Journey to Abel and Feven Faith Trip #1 Day 1

January 19th, 2011
   School was cancelled today due to black ice.  It was a blessing as the morning was proving to be VERY tough on the kids and me with saying, "goodbye".  Drake was begging to allow him to stay home from school, but I couldn't let him because if he stayed home, he wouldn't be allowed to play in his basketball game that night.  So, when we discovered that school was cancelled (yes, I failed to turn on the t.v., thinking it looked fine outside) it felt like a gift from God.  "Almost Ready Angie" was far from ready and it was a gift to have extra time to pack, and I was glad the kids were around.
  Lyndsay came over and served me greatly by updating my i-pod with music and setting up Skype for us.  Thank you Lynds!!!
   At 4:30p.m. we were ready to leave.  Saying goodbye was very hard!  We have never gone away this far or for this long before.  The MANY prayers of our friends and family were and are an enormous comfort!
   On the way out of town we stopped by the Mortensens house to pick up a camera bag and money they have for Birtukan, an Ethiopian gal who had been a World Vision sponsor child...that is she survived because someone was willing to sponsor her. ( We have a World Vision and a Compassion International sponsor child and it is so cool to be able to meet a women who was an actual sponsor child and hear her story.  There are many legit sponsor programs out there and for about $30.00/month you can change/save the life of a child who otherwise would hardly stand a chance.  Most offer the ability to maintain correspondence through letter exchange).  She and her husband now serve the Lord by helping orphans to be placed in family like homes within Addis.  We have the privilege of meeting her on Friday.
   I need to do a better job of packing on trip #2.  I have too much in my carry - on.

Diamonds from Africa

We are back in Indiana!!  Not home yet.  Resting tonight and will be home tomorrow, but had to share that we received our gift of diamonds i.e. We Passed Court!!!  We are now the happy and proud parents of 5.  SO, introducing Abel and Feven Faith:

And more:

We are thrilled they are ours!!  They Are Precious!!!
So tired!!  Will update more tomorrow.
~Angie

We are heading out...

We are packed and heading to Indy.  One bag is already in the car.  We fly tomorrow!!!

Sweet treats waiting for our D's while we are gone :

Count down to meet our precious African babes:

Thank you so much sweet family and friends who are praying for us.  We know we don't take this journey alone and for that we are so GRATEFUL!!!
Lyndsay you were a MAJOR help and blessing to us today.  Thanks for your help!!!
We love you all dearly!!!!!
~Angie

This Time Next Week

This time next week, we will be in Ethiopia anxiously awaiting our trip to Mekelle to meet our son and daughter!!!  Words can't describe the excitement and emotion that is within me.
So, I am nick named "Almost Ready Angie" and, well, I am ALMOST ready...definitely not there yet.  Getting ready to run a bunch of errands so I'm a little bit closer.

Have to post a couple of pics:
Beautiful Morning Last Sunday

Our Christmas Break Visitor:

D's friend came to the front door one evening and when we opened it, in flew this female cardinal(I think).  She initially wouldn't leave the chain holding our foyer chandelier which is 20 some feet high.  Thankfully, she flew to D's room and we quickly followed to enclose her in the room and found her on D's Christmas Tree...So sweet!!  She then flew around visiting all sorts of places and sang for us too.  In D's bathroom, Drake carefully was able to wrap a towel around her and escort her outside where she happily flew off.

Highlighting an Awesome Post

A fellow adoptive mom, Andrea, who inspired me to do Project Pad with the girls, has written an awesome post on Joseph that I thought would be good to share: www.babeofmyheart.com/joseph-is-broken/  If you go to her home page, you can also read a cool one on the Magi.  It has been a blessing to "meet" through blog land some incredible, like hearted, sisters.
26 Days until we meet A & F!!!!

Breakfast with Tom

This morning I came across this video of a talk by Tom Davis.  He is the gears behind Children's Hope Chest, a ministry to the orphan, poor and broken.  I have been wanting to read his books for awhile now, and after watching the video, I ordered some of them.  I'll share when I'm done if you want to borrow them.  So, when I saw the video clip I decided to have breakfast with Tom and listen while I ate.  So glad I did!!  If you can find the time or if you can't make it to church, this is a great option.  Be inspired!
http://vimeo.com/11537197

Speaking at Forever Men's Conference in Winnipeg from Tom Davis on Vimeo.

The Family Table

I LOVE family dinners where we are ALL gathered to "Break bread" together.  It can definitely be a challenge with work and extra curricular activities, but we prioritize this and attempt to gather more often than not during the week.  We are currently a family of 5, growing to 7 God willing, very soon.  Our old table only sat 6, so we moved that one to the basement and purchased this:

We live in Amish country and this was handmade by some Amish and purchased from Olde Oak Tree Furniture:  A small family owned business which sells great quality, last forever, Amish furniture at a fair price.  I love it!!  And hey, look, there are 8 chairs...hmmm, and there are 2 leaves which store inside the table...we can fit many around this table. (My husband is sweating)  hee hee.
A & F, our hearts and home are ready for you!!!

