He's Home

I forgot to blog it but Gus came home…actually he’s been home for 6 weeks now. Things got a little hectic and Gus just immediately became part of the family. We were thinking about the whole process just the other day. There were all those months of praying and crying and working to get him home. Now he sleeps in his crib and eats at our table. In the end we have a new baby in the house.

I’ll mention the trip home. Traveling 28 hours with a baby and then arriving jetlagged was probably the thing I dreaded most about the whole process. We had to wait until 11 PM in Ethiopia to even board our plane to Frankfurt. I had prayed a lot for patience. I’d say it went better than expected. He slept almost the whole way to Germany. In Frankfurt we had about 4 hours during which we drank coffee and ate sausage (seems like what one does in Germany). The flight from Frankfurt to Washington D.C. just seemed long. He did as well as can be expected. We had a very nice couple in front of us who were traveling home from their court trip. They didn’t mind the extra screaming. Gus screamed too.

When we arrived at Dulles Gus became a US citizen upon arrival. He seemed happy to be able to crawl around in the airport. (Yeah, he crawls. We were surprised too. On our first afternoon together in the guest house we set down our little baby who could hardly sit and he took off crawling like a pro.) After another 2 hours at Dulles we left for Savannah. The weather was terrible and I seriously thought for a few minutes that we had come all this way only to die a flaming death somewhere near Statesboro, GA. But we made it to the ground. Gus, feeling like it was 3 in the morning slept through the whole thing. The Lord got us through it all.

We woke him up and introduced him to friends and family. That arrival was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a sense of accomplishment. It was great to finally introduce him to Lucy and Harry. They had prayed for him for so long! I’ll try to post some more thoughts on the process. I’d totally do it again but we definitely need some time to not be in the adoption process.

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Almost There

Is it possible that one week from today this process will be complete? If the schedule holds we’ll arrive in Savannah with little Gus sometime next Thursday evening. We leave tomorrow at 1 PM. I can hardly wait. This week has seemed to crawl at times.

Assuming we are on the verge of bringing Gus home I’d like to mention the one overwhelming constant throughout this experience: God’s faithfulness. He has provided exactly what we’ve needed at every step of the way and I’m not just talking about money. He has provided strength. He has provided support. He has moved us to do things that I didn’t think we could do. From the moment we said, “Let’s adopt from Ethiopia,” He has gone before us.

I hope to write more in the weeks ahead as Erika and I reflect on this process. But over and over again we have been amazed at God’s goodness to us in providing exactly what we needed exactly when we needed it. I hope as Gus becomes a part of our lives here in Savannah that he will be to us a constant reminder of that goodness. And my prayer is that little August David will grow up and live as an ongoing testimony of the goodness and faithfulness of God for the rest of his life.

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God is Great, God is Good

At this point in the process news comes on Wednesdays. At least it seems that way. Two weeks ago we found out that we would have been submitted to the embassy that day were it not for some missing paperwork. Last Wednesday we found out that we had in fact been submitted to the embassy. Today we found out that we have now been cleared by the embassy. All that we need now is an appointment at the American embassy in Addis so that we can bring Gus home. Here’s where things got messy.

You see, we bought tickets last Wednesday night to travel to Ethiopia tomorrow. Our plan was that we would clear today (which we did). Then, we would get an appointment for sometime early next week (which we didn’t). Turns out, the first available appointment is Monday, June 20th. That’s two days after the date marked on our ticket home. There will be a series of planes taking off tomorrow that would have eventually gotten us into Addis and we won’t be on them.

We’ll know tomorrow the date and time of our appointment and we’ll rebook our flights. But the main thing I want to say tonight is that I believe God is firmly in control of this situation. I believe that, even though things didn’t work out like we hoped, our loving Father in heaven is actively working out all of these events to accomplish His great and good purposes. This process has been fraught with wonderful success and devastating disappointments. I want to be careful that I’m not just expressing praise and thanksgiving to God when things go our way. Today things didn’t, which led to some tough decisions and frustrated plans. But God still deserves to be praised.

The forces of darkness did not thwart God’s plan. I believe Satan hates children and adoption but I do not believe for a moment that he has ever gained the upper hand in the course of this adoption. No matter what happens we know that God is great and God is good and that He will be glorified even if we don’t understand.

