn’t. I know that He called ME to this task. It is so obvious when I look back at our journey that we are exactly where God wants us to be. He has provided everything we needed at every step of the way. And I know that He will continue to do so.

So if you see me around town, and maybe my hair is kind of frizzy and I am wearing sweatpants. Or maybe one of my children (or two or three) are missing their shoes. Or maybe I am “that” mom in WinCo who is yelling at her oldest child while the youngest is throwing a fit in the cart. Please just give me a little grace. And maybe try to forget whatever it is that you just saw.

This is what I deal with - plus 3 more!

Blessings!

Natalie

We celebrated the good news of our imminent homecoming by taking our children to see a little bit more of their amazing country. Not too far from Addis is some beautiful countryside. The Gorge is a major tourist attraction here, boasting of breathtaking scenery and plentiful wildlife. We were told it would be about a 3 hour drive. I should have realized they meant Ethiopia time!

After 2 hours we stopped at the restaurant that both our driver and our guide book promised was safe for foreigners. It looked like it would have been perfect, if it wasn’t closed up for renovation. “Don’t worry,” our driver Behilu said, “we find another good place.”

Poor Behilu! He really tried his best. But we insisted on things like running water, electricity, and (no joke) that the bathroom and the kitchen not share the same space. We finally gave in to our children’s grumbling tummies and ate at a place where we saw no other white faces. And, when the food came to the table half-cooked, I insisted that my children not eat any of it. We filled up on injera and got back on the road. Luckily, we had purchased bananas to feed the baboons so my children each filled their stomachs with those.

Another hour later and 5 of my 6 children needed to use the bathroom. This time, we found a suitable place after only 4 attempts. And let me tell you, I really wasn’t being picky! I would have used an outhouse if it was available!

Finally, after 4 hours, we reached the gorge. As we drove down the mountainside, the temperature slowly increased. Here in Addis it is the rainy season and so every day has been chilly. But as you go down in elevation, you start to feel the true African sun. My children were loving it! We stopped and fed the baboons what was left of our bananas. And then we pulled over at a small stream. Behilu told us if we hiked back in just a little ways, we would find a waterfall.

Excitedly, we grabbed our water bottles and headed upstream. Not only did we find the beautiful waterfall, we found a naked man taking his shower under that waterfall! We waited patiently for him to finish, and then we jumped right in! Here are some pictures of my children before they decided that clothes were too restricitive. By the end of our playtime I had 6 children, splashing and laughing and having a wonderful time, in the waterfull in their underwear.

This was one of the best days that we have enjoyed as a family here in Ethiopia. Despite the long drive, the dicey restaurant and the lack of toilets, we had each other. And today, that was enough!

Blessings!

Natalie

We are coming home. All 8 of us.

As I look back over the last 3 months, God’s hand is so evident. They say hindsight is always 20/20 and that has never been more true for me than now. You all know how I struggled during the wait for my children. It seemed as though there were one delay after another and after a while I felt beaten down by the waiting. I kept telling myself that God had a plan, that I could rest in His timing, that God had nothing but the best planned for me, but even though my head knew these truths, my heart was another matter entirely.

And now? My head and my heart are overwhelmingly rooted in the goodness of my God.

There are so many details of the last 3 months that are just plain miraculous!

First of all, the “stinking document.” You know, we never ended up with that document. The judge finally waved the requirment for it. But it was because of the journey to try to obtain this document that adopting Leah was even possible.

And Leah’s adoption!!! This is a true and unexpected miracle. Just one little snippet of her story….when Scott first went to Harar to try to gather her paperwork, he met with the director of the orphanage. This director is new to his position and he was not around when Leah first entered the orphanage. He apologized to Scott, but told him that through some administrative glitch, Leah was never registered and her paperwork was never started. It would be a minimum of 6 months to get that paperwork completed. So Scott went down to the local courthouse to see if he could talk the judge into waiving some of the paper chase process. The clerk at the courthouse told Scott that there must be some mistake. She had completed Leah’s registration paperwork herself. And in fact, she had a copy of it all right here! Problem solved. Go God!

