Waiting for Oct. 6th

I am waiting...along with everyone else I know who is adopting. To wait is not one of my strengths, but I think I have been doing a pretty good job of it. Oct. 6th is when the courts are suppossed to open back up in Addis Ababa. I am waiting to hear from my agency about an assigned court date. I am waiting to hear about my mom's test results on Monday. I am waiting to know any information from people who are traveling over to Hope House. Waiting.

This week I did log onto Snapfish and found 3 pictures of Yosef. I was able to print them out and send a few to my mom. She is so excited about him. It makes me so happy to hear her talk about him coming over here and how she can hardly wait. There it is again, that word "Wait".

I am reminded about all of God's promises and how we should be eager to know more of him just as I am eager to know my son. I believe God has created us to love one another and encourage each other to be more like him. He looks on the heart. Thank you God for being personal to me and my friends this week.

My family celebrated dad's 86th birthday on Monday, the 14th. I still miss him. Linda and mom went to Maid rite and had an ice cream in his honor. :) He always loved his vanilla ice cream. I am so thankful for a Godly set of parents. Thank you mom and dad for loving and encouraging me to be the woman that I am today. God is good.

Update time

Sorry it has taken me so long to blog. School has begun and I am back into the swing of things. I love teaching! I don't think there is anything better than impacting a young life for Christ. God has given me a great place to work and with great people.

My friend Julie did get over to visit Yosef and took several photos. Here is a pic of his little torso, hands and mouth. He is so beautiful! I can hardly wait to show all of you his full pictures. I can not believe how huge his eyes are. Wow God...you are so good.

The courts have closed from Aug. 21-Oct. 6 and I will have to wait to hear for a court date during this time. I hope my adoption agency gives me updates as we wait. Meanwhile, I am getting to know my 23 kids in 5th grade and preparing for his arrival.

I am still trying to figure out what to do about daycare. Being single and an educator is rough. I know God is going to help in this situation. I keep saying to myself to relaxing and let go. If you know me, that is so against my nature. :)

Sunset Beach

I have just spent the last three days at Sunset Beach for a little bit of focus time before school starts back up. I won a stay at Sunset Inn on the island during the teacher appreciation dinner and it was wonderful. This island is about 2 miles long and 1/4 mile wide. The beaches were crowded near the pier, but it was great for people watching. I now understand why they call it The Sunset Inn. I took a few pics of the front porch and the sun going down on Saturday night. I am thankful for this time to reflect on my summer and for what my future holds. I heard that a friend has a court date this Thursday in Ethiopia. May God show favor on this little girl and allow this family to pass court. God is so good.

Some good news

That was the first few words in the update from my agency. It was so refreshing. I am used to "I am sorry to say...blah...blah...blah" Hope adoptions had 9 court cases approved on Monday and one of them was from Nightlight. That is good news. There were no new court dates last week, so maybe this week it will happen.

I believe that Julie, my friend traveling to Addis Ababa, should be over there right about now. I am so hoping that she gets a chance to see Yoseph and hold him. I also plan on getting in touch with a former CCS teacher that is returning to Addis on Aug. 13th. She is teaching over there at a missionary school. I need to make a face to face meeting with her.

I went over to school today to start moving things around and setting my classroom up. I can not believe that school starts in less than 2 weeks. Ahhh, where did the summer go? I love my job, but can't believe I have lived my summer away. It was a good one. I really enjoyed spending time with my mom. It was also nice to see my brother and sister and their kids. Their kids almost seem like my siblings. Two of them are having babies in the future. It is all pretty exciting for my brother.

I am thankful once again for the opportunity and privilege to travel and spend time with family and friends. God is so good to me. Here is a pic of my mom and sister at Jodie's wedding. The other one is of my brother, the father of the bride. It was such a beautiful wedding.

I need Africa more than Africa needs me.

This is such a neat cause in helping the people of Africa. Take time to invest in your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Mocha Club

I have just joined this organization to help orphans in Africa. Please take a look at my team and consider joining it for just $7 a month, which is two grande lattes. When you think of it that way, how can you pass up the opportunity to support children in Africa. It is an amazing idea! Here is the address to go and visit the site http://mochaclub.org/joinme/glister.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my sister, Tammy's birthday and Yoseph's 3 month birthday! I have a friend who is traveling to Addis on the 28th for a missions trip and I am hoping she can stop by Hope House and see him. I would love to have an update on his growth.

Heather and I just returned from NYC and I had a hard time not buying stuff for him. I ended up with a few oneies because I figured I couldn't go wrong. There are alot of cute kids clothes out there.

So...Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Tammy and Yoseph...Happy Birthday to you!!!