Heart Bursting Moments!

What an Easter gift we received yesterday! After a busy day of ministry and visiting friends all day, we came home to check our email. We sent a package to Joshua with a precious family who went to Ethiopia to pick up their little girls. We sent a Ulysses t-shirt, my best friend bought him a Ulysses hat..we sent Hot Wheels, stickers, sunglasses, and a photo album pictures of his family. This was the first time he would see the faces of the family that is coming for him.

Opening our email, we found a message and pictures from Julie, describing her encounter with Joshua and four pictures of him holding the package we had just sent! Be still my momma's soul! We called the kids upstairs and showed them the pictures and they laughed and squealed in delight. Blowing up each picture, we scanned every detail of his face and body and clothes. The boy has the biggest, thickest fingers I have ever seen on a 3/4 year old!! We may have a linebacker on our hands!!

This is the most amazing journey we have ever walked...so much intense emotion, so much waiting, so much trusting in God for absolute provision.

Praying God's absolute provision over every area of your lives. He is trustworthy! You can count on Him for every need!

How we love you,
Kurt and JoLynn

Kids in Leadership Training!

Our children have loved music their entire lives. They are, by no means prodigies, but they love God and love music. Bethany plays the keyboard and sings, Brooklyn plays the guitar and sings, and Caleb plays the drums...and can sing. They are hoping their new siblings can learn the bass and sing!

The three used to call themselves 3 Strands, but after finding that there would be more kids in the family decided to rename the band. The new name...Tesfay, an Amharic name meaning, "My Hope".

The kids wanted to take some group shots for Tesfay, so we dressed up and headed for one of the rare places in our town that has trees! Here are a couple of pictures we took from that fun day.

We will be doing a "Night of Worship" for a fund raiser coming up and Tesfay will be a part of the ministry. I will include a clip of them ministering soon.

Remember, as we tell our kids....fan into flame the gifts God gave you. Whatever God put deep within your spirit to do or be, nurture it until it grows into a raging fire, unable to be quenched, changing the world around you!

Blessings!

Kurt and JoLynn

Horn Creek Colorado

We had an amazing time as always at our annual trip to Horn Creek, Colorado. It is a family retreat and this year we had 70 people. The services were powerful, with Kurt preaching one and showing a Louie Giglio video for the other. THe youth did their amazing black light presentation to "Who Am I" by Casting Crowns and it was just an awesome time. It's a unique time of reflection in the beautiful mountains. The entire time we were there we kept thinking that next year we will have two new kids with us. What fun that will be!

Dossier is on it's WAY!

Months and months of work, delays, raising money and our paper chase is OVER! I was a mess all morning, carrying around that mass of paperwork almost as carefully as I would my baby! Getting the appropriate money orders for the courier, the US State Dept, and the Ethiopian Embassy and then stuffing it all in a Fed Ex envelop to be overnighted to Washington DC...I thought I was giving my life away. Those papers, so precious, so irreplaceable short of another six months of waiting. I whispered a prayer of protection over them as the Fed Ex carrier took them from my grip. Little did he know how precious and important that package was!

It will arrive tomorrow in DC where the courier will hand deliver it to the State Dept and then the Embassy of Ethiopia, then overnight it to our agency who will then air it to Ethiopia. This is when things get WILD in this journey.

All our work and efforts now move into waiting and nesting. We will be preparing our home and purchasing the things we need for our new children while we wait for a court date for Joshua and a referral for Julianna. Still praying for both kids to come together at the same time, but if not, we will travel twice.

My mom and sister, Amy, are finishing up the decorating in my girls' rooms, so then we will get Caleb and Joshua's room done. A little painting for the boys, a comforter for each bed and dressers. A crib and other baby things for Julianna. The biggest 'mountain' we are praying for is a 7 or 8 passenger vehicle. All these preparations are just like the nesting that happened late in pregnancy. You know the time is drawing close and you automatically start preparing the nest! It's exciting and very, very emotional.

We just returned from Horn Creek, Colorado for our annual church retreat which was powerful. We will post some pictures tomorrow. It was a beautiful weekend.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for our children just about to stir and awake in a couple of hours in Ethiopia. I (JoLynn) often awake in the middle of the night and my thoughts are immediately on them....they are playing and eating and waiting for us in Ethiopia as we sleep. It's always hard for a mommy to sleep when her children are awake. That makes for some sleepless nights when your children are living halfway across the globe eight hours ahead in time.

Praying for God's vision and anointing to fall on your lives...whatever 'baby' is growing inside of you, whether a job or a ministry, a goal or a dream...we pray that labor comes quickly and those dreams birth in 2008!! It's a year of new beginnings!

