It’s hard to believe that we’re leaving in just two days.
A few years ago when Jenna and I started the whole adoption conversation, we couldn’t have imagined this week of final preparations, the months spent re-prioritizing and budgeting, or the hours upon hours of praying and seeking God’s will for this next step in our lives.
We never could have realized the love and support that you, our community, both on-line and in-person, would have given to us in the past year. We are beyond thankful for the prayers and encouragement and money that you have given on our behalf. Taye is coming home to a group of people already committed to his care. He has NO IDEA the love he’ll get when he steps foot in North America.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
Here is our itinerary for the next several days.
We’d love your thoughts and prayers for us as we travel and finish up this part of the adoption and begin our new life with Taye in the picture. Some of the requests may get very specific, but after all, our God is a God of small details. And we will bring our small details before Him to work out for His glory!
Wednesday/Thursday | July 8/9 | Travel
Leave from Grand Rapids at 3:15 P.M.
Arrive in Detroit for a short layover before boarding the next plane to Amsterdam.
Arrive in Amsterdam for a five hour layover before boarding the plane for Addis Ababa.
Prayer: We have to check luggage, which is always a risk. The obvious prayer is that our bags will arrive in Ethiopia with us. Part of that checked luggage contains 17 large canisters of infant formula that people have donated to Ethiopian orphanages. Because formula is in such HIGH DEMAND, we’re praying that we’ll make it through customs without having most of that taken from us.
Friday/Sunday | July 10/12 | Sightseeing
We’ll spend the first three days getting accustomed to Ethiopian culture. I have 12 gigs of memory cards with me in order to capture as much life there as possible on film and video. (And don’t worry, I won’t make you sit and watch all of those – unless you want to of course.) This will be an important time for Jenna and me to soak in the history and life that we want to continue celebrating in our newly blended family.
Monday | July 13 | Travel and Meetings
We’ll travel west to Ambo where we’ll meet Taye’s birth-mother.
Prayer: This is one of those meetings that I know we need to do for Taye and celebrating his story. Yet, I’ve got to say, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to this. We all will be filled with emotions. We pray for God’s peace, for the right words at the right moment, and that we’ll capture her story to share with Taye as he gets older.
Tuesday | July 14 | Meet and Pick Up Taye
We’ll travel to Kunkeet to Taye’s orphanage. We’ll receive the grand tour, meeting his care givers and seeing where he’s spent the past 6 months of his life. We’ll meet him and bring him with us as we travel back to Addis Ababa for the rest of our trip.
Prayer: With the exception of tears, we have NO expectations going into this first meeting. We can’t imagine what it will be like for us to see our son in person for the first time after waiting so long for him. On the 14th, just pray as the Spirit leads you. We rest in the fact that He is at work and will give us what we need in the moment.
Wednesday/Friday | July 15/17 | US Embassy Appointments
We travel back to Addis Ababa for our appointments at the US Embassy to finish up the last of the paper work and apply for Taye’s visa home.
We’ll pick up the Visa on the 17th.
Prayer: We’ll be in a hotel suite with a 22 month child with whom we don’t know and will have a hard time communicating. Pray for patience and great non-verbal communication skills as we learn to navigate life with Taye. Pray that we’ll have a smooth time getting the visas (on time, etc.).
Saturday/Sunday | July 18/19 | Travel Home
We leave Addis at 10:25 P.M.
Arrive in Amsterdam for a five hour layover before boarding the plane for Detroit.
We arrive in Detroit for a short layover before boarding the plane for HOME!
Taye will meet his brother and sisters for the first time! Wow, just writing that brings me such joy!
Prayer: rather than being in a hotel suite, we’ll be in an airplane with the same conditions. You can pray for the same things as above. We’ve heard mostly horror stories of this return flight with an adopted child. So anything other than a horror story we’ll count as blessing. Just pray that what we need to bond with Taye will happen. If that means it’s horrible, pray we’ll have joy thinking about what bringing him home means for our family. If that means it great, pray that we won’t take it for granted.
Again, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers during the next few days. We really do appreciate it!
If we don’t see you before we leave, we’ll see you when we return.
Can’t wait for you all to meet Taye!
