Apparel Students...You are awesome!!!!!

Look at these adorable little pillow case dresses that the apparel class at West Stanly High School made. You guys rock!!!!! The little girls in Ethiopia are going to LOVE them!!!!

One Step Closer....

Found out this week that we have a MOWCYA court date on January 23rd for our letter of recommendation to be written.  (MOWYCA stands for ministry of women's and children's affairs.)  Please pray we get a positive letter that day! Once we get a favorable letter we will travel to Ethiopia approximately 1-2 weeks after that for our court date where we will meet Nara for the first time!!!! We will get to spend some time with her each day, meet with AWAA doctor and psychologist, visit transitional home and orphanages, sightsee, shop etc. She won't return to the U.S. with us on this first trip but once we pass court she will legally be ours. Which means I can also finally share pics and video of her!!! After we pass court we will wait for an Embassy appointment. This usually takes 6-8 weeks. During this time our agency will be working to process her birth certificate, passport and other documentation. Once we receive our Embassy appointment we will travel to Ethiopia again to bring Nara home!

We are so excited right now as we are hoping to travel around 1-2 weeks from the 23rd. Since we won't have much of a notice we are preparing for our travel now. We also will be collecting donations to take to our agency's transition home and local orphanages. If you would like to help please let me know. We will have 2 extra suitcases that we would love to fill with much needed items for the children. Below is a list of donations they are in need of.

Current Priority Transition Home Needs

Child-sized cotton blankets
Foam/Rubber (lightweight) soccer/playing balls for toddlers
Diaper cream, specifically with zinc oxide (Desitin or Boudreaux's) ***HIGH PRIORITY
Clothing and shoes for children ages 8-14 ***HIGH PRIORITY
Warm clothing-sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, etc.
Bath towels for children*** HIGH PRIORITY
Antibacterial hand gel (40oz containers available at Wal-Mart for $5 and personal containers)
Small sized diapers
Baby bottles and nipples
Vitamin D drops
Unscented baby wipes ***please note, unscented/sensitive skin wipes are the only type
used***

Orphanage and Transitional Home General Donation Needs

Toothpaste and toothbrushes
Scrubs for nurses and nannies
Crocks for nurses and nannies
General first aid items
Powder-free gloves for nannies and TH doctor
DVD and VHS children’s videos-especially Christian videos and/or ones with singing/dancing
Crocs for nannies
Toiletry bags (small) for children’s personal hygiene items (one per child needed)
Puzzles for young children
Toy cars and trucks appropriate for toddler aged children
Iron drops
Diaper rash ointment (A+D preferred)
Paper towels
Children’s clothing (new or slightly used); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-8 years. Clothing needs include
day clothes (especially pants), pajamas, underwear, and shoes.
Diapers for up to 30 pounds
Toys to stimulate babies such as colorful objects, rattles, etc. that are appropriate for babies
up to 2 years
Unscented baby wipes ***please note, unscented/sensitive skin wipes are the only type
used***
Powder formula with DHA/RHA
A + D Original Ointment, Diaper Rash and All-Purpose Skincare Formula
Hand Sanitizer
Candles
Children’s Notebooks
Enfamil or Similac Lactose free formula. 


*the following Generic Brands with identical nutritional value to Enfamil & Similac are also acceptable:

1. Parents Choice formula from Wal-Mart
2. Target’s generic Formula
3. Kirkland formula from Costco

Soy based or other special formulas are also acceptable as long as they are one of the brands listed
above.

Medications/Medical Donation Needs**
o Multivitamins
o Tri-vi-sol (o to 6 months)
o Poly-vi-sol (6 months to 2 years)
o Chewable multi-vitamin (2 years to 9 years)
o Adult multivitamin (9 years plus)
o Tylenol (acetaminophen)
o Infants
o Children's
o Suppository
o Syringes for giving medicines (5mL)
o Plastic and Latex disposable gloves
o Baby nose saline spray
o Neosporin
o Mouth and nose masks
o Benadryl liquid/elixir
o Permetherin for scabies
o Lice kits
o Toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss

**Please check the expiration date on all donation items as expired items will be discarded upon
receipt and cannot be used.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in donating. If you would rather make a monetary donation we can use that toward buying supplies while we are in country. Thanks so much for blessing these kiddos!