Our timeline….yes, the wait seemed unending in the beginning! But the finish line has exceeded all expectations! Do you remember when I wrote asking for prayer about our return date? The anniversary of the death of my husband’s best friend is August 21 and we were so hopeful to be home before then. At the time I wrote that blog, we had no idea that we might be able to adopt Leah during this trip. And now here we are, planning our return home – not only 7 of us – but all 8!!!! And we will be home a whole week before the August 21 date I had requested of my God.

The US Embassy clearance. This one still has everyone in shock! Our contact in the states can not understand it! Our Ethiopian agency has never had a case clear in 2 days before! EVER! The average time is 5-6 weeks! Our local embassy contact went with us today to finalize visas and passports for our 3 little ones. As we left he said, “Why do they want to help you so much? They are being so nice!” The Embassy here has a rule that paperwork for adoptions can ONLY be submitted on Wednesdays. But not in our case! They accepted our first 3 last Monday. And today they told us to bring in Leah’s medicals as soon as they are done. Don’t wait until the next Wednesday. Why? Only because of God.

Only because of God.

So we are coming home. All 8 of us. We booked tickets to leave Ethiopia on Monday, August 13. We will arrive home very late on Tuesday night. As of right now, Leah’s medicals are not complete and she is not cleared to travel. But, also as of right now, we are operating on faith that she will be ready to go when that plane takes off!

Thank you all for partnering with us during these last 3 months. I have never felt more supported by prayer and love than I have while I have been half a world away from all of you.

Here are a few family pictures I wanted to share with you. I realize that my future holds many attempts at capturing a picture with all 8 of us smiling, facing the camera and looking semi-normal.

Blessings!

Natalie

Today we had the pleasure of visiting Kechene Care Point. Scott and I sponsor a child through Children’s Hopechest and today we got to meet our sponsor child Yerusalem!

Kechene Care Point is a school for the impoverished children of Addis. It is located in a small, hard working community of muddy roads and drafty shacks and people struggling to get by. Every child who is sponsored gets the privilege not only of schooling, but of a school uniform and a hot meal every day.

We contacted the school and asked about coming to visit. We were worried that we might not get to meet any of the children because it is summer vacation here. We were told to come on down because even though it is technically summer break, the children keep showing up every day for songs and games and a hot meal.

The school is a one-room building with desks crammed into every available space. And into those desks the children sat 3 or 4 to a seat. They had heard that Americans were coming to visit today so they showed up to have a look at us.

Yerusalem was very shy as she was called forward to be the center of attention. All the other children waited patiently while we took some pictures with our girl.

 And then – what a blessing! We were surprised by an impromptu concert. They sang and danced and clapped through 3 songs.

Before leaving we handed out little gifts to the children – glow sticks, plastic animals, sticker books and the like.

And then we asked our gracious host if there was anything else we could do. He respectfully asked for fruit.

Fruit.

He said the children had hot tea and a hot lunch to look forward to, but fruit was a luxury here. Would we consider buying some fruit so every child could have just one piece with their lunch?

What a blessed life we live! And most of the time, we are not even thankful for it. How many of you have not been able to afford just one piece of fruit for your child? How many of you have spent over $70 filling up your gas tank? How many of you have more than one pair of jeans in your closet? How many of you have considered sponsoring a child who cannot afford to eat without your help?

I do not want to be pushy.

Or maybe I do.

After being here, after walking down the muddy paths, seeing the tin shacks of my neighbors, looking into the eyes of the hungry and hopeless mothers who beg along the streets, seeing the children’s smiles as we handed out bananas and oranges and pineapples, maybe I do want to be just a little bit pushy.

Would you consider helping?

