If there's a road I should walk, help me find it.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
April Numbers
#34 girls
#25 boys
#13 siblings
We would love to see more referrals. Bear has scissors ready. :)
Sunday, April 14, 2013
March Numbers
When we went on the wait list this time around, Bear wasn't quite 2. He was still too little to understand what was going on. Now here we are, almost 2 years later. He is 3, going on 4, and I realized it's time to include him more directly in the waiting. Not too long ago, he and I spent a really sweet afternoon making countdown chains. One for baby brother, and one for baby sister. We still need to make one for siblings but we ran out of time and energy. Made me really feel how much further we have to go on the lists. It took a long time to make the chains! All that cutting, taping, and stickering. It was good to use up a lot of old scrapbooking supplies. He was so focused, and really got into chain making and counting. Once the chains were done, we made a special trip to Target and he got to pick out his very first pair of scissors. QUITE exciting. He gets to cut a link from the chain each time we learn of a referral. I'm excited to get him excited about referral news and pray together for the family that was just matched. Here are the two chains, hanging on the mantel near the kitchen table.
Our new way of marking time. When we made the chains, we were #37 on the girls list, #28 on the boys list, and #13 on the siblings list. Below, Bear is attempting to show you that the chain is much longer than he is. With any luck, he'll keep growing and the chain will keep shrinking. I pray the chains shrink faster than he grows. He's growing way too fast by the way. His size 11 feet are looking huge.
For some perspective, my friend Molly remembered that when we went on the waitlist for Bear, in June of 2009, our first number was #12! (I love you Molly for remembering that!) I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was disappointed with our number back then. I had hoped we would be #8! Some nerve. :) We've been waiting almost 2 years to get to where we started the first time. Ethiopian adoption has changed, especially with our agency. But we've learned to trust in the timing. I have more to share on trust later.
Cold, windy, rainy Spring here. Can't wait to put winter coats away and see some flowers. Bring on Spring!
Our new way of marking time. When we made the chains, we were #37 on the girls list, #28 on the boys list, and #13 on the siblings list. Below, Bear is attempting to show you that the chain is much longer than he is. With any luck, he'll keep growing and the chain will keep shrinking. I pray the chains shrink faster than he grows. He's growing way too fast by the way. His size 11 feet are looking huge.
Today we cut the first links from the chain. (No referrals today, we're just getting caught up.)
Getting scissors ready. It's all about the tools.
Cutting!
And new numbers are, drumroll please...
#35 girls
#27 boys
#12 siblings
For some perspective, my friend Molly remembered that when we went on the waitlist for Bear, in June of 2009, our first number was #12! (I love you Molly for remembering that!) I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was disappointed with our number back then. I had hoped we would be #8! Some nerve. :) We've been waiting almost 2 years to get to where we started the first time. Ethiopian adoption has changed, especially with our agency. But we've learned to trust in the timing. I have more to share on trust later.
Cold, windy, rainy Spring here. Can't wait to put winter coats away and see some flowers. Bring on Spring!
Friday, March 8, 2013
February Numbers
#38 girls (last month 39)
#29 boys (last month 30)
#13 siblings (last month 14)
While there hasn't been much news in the way of referrals since the beginning of the year, there was a fair amount of Ethiopia adoption related news. A team of delegates from various Ethiopian government offices traveled to the US in January to visit each agency working in ET. It seems they were confirming which agencies are reputable and weeding out others. Soon after the delegates returned to Ethiopia, several Ethiopia programs closed or are now losing their license. We are glad though not surprised that AGCI is an agency that has been relicensed. AGCI is making changes of its own, announcing earlier this month that it will only accept families adopting children aged 3 years old and older. They will no longer accept new families into the Ethiopia program who are adopting infants. (This does not effect families like ours who are already waiting.) Other agencies made similar changes last year.
And here we are, still a family waiting to adopt an infant from Ethiopia. We know the issues around infant adoption and we know there are babies in Ethiopia who legitimately need families. We are moving forward trusting that we are partnering with people in Ethiopia and in the US who are working hard to do the right thing, putting child welfare ahead of all other considerations.
