Thursday, September 4, 2008

Out of Africa...


Tonight we completed our application for adoption. Again.

This time, we are going with Ethiopia. There are a lot of reasons for this choice. For one, it's known to be a very smooth process, and after the mess of Vietnam, we are ready for "smooth". But there are more important reasons than this. Here are a few to start with...

~ One in ten children die before their first birthday
~ One in six children die before their fifth birthday
~ 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
~ 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
~ The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
~ 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
~ 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia

I really believed that we would find Ellie in Vietnam, and for a while I was ready to quit the whole process because that country fell through. But Jeff and I believe that God has called us to adopt. Period. And we love Ellie, wherever she is out there. So, we will look in Ethiopia. And I do believe that she is out there.

Please pray with us that God unites us with her. I trust that He has chosen the perfect little girl for our family, a girl whose personality and spirit matches our own. A girl who will know that we are her mommy, daddy and brother.

So... she will look a bit differently than we originally thought. But who cares? She will be ours, and well, that's enough for me!!

6 comments:

  1. She will look just like she should, have the personality she should, and be just who she should be.
    She is God's choice for you ... just as you said; where ever she is out there in the big world.
    I am thinking of you =)

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  2. Can't wait to meet Ellie.
    Still praying for you guys and we love you.

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  3. Thanks Kristin.. very sweet!
    And you too, Robo.. I appreciate those prayers.

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  4. Holly,
    I am so excited to hear that you are pursuing Ethiopia! We have fallen in love with this country and it's people and we haven't even been there yet. I will be praying that everything will be much smoother for you. I know it must be a big risk "starting over again." But for the grace of God, my dear- wouldn't we all be a mess!?! I look forward to following this new journey for your family.

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  5. I failed to mention that our 4 year old, Lily has become enamored with praying for you to "find your Ellie." She will be so excited to hear that you're looking in her "Eetiopia."

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  6. We can't wait to meet Ellie. We know that she is waiting patiently for you to come for her. Nana and Papa already love her so much.

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