We had prayed that we would have our son home by Christmas and we did, sorta. Cindy said for months, "I believe we will be together as a family by Christmas". I believed as well but Cindy's faith was much stronger than mine on this issue.
We thought for sure that we would be in Ethiopia the week of Christmas and we were, sorta. We were praying for an embassy date of December 23rd which meant we would be together as a family by Christmas in our eyes. After our first trip to Ethiopia we thought for sure we would be back in 4 short weeks. As the days turned to weeks with no word about a confirmed embassy date we were losing hope of being together by Christmas.
December 25th, we celebrated the birth of our Savior and praised the Lord for His love for us but our hearts were hurting as our family was not complete without our little guy being with us. We knew God was in control but we still missed our son. Our prayer to be together for Christmas wasn't answered........or so we thought!
We received our confirmed embassy date the week after Christmas, January 6th was the date. We were so excited to have a date, a date that meant we were going to get our son. God had something more in store for us as well. The flight dates put us leaving on January 1st and returning January 8th. That meant we would be united with our son on Jan. 3rd, it also meant we would be in Ethiopia at Christmas! Ethiopia celebrates Christmas on January 7th. Our prayer had been answered as we were together as a family by Christmas, just not the date we wanted. God's timing is perfect, His will is perfect, He knows what is best for us better than we do.
We had a wonderful time at a Christmas party at our agency's transition home. We ate together, the children sang Christmas carols in Amharic, we got to hear a Pastor preach in Amharic, had birthday cake for Jesus, had a coffee ceremony and had a great time of fellowship with the staff and other adoptive families there. Wow, what an Awesome God we serve!
We went to the airport on Christmas day there, the streets were so quiet, the airport parking lot was almost completely empty, a far cry from the hustle and bustle we experienced on the first trip.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Bringing Jadon Home
Our journey to bring Jadon home began Saturday, January 1, 2011. What a way to begin the new year. After an overnight lay over in D.C. we officially left the states on January 2 for our ultimate destination Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After a long Twelve hour flight we arrived in Addis, Ababa around 10AM (ET) (1AM TN), Monday, January 3. Yes, we were exhausted but overjoyed to be back in Ethiopia where Jadon was patiently waiting for his mommy and daddy to come back for him. Also, we had a huge surprise for him that we had brought his big sister, Lily with us! Lily did fantastic on the trip. She really was such a trooper for this being her first experience flying ever and on such a long trip. We made our way through all the check points and looked out into the "sea of faces" to see our drivers big smiling face waiting to greet us. This was such a blessing after the long journey! We headed to the House of Hope Guest House to unpack, eat lunch and rest for a couple of hours before we would go to pick up Jadon.
After lunch and a short nap it was the time we had been longing for, time to pick up our adorable little man Jadon. It had been 44 days since we held him in our arms, 44 of the longest days of our lives. The time waiting between travel dates seemed like an eternity, but Jan. 3rd was the day to have him with us forever! When we arrived to pick him up he was in his room and we went to the waiting room where we had spent so much time with him on the first trip. The driver went to get him and brought him to us. We were so excited when he rounded the corner and came right to us.
Finally our family of 4, all together!!!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wow, we have been busy!
Jadon has been home for almost 7 weeks now! We haven't had a lot of time for blogging with a pre-schooler in the house. There are so many things we want to share about the last six weeks and the amazing journey we are on. So we will get started..............soon!!!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The hardest part.....
Throughout our journey to Jadon we have had a lot of times when I would say "this has to be the hardest part". All the paper chasing in the beginning for a home study was hard, working all the fundraisers was hard work, waiting on particular pieces of information to come in the mail was hard, keeping faith that God was going to work everything out was hard. All of these things were forgotten when I got to meet, hug and hold Jadon in my arms. He was real, in the flesh, not just a picture, not just a figment of my imagination but real in my arms. All of the "hard parts" are so worth it. God has entrusted this handsome little boy to be my son. I am so not worthy of this gift God has chosen to give us.