Here is a link to Children’s Hopechest, the agency we choose to work with and send our sponsor money to.

www.hopechest.org

There are many such agencies out there. Look around. Do some research. And ask yourself if you can spare just one of your “luxuries” so a child in Ethiopia can have the luxury of a piece of fruit.

Blessings!

Natalie

This is the last time I will change one of my children’s names. I promise! (Well, probably.)

We love the name Abigail. We tried to give it to Naomi and she refused. Then we tried to give it to our oldest daughter. From the first day she became a member of our family she told us she was “No Ab – ee – gay – o.” We have been talking with her about this for the last week. We even had a translator sit down with her and talk about the special meaning of the name Abigail.

No luck.

I guess we aren’t meant to have an Abigail in our family.

So our oldest daughter has chosen the name Leah. And actually, it seems to suit her just fine.

Please be praying for Leah as she adjusts to her new role as our daughter. For years she had to take on the mother role with her younger siblings. It is very common here in Ethiopia to see children taking care of children. And now that she has been re-united with her siblings, she wants to fall back into the only role she has ever known. It is safe for her. It makes her feel secure. But it undermines our authority as parents.

We want Leah to enjoy the freedom and fun of being a 9-year-old girl. But she doesn’t understand how to be that. We have to teach her. And we have to teach Naomi, Micah and Levi that WE are the parents now. This is just one of many adjustments that we have to make as a family.

Here I am, surrounded by littles, practicing my braiding skills.

One of Leah’s hairstyles this week. She loves to have her hair done! I have realized that I need to budget an extra hour in the mornings to do all 3 girl’s hair. Hopefully I will get faster with practice! Poor Naomi had her head shaved at the orphanage and she hates her hair! Every morning she wants me to “do” something special with it. I try.

We are hopeful that we will have our paperwork for the 3 littles submitted to US Embassy in the morning. And the Embassy told us that when we get Leah’s medicals done, we can submit them and add her into the same Embassy process. Please be praying that the US Embassy reviews our file quickly, that they don’t decide to request any more documentation, and that we are cleared to come home soon!

Blessings!

Natalie

PRAYER REQUESTS

*Leah’s transition into her role as our daughter

*The 3 sister’s relationship

*Our US Embassy process to be quick!!!

This past Monday we celebrated my son’s 11th birthday. This past month I have been more thankful for this boy than ever before.

I have always known what a good heart Joel has. He has been easy to parent! He truly desires to do what is right. His heart is very tender towards the things of the Lord. He is affectionate – never afraid to hug me or tell me he loves me. I don’t want to pretend that he is perfect, we are ALL sinners, but I honestly enjoy being this boy’s mother.

This month I have seen how God has specially prepared Joel for his role as big brother to all of these kids. Not once has he complained about not getting enough of my time. Not once has he expressed any desire to un-do this crazy change to our family. He has a love for every one of his new siblings. In fact, one of the biggest problems I have is his tendency to “over-love” the poor kids. I do have to say many times throughout the day, “Joel, just give them some space!”

Here is an example of his heart….

The other evening we were hanging out and Joel was swinging the jump rope around him absentmindedly while we visited. Little Levi happened to walk into the room at just the wrong time and got a little whipping on his cheek by the end of that jump rope. Levi cried but got over the pain in a few minutes. Joel was heartbroken. He apologized over and over to Levi and then he sat on the couch with tears running down his cheeks. He felt so bad! I tried to explain that we all accidentally hurt others at some time in our lives. I told him the story about a friend of ours who went down the slide with his son and landed on the boy’s leg, breaking it! Joel’s response was, “Yah, but Mom, that little boy wasn’t a newly adopted kid who doesn’t even speak the same language and already might worry about if I really love him.”

What a heart my son has! I think he gets it from his Dad.

Seeing my son in a new light is just one of the blessings of this journey. I am thankful that he is mine!

Our cook came to work Monday morning with a present for Joel. A traditional Ethiopian outfit.

Joel's birthday dinner

 

 

The boys

 

 

An Ethiopian tradition on birthdays - the other kids wipe frosting on the birthday boy's face!