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What happened yesterday?

“We should hear something on Wednesday.” That had been my response since last Wednesday to the question, “When are you going to get Gus?” We’re currently waiting to be submitted to the US embassy. The embassy only accepts adoption paperwork on Wednesdays and we had good reason to believe that it would happen yesterday…and it almost did.

Turns out, everything was ready. Gus even has his own little passport. (Well, it’s not truly a little passport, as in, a smaller passport. I suppose that in this context little is a synonym for cuter. My passport on the other hand is neither little nor cute.) But when they got ready to submit they were missing a document and some photocopies. Ugh! AWAA called us and we sent the missing paperwork FedEx international priority mail to Addis. It should be there Monday and then my guess is that we will be a go for next Wednesday.

I truly think we’re weeks away from bringing him home. Do continue to pray that we can clear these last hurdles. And pray that God will continue to provide the final funds necessary to finish the job. He has been so faithful in that regard.

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So What's Next?

August David Cleland is officially and legally our son. The only problem is that we can't bring him into the US just yet. Over the next week or two our agency will be gathering the necessary documents for submission to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. Once those documents are submitted the embassy has 10 days to decide if they need any further investigation into his situation. Because he was abandoned we don't have much reason to suspect that they'll need to do anything. At that point he'll be issued a passport and a visa and then we can bring him home.

Because he has now been adopted he could be with us (in Ethiopia) at any time. It just occurred to me that there is an illustration here about our present state of adoption in Christ but I'll save that for another post. Every now and then the thought enters my mind that we should just go get him and wait there. We'll see. We do have two kids here at home to take care of.

It is absolutely thrilling to be at this point in the process. This has been a long ride and it's been hard at times. But the thought that we're weeks away from having him home with us makes it all worth it.

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One Less Orphan

Finally! We received word this morning that August David Cleland is officially our son. We are so thankful to God and to all who have prayed. Soon he'll be submitted to the US Embassy so that we can obtain the papers needed to bring him to live here. I'll post more soon.

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Trip #1 Complete

The trip home from Ethiopia was bittersweet. It was absolutely thrilling to arrive home Saturday night and see Lucy and Harry run down the concourse to meet us. Thankfully no security guards tried to stop them as they sprinted past the waiting point. But our family isn’t complete as Gus still lives in a transition home half a world away. We’re waiting to receive word that the judge has received the documents she requested so that the adoption can be finalized. Then we can be submitted to the US embassy so that Gus can be cleared to come home.

I need to post some thoughts about our trip and will try to do so over the next couple of weeks. In many respects the trip simply couldn’t have gone better. Meeting and spending time with Gus was wonderful. We stayed healthy, our luggage traveled on the same schedule we did, and jet lag was of little consequence while we were there. Yebsabi Guest House, where we stayed, was very nice. And while I was never able to access this blog I was able to access the internet most of the time.

In the days ahead please continue to pray with us that God, in His providence, will direct the many intricate little variables that need to fall into place so that we can finish this up. We haven't passed court yet but we're praying we will soon. Also please join us in praying that we will be able to raise the last little bit we need to make one final trip. The reserves are getting low but God has always provided us with just what we need right when we need it. Things would have to go very smoothly but it is not out of the question that we would have Gus home by Memorial Day. This certainly isn’t impossible with God.

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Day 1: Travel

I don't know if we'll be able to blog from Ethiopia or not so I'm going to seize the moment and catch you up on our trip so far. We're in Charlotte, sitting in rocking chairs and watching the planes take off. After a short 48 minute trip from Savannah we have our first layover: 4 hours. For our last American meal we chose CPK express. I've had worse at the airport and better at CPK.

The parting from our children was far less dramatic than I expected. Lucy chose pancakes with Grammy and Harry over a trip to the airport. Who can blame her really?

Up next we have 9 hours to Frankfurt followed by another 6 hour layover. I've been reading Robinson Crusoe which is quite good so far. Erika's reading another Randy Alcorn novel. I think that's all I've got for now.

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Here We Go

We leave for Ethiopia tomorrow morning at 11. International travel is overwhelming for many reasons, not the least of which is the length of the flight. I don’t really sleep on planes so I’ll probably arrive in Ethiopia Saturday evening ready to go to bed. We’re flying into Addis Ababa which is the capital city of Ethiopia. That’s where we will be spending all of our time.