After spending 4 great days with Jadon it was time to say good-bye for a few weeks until we could return and bring him home, I said once again to Cindy "this has to be the hardest part".
Since returning home it's like I'm not really here. I cannot focus, my mind constantly goes to Jadon, what is he doing right now, I wonder if he misses us, I wonder if he thinks we will be back for him, I pray he is not hurt or crying or lonely or sad, I pray he is eating. I know he is in good hands . The wonderful people at the transition home take great care of all the children, but Jadon is our son, we should be taking care of him now.
We are uncertain of the date we will be traveling back to Ethiopia to bring Jadon home. Initially we were to bring him home on Christmas day, now that may be moved back 2 weeks. As I write this it has been 3 weeks since we have seen or talked to our son and as it looks it will be 3 more weeks before we get to see him again, 6 weeks! I wonder how much our little guy has grown in 6 weeks, we certainly do not want to miss anymore time of his youth.
We are being held up by our Father, He is the only way we are being able to function, but I must say this 6 weeks has to be "the hardest part". We can only imagine how Abraham and Sarah felt having to wait so many years for the fullfillment of God's promise of a son!
In HIS Grip,
David
Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"
After spending 4 great days with Jadon it was time to say good-bye for a few weeks until we could return and bring him home, I said once again to Cindy "this has to be the hardest part".
Since returning home it's like I'm not really here. I cannot focus, my mind constantly goes to Jadon, what is he doing right now, I wonder if he misses us, I wonder if he thinks we will be back for him, I pray he is not hurt or crying or lonely or sad, I pray he is eating. I know he is in good hands . The wonderful people at the transition home take great care of all the children, but Jadon is our son, we should be taking care of him now.
We are uncertain of the date we will be traveling back to Ethiopia to bring Jadon home. Initially we were to bring him home on Christmas day, now that may be moved back 2 weeks. As I write this it has been 3 weeks since we have seen or talked to our son and as it looks it will be 3 more weeks before we get to see him again, 6 weeks! I wonder how much our little guy has grown in 6 weeks, we certainly do not want to miss anymore time of his youth.
We are being held up by our Father, He is the only way we are being able to function, but I must say this 6 weeks has to be "the hardest part". We can only imagine how Abraham and Sarah felt having to wait so many years for the fullfillment of God's promise of a son!
In HIS Grip,
David
Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Never say "Never"
Wow what a week! Our roller coaster week has had me reflecting on many times that I have said "Never" in recent years so I thought I would share some of those that I'm glad I said Never and God said differently. Here goes and not necessarily in this order....
Never say "Never will I fly in an airplane" so "Never will I leave the USA"
God said " We'll see about that... Sent me to Costa Rica on a mission trip for my very first time flying!
Never say " Because I have never flown and I have never left the country could I ever adopt internationally"
God said " We'll see about that.... I have a Big Brown Eyed Beautiful Ethiopian Prince waiting for your family"
Never say "Ok I can rely on God for strength to travel to Africa for one trip but I will never take the very very long direct flight through Ethiopian Airlines"
God said " We'll see about that... You will actually travel TWICE within thirty days and on the second trip Cindy, you will have my strength to do the very very long direct flight through Ethiopian Airlines"
Never say " We would love to add to our family through adoption but we could never afford it"
God said " You can't but I can"
Drum Roll Please....
God has officially and COMPLETLY provided for us to adopt our Jadon David Henok Scott!
God has provided around $32,000 for our adoption journey in about 16months time! We always believed God would provide because he had clearly called us on this journey but we really had NO idea HOW and WHEN! We really had to have FAITH LIKE POTATOES!