 

 

 

 

 

My 11-year-old

 

 Blessings!

 

Natalie

 

PRAYER REQUESTS/PRAISES

 

*Thank you God for blessing me with every one of my kids!

 

*Pray for our Embassy process to be quick!

 

*Pray for my daughters. Sister issues and tears are an everyday occurrence.

 

Today, July 24, 2012 the dream that God planted in our hearts finally became a reality.

We are a family of 8.

Take a quick look at the thermometer on the side of my blog.

Do you see that red part?

Do you know what it means?

Thanks to all of you, we have hit our goal and raised the money needed for Selah Guest House!

Oh my, Scott and I have enjoyed spending your money 🙂 Take a look at some of the things you have purchased in Ethiopia….

The bedside tables and storage

The Washing Machine

 

 

A fridge large enough for many guests

 

 

The water tank - you just don't realize how important these are until you live in Ethiopia!

 

 

A couch (and chair and coffee table)

 

 

Isn't the couch cuter with a bunch of kids on it?

Thank you for being a part of something wonderful half a world away.

Blessings!

Natalie

What a whirlwind! The last few days have been FULL and CRAZY! I keep telling myself that some days are just going to be like that now that we have 6 kids. I am so thankful for my calm, even-tempered, super-involved husband. Have I mentioned lately that I love him?

However, Scott was still in Harar on Thursday when I got a call to bring Naomi, Micah and Levi to the hospital for their physicals. They have to get a doctor’s clearance to be able to travel to the United States. No problem! I would run them right down for their 10:00 appointment! I loaded up all 5 kids and went to the hospital.

Oh. My. Word.

5 kids.

Urine samples.

The other kind of sample.

9 pokes and blood draws and vaccinations.

One scared little boy who cried loudly after every poke.

One scared little girl who has a MAJOR fear of doctors.

Almost 4 hours later….

No one had eaten lunch. There were some low blood sugar issues and some boredom issues and some crankiness. And the kids didn’t feel too great either!

We finally finished up at the hospital just in time to race across town for our appointment at the court house. We were meeting our in-country director so we could file Abigail’s paperwork. Thankfully, this didn’t take too long and Scott got into town just about then so we all took a quick lunch break.

And then we loaded up again and drove to the orphanage where Abigail will be staying until we pass court. I was so proud of my kids! After a very long and trying day, everyone tumbled out of the van full of excitement to see their sister. We got to spend about an hour visiting with her. I use the term “visiting” loosely because Abigail speaks virtually no English. The other kids have had almost 2 years in the orphanage with English lessons. Abigail has had 4 weeks.

Of course, I took pictures. Until we pass court, I cannot show you Abigail’s face….

All 6 of my children

Isn’t she beautiful? Aren’t they all just beautiful?

On Friday we had another long day filled with chest x-rays, ENT appointments, TB test readings, and another appointment at the court. We were hoping to talk to the judge and explain our situation and ask if we could skip the usual 2-3 week wait for a court date. The judge saw us right away. She was so sympathetic to our case that she stopped what she was doing and wrote the letter we needed as we waited in the court house. Then she told us that as soon as we got our approval letter from MOWCYA (which should be Monday), she would squeeze us into her appointment book the very next day! This means that everything should be finalized on Tuesday!

We are so thankful. I can hardly believe the amazing awesomeness of our God. Not only did He accomplish the “impossible” with the paperwork, but He gave us a sympathetic judge and a court date in only 3 days!!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying specifically for our oldest daughter. Please keep praying as she adjusts to her new family. A family who she can barely understand. A family who has a culture that she has barely been exposed to. A family who loves her and is so thankful to have her.

Blessings!

Natalie

PRAYER REQUESTS/PRAISES

*Hallelujah for a Putnam Family of 8 (coming very soon)

*US Embassy clearance to be quick

*Abigail’s adjustment and heart