Anna's Birthday Wish

The day before my sister's birthday we received our referral for our daughter. Ryan and I decided to wait until the next day to tell our family since we would all be together for Anna's birthday dinner. After Anna opened all her gifts we handed her a birthday card from us...

Inside we included a picture of Nara...Under her picture we wrote "Guess who's turning 3 tomorrow? Meet your new niece who will soon be a part of our family!!!!"

Their reaction was priceless....

Hate the picture ended up being blurry but I think Ryan was crying too and couldn't hold the camera steady. After Anna finally could catch her breath she told us that her birthday wish had been for us to receive a referral. The day before (when we received our referral call) she blew out the candles on her cake from friends at school and made her wish. She wished again the night of her birthday while we were at dinner. Anna was so happy that God granted her 18th birthday wish and that she and Nara share birthdays one day apart! 

We are still waiting to be submitted to court. There were a few documents that needed to be updated since we have waited so long. Our agency encouraged us last week to go ahead and start working on them so we will be ready when they call us for court. We are almost finished with the updates already! Two weeks ago our dear friends Carmen & Trent went and visited Nara in our agency's transition home in Ethiopia. They put our sweet girl on the phone so we could talk to her! Absolutely priceless to hear her say mommy and daddy on the other end! We are so excited but I have to say this part of the wait has been hard on me in particular. Now that we know who she is and have heard her sweet voice I am wanting so badly to bring her home more now than ever! I am so thankful she is in our agency's transition home now where she is being taken good care of. The support, gifts and encouragement from all our friends and family has been overwhelming! We are so thankful for your continued prayers!  

Our Referral Day!!!

Wednesday started out just like any other normal day at work. I was in the middle of a haircut when my phone rang. Picking it up I saw AWAA on my caller ID. My heart began beating so fast. I just stared at my phone for a few seconds trying to comprehend if this was really happening. Could this really be the call we've been waiting on for so long!? I answered. "Hi Courtney, this is America World and I have Ryan on the other line. "This is your referral call." OMG! I think I was completely in shock and totally caught off guard. I felt like I could hardly breathe and you guessed it...Ryan was trying not to cry on the other line. Our family coordinator, began telling us about our daughter and some other info about paperwork etc. She also told us she would immediately email us our daughters file. She was talking so fast, or maybe it was just me hardly being able to contain myself, that I cannot remember half of what she said. I just couldn't wait for the email with pictures! It just so happened that I had a break in the middle of my work day so Ryan & I immediately rushed home so we could open her file together. I thought Ryan would never get home! That was the longest 30 min. wait ever!  Words cannot describe the feeling I had when we opened that email and finally saw her sweet face. The face we have longed to see for so long. Our daughter whom we have prayed over for more than two years now. Nara is a beautiful three year old little girl with big brown eyes (just like the Barbee's).  She has an adorable smile and a petite frame. We have decided to name her Nara. I keep finding myself staring at her picture that we now have framed in our house. So what comes next? Well...we wait lol! It usually takes anywhere from 6-12 weeks for a family to be assigned a court date. We will then fly over to Ethiopia where we will meet Nara and appear in court before a judge to state that we will love and care for her. We are hoping this will happen soon but at the same time we know that you never can tell. We are very blessed to have a great agency who has been very helpful during this time of waiting. We have also heard wonderful things from other adoptive families about the transition home where Nara is now. This makes me rest much easier knowing that she is being well taken care of. On December 1st, 2011 Nara was brought to the orphanage. Because our acceptance papers arrived at AWAA yesterday they were able to tell Nara today, exactly one year later, that she now has a family on the way! This brings tears to my eyes as I write this because I know without a doubt that God has been at work throughout this entire process even on our darkest days. Back in August I prayed so hard that we would get a referral by Ryan's birthday. When we didn't I was very discouraged. When we looked through Nara's file this week we saw that her physical & medical assessment was done on Ryan's birthday August 10, 2012. We may not have gotten a referral that day but God was at work getting her one step closer to being a part of our family. This has been a long process with lots of ups and downs, good days and bad days but she is so worth the wait!!!! Nara, we are on our way!!!!