This is how this week started: Denied by two organizations for grants/interest free loans to help us with the $7000 we still needed for the minimum to get Jadon home. We had exhausted every possible fund we had just to get to this point so we didn't know what we were going to do now in such a short time. We decided to pray for guidance, trust as we had been doing for the last 16mths and know that HE is God and he had a plan! God of course had a plan .... He provided a way when there seemed to be no way! (Thanks Susan H. for reminding me of that truth). In 48hours we went from only having 10% of what we needed to having a way to fully pay for our tickets for ALL FOUR of us! Yes Lily is going to Africa with us to be united with her brother she has been praying for! AND we have received through your generous donations the remaining amount that was needed to pay for our accomodations in ET and all outstanding Final fees with our agency. That is a total of $9591 in funds provided in 48hours!
A good sized portion was provided through an anonymous Interest Free Lender so if you have donations in route to us or still want to be a part of this journey through a donation we would still greatly appreciate it. All donations from this point forward will help us pay back that loan as quickly as possible. But the main thing at this point is JADON IS COMING HOME TO TENNESSEE!
Here are just a FEW of the MANY unique ways God has provided:
One donor wanted to donate but didn't have the money so she donated her Plasma for money to donate to our adoption fund.
Baby Bottles - $1500
8 Yard Sales - $5500
Zumbathon - $ 800
Fun Shaped Pasta $400
T-shirts
2 Purse Sales - $400
Car Wash - $600
2 Online Prize Raffles - $1700
Photo Sessions
Note Cards
Many donations from friends, family, strangers
Cleaned someone's house for a donation
There are way too many to mention but we are SO SO SO very grateful to EVERYONE for all your prayers, encouragement and donations.
After ELEVEN years of praying to add to our family we could not be more full of Joy in our hearts to be welcoming our son to his new home in just a few short weeks and on one of the most special days in the year... Our Savior's Birthday!
With much love on behalf of our whole family of FOUR,
Cindy
Psalm 115 1 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness
Never say "Never will I fly in an airplane" so "Never will I leave the USA"
God said " We'll see about that... Sent me to Costa Rica on a mission trip for my very first time flying!
Never say " Because I have never flown and I have never left the country could I ever adopt internationally"
God said " We'll see about that.... I have a Big Brown Eyed Beautiful Ethiopian Prince waiting for your family"
Never say "Ok I can rely on God for strength to travel to Africa for one trip but I will never take the very very long direct flight through Ethiopian Airlines"
God said " We'll see about that... You will actually travel TWICE within thirty days and on the second trip Cindy, you will have my strength to do the very very long direct flight through Ethiopian Airlines"
Never say " We would love to add to our family through adoption but we could never afford it"
God said " You can't but I can"
Drum Roll Please....
God has officially and COMPLETLY provided for us to adopt our Jadon David Henok Scott!
God has provided around $32,000 for our adoption journey in about 16months time! We always believed God would provide because he had clearly called us on this journey but we really had NO idea HOW and WHEN! We really had to have FAITH LIKE POTATOES!
This is how this week started: Denied by two organizations for grants/interest free loans to help us with the $7000 we still needed for the minimum to get Jadon home. We had exhausted every possible fund we had just to get to this point so we didn't know what we were going to do now in such a short time. We decided to pray for guidance, trust as we had been doing for the last 16mths and know that HE is God and he had a plan! God of course had a plan .... He provided a way when there seemed to be no way! (Thanks Susan H. for reminding me of that truth). In 48hours we went from only having 10% of what we needed to having a way to fully pay for our tickets for ALL FOUR of us! Yes Lily is going to Africa with us to be united with her brother she has been praying for! AND we have received through your generous donations the remaining amount that was needed to pay for our accomodations in ET and all outstanding Final fees with our agency. That is a total of $9591 in funds provided in 48hours!
A good sized portion was provided through an anonymous Interest Free Lender so if you have donations in route to us or still want to be a part of this journey through a donation we would still greatly appreciate it. All donations from this point forward will help us pay back that loan as quickly as possible. But the main thing at this point is JADON IS COMING HOME TO TENNESSEE!
