Monday, June 23, 2008

Great Email


As I was coming home from errands today I said a silent prayer asking the Lord for some good news towards our journey to bring Tam home! I silently breathed “let there be an email from our agency! “ When I walked in to check my email there was an email from our caseworker telling us that indeed our paperwork had been submitted to the court in Ethiopia and we should have a court date before it closes! We were all thanking and praising the one who put us on this journey!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Prayer Works!


We have been praying as a family that Tam’s second round of medical reports would come in this week. The window of opportunity is closing for us to get a court date before the courts close in Ethiopia. God was so good and provided Pat Van Winkle our friend who is also a pediatrician in California to read them and give us feedback for a quick turnaround. Our doctor was slammed due to being out last week and could not get back to us for a couple of days. Time is of the essence so Pat was a god send and gave us the thumbs up to proceed. He called us back within the hour of getting the reports. He felt the best feedback was that of Furtuna and Rachel who visited with Tam personally last week. On another note, I have been getting good information about the possibility of connecting with Tam’s birth mother while we are there. Fortuna offered to help and I emailed with a family who told me that the CWA staff here says No to meeting birth families but that once you get to Ethiopia the staff is often willing to set up a meeting. Wow! God is answering our payers and concerns! We are now praying that CWA will be able to get a court date before the courts close! We are trusting that the Soverign God of the universe has perfect timing.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Father's Day


It all seems much more real now that we know that Tam knows who we are and all about us. I think about him every day wondering how he is doing and what he is thinking about. Wondering what it will be like on that first day we meet. Will he attach to us? What will his grief and loss look like when we get home? How can we help him through it? We are headed for the Beach for two weeks and I secretly think it will help pass the time and get my mind from worrying about whether or not we will get to Ethiopia this summer.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

God's Gift To Us!


What a day it has been! Our friends, Pete and Andrea Kidd traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their sweet little girl, Gabrielle. Prior to leaving they asked us if they could visit our little guy Tam while they were there and hand carry something from us. Who knew if it would all work out? At the time Tam had not even been moved to CWA’s care center. With only days before their departure, Tam was moved to our agency transitional home and we were able to make plans for them to hand carry a photo album and a few treats. We were told that they could not meet him personally. My case worker went on vacation and I was assigned a new case worker at CWA. When I called to get the address for the care center she told me that indeed the Kids could visit with Tam and promised to email them to let them know we were coming. They were able to take Furtuna and Rachel both working for AWAA with them to translate the visit. They had trouble finding CWA’s transitional home but they did not give up. They pressed on down a rocky cliff and a gully filling with water only to be told that Tam was not there and that they could not see him. The director of the program finally agreed after all to let them see Tam and then they set off across town to another location where Tam was living. Finally they were able to meet Tam. They presented him with the photo album that we had sent and Furtuna sat with him and translated every notation in it for him. They said he did not say much but smiled a lot especially when he saw his sisters and heard that Maddy loves soccer. He told Furtuna that he was happy but I am sure he is so overwhelmed trying to process it all. My heart breaks for the loss of his own birth mother and how he must be feeling without her over the last five months. We are overjoyed to have someone meet him and the report was that he was extremely handsome and sweet. He looked very healthy. We give God all the credit for making this happen and are so thankful that the Kidd’s were willing to do this for us. There is no greater feeling than watching the God of the universe at work in your our lives! Still waiting on the results of his second round of medicals. I am desperately wanting those results and a court date. I am certain that we are supposed to go and get him this summer but I surrender to the One who’s ways are not my ways and who’s plans are not my plans. Trying to wait patiently in Him and trusting in his perfect timing. It sure is hard! Below is the Kidd’s email about our son Tam!

Melodie and Stefan,

WOW!!!!!!! Your son is a DOLL!!! He is so cute I can't stand it. Fortuna and Rachel went with us and they both were so taken by how sweet and cute he was. The pictures are below, we got more, but it takes so long to send, I will when we get home.


Quite the journey getting there, we got to see more Addis in this trip to Tamrat than the whole week combined. First we drove around and found CWA......they were working on the road so we LITERALLY climb down a rock hill into a ditch filling with water and back up the other side (pete has pics of this) We got inside the building and was told Tamrat was not there he was at the home (that's where we thought we were going); then the director of the Ethiopia program wanted to talk to us. We went upstairs to his nice office and were told we could not see him. He said this was not allowed.......on and on and on and on. He finally said since we travelled so far that he would let us, but no pics and only 5-10 minutes. Fortuna translated the ENTIRE book that

you sent, he just smiled and at times looked a little emotional. He seemed very proud and told Fortuna he was happy. He is really cute and both Pete and I gave him hugs and told him how much you loved him and have been praying for him. We told him how we would be seeing him back in the states. Go to bed knowing your little guy knows your face, and his sisters' faces (he seemed very happy when he learned of his sisters) he is holding onto your photo album and knows how much you love him. Really, the look on his face said it all and it was such an honor to be able to do this for you and for Tamrat.


Enjoy the pictures you are truly blessed.


Thursday, June 5, 2008

Bella Nick Names Her Brother!


We showed Bella the picture of Tam and she instantly said “He’s cute! That’s my big brother.” She promptly named him “Tam Tam.” Today I made a visit to see Andrea Kidd. She and her husband are leaving for Ethiopia on Saturday, June 7, 2007 for Ethiopia to bring home their little girl Gabrielle. They so graciously offered to visit Tam while they are there and hand carry a photo album, letter, and treats. God has provided a translator for us so they will get to spend time with him and get to know him. We both cried today as we prayed for their journey and knowing that they will be meeting their daughter for the first time and our son. Next milestone is a court date!