God's work is unceasing

As we continue to explore and learn more about international adoption, Ethiopia and Africa, I continue to be amazed and blessed by the creative ways God's people are reaching out and spreading the Gospel, in word and in deed. AHOPE and CALM Ministries are 2 organizations that I have come across.

AHOPE runs orphanages in Ethiopia for children with HIV. Chris and I just tonight signed up to become a sponsor for one of those children. Here is their mission statement: "The Mission of African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace is to offer a two-pronged approach to the devastation caused by the AIDS virus in Ethiopia.

• Provide a nurturing, stimulating, loving home for infected children orphaned by the disease
• Provide comprehensive, accurate education to families, staff, and the local community regarding AIDS prevention and care of infected loved ones."

CALM (Christian African Leadership Ministry) Ministries is based in Rwanda and is run by a Rwandan couple. They are "committed to glorifying God by enabling and equipping people to do the work of ministry and helping needy people to help themselves." This includes taking in orphans and running an orphanage that our adoption agency is working with.

Please visit both websites to learn more.

As iron sharpens iron

So my thought-provoking friend Mrs. Schwager is not letting me get away with posting a thought-provoking piece of news without actually posting my thoughts. In a comment she left on my previous post, she said, "but the question is: what are your thoughts on this? do you immerse your child in as much ethiopian culture as you can? just talk about it a little as interest dictates? not talk about it at all?"

We have been thinking about this and the myriad of other issues that come with international adoption. Our greatest challenge has been to think about these things prayerfully, through the lens of Scripture.

Through this adoption we are bringing a piece of Ethiopia into our family. In Scripture it is clear that ethnic heritage is an important part of who we are, not THE most important part, but still important. We would be silly and blind to the creativity of God if we ignored our child's ethnic heritage. The most important culture in our child's life will be our family culture and because we are bringing Ethiopia into our home, Ethiopian culture will unavoidably become a part of that. We are not sure exactly how, but I don't think that is something we need to figure out completely right now.

Any other thoughts??

Another "Dappled thing"

In the Hopkinsesque vein of things: this is pied beauty spoken through the flesh of a Colorado Cutthroat Trout

Rippin' Lip

Devin O'Donnell and I (Chris . . . just to make things really clear since my wife does most of the posting here) took a quick little five hour trip up to Redding to fish the mighty Lower Sacramento River. Although we only had a few actual hours of "pree-me-yum" fly fishing time, we did manage to net this beautiful native rainbow trout. The sucker was huge. Unfortunately, as I was pulling him out of the net to take the "trophy shot," I straight up dropped him. I could sense God asking me, "Are you going to thank Me even without the ego image?" Praise God for the gift of fly fishing with a blessed bru and the beauty of creation . . . exquisitely sung by G.M. Hopkins below:

Pied Beauty (1877)
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him.

Where are we?

We haven't really posted anything about our adoption in awhile, mostly because we are still in that 5-7 month waiting period for our referral (match). We have been waiting about a month now.

It is exciting watching other families from agency get their referrals...so great to see families who have been waiting and waiting finally see a picture of their long-awaited little one(s).

Meanwhile, we are keeping busy with working in the dorms, tutoring (me), preparing to write a thesis (Chris), praying for a teaching position for Chris next year, getting addicted to Lost (we are on Season 2) and generally really enjoying being married.

We are also wondering what chaos may await next year with Chris writing his thesis and possibly teaching and us having a new baby. We will need much prayer.