Here are just a FEW of the MANY unique ways God has provided:
One donor wanted to donate but didn't have the money so she donated her Plasma for money to donate to our adoption fund.
Baby Bottles - $1500
8 Yard Sales - $5500
Zumbathon - $ 800
Fun Shaped Pasta $400
T-shirts
2 Purse Sales - $400
Car Wash - $600
2 Online Prize Raffles - $1700
Photo Sessions
Note Cards
Many donations from friends, family, strangers
Cleaned someone's house for a donation
There are way too many to mention but we are SO SO SO very grateful to EVERYONE for all your prayers, encouragement and donations.
After ELEVEN years of praying to add to our family we could not be more full of Joy in our hearts to be welcoming our son to his new home in just a few short weeks and on one of the most special days in the year... Our Savior's Birthday!
With much love on behalf of our whole family of FOUR,
Cindy
Psalm 115 1 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness
Monday, November 22, 2010
"Henok is YOURS"
These are the best words we have heard since "It's a girl" more than twelve years ago! Basically that was our "It's a boy" moment. WOW, what a week is all I can say. November 17th was our precious "Meetcha Day"! For months we have been talking about what we would say to Jadon and questioning will he even understand or know who we are. We even wondered will we recognize him immediately because he has been growing so much and his hair was always different when we would receive updated pictures. So THE day was finally here and we were so excited! We were picked up after breakfast and taken to the HOH. We had no idea how we would be introduced to him. Would he be in a crowd of other kids or would we be taken to a special room for him to be brought in? We pulled up in front of the gated doors to the HOH, the driver toots his horn, the guard peeks out and then proceeds to open the doors and as soon as they opened I saw my precious brown eyed, curly haired son jumping up and down smiling and pointing at our van! Unfortunately David missed that moment because he was trying to get our cameras ready because we didn't know to expect him greeting us like that. I started screaming there he is! There's our son! One of the orphanage directors was riding with us and sitting next to me. I just about pushed him out of the van because I couldn't get out quick enough. As soon as I got out Jadon ran straight to me! He became a little shy (which is to be expected) but he was wearing his photo book across his shoulder so I pulled it around in front of him and pointed to my picture and David's telling him we were his mommy and daddy! He also knew who his big sister was and could say her name perfectly! He then quickly gave me a hug and kiss as well as his daddy! This moment was so much more than we could have ever imagined! We then went into a special room they have for visiting families to spend time with their kids to bond. He bonded right away with us! He is so beautiful and this mommy is already wrapped around his pinky! He knows how to work those big beautiful brown eyes! He is so stinking cute and very smart! He is full of energy too! We were able to visit with him twice a day for about 3 to 4 hours each visit. We were able to call Lily during our afternoon sessions just as she was waking up for school. She got to talk with him a few times so you can imagine she was very excited about that especially because he talked back a couple of times. He can't carry on a conversation in English but he could understand a lot and he could repeat English words very easily. Jadon was very ready to come to America with us. He told the HOH director the week before we arrived that he was ready to go to America but if mommy and daddy are not coming soon then take him back to the orphanage where he had been living before the HOH. The HOH is a transition home ran by our agency. While we were there he climbed in the our van and told the driver he was going to America (in his language but we understood the "America" part.
Almost every time at the end of each session he would cry or pout as we left. This was so hard on this mommy and daddy because we knew that Saturday was coming and we would have to say good bye for a few weeks! At the end of our last morning session I was walking him to his little "dining room" for lunch and he was pouting so badly. Our driver was running a little late so I peeked in the room to check on him and he was sitting in his little plastic chair crying the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen. I went in to wipe his tears and hug him and then joined him in crying! It was heart breaking because I knew that afternoon was not going to be easy when saying goodbye for the last time. We were blessed with being able to go back to the HOH a little earlier than usual so we got almost an extra 2 hours with him on the final day! Also as many of you know my birthday was Sunday so a sweet adoptive couple that is staying in ET currently until their embassy date brought in a cake for me and another girl who was there whose b-day was Saturday. So I got to split a piece of yummy chocolate cake with my sweet boy and then Sunday I got to celebrate with my beautiful daughter who made me my favorite cake ...yellow cake with chocolate peanut butter icing!