It's Closer Than You Think

Last week seemed to be extra tough for some reason. I felt defeated and so discouraged and then as I was trying to stay afloat I came across a list of friends and family we plan to call when we receive a referral. I wrote that list over a year ago. Finding that list pretty much did me in. The enemy was really beating me up and filling my head with doubt. Friday also marked the start of 24 months on the waiting list for a referral of our sweet girl. I posted all this on facebook asking for prayer because I was trying so hard to not let it steal my joy. The response was overwhelming. Encouragement from so many precious ladies began filling my comment feed and blessed me so much!!!! By the end of the night I felt hope and peace. I haven't really complained at all over social media during this whole process and have tried to keep most of my discouraging days to myself. I realized last week that we are not meant to carry burdens alone and we need each other! It felt so good to just be real and say hey I'm not strong enough to do this on my own and I need some prayer. Thank you all so much! 

I want to share a devotional that my dear friend Sandy Burr shared with me on Thursday.

"Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." Hebrews 10:35

Have you been praying and believing for something that seems like it’s taking a lot longer than you thought? Many times, people can miss God’s best simply because they give up   before they see their “due season” come. Don’t let that be you! Be encouraged today, your answer is closer than you think. If it seems like things are getting more difficult, remember, when the intensity heats up, that means you are closer to your victory. It’s always darkest just before the dawn arrives.

You serve a faithful God, and He’s working behind the scenes on your behalf. Don’t cast away your confidence today because your reward is coming. And just like a new mother   forgets about her labor pain when she is finally holding her newborn, you’ll forget about your struggle when you are holding on to your promise.

While you are waiting, keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. Wake up every morning and say out loud,  “I’ve come too far to give up now. My due season is coming. I will reap my harvest.” Stay in faith and look for His hand of blessing because He has promised you victory, and it’s closer than you think! - Joel Osteen

I know this was for me! I hope it will encourage you too! Don't give up! Do not forget in the dark what God has promised you in the light!!! 

Running With Patience

Running "with patience" is a hard thing to do. You would assume that the very word "running" would mean the absence of patience. We often think of patience as being still. But maybe true patience means to not run from the hardship but to run with endurance toward Christ. Because it's in the process that we are being made the most. "Don't run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line - mature, complete, and wanting nothing." James 1:2-4

The past two years have been some of the most challenging I have ever faced. I don't understand God's plan but I know that He has one. I read something today by Christine Cain that really hit me. "Be faithful with what God puts in your hand until God gives you what's in your heart." God knows what's in my heart and what I long for. But He keeps reminding me that He is shaping me, molding me and making me. He also wants me to be faithful today with what He's placed in front of me. My desire is to be more like Him and I have SO far to go. Through all this waiting and feeling so out of control has forced me to depend on Him like I never have before. Are you going through a trial? Praying for something that still hasn't been answered? I think we all have times in our life where we feel confused. Maybe even abandoned. But when I read God's word and spend time with Him he continues to remind me that HE IS FOR ME and nothing is ever in vain. No tear is ever wasted. It's all about the journey, I am being MADE. 

Scripture Scraps

A few months ago I found this really awesome project on Pinterest. It's a Smash Book turned Scripture book. Love it! So I decided to make one for my daughter. I am filling the book with verses that I can already begin praying over her. But I absolutely cannot wait until we can read it together! Kids can absorb so much at a young age so why not plant seeds of faith in her heart from the start, right?!

I plan to put a picture of our sweet girl in the pocket :)

Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him in prayer, pleading for your children. 

Lamentations 2:19

Great book on praying for your kiddos.