Sunday, April 17th, will be Easter in Ethiopia (we get two Easters this year!). We hope to get to go to church in the morning and then to see Gus for the first time that afternoon. I just can’t imagine what that will be like. We spend the week visiting Gus and then seeing some of the sights in Addis. Then, on Thursday, we go to court. Pray that the judge will pass us on the first try. This will help the process to go much more smoothly. If we don’t pass we don’t have to appear before the judge again but it would definitely slow things down.

We head for home late Friday night. If all goes well we’ll go back to Ethiopia in 4-6 weeks to finally bring Gus home. Lord willing, we will worship with our home church on Easter morning. Speaking of our home church, we have been overwhelmed by their kindness. We’re headed for Ethiopia loaded with stuff for the children.

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Finally!

I’m so happy to finally post some good news. We got our court date: April 21st! Thanks to all of those who prayed. I’m sorry not to have posted the good news sooner. We found out last Friday while I was in California. This week has been a flurry of jet lag and travel planning. We fly out April 15th and will get to spend a few days with Gus before the court date. Can’t wait.

Please keep praying. Pray that we will pass court on the first try. Pray that Harry stays well while we’re gone. Pray that we’ll be able to raise the last of the funds needed to complete this process. We’re so thankful that we had more than enough to purchase tickets and provide for our in-country expenses.

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The Difficulties of Adoption

“You should really blog.” That thought has been in my mind for weeks now. January 5th was the last entry and here it is March 5th. A lot has happened in those two months. For those of you who don’t know yet, on January 26th we got another referral for a little boy who is now called Gus (August David). We thought we were set and that this time everything would proceed smoothly. And yet we continue to wait for a court date.

I tend to look for someone to blame so that I can get mad at someone specific. Erika tends to just get real sad. We are constantly reminding each other that neither response is God honoring. Both of us have different ways of committing the same sin. We don’t want to trust that God is really the One in control. Because of this adoption I am more aware now than at any other time in my life that prayer is the one valuable thing I can do right now. Our Father in heaven is the only One who can move the hearts and pens of men so that we can bring Gus home.

Paul Miller’s A Praying Life has been tremendously helpful. Through that book I have learned to pray for specifically. We tried praying very specifically: “God let us get a court date today,” and “God help us get a court date this week.” Thus far He has not answered that specific request and we must trust that there is a reason.

There are troubling things going on in Ethiopia. The foes of adoption are prevailing upon the Ethiopian government to grant fewer adoptions. It seems that certain elite international organizations prefer that orphanages be full of starving babies. No doubt Satan prefers that, too; second, I would guess, only to seeing them aborted. This too is something that I cannot control. But God can and does.

We would certainly ask you to pray with us. Pray that the court would grant us a date soon. Things in Ethiopia could change quickly for good or for bad. Pray that God would limit the influence of anti-adoption groups. And pray for all of the families who are currently waiting to adopt babies from Ethiopia.

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Complications in the Process

On October 22nd she came bursting into our lives amid the sounds of ships on River Street. That call was followed by an email with a picture attached. We named her Mae that night and I began praying that we would be able to bring her home quickly and that she would know Jesus. As of Monday afternoon things have changed. Those prayers I thought I was praying for my daughter may turn out to have been for a little girl in Ethiopia who I will never know. There are complications in her situation that at best may draw out this process for months and even years and at worst may have rendered her unadoptable.

The choice is ours whether to continue in this process in light of this new information or to ask for another referral. The cold hard facts seem to make for a clear choice. Since I do not buy into the ridiculousness that is the old heart and head distinction (Don't think, feel!...ugh) I would expect to be struggling with this less than I am. And yet the truth is that we have become very attached to the little baby in those pictures and, even though we don’t know her, she feels like she is ours. It feels like we are abandoning her.

We’ve prayed, talked, and sought counsel for two days and we know that we need to ask the agency to move us back in line for another referral. If this little baby never comes to live in my house then I am certain that my prayers for her have not been in vain. I am a strong believer in the providence of God and we will be certain that the child who calls me Dad will be exactly the one he has for me. There were no mistakes in the process.