Our translator did talk to him and explain what would be happening earlier in the day and he seemed to handle it okay. The dreaded time came for us to say our final good bye but it went better than we expected. He didn't cry but his behavior was different. We could tell it was just his way of handling it. I think he wanted to prove he was a big boy and could handle it. We had been praying for us all three to be strong in that moment and through God's strength we kept it together...atleast in front of each other. I completely lost it once we got in the van and pulled away. His Daddy had lost it the night before when we watched another family say their final good bye and he watched Jadon crying and me crying. Even the Nannies were crying watching all of us crying!
It is so hard to be torn between your kids in two different parts of the world. We so badly missed Lily but we hated having to leave our son! It is good to know he is in good hands. We know God is watching over him and has surrounded him with the most loving people in Ethiopia to take care of him!
We are expected to be back in ET on Dec. 20th at which we will take custody of him and then attend our embassy date of Dec. 23. We would then leave ET on Dec. 24th arriving back home on Dec. 25th! What a Christmas present!
Although it is final we still have some work to do to get him home. Our adoption fund is dry and we need to book tickets asap before the prices keep creeping up as we get closer to the holidays. For David and I to go and bring him home we are looking at about 7k. For Lily to go it would be an additional 2500 for a total of 9500. As much as we would love for Lily to experience this priceless moment in our family we know that it is up to God's will for her and we will trust in him to make that clear one way or the other. We are basically just concentrating on the 7k because what matters most is us getting him home as soon as possible. We realize that it is close to the Holidays but are asking if you would pray about whether you could spare $5, $10 or more to help us get him home. Maybe pray about sharing our story with family and friends and see if they would like to participate in the work God is doing in this precious boy's life... Jadon is no longer an orphan. God has blessed him with a family and now he just needs to be united with them forever. Little is much when God is in it!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
These are the best words we have heard since "It's a girl" more than twelve years ago! Basically that was our "It's a boy" moment. WOW, what a week is all I can say. November 17th was our precious "Meetcha Day"! For months we have been talking about what we would say to Jadon and questioning will he even understand or know who we are. We even wondered will we recognize him immediately because he has been growing so much and his hair was always different when we would receive updated pictures. So THE day was finally here and we were so excited! We were picked up after breakfast and taken to the HOH. We had no idea how we would be introduced to him. Would he be in a crowd of other kids or would we be taken to a special room for him to be brought in? We pulled up in front of the gated doors to the HOH, the driver toots his horn, the guard peeks out and then proceeds to open the doors and as soon as they opened I saw my precious brown eyed, curly haired son jumping up and down smiling and pointing at our van! Unfortunately David missed that moment because he was trying to get our cameras ready because we didn't know to expect him greeting us like that. I started screaming there he is! There's our son! One of the orphanage directors was riding with us and sitting next to me. I just about pushed him out of the van because I couldn't get out quick enough. As soon as I got out Jadon ran straight to me! He became a little shy (which is to be expected) but he was wearing his photo book across his shoulder so I pulled it around in front of him and pointed to my picture and David's telling him we were his mommy and daddy! He also knew who his big sister was and could say her name perfectly! He then quickly gave me a hug and kiss as well as his daddy! This moment was so much more than we could have ever imagined! We then went into a special room they have for visiting families to spend time with their kids to bond. He bonded right away with us! He is so beautiful and this mommy is already wrapped around his pinky! He knows how to work those big beautiful brown eyes! He is so stinking cute and very smart! He is full of energy too! We were able to visit with him twice a day for about 3 to 4 hours each visit. We were able to call Lily during our afternoon sessions just as she was waking up for school. She got to talk with him a few times so you can imagine she was very excited about that especially because he talked back a couple of times. He can't carry on a conversation in English but he could understand a lot and he could repeat English words very easily. Jadon was very ready to come to America with us. He told the HOH director the week before we arrived that he was ready to go to America but if mommy and daddy are not coming soon then take him back to the orphanage where he had been living before the HOH. The HOH is a transition home ran by our agency. While we were there he climbed in the our van and told the driver he was going to America (in his language but we understood the "America" part.
