P.S.

I am considering changing the look of my blog soon...so don't be alarmed if it appears to be "Under Construction"...I am just searching for the perfect one! =)

Why?

     














I have been asked these questions so many times: 
Why Ethiopia? 
Why NOT America? 
Why Adoption at all? 
Why Now? 

And, while I know every adoptive family gets asked these questions...and I have never been offended by such questions...for some strange reason, I felt the need to answer them (in bulk at least---I have never shied away from answering them in one-on-one conversations)....

1. Why Adoption? 

       
     Well, put simply: James 1:27.   

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." 

     
     We believe that, as Christians, we have a call to care for the orphans....and trust me, if you spent anytime at ALL learning about how many orphans there truly are,  it would break your heart.   As adopted children ourselves, we knew it was part of our personal heritage to adopt. As Christians---adopted into God's family, remember?--we are ALL called and it is part of ALL our heritages. Children don't need perfect or rich parents...they need praying, loving, protecting parents.....They need parents who will train them up in the way of the Lord, protecting their destinies and purpose until they are able to care for it themselves....Those are the ONLY qualifications---making a LOT more of us qualified than we thought! My challenge to everyone is to seek God about His plan for your family or better yet, seek Him about His plan for His children--because it's difficult to turn down the call of God when you realize there are children at stake!

2. Why Ethiopia instead of America? 

      
     There ARE many orphans in America that need families... and I pray every day that each and every orphan finds a loving, Christian household to be raised in...we simply know what we have been called to do this time. And that was Africa. We knew all along that we would adopt--though we hadn't seriously prayed about God's will or timing concerning that. Then we took a 2 week trip to Africa. That changed us. Here was this beautiful continent with such beautiful people, living in worse conditions than our farm animals in America (and we all know what kind of fuss gets made over their conditions!). So we began praying "Why God? Why do we have this pull to Africa? Why does it feel like our hearts were left there?" and we began researching ...countries...orphans...adoptions. God began to reveal His plan for our family in a real way...in a way that makes the slow, lengthy process that much more frustrating. I don't know about you, but when I get a word from God, I just want to take that document and present it as a "pass" through the bureaucracy that we crawl through in the natural to get there!!!! 

    I wanted to share with you just a glimpse of what we found...Here are some facts that touched us and began to break our hearts as we researched:

• [Cool stat.] Ethiopia  is the only African country to have never been colonized. Christianity dates back to the time of the Apostles (approx 42 A.D.), even mentioned in the Bible!
 

• ET has a lower life expectancy at birth than the average of the LEAST developed countries, with only 42.5 years.
•  
• One in ten children die before their first birthday.
•  
• Ethiopia ranked 20th in 2004 in the under-five mortality rank (which includes countries currently at war--ET btw, is not.)
•  
• Malnutrition is the leading cause of more than half of all deaths among children younger than five.
•  
• More than 80,000 children die from malaria each year (treated mosquito nets cost less than $10)
•  
• Diarrhea currently accounts for over 20% of under-five mortality rate...Only 20% of all people have access to safe drinking water.
•  
• The country is home to OVER four million orphans, or 12 percent of all children. More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. 
•  
• There are estimates of approximately 5 million additional    "street" children who have, either not been identified as orphans, or have left the system.
•  
• 38% of children (0-5) are underweight for their age.
•  
• 3/4 of the population live on less than $1/day

    So, while there is need in America...and someday, I may be posting about our domestic adoption....God had a plan for us, that was set in motion long before that trip to Africa..and that plan, for today at least, is international adoption. 

3. Why Now?   
     
     We never intended to embark on such a difficult and LONG path as our FIRST parenthood experience (remember this is more like being a pregnant ELEPHANT)...BUT GOD. We trust God to make a way where there seems to be no way, and we trust that this is His plan, and that the child that we are destined to protect, love, cherish, nurture, and raise up...was created to be in our family. We intend to teach all of our children about Africa, especially Ethiopia, and hope that THAT culture (or, for that matter,  the cultures of any of our children's birth countries) isn't just  part of our child who was adopted from there, but becomes part of our entire family's heritage...regardless of where they were born.

    So, I hope that answers any questions people have and, honestly, I pray it puts a burning desire inside of you to, in some way, care for the orphans...of America, of Africa, of anywhere really...They are ALL God's children. I pray that adoption becomes more of a choice than a last resort, and that families all over this very comfortable, free, nation would pursue the honor of being part of a child's life....Because in the end, parenthood--birth or adoption--isn't about us anyways...it's all about them.

~Ashley

Update!

     So, I know there are several people out there who have been waiting for an update...and honestly, I have purposely been waiting to give one. It's been such a stressful past few months  that I decided early on not to give any updates until we had everything turned in (for the adoption application) and I was finished with Corporate Finance...Well, neither of those two things are true yet---but I am SOOO close that I decided to go ahead and break my own vow. So, for those of you interested.....here is your update =)

     Adoption: I have firmly determined that if anyone wanting to procreate had to go through the application process that we have to go through to adopt...our country would NOT have a teenage pregnancy issue! Its been so stressful and the truth is---this process is NOTHING compared to the Dossier...*shudders* I don't even want to THINK about that yet! Just to turn in our second application (not even APPROVED to adopt yet) we had to locate, fill out, and turn in the following: 
.

