4:30AM. That is the time that i have been waking up every morning since receiving Silas' referral. I don't always stay awake but I do always say a prayer for him as soon as i wake up. 11:30AM. That is the time in Ethiopia that it is when i am saying these prayers. I wonder if this is at all significant. I guess i will learn for myself soon enough since WE PASSED COURT ON THE FIRST GO! From what i hear this is somewhat unusual. I totally anticipated Christy from AGCI calling to tell me that we were delayed. With all the changes in Ethiopian adoption law lately i suspected it and even had a speech prepared in my mind to lighten the blow and keep myself from getting emotional on the phone with our poor caseworker. But instead, it was a joyous occasion and one that I will not soon forget. I planned a picnic with one of my best friends, Betsy, and her brood of kids, so that i would be distracted while waiting for the call. I got everyone loaded up and in the van and of course was running late AND needed gas in the van. While i was pumping gas Ava started banging on the window. This not an unusual occurrence, i ignored her at first. But then i heard her say, "Your phone!" My heart started racing and i managed to open the door and grab my phone on the last bit of ring tone before voicemail. Thank you my sweet little busybody Ava-Bell! Thankfully, Christy is a smart caseworker and knew not to even attempt small talk, she just said, "Well are you ready to be a mom again? I hope so, b/c you have a new baby boy!" Such. Good. News! Once again, we continue to marvel at the work of the Lord and his favor on us in this adoption. We continue to pray for Silas' complete and total healing from the Tetanus are believing in the God of Restoration. We are waiting for some more paperwork (again praying over paper, see previous post), and should receive tenative travel dates in the next two weeks.

On to some additional exciting news. A few weeks ago we sent out a Facebook message to everyone we knew appealing to people asking them to consider supporting our fundraising for travel expenses to Ethiopia. We were doing pretty well saving little by little but when we received Silas' referral so much earlier than anticipated it kinda threw the adoption budget for a loop. So in faith we sent out this message hoping that people would be able to give just a little to help. As of this evening, generous friends and family have given $1860 to help us bring Silas home! How AMAZING is this?!!! We are just so in awe of the generosity of people. Many of these people may never even meet Silas. Friends from high school that i haven't seen in years have sent in donations. An old friend today sent me a message to let me know that her little elementary aged girls picked up pine cones in their yard this weekend to earn money to help "the baby in Ethiopia." I keep telling people that i cannot wait to tell Silas about each one of the people who gave to help bring him home. They are each a part of his story. And our family will never be the same. We are better people for having experienced such generosity. Lord, forgive us for ever doubting that we could afford international adoption. You are not bound by any earthly thing.

There is one other fundraiser that we are working on that is VERY exciting and let's just say those who choose participate will reap GREAT benefits! That is all i am going to say for now but stay tuned for further details! ;)

I am sure there are many, many more lists to come along this journey, mostly of the packing and preparatory nature, but this week has been especially fully of cool little encouraging moments. So without any further rambling, here goes:

1. I worry about Silas. I worry about his health, his adjustment to getting home, his development, the mysteries that are waiting for us on the other side of this journey and lots of other little things. One particular day this week, i think it was Tuesday, i had been thinking a lot about Silas' health and development, wondering and dare i say worrying. While i was cooking dinner the doorbell rang and a package arrived from my little sister Misty. She had been doing her sister thing and buying up a bunch of stuff for Silas. I opened the package and there was whole plethora of super cute little baby things along with a few things for Ava and Atley. There was one little piece of clothing though that helped me to get my mind/heart straight for the day. It was quite the kick in the butt really. It was this little romper with a monkey lifting a barbell and on it were the words, "Stronger than you think." I burst into tears. And once again the heaviness of the day was eased by something simple, a little message of hope. On a romper. Made by Carters. Thanks Aunt Kitty. I love you.

2. As i have mentioned before i have been more than a little overwhelmed by the amount of reorganization that needs to take place before Silas comes home. It's funny really, although there are a few things that really MUST get done, many of the things on the list are things that would really just be nice to get done. Maybe it is my way of coping with the wait. Anyhow, also in the midst of all this we decided as a family that it is time for me to resign from my position at The Restoration House. So along with the list of things i said would likely never do/be (which apparently that list doesn't matter at all to God), i never thought i would be a 100% stay at home mom, never wanted to NOT be at home, just not 100% of the time--as in unemployed in the official sense of the word. On Wednesday afternoon i got the sprinkler out (IN APRIL), and let the kids play around, i just kept having this sense of urgency that i should go inside and get some "stuff done." I mean after all i have SO MUCH to do! But i just couldn't get myself to do it. I was SO enjoying that time outside with the kids, feeding them popsicles, playing bike wash and squirting water guns. It was a good moment, i had a conversation with a good friend about it. I think her words were, "We need to learn how to do that in every part of our lives." So I am trying, in these last few weeks of being a family of four, to really enjoy the end of an era, to as hokey as it sounds, cherish the little moments.

3. And now to Thursday. Wow. Thursday. It starts with a meeting Daniel had with our local radio DJ and friend, Marisa. They were meeting to discuss an upcoming TRH fundraiser and within the meeting Marisa mentioned that she had some tickets for us to a big event coming up. So this past Thursday was the big event, and the word "big" isn't the best word to describe it really. it was amazing. Hope in the Darkn, put on by Mike Hamilton's family (UT Athletic Director), was a fundraiser on several fronts. The money received during the event benefited Blood Water Mission as well as Show Hope. Both amazing organizations helping to make a difference in the water crisis as well as the plight of orphans in Africa. Show Hope is founded by Steven Curtis Chapman's family and serves to bring grants to families adopting internationally. Chapman ended the night with an acoustic set in which he shared his personal heart for his family and all that they have been through in the past few years. I simply cannot imagine the pain of losing a child. With that said, although there wasn't necessarily one big moment for me, it is still list worthy in that the evening was a huge reminder to me of how desperately i want my family to live outside ourselves, to always be aware of the world beyond Knoxville, TN. I want them to know and understand that $20 can buy 20 years worth of water for a person in Africa, that there are places in the world where they walk for miles to get water and it's dirty water! Lord, help me to teach my children to look beyond themselves.