Almost every time at the end of each session he would cry or pout as we left. This was so hard on this mommy and daddy because we knew that Saturday was coming and we would have to say good bye for a few weeks! At the end of our last morning session I was walking him to his little "dining room" for lunch and he was pouting so badly. Our driver was running a little late so I peeked in the room to check on him and he was sitting in his little plastic chair crying the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen. I went in to wipe his tears and hug him and then joined him in crying! It was heart breaking because I knew that afternoon was not going to be easy when saying goodbye for the last time. We were blessed with being able to go back to the HOH a little earlier than usual so we got almost an extra 2 hours with him on the final day! Also as many of you know my birthday was Sunday so a sweet adoptive couple that is staying in ET currently until their embassy date brought in a cake for me and another girl who was there whose b-day was Saturday. So I got to split a piece of yummy chocolate cake with my sweet boy and then Sunday I got to celebrate with my beautiful daughter who made me my favorite cake ...yellow cake with chocolate peanut butter icing!
Our translator did talk to him and explain what would be happening earlier in the day and he seemed to handle it okay. The dreaded time came for us to say our final good bye but it went better than we expected. He didn't cry but his behavior was different. We could tell it was just his way of handling it. I think he wanted to prove he was a big boy and could handle it. We had been praying for us all three to be strong in that moment and through God's strength we kept it together...atleast in front of each other. I completely lost it once we got in the van and pulled away. His Daddy had lost it the night before when we watched another family say their final good bye and he watched Jadon crying and me crying. Even the Nannies were crying watching all of us crying!
It is so hard to be torn between your kids in two different parts of the world. We so badly missed Lily but we hated having to leave our son! It is good to know he is in good hands. We know God is watching over him and has surrounded him with the most loving people in Ethiopia to take care of him!
We are expected to be back in ET on Dec. 20th at which we will take custody of him and then attend our embassy date of Dec. 23. We would then leave ET on Dec. 24th arriving back home on Dec. 25th! What a Christmas present!
Although it is final we still have some work to do to get him home. Our adoption fund is dry and we need to book tickets asap before the prices keep creeping up as we get closer to the holidays. For David and I to go and bring him home we are looking at about 7k. For Lily to go it would be an additional 2500 for a total of 9500. As much as we would love for Lily to experience this priceless moment in our family we know that it is up to God's will for her and we will trust in him to make that clear one way or the other. We are basically just concentrating on the 7k because what matters most is us getting him home as soon as possible. We realize that it is close to the Holidays but are asking if you would pray about whether you could spare $5, $10 or more to help us get him home. Maybe pray about sharing our story with family and friends and see if they would like to participate in the work God is doing in this precious boy's life... Jadon is no longer an orphan. God has blessed him with a family and now he just needs to be united with them forever. Little is much when God is in it!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
P.S. Please excuse the typos and anything that doesn't make sense - it's the jetlag!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Nine Days!
We were approved to travel as planned! God is so good! We leave in about 9 days to meet our son! I can't tell you how excited we are! In celebration of meeting Jadon soon we have extended our online drawing for one more week! Receive an entry for every $10 you donate until 11/12/10 for a chance to win a painted bdrm or bath valued at $500 or a chance to win a P90X Workout package valued at $250. Both could be given as great Christmas Gifts. See our post below for more details and pictures of Erica's painting work. You can donate via paypal on our site or email us at godforgives@bellsouth.net for our address to mail a check. Any amount is greatly appreciated. All donations will go toward our travel expenses for the second trip ($9K). Little is much when God is in it!
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