We love you!
Kurt and JoLynn

Our Round Boy!

One of the families that we have been blessed to get to know traveled to Ethiopia last week. This family sent us finances as a 'pay it forward' and got to see our son at the Care Center when they picked up their two boys!

They emailed that he is adorable, solid, round, and cute! haha! That is so precious. How we long to get our hands on that round little boy!

Our dossier gets sent to the courier in Washington DC tomorrow and will be walked into the US Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy and then overnighted to our agency who will then send it onto Ethiopia! It's very exciting and we are so excited to get all this crazy paperwork out of our hands!

Thank you for praying for Joshua in the Care Center. This is a hard time for the kids as they have been moved once again. Thank you for lifting up our finances in prayer also.

Many blessings,

Kurt and JoLynn

Second Medicals!

We received Joshua's second medicals today via email. We will take these to our doctor and see if there are any concerns. With my limited knowledge of the medical world, I didn't see anything to be concerned about, so we are moving forward!! So exciting! We will be sending our original, months in the making dossier to Washington DC to a courier on Tuesday. She will walk it into the Secretary of State's office and then to the Ethiopian Embassy. It will then be sent to our agency and onto Ethiopia! Then, it's hurry up and wait! We have been so in the 'doing' phase for eight long months. Now, we sit back and wait. We actually have a lot of doing to do around here to prepare for the kids to come home, so I will focus on that.

Thank you for your prayers. Things are moving along quickly at this point. Please continue to lift up our financial needs before the Lord for this final phase.

Many blessings!
Kurt and JoLynn

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent

I saw this on another adoptive families blog and instantly realized how true it is for us...YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF...

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you. (This statistic was checked out by another mom and found to be true)

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)

8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)

9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!

13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

Sending Gifts!

We have made precious friends in this adoption process. One family is leaving for Ethiopia to get their two small daughters this Friday. They emailed that they will take a small package for Joshua from us. So, today we are putting together a small photo album, buying a baseball hat, a t-shirt and a small stuff animal and overnighting it to her so she can give it to him in Ethiopia. We are so excited! She will hopefully get a picture of him as well. We feel much more connected to our son now that we can send things to him. It is very exciting!

We have heard that we can delay travel to wait for Julianna. If it doesn't make Joshua wait too long, we are praying about doing that if we have to. We are just believing God is going to work it all out just in time anyway. To leave her behind would be heart breaking.

Thank you for praying for our referral, for our finances of $20,000, for our children's court dates, for our upcoming fund raisers, and for our children's health and safety until we get them home.

Blessings to all of you!!

Kurt and JoLynn

Prayer for Joshua

We wanted to add this prayer request for Joshua.

These children suffer so much loss. Joshua lost his parents last August and then had to adjust to being in the orphanage in his town. He made friends there and began to feel some security there and now he is again suffering loss. He was taken from his town, his friends, his schedule to be placed in the foster home in Addis Ababa. This a great move for him, but he doesn't understand that, we are sure. He has lost friends, his hometown, his caretakers. He is now having to undergo medical tests and surely it is a frightening, grieving experience. Please pray for his spirit and his heart. Pray that God envelops him with grace and love and that peace comes to his little mind.

International adoption is a powerful ministry, but it's not without loss for these children. They lose their countries, their language, their friends, their families. What they gain is a miracle, but they need prayer for their loss and for their grieving process.

Thank you for praying for Joshua as right now he is probably asleep in his new, temporary home.

Blessings,
Kurt and JoLynn

Joshua Is At the Foster Home!!

Today is a day to DANCE! We got an email from our case worker that Joshua was moved from his orphanage to the CWA Foster Home! This puts us on the fast track! His second medicals will be done and then we will be waiting for a court date!!

We are sending pictures of our family to CWA today and they will mail them over to him. We are also sending a small care package to him with some friends traveling to pick up their children on the 18th of March. He will know who his family is and that makes a Momma's heart swell!

As quick as things seem to be moving, we may have to return to Ethiopia for Julianna. We are at peace with that. God is the one who called us to add her to our adoption late in the process. He knows what He is doing. Perhaps she was just born today! Our little wide-eyed Ethiopian Prince could easily be in our arms by early May! It's so exciting and overwhelming all at once. We have SO much to do to prepare and $10,000 to believe God for.

We are working on three fund raisers as we speak. We know God is the same God who provided the first $10,000. He will provide this second $10,000 and the funds for Julianna as well. We sure would save alot of money if we could pick up both kids at once, but God knows how He wants it to go.

