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!!
She will look just like she should, have the personality she should, and be just who she should be.
ReplyDeleteShe 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 =)
Can't wait to meet Ellie.
ReplyDeleteStill praying for you guys and we love you.
Thanks Kristin.. very sweet!
ReplyDeleteAnd you too, Robo.. I appreciate those prayers.
Holly,
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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."
ReplyDeleteWe 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.
ReplyDelete