• 4 page Adoption Application
• Special Care Checklist where we were to mark what conditions (and to what degree) we were okay with in our child...out of a list of over 100 conditions (Shout out to my mom for creating a 28 PAGE description list for some of the more confusing ones)
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage License (If anyone knows the Gutters from Galvin(?) OK--we received theirs first and had to send off again for ours...grr..State of AR Dept of Vitals!!!)
• 5 recommendation letters (thank you-you know who you are)
• Guardianship Affidavit
• Proof of health insurance that covers pre-existing conditions
• Proof of employment- notarized, signed in blue ink, etc. (almost stopped the whole process)
• Health Examination Forms-sent directly from our Dr. complete with blood work (sympathy vote here, please)
• 2 set of photos including 4 posed family photos in Sunday style clothes, pictures of each room of the house excluding bathrooms, and of course front and back of home
• Personal autobiographies (4-5 pages typed)
• Past 3 years taxes
• Past 5 years income/salary statements 
• Certificate of finances and statement of financial condition (including past three bank statements) 

and did I mention that most things had to be notarized and that two copies of everything must be turned in with the originals....


I should post a picture of all this paperwork....all I can think is "What else could they POSSIBLY need for the Dossier?" 


*shudders again*

     BUT-we are FINALLY through! Scheduled to turn everything in on Monday morning and then we wait for approval to start the Home Study process...At which point, I will begin soliciting help from some of you (ahem...you know if you are close enough....) to:

• paint our office (future guest room), 
• clean out current guest room (future Baby Smith's room) 
• paint some shelves that have been patiently waiting for me to finish them! Who's in?!?!?! =) 

Don't worry...I plan to pay a service to come deep-clean my house before the home visits, so I wont make you scrub floors and bathtubs!! 


Wow.....who would have ever thought it was this strenuous! I mean, I understand that they want to make sure we are in the right condition to bring a child into our family...but with 4.5 MILLION orphans in Ethiopia...how can making the process this difficult and long be in the best interest of the children??  I just pray that our process goes quickly and that God protects our child until we can get to him/her and bring them home......... 


In the future (okay-today), I plan to post some of the statistics about Ethiopia.....If you truly believe the Word of God and have ever read James 1:27, then I don't know how any believer could NOT prayerfully consider adoption...there are SO many children all over the world..who need parents who love them...not wealthy aristocrats, or overwhelmingly successful parents...not PERFECT parents, just loving parents...parents who care about their destiny, who will comfort and protect them, and who can show them just a glimpse of Gods love for them....that is the truth of caring for orphans......God never intended for any child to grow up alone and unloved.....

      Okay, I guess you can tell my feelings on that...so I will move on. for now. at least...

     How is school going, you ask?? Well, I haven't failed out yet, I haven't been admitted into the psych ward (although I am sure I am close) and I am JUST ABOUT halfway there....It IS possible that I have put too much on my plate this time...I do still have the normal stresses of goals at work, church, home....BUT I find that I work best under pressure (which is why I am blogging instead of writing my paper on the Return on Investment of Post-secondary Education) and I am confident that I will finish...March 2011...I will present my capstone to the board...and then sleep....unless it's time to get Baby Smith, in which case---I won't be sleeping for a while =/    

     And if all else fails...I plan to use and abuse Nana and Papa with their new grandchild to catch up on rest (and maybe a tan) 

Just kidding..........;-)

     Other than that, life is good. Busy, chaotic, and overwhelming at times...but God is always so good to his children and I have already begun seeing the blessings being poured out in areas of my life that He alone could help in! We are looking forward to the next steps and always appreciate the support and prayers of our friends and family!

Til next time,

 Ashley

I have a blog?

Blogging is over-rated. Don't get me wrong, it has been such a blessing to have an outlet to express my self with the written word, but it can also be bothersome....I love it. But it IS just one more thing that, when I think about it, I simply think "You are behind on that". Is that even possible?? Isn't it supposed to be an asset to your life, not a burden?? One thing I have found to be certain about myself is that, I really don't know anything less than full-force.  Oh, don't worry, it isn't an arrogance issue, in fact, I really wish I had a better understanding of this thing they call "balance". People say "You are NOTHING if not passionate" and I shudder a little and think "yah, tell me about it...."

Lately, I have been consumed by the story of Jacob. A man who had only known the God of his fathers and wrestled with God. wrestled for a blessing, for an experience...And as I think about that story and all the directions God can take it and give revelation in, I am overcome with it. I remember a piece in Tommy Tenny's book "GodChasers" where he talks about the breadcrumbs [in the church] that were remnants of the experiences of the generations before. As I get older, I realize that I would hand over every position, every ministry, every bit of respect, recognition, and stature, to ensure that my children don't speak of the revivals of their mother's time. That they don't speak of the closeness their parents had with God. I burn with desire to ensure that my ceiling becomes their floor. That the greatest experience I could even imagine with God is the "norm" and the things that excite them aren't even in my imagination. Children who heal the sick, raise the dead, commune with God. It has gripped my heart that everything we "do", everytime we go to "church", every prayer we pray be about experiencing Him in a new, real way. Because, I know for certain that...once you do, it is settled in your life.

Just one of many things consuming my mind recently (okay, so maybe this particular topic gripped my heart a decade ago...but who's really counting).  I will touch base soon with a family/EA update!! So stay tuned!!

Ashley

Guest Author: Raising Up Missionaries

Guest Author: Raising Up Missionaries

Posted using ShareThis