And things are looking up for referrals. We unofficially know of some referrals this week. I wonder if we may be near a turning point?? For a little fun, here's a video that Bear has been watching a lot of in the past 2 days. A video made by Suzanne, one of the waiting mamas, with her daughter, one of the waiting big sisters. Thank you girls for making us laugh!
#29 boys (last month 30)
#13 siblings (last month 14)
While there hasn't been much news in the way of referrals since the beginning of the year, there was a fair amount of Ethiopia adoption related news. A team of delegates from various Ethiopian government offices traveled to the US in January to visit each agency working in ET. It seems they were confirming which agencies are reputable and weeding out others. Soon after the delegates returned to Ethiopia, several Ethiopia programs closed or are now losing their license. We are glad though not surprised that AGCI is an agency that has been relicensed. AGCI is making changes of its own, announcing earlier this month that it will only accept families adopting children aged 3 years old and older. They will no longer accept new families into the Ethiopia program who are adopting infants. (This does not effect families like ours who are already waiting.) Other agencies made similar changes last year.
And here we are, still a family waiting to adopt an infant from Ethiopia. We know the issues around infant adoption and we know there are babies in Ethiopia who legitimately need families. We are moving forward trusting that we are partnering with people in Ethiopia and in the US who are working hard to do the right thing, putting child welfare ahead of all other considerations.
And things are looking up for referrals. We unofficially know of some referrals this week. I wonder if we may be near a turning point?? For a little fun, here's a video that Bear has been watching a lot of in the past 2 days. A video made by Suzanne, one of the waiting mamas, with her daughter, one of the waiting big sisters. Thank you girls for making us laugh!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Cabin Fever
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Phylonoe
These are pictures of a very old marble grave stone. It's about 2,000 years old actually. From the 4th century BC, it was found in Psychiko Greece. It's one in a collection of grave steles at the National Archaelogical Museum in Athens, which Dodd and I visited in December.
"A woman who died in childbirth looks sorrowfully at her baby, held by another woman as it reaches for its dead mother."
"The name of the dead woman, Phylonoe, is recorded in the epigram carved on the epistyle."
Seeing this as we wandered through the museum stopped me in my tracks. I was stunned realizing what it depicted. The moment of separation between mother and child. The very moment of loss.
The ancient story this grave stone told felt personal. The mother's expression.The shared sorrow between the three characters. I took photos through my tears. That baby's outstretched arm. It broke the dam.
After it's initial personal impact, the grave stele validated something that seems to need validation. Most of the statuary in the museum paid homage to great warriors, great athletes, great gods, great leaders. This one honored a woman who died in childbirth. An unfortunate reality in the 4th century BC, and an all too common reality still in the 21st century. Phylonoe was given more importance than many of the women who die in childbirth today receive. Seeing another woman play a role worthy of immortalizing on a grave stone also hit home. And perhaps most validating, seeing a child's loss acknowledged.
I found myself taking comfort in this massive piece of marble. A strange consolation that comes from seeing a loss recognized and in knowing a specific sorrow is shared through thousands of years.
Too beautiful not to share.
"A woman who died in childbirth looks sorrowfully at her baby, held by another woman as it reaches for its dead mother."
"The name of the dead woman, Phylonoe, is recorded in the epigram carved on the epistyle."
Seeing this as we wandered through the museum stopped me in my tracks. I was stunned realizing what it depicted. The moment of separation between mother and child. The very moment of loss.
The ancient story this grave stone told felt personal. The mother's expression.The shared sorrow between the three characters. I took photos through my tears. That baby's outstretched arm. It broke the dam.
After it's initial personal impact, the grave stele validated something that seems to need validation. Most of the statuary in the museum paid homage to great warriors, great athletes, great gods, great leaders. This one honored a woman who died in childbirth. An unfortunate reality in the 4th century BC, and an all too common reality still in the 21st century. Phylonoe was given more importance than many of the women who die in childbirth today receive. Seeing another woman play a role worthy of immortalizing on a grave stone also hit home. And perhaps most validating, seeing a child's loss acknowledged.
I found myself taking comfort in this massive piece of marble. A strange consolation that comes from seeing a loss recognized and in knowing a specific sorrow is shared through thousands of years.
Too beautiful not to share.
Monday, February 4, 2013
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