Wednesday, all five of us go in for our shots. Kurt and I will get multiple shots for travel. The kids will start their Hepatitis A and B series. We will be sending in our original dossier to the courier in Washington DC hopefully on Wednesday. If not, we will have to wait until Monday. We will be leaving for Horn Creek Thursday morning. There is so much going on in our lives. It's at these times, I, (JoLynn) wonder why God didn't make me a good details person! I am blessed, however, to have precious detail people around me that help me.

Thank you for praying Joshua into the Foster Home quickly! Look at what your prayers are producing! Please now focus your prayers on the travel expenses, our referral for Julianna and God's will for her, and for all those practical, detail-like aspects we need to cover over the next two months.

Love you all! What an exciting God we have! Joshua's life is about to change forever!

Kurt and JoLynn

Joining Hands Across the Globe!

Ever wish you could connect with someone half way around the world? So often, we feel stuck in our own schedules and small existences and forget the amazing world around us. There are a mulitude of ways to reach around the world as you give toward your church's missions fund, as you sponser a child through Mission of Mercy or World Vision, as you stretch yourself and take a missions trip, as you reach for the orphan and care for them in their distress. Many of you, we know, do many of these things already. So many of our friends have missions hearts, sending their children on annual missions trips. Many of you are in your own journey of adoption, whether domestic or foreign.

The easiest way to become world-minded and reach a hand of mercy half way around the world is to pray. That is the whole purpose of this blog! We are so thankful for that. You are truly causing the heavens to move on behalf of two children who will become a part of our lives and a part of many of yours. Thank you for sending bullet prayers our way and half way around the world.

We are at the phase of waiting for Joshua to be moved from his orphanage, eight hours to Addis Ababa...to the CWA Foster Home. At that time, his second medicals will be done and we will be waiting on a court date! It's all so exciting!

At this time, the foster home is full. Many of our wonderful friends who are adopting children through CWA are traveling now or will in March to get their children. Some of them have court dates that need prayer. As they are successful and can bring their children home, we will see progress for Joshua. As their children leave the Foster Home, there will be room for our son! Please pray for these amazing families and the judges over their cases and their finances.

Also, we are praying for a quick referral of Julianna. We are into the second month of waiting and referrals are taking about 2-3 months for a baby girl at this time. We are praying that we are matched with our daughter by Easter. We truly want to bring both children home together and not have to leave Julianna in Ethiopia. Thank you for praying for her.

Thank you so much for joining hands with us and our new children! We speak blessings and favor and vision over your lives in Jesus Name!

We love you!

Kurt and JoLynn

Things Moving Along!

We feel a bit like our heads are swimming this morning. Many of our friends in this same process, with the same agency are getting very quick court dates and embassy dates. We are moving into that phase within the next two weeks as we will be waiting for our child to be moved and then a court date. This could truly take only a couple of months. It could also take six months, but as we are following our friends' journeys, it seems to be a season of movement in Ethiopia.

We find ourselves forcing our spirits to be still and KNOW that He is God. If we didn't, we would see how ill prepared we still are and panic. There is still so much to be done and if our case moves quickly, we need God to intervene. Please be praying for the details we need to come together and the finances we need to see quickly.

We were just given the opportunity to put our profile on a website called The Legacy Fund. It is a ministry that adopting families can profile their 'story' and families that have lost children in death can send donations in memory of their children to new children being adopted. I think that is such a humbling thing...what a gift for the families who are helped in the name of a child who died young. We have a grant out with Steven Curtis Chapman and two others out. The Abba Fund called and let us know that as of right now, all their funds are spoken for. We know that God has this all under His control.

We also need God to move on behalf of our daughter and bring her to the attention of our agency. We so want our kids' process to be at the same time. If not, we will have to travel twice and we are concerned about leaving our first child so quickly. Our new daughter, who will be, Julianna Kay, is yet to be referred to us. We are over a month in the waiting process and it is taking 2-3 months right now for baby girl referrals. Pray favor all over this process.

There are numerous details that overwhelm at times in regards to travel. Bills that have to be crisp and 2003 or newer, very careful packing with strict weight limits, donations to gather to bring to the orphanages, things to purchase to be prepared to bring the kids home, shots we have to get beforehand. We have pages upon pages of things to remember that we've gathered over the months from our great web board family. Please pray that we get all these details together. With ministry being so busy, it is alot to take in. Favor is the word of the day! We need the favor of God and man in these last months of this process.

Thank you for praying! We can't express the joy and gratitude we feel for those who have signed up to pray for us. Prayer is so vital to this process. Thank you for giving of yourself by taking us to the throne room!

We love you all!
Kurt and JoLynn