I have been reading Psalm 119 over and over again for months:

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn from your statutes.” (119:71)

“I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” (119:75)

I’m so challenged by these verses and have thought often that I want to be the person who remembers to thank God in the bad times as well as the good. And I don’t want it to be just the right words. I want it to be heartfelt trust that these circumstances will truly lead to His glory and my good. Well, here’s my chance. And I do trust that God is good and does good (119:68). We don’t know why this adoption took this turn but we know it was no accident.

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What's taking so long?

Things have been slow on the adoption front. Our initial excitement to see a picture of our baby girl has given way to weeks, and now months, of waiting on something to happen. It seems there is a bit of a hold-up administratively and until some things get resolved we won’t be able to go to Ethiopia for our court date. This time has been more difficult than I would have expected. At one time we would have expected to have her home for Christmas.

We would so appreciate your prayers. On Sunday night I preached that the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. This is a promise that is easy to miss as we read over verses in the Bible we have heard all of our lives. But it is timely for us to be reminded that God our Father wants us to bring our requests before Him. In Luke 18:1-8 the widow persistently brings her request before the unjust judge who eventually relents out of selfishness and annoyance. “Will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” (vs. 7)

So we’re believing this promise and will be bringing our little Mae before the throne of our Father in Heaven constantly until we can bring her home. After all, He is a father of the fatherless and a judge for widows. (Ps. 68:5-6) As it says at the top of this page, “He sets the lonely in families.” We can be confident that we are asking Him to do something that He will be happy to do.

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It's a Girl

We knew it would come eventually. We’ve waited for weeks to hear word about the baby God had for us in Ethiopia. We began this process over a year ago now. At 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon as we prepared to go meet some dear friends visiting Savannah Erika decided that we wouldn’t hear this week. For Erika, weekends had become one long exercise in patience since referral calls only go out on weekdays.

Having greeted our friends at their hotel we headed for River Street. We hadn’t even had time to tell them where we were in the adoption process when the phone rang. Right there on River Street on a beautiful Savannah afternoon Erika looked at her phone and said, “I think this is it!” Lucy, Harry and our friends continued down the street as Erika and I listened with tears welling up in our eyes. We are now the parents of a 5 week old baby girl. Even as a massive cargo ship from who knows where in the world sailed into the port of Savannah we became aware for the first time of a little girl in Africa who is now our sweet daughter.

From there the afternoon was a whirlwind of excitement and fellowship with good friends. We walked around downtown Savannah telling each other of all the things God is doing in our lives and churches. After walking them back to their hotel to say goodbye we drove to my parents’ house where, for the first time, in the company of Grammy and Granddaddy, we saw our daughter. No doubt it will be a story that we tell her over and over again.

Sleep came slowly for Erika last night. This morning we’re busy filling out papers and contacting friends. We are blessed to be able to write a check for exactly the amount we need to accept the referral. If you remember, God provided almost exactly that amount at our garage sale late last spring.

This morning our prayers have changed. For months we have asked God for help as we believed He was leading us to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Now we pray for a specific baby girl that He would keep her safe in His loving arms until we can get there to bring her home.

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We're on Deck!

Great news today. We got official word from America World that we’re on deck. We could be just weeks away from receiving our referral. Like I said in my last post: things are happening and we couldn’t be more excited.

We started this process almost exactly a year ago. It has been a long process and at times things have seemed so quiet. People come up and ask for an update and all we can say is, “We’re still waiting.” You can only imagine the joy to hear that we’re truly getting closer to our goal of meeting our baby.

Thank you so much for the prayers and for those who are keeping up with us on this journey.

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Things Are Happening

Things are starting to move again toward our adoption. As of this past week we believe that we have moved into the top 10 on the list of those waiting to adopt from Ethiopia. We’re getting closer and closer to receiving our referral. Erika tells me that we’ll get a call from America World and then an email with a picture of our baby. She says that most families wait until they’re all together which means she’ll have to go crazy until I get home from work. There’s no doubt that there will be some exciting days ahead.