4. Ok, gonna keep the next few short and light. Our new stroller arrived in the mail today! Woohoo!

5. One post on FB led to a ton of people offering to help us out in collecting baby stuff. It is good.

6. My hand is permanently damaged from writing thank you notes to people who have bought a tshirt or given toward our travel fund. That is good too!

7. ONE WEEK TIL COURT!

So there's the list. Feels good to review these things as i write them down, whether people are reading or not. ;)

So, i know it isn't really just over paper, that ultimately it is really about getting Silas home, but seriously I have never prayed more about paper in my life! I was just praying today about it in fact, praying that the person from MOWA and the person from Central Authority or whoever, would please get their stuff in THIS WEEK, so that next Friday when our name comes up all the PAPER is where it should be and says what it is supposed to say. There was this one moment today, around 12:23 to be exact, that i just had this strong sense of urgency to stop everything i was doing and start praying about the papers. So I did. I prayed. About paper. Again. God is faithful, even in the little things. Like paper. :)

In other news, a few important things got done around the house this weekend in the name of Silas Preparation. It does seem like Mission Impossible, but i am trying not to get too overwhelmed with it all. We cleaned out Atley & Ava's closets, moved some stuff into the cellar and hung some organizer things up in the closet for Silas' things. The best part was looking at each little article of clothing and thinking about how cute his little brown skin will look in each color. Some of the things he will wear will be passed down from Atley, which is super special and quite bittersweet. The clothing has been in rubbermaid tubs for awhile now, but you can still smell the faint sent of baby detergent. It is hard to imagine that he was once that little, especially after taking him for his kindergarten shots last Friday! Whew, was that a battle?! Another story for another day.

Well, time for the bedtime routine to begin for A&A. 10 days. 10 days until our court date. Hopefully and prayerfully what will be our only court date! Things moved so quickly to this point, but these days seem to be creeping by. I will probably look back and think of this time and wonder, "What the heck was my hurry?!"

Well, last Monday we officially received our referral for Silas and today we excepted it.  We hope to be traveling to bring Silas home in the next two months.

He had a very rough first three months but is doing so much better with his health.  He had some complications from being abandoned and some of the other things that arose from that experience.   We are so thankful to God for bringing him through this!

It has been an absolutely crazy week but it so comforting knowing he is our son and that he will be home soon enough!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and encourage you to keep Silas in mind over the next few months.  He still has a long way to go. 

Earlier this month our friends Jake and Emily Smith surprised by designing, purchasing and selling new tee-shirts celebrating adoption in support of bringing Silas home.  They brought their 200 hundred shirts to TCTC and setup shop.  It was such an amazing act of love on their part to do something like that for our family.  The response was amazing as even one family donated $500 toward our adoption while only taking two shirts.  We can’t thank this wonderful family enough.  We encourage you to check out all of our Adoption Tees including Jakes two latest designs by visiting AdoptionTees.org today. 

Also while you’re just surfin’ around the net check out Jake’s shop at MeltdownTees.com.

I suppose it is about time that I (mandy) chime in. My sweet husband has been plugging away in cyberspace trying to let the world know about this adoption thing and i have been well, trying to hold the fort down. But that's for another post.

So, why One More Time Again? Probably 8 years ago now i received from a dear friend a book entitled, "Ragamuffin Prayers." As may be obvious, it is a compilation of prayers from different types of people all of the world. There was one prayer that greatly touched me and i have never forgotten it. The words were simple. Short. The story goes that they are the words of an older African American man in a small church in Georgia. Each time this gentleman would stand to pray in his congregation he would recite these words at the beginning, "Lord, we come to you now over and over and one more time again." For some reason those words greatly resonate with me. For most of my life i have been on this journey with God and there is literally no telling how many times i have come to Him over and over and over about the same exact thing. And yet, in his gracious patience he continues to kindly work with me and answer my prayers over and over and one more time again. He is faithful in my doubt, even when i am like an infant tossed about.

This is our third adoption. Three may not seem like a lot to most people, but to us it is just as big, just as important, as if it were number 13. And if God decides to lead us to number thirteen, then number thirteen will be just as important as number 20, (now wouldn't that be something). Either way, this third adoption is just as thrilling to us as the first. It is different in that our sweet Silas will come from Ethiopia and it is our first go at an international experience. Thus far it has been a really cool journey and we are trying to enjoy each stage.

So, what's in a name? Usually, a story. And this is ours. We are coming to God, "over and over and one more time again," until he tells us otherwise, asking him to help us bring home this sweet little child to whom he has called us. And really, i hope he continues to call us, "over and over and one more time again." May we be faithful to him as he is to us.

We believe that adoption is beautiful and should be celebrated everywhere. As the founders of AdoptionTees.org we know first hand how adoption is an unbelievable sacrifice, joy, and blessing all at the same time. Our two children, Atley and Ava are both adopted domestically and we've been blessed with both them since birth. Right now we are in the process of adopting our third child, a little boy from Ethiopia. 100% of the proceeds from AdoptionTees.org go directly toward the costs of bringing Silas home. Thank you for not only celebrating adoption with us but also helping us bring our newest child home.

You can get your here today!