Saddle'n Up our Horses

Our Great Adventure is getting closer!!!
  We have our flights and accommodations booked for Africa.  We leave Jan. 19th!!!  We will meet A& F on the 22nd and our court date is the 25th.  We will arrive home on the 26th.  They will not be coming home with us this trip , but hopefully it won't be too long before we return again to bring them home.
Please be praying for all details; that God's will be done, that His peace be with A & F, for safety for us and our kids at home.
Steven Curtis Chapman's song keeps playing in my head:  Click on below link if you want to listen.
~Angie D

Great Adventure

Why Adopt????/Support orphan care???

This video that is floating around blog world answers it so well for so many who are adopting even though they have or can have their "own" biological kids.  I will never forget the moment that God allowed me to FEEL his love for the orphan.  Right there in the middle of Speice (a crazy, loud basketball gym) of all places.  It was POWERFUL and something I felt was impossible to say "no" to.  Thankfully, God had been uniting Dave's heart also.

We are Thankful!!!!

Today, yes today we received our gift of GOLD!!!  That is, we received our court date...finally!
We have a court date of January 25th.  The last week of January we will finally get to meet and hug on A & F, and I can't wait!!!!
Praise be to God, Dave was already able to arrange coverage for that week.
Africa here we come!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Gift of Silver

This morning, as well as about a month ago, we received a gift of silver:
The gift????...=  Pictures   of our babes in Ethiopia!!!  These gifts were from traveling families who are adopting from the same orphanage, through the same agency as us.
Waiting families CRAVE these gifts as a pregnant mommy craves pickles, grilled cheese, chocolate, or whatever your "must have" is.
Now we await our gift of gold....that is our court date which will determine when we travel to meet them for the first time.  Followed by the gift of diamonds.....which will be when we pass court and add them to our family forever!!!
So what gift is more valuable, more beautiful than diamonds?  LORD JESUS of course. " Lord You are More Precious than Silver...."  Love that song.
Sorry...can't post these pictures until we pass court.

Feed My Starving Children

This weekend was our churches turn to serve with Feed My Starving Children (click).  It is a fabulous opportunity to serve together as a family and with friends.  This organization has such an ingenious way to get the job done that 94% of the money goes directly into the food and supplies for the feeding program.  They do not spend $ on advertisement, so if anyone or group is looking for a service project, this is a great one to do.  You can find out more at the link above.  Our church packed 206,700 meals!!!

Youth for Christ Banquet

Our area YFC fundraiser banquet was last night and it was AMAZING!!  First of all YFC is such an awesome organization dedicated to loving on our area middle and high schoolers and showing them Jesus.  We had the privilege of having Natalie Grant sing for us and the testimony of Colleen and Newell Cerek the parents of Whitney who was the survivor of the horrific accident here in our area and is part of the story Mistaken Identity.   If you haven't read this I encourage you to (just have kleenex).  The faith of these families is inspiring and their love for youth is the reason why they came to speak to us.  They know that many youth and adults struggle with a mistaken identity.
I pray blessings and continued healing on all families involved and for the provision and expansion of YFC.

Project Pad: Because not everyone has what they need. It's a Girl Thing!

Last night D and her Bible study buddies had the opportunity to learn a new skill and serve fellow young women in Africa, who don't have access to our conveniences, at the same time.  Thanks to Andrea (click on name) and the involvement she has with WIPHAN (click), I was led to provide this opportunity for these girls.
Since I have NO sewing skills myself though, I knew God would have to make it happen.  And He did.  While watching our High School football game one Friday night I was sharing with some friends my desire to see this happen despite my lack of skill and equipment.  My friend said, "You need to talk with Lisa.  She owns Edward's Sewing.  Well, she no more than finished saying her name and Lisa and her family walk right by us to sit down.  How awesome is that!!
I shared with Lisa, after introducing myself, my desire and from there on out she enabled this to succeed by opening up her store to us, gathering other helpers, and getting donations of supplies.  I mean REALLY, all we need to do sometimes is be obedient in taking the FIRST step then God does the rest.  This was definitely one of those times.
So, THANK YOU Edward's Sewing, Lisa and crew, for letting this boisterous Bible study bunch  learn and serve last night.  And Thank you Andrea for inspiring us to do this.  I warn you that our donations are the work of first timers, but with that in mind, I am very proud of their accomplishment!!

Oh, and tomorrow is Orphan Sunday (see my shirt above).  A shout out on behalf of the world's 147 million orphans.  So many ways to help!  What will you do??

Family Fun

One of our favorite things to do as a family is have an occasional family slumber party in a hotel room.  Nothing like being cozy!  This time we were in Dayton and while daddy had to do this (study).  We did this:

jammed and worshiped at the Make a Difference concert that supported World Vision and featured Toby, Third Day, M.W. Smith and Max Lucado...what an awesome lineup!!  This is my favorite pic as it was totally unstaged.  They didn't even know I took it:

A lady tapped me on the back and asked,"Are those your kids?"  "Yes" I replied.  She said, "You are so lucky!  My kids would never do that."  I do feel blessed that our kids love each other and get along most of the time, and I am grateful to have had this experience with them.