Regardless of where we are on the list we are seeing God continue to provide the money that we need to bring this baby home. Last Sunday our pastor called me into his office to “give me something.” We’ve been working on changing our insurance at the church and I assumed that he needed to give me some documents. Instead, he handed me an envelope with twelve one hundred dollar bills from an anonymous person. We're so thankful. We also have received a travel grant of $3000 from Show Hope.

I could not possibly have imagined the ways that God would provide for this adoption. Over and over again He has provided exactly what we needed.

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Huge Adoption Yard Sale

We’ve been on blog silence for the last couple of weeks due largely to our garage sale preparations. This last week has been very intense. We’ve been dealing with health problems, several unexpected schedule changes and the looming presence of jury duty. I had no idea how this garage sale was going to turn out. I was reluctant to begin with and as of Thursday night I had no idea what to expect.

All I can do right now is thank the Lord for His great kindness to us. First of all, I am so thankful for our church. So many of our brothers and sisters in Christ came out in a super-sacrificial way. Not only did they donate some really good stuff, dozens of people donated countless hours to making our sale the success it was. Right now we are amazed and humbled.

Second, He gave us wonderful weather and great crowds. The sale was set to start on Saturday morning. By Friday night when we left to get a little sleep we had already raised almost $1500.00.

Third, and I can hardly write this without tearing up, God provided us $4800.00 which is exactly the amount we need when we get our referral.

Right now above all I am thankful. I am thankful to God. I am thankful to my parents for all of their help this weekend. I am thankful to our church for their incredible love and support.

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Why International Adoption? Part 3

Erika says I’m becoming obsessive about creating short posts. I’ve got this thing right now about making sure that I communicate what I want to say before my reader gets bored and goes back to surfing facebook. This is going to be a short post but mainly because there’s just not that much to add to the point.

Why international adoption you ask? (Did someone ask this or did I just start answering the question?) My third respond is: Why not? I know. I’m not supposed to answer a question with a question. But we need to be careful that we don’t deem the things we love and do more sanctified just because they’re the things we love and do. There are many ways to adopt/serve orphans. Every way has positives and negatives. Hopefully in every case the goal is to serve God by serving these children. So it’s really not up to me to decide which way is best for somebody else.

From my experience it is best to be very settled in whatever you choose. Adoption itself isn’t for everyone and certain types of adoption won’t be right for everyone called to adopt. The process can be challenging at times and it is important in the midst of those challenges to be resolved that you’ve made a wise decision. So when it comes to how one intends to adopt I suggest you do good research, seek good counsel, and pray that the Lord will give you wisdom (trusting that He will! – James 1:5-6).

See also:

Why International Adoption? Part 1
Why International Adoption? Part 2

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Weekend Report

One nifty little feature of this process is that we’re able to follow our dossier as it travels to Ethiopia. They gave us the FedEx number so that we could keep track of the progress. As of yesterday morning it had arrived in Newark where it remains as of the last time we checked. Hopefully it will soon be on its way to some airport in Europe and then on to Ethiopia.

This has been one of the most eventful times of this whole process. It’s nice to be moving forward after having been stuck waiting to send the dossier away for so long. I’m sure we’ll be back to feeling like nothing’s going on soon enough.

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Why International Adoption? Part 2

One of the things that has driven Erika and I to international adoption is the overwhelming need. There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world today. That is a staggering number of children. Many of these children spend their early lives in the care of government institutions until they are deemed old enough. At that point most end up on the streets with little or no education or skills to support themselves. Many of these are forced to turn to prostitution and other illegal activity just to survive.

Last year Erika and I read a book that helped put some faces on these 143 million orphans. There is no Me Without You is a biography about a woman in Ethiopia who somewhat reluctantly became a caregiver to dozens of children. In Ethiopia the AIDS epidemic has decimated whole villages. Girls as young as 7 or 8 are left alone to care for their younger siblings. Haregewoin Teffera began sheltering children reluctantly after the death of her daughter. By the time she died in March of 2009 she had cared for over 400 children. Yes, her ministry to 400 children seems like a drop in the bucket compared to 143 million. But her love was hardly meaningless to those 400 little lives.

The same could be said (and has been said) to us. What good are you going to do for 143 million orphans? While it is true that this adoption won’t make a dent in the statistics, we believe that to one child who is created in the image of God we can make an eternal difference.

See also:

Why International Adoption? Part 1

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